Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1900-08-06

worldIiness. His sins are SO broad he
has to broaden his religion, and he be-
comes as broad as temptation, as
broad as the souls darkness, as broad
as hell. They want a religion that will
allow them to keep their sins and then
at death say to them, well done, good
and faithful servant" and that tells
them, 'AlI is well, for there is no hell"
What glorious heaven they hold be-
fore US! Come, let us go in and see it.
There are Herod and all the babes he
massacred. There are Charles Guiteau
and Robespierre, the feeder of the
French guillotine, and all the liars,
thieves, house burners garroters, pick
pockets and libertines of all the centu-
ries. They have all got crowns and
thrones and harps and scepters, and
when they chant they sing, Thanks
giving and honor and glory and power
to the broad religion that let's us all
into heaven without repentance and
without faith in those humiliating dog
mas Of ecclesiastical old fogyism."
My text gives me grand opportuni-
ty of saying a useful word to all young
men who are now forming habits for
a lifetime. OF what use to stone
mason or a bricklayer is plumb line?
Why not build the wall by the unaided
eye and hand? Because they are in
sufficient, because if there be a def1ec-
ton in the wall it cannot further on be
corrected. Because, by the law Of
gravitation, a wall must be straight in
order to be symmetrical and safe. A
young man is in danger of getting a
defect in his wall Of character that
may never be corrected.
A Solid Foundation.
Remember that the wall may be 100
feet high, and yet detection one foot
from the foundation affects the entire
structure. And if you live 100 years
and do right the last so years you may
nevertheless do something at 20 years
of age that will damage all your earth
ly existence. All you who have built
houses for yourselves or for others,
am I not right in saying to these young
men, You cannot build a wall so high
as to be independent of the character
of it's foundation? A man before 80
years of age may commit enough sin
to last him a lifetime. Now, John or
George or Henry or whatever be your
Christian name or surname, say here
and now: mo wild oats for me, no
cigars or cigarettes for me, no wine
or beer for me, no nasty stories for me,
no Sunday sprees for me. l am going
to start right and keep on right. God
help me, for I am very weak. From
the throne of eternal righteousness, let
down to me the principles by which
h -, II,
from foundation to capstone. Lord
God, by the wounded hand of Christ,
throw me plumb line"
But" you say, ''you shut us young
folks out from all fun" Oh, no! I
like fun. 1 believe in fun. 1 have
had lots of it in my time. But l have
not had to go into paths Of sin to find
it. No credit to me, but because of an
extraordinary parental example and in
fluence l was kept from outward trans
gressions. though my heart was bad
enough and desperately wicked have
had fun illimitable, though l never
swore one oath and never gambled for
so much as the value of q pin and
never saw the inside of haunt of sin
save as when many years ago, with
commissioner of police and a detective
and two elders of my church, l eXplor-
ed New York and Brooklyn by mid
night not out of curiosity, but that l
might in pulpit discourse set before
the people the poverty and the hor-
rors of underground city life. Yet,
though l was never intoxicated for an
instant and never committed one act
of dissoluteness, restrained only by the
II; al,
I would have gone headlong to the
bottom of infamy, [ have had so much
fun that L don't believe there is a man
on the planet at the present time who
has had more. Hear it, men and boys,
women and girls, all the fun is on the
side of right. Sin may seem attractive,
but it is beautiful, and like the man.
chineel q tree whose dews are poison
Gus. The only genuine happiness is in
Christian life.
No Pleasure In Sin.
There they go, two brothers. The one
was converted a year ago in church
one Sunday morning during prayer or
sermon or hymn. No one knew it at the
time. The persons on either side of
him suspected nothing, but in that
young mans soul this process went on:
Lord, here l am, young man amid
the temptations of city life, and I am
afraid to risk them alone. Come and
be my pardon and my help. Save me
from making the mistake some of my
comrades are making, and save me
now" And quicker than a flash God
rolled heaven into his soul. He is just
as jolly as he used to be, is just as
brilliant as he used to be. He can
strike a ball Or catch one as easily as
before he was converted. With gun
or fishing rod in this summer vacation