Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1901-01-05

a drink sooner than he would have
taken It and the dissolute man worse
plunge into sin. The word OF warning
must be charged and surcharged with
sympathy. You will practically say to
the man. "I suppose you got into your
present habit through overwork, and
you took stimulus to keep up and do
the work you must do" or, 81 suppose
It was through illness. and you took an
lntoxicant first as medicine" or,
"You are a hail fellow we'll met, and
you took the liquid in sociability." or:
you were the representative OF CON-
mercial house that expected you to
treat customers. | understand 1t all. II
| had been In the same circumstances,
| would probably be fast In the same
thraldom." BY some such alleviating
introduction prepare the way for be
warew that will halt your friend on the
wrong road as suddenly as any platoon
of soldiers was ever halted. Swing the
red lantern across that track and stop
that train before 1t reaches the chasm!
Speak Gently to the Erring.
There must be no lmpatience In the
warning we give others. We must real
| ize that but for the kindness OF God to
! us we would have been In the same
rapids. That man going wrong may be
struggling with tide Of evil Inherited
from father and grandfather and great
grandfather The present temptation
may be the accumulated force Of gen.
erations and centuries. NO" you say;
"his father was good man. | knew
him." But did you know his GRANDPA
ther7 Evil habit Is apt to skip one
generation, a fact recognized In the
! Ten Commandments, which speak OF
the third and fourth generation, but
say nothing Of the second generation.
Or the man astray may hnve an un-
happy home, and that Is enough to
wreck any one. We often speak OF
men who destroy their homes, but do
not say anything about the fact that
there are thousands Of wives In Ameri-
ca who by petulance and fretting and
reconsideration and lack Of economy
and all manner Of dlsagreeableness
drive their husbands into dissipation.
The reason that thousands OF men
spend their evenings In clubhouses and
taverns is because they cannot stand 1t
at home. know men who are 80 year
martyrs In the fact that they are aw-
fully married. That marriage was not
made in heaven. Without asking d.
vine guidance they entered into an ALL
ance which ought never to have been
made. That il what is the matter with
many men you and know They may
be very brave and heroic and say
nothing about 1t. but all the neighbors
know. Now. II the man going wrong
has such domestic misfortune be very
lenient and excusatory In your word OF
warning The difference between you
and him may be that you would have
gone down faster than he Is going
down II you had the same kind Of con-
jugal wretchedness
Besides that. you had better be mer'
ciful in your word Of warning. for the
day may come when you may need
some one to be lenient and excusatory
to you. There may be somewhere
ahead OF you temptation 30 mighty
that unless you have sympathetic treat
ment you may go under. "Oh, no.
says some one; II am too old for that"
How old are your "Oh." you say. u
have been so long In active business
life that am clear past the latitude or
danger" There is a man In Sing Sing
penItentiary who was considered the
soul of honor until he was so years or
age and then committed dishonesty
that startled the entire commercial
world
Divine Architecture.
In mentioning fine arts people are apt
to speak Of music and painting and
SCULPTURE and architecture. but they
forget to mention the finest OF all the
fine arts. the art Of doing good, the art
of helping others. the art OF saving
men. An art to be studied as you
study music. for II is music In the fact
that II drives out moral dlscord and
substitutes eternal harmony. An art to
be studied like sculpture. for II Is sculp
ture in the fact that II builds man not
in cold statue. but In immortal shape
that will Inst long after all pentellcan
marble has crumbled An art to be
studied as you study architecture. for IT
is architecture in the fact that It builds
for him house of God. eternal In the
heavens But an art that we cannot
fully learn unless God helps us. Our
selves saved by grace divine. we can go
forth to save others, and with tender
ness and compassion and a pity that
we could not otherwise exercise we can
pronounce the warning word with mag
niflcent result The Lord said to the
propbet Amos, Amos what seest
thouY' and he answered. "A basket OF
summer fruit" But do not think
Amos saw In that basket OF summer
fruit anything more inviting and ius'
cious than many a saved man has seen
in the warning word OF some hearty.
common sense Christian adviser. for
word ftly spoken is like apples OF gold
In baskets Of silver
So also is a word Of invitation potent
and beautiful. Who can describe the
drawing power Of that word, so small
}and vet so tremendous, Come" 1t Is
q short word, but its influence Is as
long as eternity; not a sesquipedalian
word spreading its energy over many
syllables, but monosyllabic. Whether
calling in wrong direction or right d.
rection many have found 1t irresistible.
That one word has filed all the places
of dissipation and dissoluteness. 1t Is
responsible for the denominations that
curse the earth. Inquire at the door OF
prisons what brought the offender
there and at the door Of almshouses
what brought the pauper there and at