Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1900-01-18

club. calling themselves Society OF tho
Drnids." They met regularly to deride
and damage Christianity. One night in
their awful meeting they burned q Bible
and Administered the sacrament to q dog.
Two OF them died that night. Within three
days three were drowned. In five years all
the tbirty-six came to q bad end. Before |
justices Of the peace il was sworn that two
were starved to death, seven were drowned,
eight were shot, five committed suicide,
seven died on the gallOws, one was frozen !
to death and three died accidentally. Incl
dents like that, sworn TO, would balk any
proposed irreverent and blasphenous be-
haviOr.
In what way could the fact that infdei.
ity will not help any one die we'll be go
powerfully presented as by the incident
concerning a man falling Ill in Paris just
alter the death OF Voitaire, when a profess
sionai nurse was called in, and she asked,
Is the gentleman a Christian:' why do
you ask that said the messenger. The
nurse replied, 81 an the nurse who attend
Cd Voltaire in his last illness. and for all
the wealth OF Europe would never see an
other lniidel die What discourse in its
moral and spiritual effect could equal a
tale like that
You might argue upon the fact that those
fallen are our brothers and sisters. but
could we i'm press any one with such n truth
so we'll as by the scene near Victoria Park,
London, where men were digging a deep
Graln, ana the snoring gave way ana u
great pile Of earth fell upon the workmen.
A man stood there with his hands in his
pockets. looking at those who were trying
to shovel away the earth from those who
were buried, but when some one said TO the
spectator, bill, your brother is down
there then the spectator threw oil his
coat ard went TO work with an agony OF
earnestnes3 TO fetch up bis brother. What
course Of argument could 50 we'll az that
incident set forth that when we toll for tho
salvation Of 4 soul it IS a brother whom We
are trying to save
second rea.ling Of my teAt reminds me
til life i not only a story told, but that
il 3 "A brief story. A long narrative
s. .etchel out indefinitely loses its interest.
1t is generally the story that takes. only &
minute or half u minute to rehearse that
arrests the attention. And that gives adj
iitional interest TO the story OF our life. 1t
is IL short story. Subtract from our life all
the hours Of Necessary sleep, all the hours
OF i~ncapacity through fatigue OK illness, all
the hours OF childhood and youth before
We get fairly to work, and you have abbre-
waited the story of life go much that you
can appreciate the psaimist's remark when
he says, Thou hast made my days as q
hanG's BREADTH and can appreciate the
apostle James expression when he com
pares life to "a yapor that appeareth for u
little season and then vanishes away"
1t does not take long to tell all the vi
cissitudes OF liie-the Sladnes5 and tho
griefs, the arrivals and the departures,
the successes and the failures, the victor
les and the defeats, the ups and the downs.
The longer we live the shorter tho years.
We hardly get over the bewilderinG fatigue
Of selecting gifts for children and friends
and see that the presents get of in
time to arrive on the appropriate day
than we see another advancing group
OF holidays. Autumnal fruit 50 sharp
~ chases the summer harvest, and the
Lnarr, ~ fpn v-Iita l1nccnupo ~ Crrinp
time come too soon after the snows OF
winter. 1t is IL remark SO often made
tEat it fails u make any impression and
the platitude that calls forth no reply,
; "How rapidly time goes
Every century is 4 big wheel Of years,
which makes Il hundred revolutions and
breaks down. Every year is a big wheel OF
! months ard makes twelve revolutions and
then ceases. Biologists and theOlogians
go into Celebrations OF guesses as to how
long the world will probably last: how
long beforethe volcanic forces will explode
4 it. or meteoric stroke demolish it, or the
cold of Il long winter freeze out its popula-
I ton, or the fires Of q last confagration
a burn it. That is all very we'll, but so far
t as the present population Of the earth is
concerned the world will last but Il little
| longer. We begin life with Il cry and end
it with n groan, and the cry and the groan
n are not far apart. Life, Job says. is like
the fight OF a Weaver's shuttle, or, rs
David intimates i'll my text, n story quick
: ~ told and laughed at and gone and dis
placed by another story as u tale that Is
$ told"
l We talk about public life and private
life, but there is no private life. The story
Of our life, however Insignificant it may
+, seem to be, will win the applause or hiss
u Of a great multitude that no man can mum
Il Der. AS a tale that is told" among ad.
, mirers or antagonists, celestials or pande-
/ n n tina tIar a Sn fIll ~ IN ~
= ears as we'll as Of cleaning eyes. II
: we say or do the right thing, that is known
II We say or do the wrong thing, that is
= known. suppose the population Of the
intelligences in the air is more numerous
l. than the population of intelligences on the
= earth. Oh, that the story Of our life might
be tit for such an audience in such an au-
= dltortum! God grant that wisdom ano
y fidelity and earnestness and truth nay
II characterize the tale that is told"
Through medical science the worlds
longevity may be greatly improved in the
future, as it has been in the past, but it
would not be we'll for the people to live too
y long. SOM OF them would, through theil
= skill at acquisitiveness, gather too much
and some multimillionaires would become
hillionaires and trillionaires, and som,
would after awhile pocket a hemisphere
No. Death is useful in its financial limita
-" tons, and then all have enough sorrow:
and ~annoyances and offerings by the time
they become nOnaEenarlanS or centenar
- ians to make io desirable to quit. Beside!
that. it would not be fair so long TO keep s,
many good old people out Of heaven. 81
q It i we'll arranged that those who stand b,
the deathbel of the nineteenth centur,
: viii hot be called to stand by the deathbet
Of the twentieth century.
Oh, crowd this last year with prayers
= With hosannas. with kind words, with help
- fUlness. Make the peroratiou Of the cen
a tury the climax of Christlike deeds. Clos
Il UP the ranks Of God, and during this re
\ manning twelve months charge mightil
against the host of Abaddon. Have n
reserve corps. Let swiftest gosY ell caval1.
+ callop, ana heaviest moral artillery roll
and mightiest evangelistic batteries thun
- DIR OF the scene. Let ministers OF th
gospel quit all controversy with eac'
- other and in solid phalaDy march Oh
II for the worlds observation-disclosures. LIE
printing presses. secular and religious
make combined movement to instruct an
Il emancfpate the world. On all the hills lie
- there be EIijahs praying for "a great rain,
and IN every contested Held Joshuas I
see that l!nal victory is gained before th
sun goes down, and every mountain be