Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1899-04-01

/ and the sound OF clashlng sabers rang
through the land, but the brightest
crowns in heaven, l believe, will be
given to those who trudged on>amid
chronic ailments which unnerved their
strength, yet all the time maintaining
their faith in God. 1t is comparatively
easy to fight in regiment of thou
sand men. charging up the parapets to
the sound of martial music, but it is not
80 easy to endure when no one but the
nurse and the doctor are the witnesses
of the Christian fortitude Besides that,
you never had any pains worse than
Christs. The sharpness that stung
through his brain, through his hands.
through his feet, through his heart,
were as great as yours certainly. He
was Ms sick and as weary Not nerve
or muscle or ligament escaped. All the
pangs of all the nations of all the ages
compressed into one sour cup. He took
the vinegarI
The SOurness of Poverty.
There is also the sourness of poverty.
Your income does not meet your out
goings, and that always gives an hon
est man anxiety. There is no sign Of
restitution about you-pleasant APP
pearance and cheerful home for you
but God only knows what time you
have had to manage your private
finances. Just as the bills run up the
wages seem to run down. You may say
nothing, but life to you is hard push,
and when you sit down with your wife
and talk over the expenses you both
rise up discouraged You abridge here,
and you abridge there, and you get
things snug for smooth sailing, and, 10,
suddenly there is large doctors bill
to pay, or you have lost your pocket
book, or some debtor has failed, and
you are thrown abeam end. Well, BROTH
er, you are in glorious company. Christ
owned not the house in which he stop
ped, or the colt on which he rode, or
the boat in which he sailed. He lived
in borrowed house. He was buried in
borrowed grave. Exposed to all kinds
of weather yet he had only one suit of
clothes. He breakfasted in the morning,
and no one could possibly tell where he
could get anything to eat before night
He would have been pronounced afnan-
cial failure He had to perform mir
acle to get money to pay tax bill. Not
dollar did he own. Privation of do
mesticity privation of nutritious food;
privation Of comfortable couch on
which to sleep privation of all worldly
resourcesl The kings of the earth had
chased chalices out Of which to drink,
but Christ had nothing but plain cup
set before him, and it was very sharp,
and it was very sour. He took the vim
egar.
There were years that passed along
before your FAMILY circle was invaded
bv death, but the moment the charmed
circle was broken everything seemed to
dissolve. Hardly have you put the black
apparel in the wardrobe before you
have again to take it out. Great and
rapid changes in your family record
You got the house and rejoiced in 1t,
but the charm was gone as soon as the
Grape hung on the doorbell. The one
upon whom you most depended was
taken away from you. A cold marble
slab lies on your heart today. Once, as
the children romped through the house,
you put your hand over your aching
head and saiu, .'Oh, if 1 could only
have it still" Oh. it is too still now.
You lost your patience when the tops
and the strings and the shells were left
amid floor but. oh, you would be will
ing to have the trinkets scattered all
over the floor again if they were scat
tered by the same hands.
With what ruthless plowshare be-
reavement rips up the heart But Jesus
knows all about that. You cannot tell
him anything now in regard to bereave-
ment. He had only few friends, and
when he lost one it brought tears to his
eyes. Lazarus had often entertained
him at his house Now Lazarus is dead
and buried, and Christ breaks down
with emotion, the CONFUSION Of grief
shuddering through all the ages OF be-
reayement. Christ knows what it is to
20 through the house missing familiar
inmate. Christ knows what it is to see
an unoccupied place at the table. Were
there not four of them-Mary and Mar
tina and Christ and Lazarusf -Four OF
them. But where is Lazarus2 Lonely
and afflicted Christ, his great loving
eyes filed with tears Oh, yes, yesl He
knows all about the loneliness and the
heartbreak. He took the vinegar
None Can Escape Death.
Then there is the sourness of the
death hour. Whatever else we may es-
cape, that acid sponge will be pressed
TO our lips sometimes have curlosi-
ty to know how I will behave when l
come to die. Whether I will be calm or
excited. whether will be filled with
"Reminiscences or with anticipation,
cannot say. But come to the point
must and you must An officer fin
! the future world will knock at the door
of our hearts and serve on us the writ OF
eiectment, and we will Lave to surren-
der. And we will wake up after these
autumnal and wintry and vernal and
! summary glories have vanished from
| our vision. We will wake up into
| realm which has only one season, and
that the season of everlasting love
But you say 81 don want to break
out from my present associations It ID
80 chilly and so damp to 60 down She
stairs of that vault l don't want any
thing drawn so tightly over my eye
If there were only some way of break
ing through the partition between
worlds without tearing this body all to
shredsl wonder if the surgeons and
the doctors cannot compound mixture
by which this body and soul can all the
time be kept together IL there no es
cape from this separation" None. abso
lutely none A great many men tumble
through the gates of the future, as 1t
were, and we do not know where they
have gone, and they only add gloom
and mystery to the passage, but Jesus
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