Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1901-07-04
Help for tho Unbelisvsr.

Help for the UnbrIisvsr.
Have lightning in your eye and
flush In your cheek and a frown on
your brow for a dastardy that would
blot out the sun and moon and stars of
Christianity and leave all things in an
arctic night, the cold equal to the
darkness. You do we'll to be angry, but
how about those who have been flung
OF scepticism, and that is more mil
lions than you will ever know of until
the Judgment day reveals everything.
All. here comes your opportunity for
gentleness, kindness. and sympathy.
The probability is that II you
had been piled. with the same in
fluence as this unbeliever there
would not be Bible in all your
house from cellar to attic. Per-
all your house from cellar to attic. Per-
haps he was In some important trans
action swindled by a member Of the
church whose taking of the sacrament
was sacrilege. Perhaps he read agnos-
tic books and heard agnostic lectures
and mingled In agnostic circles until
NC udo pCch bSlo66Cu anu hCCu5 yOuI
Christian help more than any one that
you kno~ of. Do not get into any labor
ed argument about the truth of Chris
tianity. He may beat you at that. He
has a whole artillery of weapons ready
to open fire.
formed for this life or saved for the life
to come by an argument, but in hum
blest and gentlest way, your voice sub
dued, ask him a few questions. Ask
him IL he had a Christian parentage,
and II he says yes ask him whether
the old folks died happy. Ask him IL he
has ever heard Of any one going out
and agnosticism. Ask him IL 1t is not
a somewhat remarkable fact that the
Bible, after so many years, sticks to-
gether and that there are more
copies of 1t in existence than
ever before. Ask him II he
knows Of any better civilization
than Christian civilization and whether
he thinks the teachings of Confucius
or Christ are preferable. Ask him II he
thinks it would be fair thing in the
Creator of all things to put in this
world the human race and give them
no direct communication for their
guidance and, II they did wrong. tell
them Of no way of recovery. think II
famous infidel of our time. instead OF
being taken away instantaneously had
died in his bed after weeks and months
of illness he would have revoked his
teachings and left for his beloved fam
lily consultations which they could not
find in obsequies at which not one
word Of Holy Scripture was read, or at
Fresh Pond crematory where no Chris
tian benediction was pronounced. l
do not positively say that in a pro-
longed illness there would have been
a retraction, but think there would.
The Work of an Instant.
A man thoroughly mad can say
for 20 years. 1t took only five minutes
Tor the earthquake to destroy Caracas.
One unfortunate sentence uttered in
affront in a speech in the United States
senate shut forever the door of the
White House against one of the most
brilliant men Of the last century. You
can never trust horse that has once
run away, and you do not feel like
trusting man who has just once lost
his equilibrium. You need to drive
your temper as man drives a frac-
tious span amid the explosions OF a
Fourth of July morning or the pyro-
technics OF the Fourth Of July night,
with curbed bit, taut rein. commanding
voice-mastering yourself and master
ing what you drive. II you are natur-
ally high tempered. do not unnecessar-
lily so among irritations and proyoca-
tons. Do not build a blast furnace
next to a gunpowder mill. Then, also,
such demonstrations of ungovernabil-
ity belittle one. Men take out their
lead pencils and In estimating such a