The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-12-27


way te start right Is TO put yourself
into companionship with the best friend
a Z man ever had-Christ the Lord.
He viii give You sequiposse amid the
support you in day Of loss. He viii dt-
rect You when you come to the forks OF
the road and know not which road TO
take He VIII guide you in your home
life. IL you are wise enough to have q
home or your own. II you live on TO
great prosperity. he viii show you how
projects fail. and you are put In finan-
eiai straits. he viii see to IL that that is
the best condition for your soul. and
the discipline and the hardship viii
you live on TO old age, he will make the
evening twilight as bright as and per-
haps brighter than was the morning
twilight, and when your work on earth
is done the gates OF a better world viii
open en- expansions and e-nrhronments
and felicities which 81. John describes.
sometimes as sometimes as
shaded streets and sometimes as a crys-
talline river and sometimes as an or
chestra with mighty instruments. blown
on by lips cherubic or thrummed by fin
fearless and songful and Respondent. so
that the mightiest calamity OF the uni
verse is the portion of that one who fails
TO enter IL.
SIN IS EXPENSIVE.
Young man. seek only elevating and
improving companionship. Do not let
the last scion of a noble family, a fell
low with 2 big name, but bad habits,
for he drinks and sAears and IS disso-
lutte, take your arm to walk down the
street or spend an evening with you,
either at your room or his room. Re-
member that sin is the most expensive
thing in Gods universe. 1 have read
that Sir Grasil, the knight. tired out with
the chase, had a falcon on his wrist, as
5 n did in days Of faleonry; when with
bring down cartridges or grouse or
pigeons, and being very thirsty came to
a stream struggling from a rock, and.
took the bugle which he carried, and,
stopping the m~outhpiece of his bugle
with a tuft of moss, he put this extern
ported cup under the water which came
down drop by drop from the rock until
the cup was full, and then lifted it to
drink, when the. falcon he had released
with sudden Swoop dashed the cup from
his hand. By the same process he filled
the cup again and was about to drink
when the falcon by another swoop dash
ed down the cup. Enraged- at this inso-
lence and violence of the bird, he cried,
Il will wiring thy neck if thou doest
that again" But. having filed the cup a
third time and trying to drink a third
time, the falcon dashed it down. Then
Sir Brasil with his fist struck the bird,
which fiuttered and looked lovingly and
r~eproachfuHy at him and dropped dead.
Then Sir Brasil, looking up to the top of
the rock whence dripped the water, saw
a great green serpent coiled fold above
fold, the venom from his mouth dropping
into that from which Sir Brasil had filled
his cup. Then exclaimed the knight,
What a kind thing it was for the fall
con to dash down that poisoned cup, and
what a sad thing that I killed him, and
what q narrow escape ] had!" So now
there are no more certainly waters that
refresh than waters that poison This
moment there are thousands Of young
men, un%wittingly and not knowing what
they do, taking. into their bugle cup of
earthly joy that which is deadly be-
cause it drips from the jaws of that old
serpent, the devil, and the dove of God
spirit in kindly warning dashes down the
cup, but again it. is filled and again
dashed down. Why o turn away and
slakeyour thirst at the clear, bright.
perennial fountain that breaks from the
Rock of Ages, a fountain so wide and SO
deep that all the inhabitants of earth
and all the armies of heaven may stoop
down and fill their chalices?