Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-02-02

OlSS WITHOUT nOpc. W hen there are
sorrows too poignant for lamentn ton
on tho lip and too hot for the tear
glands 60 write IN letters OF crystal on
the cheek, the hand recites the tragedy
with more emphasis than anything In
Macbeth" aud king Lear"
Worse than the wringlng of the
hands was the punishment that Gran.
mer gave his right hand when be put IL
in the Ore OF the staIe aud. without
tinching. said: "Forasmuch as my
hand offended IN writing contrary TO
my heart. my hand shall therefore be
the first punished. IL shall be the first
burned. This was the hand that wrote
It."
Again, the hand Is the chief cxecu-
tive officer OF the soul ia salvation. A
former president or the United States
said. Il think handshaking Is a great
nuisance, and II should be abolished.
II not only makes the right arm sore,
but shocks the whole system and units
man for writing or attending to other
duties. II demoralizes the entire nerv-
Gus and muscular system" But while
this exercise may be fatiguing II Is
also an opportunity He who knows
how heartily to shake hands has one
OF the mightiest arts for conveying
happiness and good cheer and life eter.
nal After you have shaken hands
with one line OF communication Is
opened that was not open before. Two
hands clasped In greeting are a bridge
on which all sympathies and kind
nesses and announcements and bless
ings cross over. To shake hands with
some persons does us moro good than
sermon-aye, II Is sermon. To
shake hands with good doctor when
we are sick Is an anodyne. n tonic, a
febrifuge, before he feels the pulse or
writes the prescription. To shake
hands with cheerful man when we
are discouraged fills us with faith to
try again what we have failed In do
ing. To shake hands with some conse-
Grated man. clerical or lay. after we
have wandered away into sin is to feel
the grasp of a Fathcr-God welcoming
home the prodlgal Shake hands. o We
stolid and exclusive and coldblooded
and precise and conventional Chris
tians! Jehu cried out to Jehonadab:
''Is thine heart right? IL 1t be, give me
thine hand"
There Is In an honest and Christian
handshake thrill OF gospel electricity.
You take part Of his trouble, and he
takes part of your jubilance. In that
way you divide up anxieties and con-
CALCULATIONS. The main trunk line Of
that handshake has branches Of bless
ed telegraphy right down to both hearts
and M to both heads. and you both get
the message the same instant. Take
or the glove when you shake hands,
for that glove puts the hide Of kid
between the palm OF your hand and the
palm of his band. and that animals
hide is nonconductor of this gospel
electricity. Do not grip the bone of
the forefincer aud the bone Of the little
finger with crushing power that puts
one into a severe suffering, which many
or us have experienced from those who
are more brutes than men. Take the
hand gently. reasonably, heartily. and
know that God ordered that form of
saiutation. This Is one important thing
that the hand was made for. You can
see the indication I'm its shape and
eQuipmont-the four fingers TO take
your neighbours hand on the one side.
and the thumb TO take 1t on the other.
and the forearm so swung that you can
easily draw Il toward you.
or course there is wicked shaking
or hands. and Solomon refers to IL
when he says. Though hand ioin In
hand. the wicked shall not go unpun-
ished." Shake hands In conspiracy to
damage Individual or community or
nation; shake hands in wrongdoing-
you help me stun this ballot box, and
L VIII see that when | am I'm power
you shall have promotions; you helm
me In my infamy. and ! will help YOU
In your infamy. oh. that is profana-
ton OF holy rite, that is sacrilcgc
against divine arrangement, that Is
gripping your own destruction!
Glad Greetings.
But shake hands the way William
Fit shook hands with the Indians for
their civilization. Shake hands the
way Missionary Carey shook hands
with the Hindoos, for whose salvation
he became lifetime exile. Shake
hands the way IIavelock shook hands
with besicged women at Lucknow
whom he had come TO save from mas
sacre. Shake hands as David Brain
erd did with the American Indians
whom he offered n glorious heaven
through the gospel. Shake hands as
Lincoln shook hands with the agitated
mother TO whom he gave back the boy
who had fallen asleep from overfatigue
as n sentinel Shake hands as during
the civil war Anna Ross shook hands
with the wounded soldier In Cooper
Shnn hnS,Affol
hands as Van Meter, the city evangel-
list. shook hands with the waIf OF the
street coming penitent into the mid
night mission. Shake hands as heaven
shook hands with earth that night
when doxology in the gallery Of
clouds woke the Bethlehem shop
herds.
But II Is not always in such glad
greeting that we can employ our right
hand. Alas that so often we have TO
employ the hand In farewell saluta-
tion! If your right hand retained some
impress OF all such uses, IL would be a
volume OF bereavements. oh. the
goodbys in which your right hand has
participated! Goodby at the steam
boat wharf. Goodby at the rail train
window. Goodby before the opening
or the battle Goodby at the dying pill
low. We all needed grace for such
Misunderstanding, though our hand was
strong and their hand was weak. and
we will need grace for the coming
goodbys. and that grace we had better
seek while amid the felicities of health
ana homes unbroken. Thank God
there Will be no goodby in heavenl
Again, the hand is the chief execu-
tive OF the soul when employed Ia ben
ediction. No gesture of the human
hand means more than that outstretch-
ed gesture. In many OF our religious
demonstrations we are not permitted
TO pronounce an apostolic benediction
until we have been regularly ordained
as ministers OF the gospel. but there
are kinds OF benediction that Won NAV