Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1897-03-25


sacrinoe-The Blood OF christ-cases Of
substitution-Life For Life-Frecusnoe
Of sunering For Others.
WASHINGTON, March 21.-From many
conditions of life DIR. Talmage, in this SER
mon, draws graphic illustrations of one Of
the sublimest theories Of religion-namely,
vicarious sacrifice. His text was Hebrews
X, 22, "Without shedding Of blood is no
remission"
John G.. Whittier, the last Of the great
school of American poets that made the
last quarter Of century brilliant, asked
me in the White mountains, one morning
after prayers, in which l had given out
Cowper's famous hymn about the ''foun-
tain filled with blood, ""Do you really
believe there is a literal application of the
blood of Christ to the soul?" My negative
reply then is my negative reply now. The
Bible statement agsses with all physicians,
and all psychologists, and all scientists, in
saying that the blood is the life, and in the
Christian religion it means simply that
Christ's life was given for our life. Hence
all this talk of men who say the Bible story
of blood is disgusting and that they don't
want what they call slaughter house
religion" only shows their incapacity or
unwillingness TO look through. the figure of
speech toward the thing signified. The
blood that on the darkest Friday the
world ever saw, oozed or trickled or poured
from the brow, and the side, and the
hands, and the feet of the illustrious suf-
ferer, back of Jerusalem, in few hours
coagulated and dried up and forever disap-
peared, and if man had depended on the
application Of the literal blood of Christ
there would not have been soul saved for
the last IS centuries.
Voluntary Suffering.
In order to understand this red word of
my text we only have to exercise as much
common sense in religion as we do in ev-
erything else. Pang for pang, hunger for
hunger, fatigue for fatigue, tear for tear,
blood for blood, life for life, we sec every
day illustrated. The act of substitution is
no novelty, although l hear men talk as
though the idea of Christs suffering SUBJ
stituted for our suffering were something
abnormal, something distressingly odd,
something wildly eccentric, solitary cpl
sode in the worlds history, when 1 could
take you out into this city, and before sun
down point you to 500 cases of substitution
and voluntary suffering of one in behalf of
another.
At 3 o'clock tomorrow afternoon go
among the places of business or toll. 1t
will be no difficult thing for you to find
men who, by their looks, show you that
they are overworked. They are premature
ly old. They are fastening rapidly toward
their decease. They have gone through
crises in business that shattered their nerv-
Gus system and pulled on the brain. They
have shortness of breath and pain in
the back of the head, and at night an in
somnia that alarms Them Why are they
drudging at business early and latep For
funP No; it would be difficult to extract
any amusement out Of that exhaustion.
Because they are avaricious? In many
cases no. Because their own personal ex-
penses are lavishp No; few hundred dol
lars would meet all their wants. The sim
Pile fact is the man is enduring all that
fatigue and evaporation and wear and
tear to keep his home prosperous. There
is an invisible line reaching from that
store, from that bank, from that shop,
from that scaffolding, to quiet scene q
few blocks away, a few miles away, and
there is the secret Of that business endur-
ance. He is simply the champion Of a
homestead, for which he wins bread and
wardrobe and education and prosperity,
and in such battle 10, 900 men fall OF ten
business men whom I bury, nine die of
overwork for others. Some sudden disease
finds them with no power of resistance,
and they are gone. Life for life, blood for
blood. Substitution!
At l o'clock tomorrow morning, the
hour when slumber is most uninterrupted
and most profound, walk amid the dwell
ing houses Of the city. Here and there you
will find dim light because it is the
household custom to keep subdued light
burning, but most of the houses from base
to top are as dark as though uninhabited.
A merciful God has sent forth the arch
angel of sleep, and he puts his wings over
the city. But yonder is clear light burn
ing, and outside ON the window easement
is glass Or pitcher containing food for a
sick child. The food is set in the fresh dir.
This is the sixth night that mother has sat
up with that sufferer. She has to the last
point obeyed the physicians prescription,
not giving drop too much or too little,
or o moment too soon or too late. She Is
very anxious for she has buried three chill
dren with the same disease, and she prays
and weeps, each prayer and sob ending
with kiss of the pale cheek. By dint of
kindness she gets the little one through the
ordeal. After it is all over the mother is
taken down. Brain or nervous fever sets
in, and one day she leaves the convalescent
child with a mother blessing and goes UP
to join the three in the kingdom of heaven.
Life for life. Substitution! The fact is
that there are an uncounted number Of
mothers who, after they have nayigated a
large family of children through all the
diseases of infancy and got them fairly
started up the Towering slope of boyhood
and girlhood, have only strength enough
left to die. They fade away. Some call it
consumption, some call it nervous prostra-
tion, some call it intermittent or malarial
indisposition, but l call it martyrdom of
the domestic circle. Life for life. Blood for
blood. Substitution!
A Sacrificing Mother.
Or perhaps the mother fingers long
enough to see a son get on the wrong road
and his former kindness becomes rough re-
ply when she expresses anxiety about him.
But she goes right on, looking carefully
after his apparel, remembering his every
birthday with some memento, and, when
he is brought home, worn out with dissi-
patton, nurses him till he gets well and
starts him again and hopes and expects and
prays and counsels and suffers until her
strength gives out and she fails. She is
going, and attendants, bending over her
pillow ask her if she has any message to
leave, and she makes great effort to say
something, but out of three or four min
utes of indistinct utterance they can catch
but three words, My poor boyP' The
simple fact is she died for him. Life for
life, Substitution