The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1898-06-24

standing at the death bed of his Chris
tian wife, and ! saw her point TO
ring on her finger and heard her say
to her husband. DO you see that ringP"
He replied, Yes, see it," Well
said she, do you remem Der who put
it there2" YES" said he, ~ put it
there" And all the past seemed to
rush upon him. BY the memory of
that day, when in the presence of men
and angels you promised to be faith
full in joy and sorrow, and in sickness
and in health; by the memory of
those pleasant hours when you sat to-
gether in your new house talk
ing of a 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
the hands and called for help and you
knew he must die, and he put an arm
around each of your necks and brought
you very near together in that dying
kiss; by the little grave in the ceme-
terry that you never think of without
rush of tears by the family Bible,
where in its stories of heavenly love
is the brief but impressive record of
births and deaths; by the neglects of
the past and by the agonies of the flu
ture; by a judgment day when hus-
bands and wives, parents and children,
immortal groups will stand To be
caught up in shining array or to
shrink down into darkness-by all
that, ! beg you to give to home your
best affections.
Let me say to all young men, your
style of amusement will decide your
eternal destiny. One night l saw a
young man at a street corner evident
ly doubling as TO which direction he
had better take. lie had his hat lifted
high enough so you could see he had
an intelligent forehead. He had a
stout chest; he had a robust develop
ment. 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 every man has a
good angel and a bad angel con-
tending for the mastery of his
spirit And there was good angel
and bad angel struggling with that
young mans soul at the corner
of the street Come with me-" said
the good angel, 81 will take you home
l will spread my wing over your path
way. will lovingly escort you all
through life l will bless every cup
you drink out of, every couch you rest
on, every doorway you enter. l will
consecrate your tears when you weep,
your sweat when you toll, and at the
last l will hand over your grave into
the hand of the bright angel of a
Christian resurrection. In answer to
your fathers petition and your moth
er's prayer l have been sent of the
Lord out of Heaven to be your guardian
spirit. Come with mew said the good
angel, in a voice of unearthly sym
phony. 1t was music like that which
drops from lutte of Heaven
when a seraph breathes on it.
mo, no." said the bad angel, come
with me; j have some thing better to
offer; the wines ! pour are from
chalices Of bewitching carousal; the
dance lead is over floor tessellated
with unrestrained indulgence; there is
no God to frown on the temples of sin
where / worship. The skies are
Italian. The paths tread are through
meadows daisied and primrosed; come
with me-" The young man hesitated
at time when hesitation was ruin,
and the bad angel smote the good
angel until it departed, spreading
wings through the starlight upward
and away, until door flashed open in
the sky and forever the wings van
ished That was the turning point in
that young mans history; for, the good
angel flown, he hesitated no longer,
but started on a pathway which is beau
tiful at 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 de-
serts and the June air became cut
ting December blast, and the bright
wings of the bad angel turned to
sackcloth and the eyes of light be.
came hollow 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 serpent?' and the answer
was: THAT is the serpent of singing
remorse" On the left side of the road
there was lion, and the man asked
the bad. angel: What is that lonP"
and the answer was: THAT . the
lion of all-devouring despair" A vul-
ture flew through the sky, and the
man asked the bad angel; What is
that vulture?" and the answer was:
THAT is the vulture waiting for the
carcases of the slain" Aud 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 il that
twists me in this awful convulsion?"