The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-06-20

AAtucS WVne pus b8o uOt1oE, WeuD on, tno
child went on. There ere all around us
the fragments Of blasted householda Oh,
II you have wsndered away, would Nike
to charm you back by the sound OF that
ono word, Home" Do you not know
that you have but little more time to give
to domestic wellares Do you not See
father, that your children are soon to 60
out into the world, and all the influence
for good you are to have over them you
must have nowi Death will break In on
your oonjugal relations and, alas II you
have to stand over the grave Of one who
persisted from your neglect.
I saw o wayward husband standing at
the deathbed Of his Christian wife, and /
saw her point to ring on her finger and
heard her say to her husband, "Do you
see that ringf" He replied, "Yes, l SEQ
It," "Well," said she, lido you remember
who put 1t theref" YES" said he, II
put 1t there" And all the past seemed to
rush upon him. BY tho memory Of that
day when In the presence Of men and
angels you promised to DO faithful in joy
and sorrow and in sickness and In health;
by the memory Of those pleasant hours
when you sat together In your new house
talking Of bright future; by the cradle
and the excited hour when one life was
spared and another given; by that sick
bed, when the little one lifted up tho
hands and called for help and you knew
no must die, and he put one arm around
each Of your necks and brought you very
near together in that dying kiss; by the
little grave in the cemetery that you never
think Of without rush Of tears; by the
family Bible, where in its stories of heav-
emily love is the brief but expressive record
Of births and deaths; by the neglects Of
the past and by the agonies Of the future;
by Judgment day when husbands and
wives, parents and children, in immortal
groups will stand to be caught up in shin
ing array Or to shrink down into darkness
by all that beg you to give to home
your best affections. look In your eyes
today, and I ask you the question that
Gehazi asked Of the Shunammite: "Is 1t
well with theep Is 1t we'll with thy hus-
band9 Is 1t we'll with thy childp" God
grant that 1t may be everlastingly WE'LL
Deciding Destiny.
Let ME say to all young men your style
of amusement will decide your eternal
destiny. Ono night l saw young man
at 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 intelligent forehead
He had stout chest; he had a robust de-
velopment. Splendid young man. Gull
tured young man. HOnored young man.
Why did he stop there while so many were
going up and down? The fact Is that ev-
cry man has good angel and bad angel
contending for the mastery of his spirit
And there was good angel and bad an
gel struggling with that young man s soul
at the corner of the street.
"Come with me-" said the good angel.
II will take you home. will spread my
wing over your pathway, will lovingly
escort you all through life, will bless
every cup you drink out of, every couch
you rest on, every doorway you enter;
will consecrate your tears when you weep,
your sweat when you toll, and ut the last
! will hand over your grave into the hand
of the bright angel of Christian resur-
rcction. In answer to your fathers petit
ton and your mothers prayer l have been
sent of the Lord out of heaven to be your
guardian spirit. Como with mel" said
the good angel in voice of unearthly
symphony. 1t was music like that which
drops from Lutte Of heaven when scraph
breathes on it, mo, no." said the bad
angel, como with Inc! have something
chalices Of bewitohing carousal, the dance
lead is over floor tessellated with unre-
strained indulgcnoes. There is no God to
frown on the temples of sin where I wor-
ship. The skies arc Italian. The paths
tread are through meadows daisied and
primrosed. Come with mel"
The young man hesitated at a time when
hesitation was ruin and the bad angel
smote the good angel until 1t departed,
spreading wings through the starlight up
ward and away until a door flashed open
in the sky and forever tho wings vanish
cd. That was the turning point in that
young mans history, for, the good angel
flown, no hcsitated no longer, but started
on a pathway which Is beautiful OF 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 jar that indicated that it
would never open.
Passed each portal, there was grinding
of locks and a showing Of bolts, and the
scenery on either side the road changed
from gardens to deserts, and the June air
become cutting December blast, and the
bright wings of the bad angel turned to
sackcloth and the eyes of light became hol-
low 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 scrpeEtS' And the
answer was "That is tho serpent Of sting
ing rcmorsc. On the left side of the road
there was lion, and the man asked the
bad angel, "What is that lion?" And tho
answer was, THAT is the lion of all de-
vouring despair" A vulture flew through
the sky, and the man asked the bad angel,
What is that vulturc?" And the answer
was, "That is the vulturc waiting for the
carcasscs 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 INC in this awful
convolution?" And the answer was "That
Is the worm that never diesp' And then
the man said to the bad angel: "What
does all this mcanf trusted in what you
said at the corner Of the street that night.
] trusted it all, and why have you thus
deceived mc?" Then the last deception
fell off the charmer, and 1t said: II was
sent forth from the pit to destroy your