The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-01-12
AS THE TREE FALLS.
NO Matter in What Direction, Thereit Shall
Lie.


world with the innocence of infancy?
In the other case, starting in the
other world, he starts with the accu-
mulated bad habits of lifetime. Is
it not to be expected that you could
build better ship out of new timber
than out of an old hulk that has been
ground up in the breakers? Ii start
ing with comparative inuoeency the
man does not become godly, is it pos
sible that starting with sin seraph
can be evoluted? Is there not more
f; prospect that sculptor will make a
| finer statue out of a block of pure,
white Parian marble than out OF a
black rock that has been cracked and
twisted and split and Scared with the
storms of half a century? Could you
not write last will and testament, or
write deed, or write an important
document on pnrc white sheet of pa
per easier than you could write it up
on a sheet scribbled all over with in
fanny and blotted and torn from top to
bottom? And yet there are those
who are so uncommon sensical as to
believe that though man starts in
this world with infancy and it's inno-
cence and turns out badly. in the next
world he can start with dead failure
and turn out we'll.
"But,' say some people. I'VE ought
to have another chance in the next
world because our life here is so very
brief. We scarcely have room to turn
around between the cradle and the
grave, the wood Of the one almost
striking against the marble of the
other. We ought to have another
chance because of the breyity Of this
life" My friends, do you know what
made the ancient deluge a necessity?
1t was the longevity of the antedl-
luvians. They were worse in the
second century than in the FIRST, and
worse when they got 300 years old,
and worse at 400, and worse at 500,
and worse at 800, and worse at 800,
until the world had to be washed and
secured and scrubbed and soaked and
sunk and anchored whole month un-
der water before it was fit for decent
people to live in. [ haue seen many
pictures of old Time with his scythe
to cut, but never saw any pictures
of Time with chest of medicines to
heal. Seneca said that in the first
few years of his public life Nero was
set up as an example of cleanliness
and kindness, but he got worse and
worse, the path descending, until at
68 years Of age he was suicide. Ii
500 years of lifetime could not cure
the antediluvians Of their iniquity, [
undertake to say that all the ages Of
eternity would be only prolongation
of dcpravity.
'sBut," says some one. 'in,the next
life the evil surroundings will be
withdrawn and good influences will be
substituted, and hence expurgation,
sublimation, glorifcation.' But you
must remember that the righteous, all
their sins forgiven, pass right up into
beati6c state, and then having pass
ed up into the bsatifc state, not need
ing any other chance, that will leave
all those who have never been for
given, and who wereimpenitent, alone
-alone-and where are the salvable
influences to come from? Can it be
expected that DR.. Duff, who spent his
whole life in pointing the llindoos to
heaven, and DR.. Abeel, who spent his
life in ,evangelizing China, and that
Judson, who spent his life i'll preach
ing the Gospel to Burma-can it be
expected that they will be sent down
from some celestial missionary socle-
ty to educate and save those who
wasted their earthly existence? No.
We are told distinctly that all mis-
sionary and evangelistic influences
will be ended forever, and the good,
having psascd up to their bcatific
state, all the morally bankrupt will be
together, and where are the salvable
influences to come from? Will a
specked or bad apple put in a barrel
Of diseased apples make the other ap-
pies good? Will one who is down be
able to lift others up? Will those
who have miserably failed in the busi-
ness of this life be able to pay the
debts of other spiritual insolvcnts?:
Will a million wrongs make one right?
Poneropolis was the city where King
Rufus of Thracia put all bad people of
his kingdom, and whenever there