The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1898-06-24

Won see that ring?'' He replied, eyes,
l zee it." "Well," said she, do you
remember who put it there?' Yes
said he, ~ put it there. y And all the
past seemed to rush upon him. by the
memory of that day, when IN the pres
ence Of men and angels you promised to
be faithful in joy and sorrow and IN
sickness and in health; by the memory
of those pleasant hours when you SAL TO-
gether in your new house talking OF
bright future by the cradle and the ex.
cited heur when one life was spared and
another given; by that sickbed, when
the little one lifted up the hands ana
called for help and you knew he must
die. and he put one arm around each OF
your necks and brought you very near
together in that dying kiss; by the lit
tie grave in the cemetery that you
never thing of without rush OF tears;
by the family Bible, where in its stories
of heavenly love is the brief but express
i've record of births and deaths; by the
neglects of the past and by the agonles
of the future; by a judgment day when
husbands and wives, parents and emil
dren. in immortal groups will stand to
be caught up in shining array or to
shrink down into darkness-by all that,
I beg you to give to home your best at
fections. I look in your eyes today, and
I ask YOU the question that Gehaz1 ask
ed of the Shunammite: SIS it well with
thee? Is it we'll with thy husband! Is 1t
well with thy child?', God grant that
it may be everlastingly well!
Let me say to all young men your
stvle of amusement will decide your
eternal destiny. One night | saw
Young man at a street corner evidently
doubling as to which direction he had
better take He had his hat lifted high
enough so you could see he had an in
telligent forehead. He had stout
chest; he had robust Development
Splendid young man. Cultured young
man. Honored young man. Why did
he stop there while so many were going
ND and down? The fact is that every
man has a good angel and bad an
gel contending for the mastery Of his
spirit And there was a good angel
and bad angel struggling with that
young mans soul at the corner of the
street.
"Come with me'' said the good an
gel, 81 will take you home, will
spread my wing over your pathway. l
will lovingly escort you all through
life. | will bless every cup you drink
out of, every couch you rest ON, every
doorway you enter. l will consecrate
|
when you toll, and at the last l will
hand over your grave into the hand OF
the bright angel Of Christian resur-
rection. In answer to your fathers pc
tition and your mothers prayer | have
been sent of the Lord out Of heaven to
be your guardian spirit. Come with
me, -" said the good angel i'll voice OF
unearthly symphony. TWAS music like
that which drops from lutte Of heaven
when a seraph breathes on it mo,
no." said the bad angel, "come with
me. I have something better to offer.
The wines | pour are from chalices OF
bewitching carousal. The dance | lead
is over floor tessellated with unrestra1n-
ed indulgences. There is no God to
frown on the temples of sin where
worship The skies are italian. The
paths | tread are through meadows
daisied and primrosed. Come with
me. The young man hesitated at
time when hesitation was ruin, and the
bad angel smote the good angel until 1t
departed, spreading wings through the
starlight upward and away, until a
door flashed open in the sky and forever
the wings vanished. That was the turn
ing point in that young mans history,
for, the good angel flown, he hesitated
no longer, but started on pathway
which is beautiful at the opening but
blasted at the last.
The bad angel, leading the way,
opened gate after gate, and at each gate
the road became rougher and the sky
more lurid, and, what was peculiar, as
the gate slammed shut it came to with
a Jar that indicated that it would never
open. Passed each portal, there was a
grinding of loc.,s and a showing Of
bolts, and the scenery on either side the
road changed from gardens to deserts,
and the June air became cutting De-
cember blast, and the bright wings Of
the bad angel turned to sackcloth, and
the eyes of light became hollow with
hopeless grief, and the fountains, that
at the start had tossed wine, poured
forth bubbling tears and foaming blood,
and on the right side of the road there
was serpent, and the man said to the
bad angel, "What is that serpent?'' and
the answer was, "That is the serpent
of stinging remorse." On the left side
of the road there was lion, and the
man asked the bad angel, "What is that
lion?' and the answer was, THAT Is
the lion of all devouring despair. A
vulture flew through the sky, and the
man asked the bad angel, "What is
that vulture?' and the answer was,
"That is the vulture waiting for the
carcasses of the slain" And then the
man began to try to pull off of him the
folds of something that had wound him
round and round, and he said to the bad
angel, "What is it that twists me in
this awful convolution?" and the an
swer was, "That is the worm that never
dies, " and then the man said to the bad
Al