Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1898-09-08

JOun MIlCOu-KIodL 6uu kOVu OOuu
ton-so far forgot himself as to pray. in 50
many words, that hts enemies might be
eternally thrown down into the darkest and
deepest gulf OF He'll. and be the undermost
and most detected. and the lowest down
vassals OF perdition! And Martin Luther
his theological opponents: "Put them in
whatever sauce YOU please, roasted, or
fried, or baked, or stewed. or boiled, or
hashed, they are nothing but asses!' Ahs
my friends. IL John Milton or Martin Luther
could come down to such scurrillty, what
may you not expect from less elevated op-
ponents?
Now, a certain amount OF persecution
rouses mans defiance. stirs his blood for
magnificent battle and makes him fifty
times more man than he would have been
without the persecution. So 1t was with
the great Reformer when he said, II will
not be put down, I will be heard" And so
1t was with Millard, the preacher. in the
time of Louis XI. When Louis XI. sent
word to him that unless he stopped preach.
ing In that style he wouldsthrow him into
the river. he replied, "Tell the king that
will reach Heaven sooner by water than he
will reach it by fast horses" A certain
amount Of persecution is tonic and in
spiration but too much Of it, and too long
continued, becomes the rock Bozez throw
ing dark shadow over mans life. what
is he to do then2 Go home. you say. Good
advice that. That is just the place for
man to go when the world abuses him.
There are many homes in which there Is
no sympathy, and no happiness, and no
good cheer. The clamor Of the battle
NAV not have been heard outside; but
God knows, notwithstanding all the
playing of the Wedding March,"
and ali the odor of the orange blossoms,
tor, there has been no marriage. So
sometimes men have awakened to find on
one side of them the rock of persecution,
and on the other side of them the rock OF
domestic infelicitv. What shall such one
dor Doas Jonathan did-climb. Get up
the heights of Gods consolation, from
which you may look down in triumph upon
outside persecution and home trouble.
While good and great John Wesley was be-
ing silenced by the magistrates, and hav-
ing his name written on the board
fences OF London in doggerel at that
very time his wife was making him as mis-
cradle as she could-acting as though she
were possessed by the Devil, as 1 suppose
she was; never doing him kindness until
the day she ran away, so that he wrote in
his diary these words: II did not forsake
her; I have not dismissed her; will not re-
call her." Planting one foot upon outside
persecution, and the other foot on home
trouble, John Wesley climbed up into the
heights of Christian Joy. and after preach
ing forty thousand sermons, and travelling
two hundred and seventy thousand miles,
reached the heights of Heaven, though in
this world he had 1t hard enough-''a sharp
rock on the one side. and sharp rock on
the other"
Again, that woman stands In the crisis OF
the text who has bereavem ent and strug-
gle for livelihood at the same time. With
out mentioning names, speak from obser-
vation. All, it is a hard thing for woman
to make an honest living, even when her
l. ,.< Il, - Aro lad CHI hoc n fof
cheek, and the magnetism Of an exquisite
presence. But now the husband, or the
father, is dead. The expenses OF the obse-
ques have absorbed all that was left In the
savings bank; and, wan and wasted with
weeping and watching, she goes forth-a
grave, a hearse, a coffin behind her-to
contend for her existence and the existence
of her children. When see such a battle
as that open, shudder at the ghastliness
Of the spectacle. Men sit with embroidered
slippers and write heartess essays about
womens wages; but that question is made
up of tears and blood, and there is more
blood than tears. Oh, give woman free ac-
cess to all the realms where she can get
livelihood, from the telegraph office to the
pulpit Let mems wages be cut down be-
fore hers are cut down. Men have iron in
their souls, and can stand 1t. Make the
way free to her of the broken heart. May
God put into my hand the cold, bitter cup
windowless hut for shelter for many years,
rather than that after l am dead there
should go out from my home into the pitt
less world woman's arm to fight the Get
tysburg, the Austerlitz, the Waterloo Of life
for breadl And yet, how many women
there are seated between the rock of be-
reavement on the one side and the rock Of
destitution on the other! Bozez and Seneh
their shadows and dropping
them upon their miserable way. "There is
a sharp rock ON the one side, and sharp
rock on the other side.'
What are such to do? Somehow, let
them climb up into the heights OF the
glorious promise: "Leave the fatherless
children, will preserve them alive, and
let thy widows trust in Me-" Or get up
into the heights of that other glorious
promise: "The Lord preserveth the
stranger, and relieveth the widow and the
fatherless." Oh, ye sewing women, on
starving wages! Oh, ye widows, turned
out from the once beautiful home! oh,
female teachers, kept on niggardly stipendl
Oh, We despairing women, seeking In vain
for work, wandering along the docks, and
thinking to throw yourselves into the river
last night! Oh, ye women OF weak nerves,
and aching sides, and short breath, and
broken heart, you need something more
than human sympathy; you need the SYM
pathy Of God. Climb up into His arms.
He knows 1t all, and He loves you more
than father, or mother, or husband ever
could or ever did; and, instead Of sitting
down, wrngine your hands in despair, you
had better begin to climb. There are
heights of consolation for you, though now
"there is a sharp rock on the one side, and
a sharp rock on the other SIDE"
Oh, then, accept the wholesale Invitation
which I make this day to all tho peoplel
Come up from between your invalidism and
financial embarrassments. Come up from
between your bereavements ard your des-
titution. Come up from between wasted
life and an unillumined eternity. Like
J Jonathan, climb up with all your might,
instead of sitting down to wiring your hands
in the shadow and in the darkness ia
sharp rock on the one side, and q sharp
rock ON the other side"