Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1899-04-08

catholic church and in the communion Of
saints and i'm the life everlasting Amen. "
oh. when | see Elcazar taking such a
stout grip IT the sword in the battle
against sin and for righteousness. come
Ia the conclusion that we ought to take a
stouter grip Of Gods eternal ;ruth-the
sword of Righteousness.
spirit of Self ForEetfuIness.
As look at Eleazars hand | also no
tice his spirit Of self forgctfulness. He did
not notice that the hlt of the sword was
eating through the palm Of his hand He
did not know il hurt him As he went
out into the conflict he was so anxious for
the victory he forgot himself. and that
hilt might go never 50 deeply into the
palm u his hand. IL could not disturb him.
" lis hand clave unto the sword Oh,
my brothers and sisters let w. 20 into the
Christian conflict with the spirit of self
abnegation Who cares whether the world
praises us or dcnounces u.s. What do we
care for misrepresentation or abuse or
persecution in a conflict like thisf Let us
forget ourselves. That man who is afraid
of getting his hand hurt will never kill a
Philistine. Who cares whether you get
hurt or not If you get the victory oh,
how many Christians there are who are
all the time worrying about the way the
world treats them. They are 80 tired and
they are So abused, and they are 50 tempt
ed, when Eleazar did not think whether
he had a hand or an arm or foot All he
wanted was victory.
We see how men forget themselves in
worldly achievement We have often seen
men who. in order to achieve worldly sue
cess. viii forget all physical fatigue and
4 r.
the battle of Yorktown. in the American
Revolution, "A musician, wounded, was
told he must have his limbs amputatcd,
and they were about 10 fasfcn him 10 the
surgeon table for il was long before the
merciful discovery of annsthctics. lie said,
mo, don't fasten me To that table: get
me violin" A violin was brought to
him, and he said, Now go tn work as
begin To play" and for 40 minutes, dur
ing the awful pangs Of amputation, he
moved not muscle nor dropped "A note,
while he played some sweet tune. oh, is
1t not strange that with the music Of the
gospel Of Jesus Christ and with this grand
march of the church militant on the way
10 become the church triumphant we can
not forget ourselves and forget all pang
and all sorrow and all persecution and all
perturbation:
We know what men accomplish under
worldly opposition. Men do not shrink
back for antagonism or for hardship. You
have admired Prcscott's Conquest Of
Mexico. as brilliant and beautiful his
tory rs was ever written. but some Of you
may not know under what disadvantages
IL was writtcn-that Conquest Of Mex
ico'-for Prescott was totally blind, and
he had two pieces of wood parallel To each
other fastened, and. totally blind, with his
pen between those pieces Of wood. he
wrote, the stroke against one piece Of wood
telling how far the pen must go in one
way, the stroke against the other piece Of
wood telling how far the pen must go the
other way. Oh, how much men will en-
dure for worldly knowledge and for world
ly Success, and yet how little we endure
for Jesus Christ How many Christians
there are that 20 around saying: oh. my
hand. oh. my hand, my hurt hand Don't
you see there Is blood on the hand. and
there j. blood ON the sword:" while
Eleazar. with the hilt imbedlded in the
flesh Of his right hand. does not know it.