The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1898-04-08

that mans conduct, but temper tt Wltl
mercy
But. you say ~ ann sorry that the
innocent should sufItr. Yes lam, too
sorry for the widows and orphans
who lost their all by THAT dedication
! am sorry also for the business men,
the honest business men, who have bad
their affairs AN crippled by that defal-
cHtiJu am sorry for Che venerable
bank president to whom the credit OF
the bank wa q matter Of pride. Yes,
] ana sorry also for that man who
brought all The distress; sorry that no
sacrificed body mind s9ul, reputation,
Heaven and went into the blackuess OF
darkness forever
You dedantly say: 81 could not be
tempted in that way Perhaps you
may be tested after awhile. God has a
very good memory, and lie sometimes
seems to say This man feels 30
strong ia his innate power and good
ness he shall BE- tested be is 80 full Of
bitter inyeetiye against that %uuf0rtu-
uato, IL shall be shown now whether
lie has the power 10 stand Fifteen
years 20 by. The wheel Of fortune
turns several times, and you are In q
crisis that you never could have autici-
pated Now, all the powers Of dark
ness come around, and they chuclde
and they chatter and they say. 'Ahal
here Is The old fellow who was so proud
Of his integrity, and who Dragged he
couldn't be overthrowu by temptation,
and was 80 uproarious in his demon
STATIONS OF Indignation Ut the detalca-
lion 10 years ago. Let MS see!'
God lets the man go, God, who had
kept that man under His protecting
care, let's the man go, and try for him
self the majesty of his integrity. God
letting the man 60, the powers Of dark
ness pounce upon him see you some
day in your Office in great excitement.
One Of two things you can do. BE hon-
est, and be pauperized, and have your
children brought home from school,
your family d]ethroned in social
influence. The other thing is, you
can step a little aside from that
which is right, you can only just 60
hall Va inch out Of the proper path, you
can only take d little risk, and then
you have all your finances fair and
right, You viii have a large property,
You can leave a fortune for your chill
drsn, and endow a college, build o
public library in your native town.
You halt and wait, and halt and wait
until your lips get white, You decide
TO risk 1t. Only a few strokes of the
pen now. But, oh, how your hand
tremhlesl The die is cast. BY the strang-
est and most awful conjunction of cir
cumstanees anyone could have imag-
ined, you are Frustrated Bankruptcy,
commercial humiliation, exposure,
crime. Good men mourn and devils
hold carnival, and you see your own
name at the head Of the newspaper
column In a whole congress of ex-
clamation points; and while you are
reading the anathemu in the r]eportOrial
and editorial paragraph, II occurs to
you how much this story is like thai Of
the d~etaleation fifteen years ago, and
O clap OF thunder shakes the window
sill, saying; "With what measure ye
mete, it shall be measured to you
again.
You look ia another direction. There
is nothing like ebulitious Of temper to
put a man 10 disadvantage. You, a
man y7yiFh 4aIr, y,tgTe.r a.-4 Is d., lt-.n
ton and perfect health, can not UNDER
stand how anybody should be capsized
ia temper by an inGuitesimal annoy
anCe, You say: II couldn't be unbal-
anced in chat way" Perhaps You smile
at a provocation that makes another
man swear You pride yourself on your
impertmbabtltty You say with your
manner, though you have too much
good taste 10 say it with your words.
II have a great deal more sense than
that man has, I have a great deal more
equipoise Of temper than that man has;
] mover could make such a puerile ex-
hibitiou Of myself as that man has
made"
In the study Of society / have come
to this conclusion, that the most Of the
people want to be good, but they do
not exactly know how 10 make it out.
They make enough good resolutions to.
lift them into angelhood. The vast
majority Of people who fall are the
victims Of circumstances. They are
captured by ambuscade. If their temp
]tations should come out in a regiment
and fight them Ia a fair field they
would GO out in The strength and the
triumph of David against Goliath But
they do not see the giants and they do
not see the regiment, Temptation
comes and says; Take these bitters,
take this nervine, take this aid To d.
gestion, take this night cap The
vast majority of men and women who
are destroyed by opium and by rum
first take them as medicines In max
ing mp your dish Of criticism in regard
70 them, take from the caster and the
cruet Of sweet OH and not the cruet Of
cayenne pepper.
Do you know how that physician.
0N-h AnN 1A1 bAhb became
the victim Of dissipation? Why, the
physician was kept up night by night
on professional duty. Life and death
lowered in the balance. His nervous sys.
tenn was exhausted. There came d time
Of epidemic, aud whole families were
FRUSTRATED, and his nervous strength
gone. He was all WORN out in the
Of the public. Now he must
brace himself up Now he stimulates.
The life Of this mother, the life of this
child, the life Of this father, the life Of
this whole family must be saved, and
ofaI these families must DO saved, and
he stimulates, and be does it again and
You may crlticise his iudQ
nent, but remember the process. 1t
was not q selfish process by which he
went down. It was magnificent gem
crosby through which he fell.
sec the scribes Of Heaven booking