The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-03-31

liz 1a1L LndE W. ot0AAA 49,
one and the same platform. Do not
AXE on any airs. Whatever position
you have gained in society you are
nothing but a man, born of the same
parent, regenerated by the same spirit,
cleansed in the same blood, to lie dow
in the same dust, to get up in the same
resurrection. It is high time that We
all acknowledged not only the Father
hood OF God, but the brotherhood or
man
TO KEEP HIS HEART RIGHT.
the fact that 1t is a very hard thing for
a man 10 keep his ear right and TO
get TO heaven. Infinite temptations
spring upo us from these places Of
public ~concourse. Amid so much afdu-
ence, how much temptation to covet-
BUSINESS and to be discontented with our
humble lot! Amid so many opportuni-
ties, for o~verreachdng what temptation
to extortion! Amid SO much display,
what temptation TO vanity! Amid 30
many saloons Of strong drink, what al
lurement to dissipation! In the mael-
stroms and he'll gates Of the street how
many make quick and eternal ship
wreck II a man-of-war comes back
from a battle and is towed into the
navy yard, We go down to look at the
splintered spars and count the bullet
holes n look with patriotic admira-
ton On the flag that foated in victory
from the masthead. But that man is
more of a curiosity who has gone
through 80 years OF the s~harpshootng
OF business life and yet sails on, victor
over the temptations Of the street. Oh,
how many have gone down under the
pressure, leaving not so much as he
patch of canvas to tell where they per-
! ished! They never had any peace. Their
d~ishonesties kept tolling in their ears.
If I had an AK and could split open the
beams of that fine house, perhaps I
would find in the very heart of it a
skeleton. In his very best wine there is
a smack of poor mans sweat. Oh, is it
TRANCE that when a man has devOured
widows houses he is disturbed with in
digestion? All the forces Of nature are
against him. The floods are ready to
drown him, and the earthquake to
swallow him and the fires to consume
him and the 'ightningS to smite him.
But the children Of God are on every
street, an d in the day when the crowns
of heaven are distributed some of the
brightest of them will be given to those
men who were faithful to God and
| faithful to the souls Of others amid the
marts of business, proving themselves
the heroes of the street. Mighty were
their temptations, mighty was their de-
l~iverance and mighty shall be their tri-
umph.
Again, the street impresses me with
the fact that life is full Of pretension
and sham. What subterfuge, what
double dealing, what two-facedness!
Do all people who wish you good morn
ing really hope you a happy day? Do
all the people who shake hands love
each other? Are all those anxious about
your health who inquire concerning it?
Do all want to see you who ask you to
call? Does all the world know half as
much as it pretends to know? Is there
-nt nrr ~fAa1y ~oo1n
with a brilliant show window? Passing
up and doWn the streets to your bust
ness and your work, are you not i'm
pressed with the fact that society is
hollow and that there are subterfuges
and pretensions? Oh, 10Y many there
are who swagger n strut, and how
few people who are natural and walk!
While tops shipper and fools chuckle
and simpletons giggle, how few people
are natural and laugh! The courtesan
and the libertine &c down the street in
beautiful apparel, while within the
heart there are volcanoes OF passion
consuming their life away. / say these
things not to create in you incredulity
or misanthropy, nor do I forget there
are thousands OF people a great zeal
better than they seem, but I do not
think any man is prepared for the con-
f1ict of this life until he knows this
particular peril. Ehud comes pretend
ing to pay his tax to King Eglon, and
while he stan in front of the king,
stabs him through with a dagger until
the haft went in after the blade. Judas
Iscariot kissed Christ.
FIELD FOR CHRISTIAN CHARITY
Again, the street impresses me with
the fact that it is a great field fol-
Christian charity. There are hunger
and suffering, and want and wretch
dness in the country, but these evils
chiefly co~ngregated in our great cities
On every street crime prowls, and
drunkenness staggers, and shame
winks, and pauperism thrusts out its
hand asking for aims. Here wan Is
most squalid and hunger is most lean
A Christian man, going along a street
in New York, saw a poor lad, and he
stopped and said, MY boy, do yor
know how to read n writer" The
boy made no answer. The man asked
the question twice and thrice, "Car
you read and write?" And then the
boy answered, with a tear FLASHING or
the back of his hand. He said in de.
f1ance: mo, sir; I can't read mol
write, neither. God, sir, dom want me
to read and write. Didn't he take away
my father so long ago I never remem'
bered to have seen him? And haven
L a to go along the streets to gel
something to fetch home to eat for thu
IOikS Anu ulun [ i, as SOOn as L COulC
carry a basket, have to go out ant
pick up cinders and never lave NJ
schooling, sir? God don't want me tt
read, sir. I can't read nor write, Meth
err" Oh, these poor wanderers They
have no chance. Born in degradation
as they get up from their hands an(
knees to walk, they take their first steI
on the road to despair. Let US go fortl
in the name of the Lord Jesus Chris
to rescue them. Let us ministers no
be afraid of soiling our black clothe!
while we go down on that mission
While we are tying an elaborate kno
in u cravat or while we are in tn
study rounding off some period rhetor
ically we might be saving a SOU from
death and hiding a multitude of sins
o Christian laymen, go out on thi!
work! If you are not willing to go fortl
yourself, then give Of our means, an(
if you are too lazy to go, and il yo,
are too stingy to help, then get out O.
the way and hide yourself in the den
and caves Of the earth, lest, wheI
Christ's chariot comes along tn
L1--1 o~ to- ~