The Penn's Grove record., 1901-07-05

the business Of the world on a down grade.
The constabulary and penitentiary must
do their work. But while the mercIless
and the goddess cry, Good for him. am
glad he is within the PRISON doors! De
Il your work to find out if that man IS
worth saving and what were the causes
of his moral overthrow. Perhaps. he
started in business life under a tricky
firm, who gave him wrong notions OF DUST
| ness integrity; perhaps there was a com
bination of circumstances almost unpar-
alleled for temptation, perhaps there were
alterations, perhaps he was BORN WRONG
and never got over it, perhaps, he dld not
| realize what he was doing, and If you are
a merciful man you will think OF other
perhapses which, though they Will not eX
cuse. will ~extenuate. Perhaps he has al,
| ready repented and is washed in the blood
Of the Lamb, and is as sure OF heaven as
you are.
oheving my text, You were angry at the
misdemeanor. bat you are hopeful for the
recovery of the recalcitrant. Blessed all
prison reformersl Blessed are those GoV-
| ernors and Presidents who are glad when
they have a chance to pardon! Blessed
the iorgiying father who welcomes home
The prodigaI! Blessed the dying thlet
whom the Lord took with Him to glory,
| saying, This day shalt thou be with Me
in paradise
There is another evil that we ought to
abhoT while we try to help the victim, and
that is infdelity. 1t snatches The lite. pre-
server from the man afioat and AFFORDS
not so much az a spar or a PLANK as sup
]stitute. 1t would extinguish the only
licbt that has ever been kindled for the
troubled and the lost. Let the. spirit OF
infdelty take hold of a neighborhood,
and in that town the marriage relation -
a farce. and good morals give place to all
STYLES of immorals. Let 1t take possession
Of this earth, and there would be no Ylr-
tue left in all the worlds circumference
All the sins rebuked in the Ten Com
mandments would be dominant. The
torch that shall kindle the conttagratlon
of the earth in its last catastrophe, WI
not do as much damage as would inhdelltF
and agnosticism if they got a chance: be
| angry with such theories of unbelief ana
hatred of God. Never laugh at the WITH
cisms OF those who would bellttle the
Bible with their jocularity.
Have a lightning in your eye and a dnsh
in your check and a frown on Your brow
for a dastardy that would blot out the
san and moon and stars OF Christianity,
and leave all things in an arctic night, the
cold equal to the darkness. You do well
to be angry, but how about those VINO
have been flung Of skeptieism, and that Is
more millions than you will ever know OF
until the Judgment day reveals everything
| All. here comes your opportunity for gen
~tleness. kindness and sympathy. The
probability is that If you had been piled
with the same influences as this unbelev-
er there would not be a Bible in all your
house from cellar to attic. Perhaps he
was in some important transaction SWIM
died by a member of the church whose
taking Of the sacrament was a sacrllege.
Perhaps he read agnostic books and heard
| a~gnostic circles until he has been belonged
and needs your Christian help more than
any one that You know of. Do not get
into any labored argument about the
truth of Christianity. He may beat you
at that. He has a whole artillery of
weapons ready to open fire. Remember
that no one was ever reformed for this
life or saved for the life to come by an ar
gument, but in humblest and %gentlest
way, your voice subdued, ask him a few
questions. Ask him if he had a Christian
parentagc, and if he SAYS yes, ask him
whether the old folks died happy. Ask
him if he ever heard of anv one gong out
Of this life in raptures OF inidellty and
agnosticism. Ask him il 1t is not a some
what remarkable fact that the Bible, af.
Ter so many years, sticks together and
that there are more copies OF 1t IN exist
ence than ever before, Ask him if he
knows Of any better civilization than
Christian. civilization and whether
ne IllltlkS lIt ltdNiibGS VI .Npith
cius or Christ are preferable. Ask him
if he thinks it would be a 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 if
they did wrong tell them of no way OF
recovery.
l think if a famous infidel of our time
instead of being taken away lnstanta-
neousiy had died in his bed after weeks
and months of illness he would have re-
yoked his teachings and left for his be-
loved family 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. ! Do
not positively say that in a prolonged Ill
ness there would have been a retractlon,
but | think there would.
/ say to all young men hoping to achieve
financial, moral or religious success, con-
troll your tempers. Do not let criticism
or rebuff defeat you. Verdi, the great
musician, applied to become a student IN
the Conservatory Of Music at Milan, and
he was rejected by the director. who said
that he could make nothing of the new
conner, as he showed no disposition for
music. But the criticism did not exasper-
ate or defeat him. The most Of those who
have largely succeeded in all departments
were characterized by self control; In
battle they could calmly look at the bomb
thrown at their feet. wondering whether
it would explode. In commercial life,
when panics smote the city, these men
were placid, while others were yelling
themselves hoarse at the Stock Exchange,
While others nearly swooned because a
certain stock had gone loo points down
they calmly waited until it would get 100
points up. While the opposing attorney
in the courtroom frothed at the, mouth
with rage because of something said on the
other side he of the equipolse put a glass
Of water to his lips in refreshment and
proceeded with the remark, A / was
saying when the gentleman interrupted
me- Self control! What a glorious
thingl We want it in the doctor feeling
the pulse OF one desperately III; We want
it in the engineer when the headlight OF
another train comes round the curve on
the same track; we want it in Christian
men and women in times when so much
in church and state seems gong to demo
litiou-self control.
What are you going to be good Tor, v
man or woman, in a world like tins, ever
and anon your dander up and so often IN
the sulks? We admit that YOU have many
things to stir YOUR blood and I'LL You with
wholesome indignation. but going to such
extremes YOU offend my text, which says
YOU must discriminate and not lose your
self control. "Be We angry and sin not,
Surprising all other characters m the
worlds biography stands Jesus Christ,
wrathful against sin. merciful to the sin
ner. Witness His behavior toward the
robed rufians who demanded capital pun
ishment for an offending w~oman-denun-
cation for their sinful hypocrisy, pardon
for her sweet penitenee He did not
sneak of Herod as his highness' or "his
royal highness,' but dared to compare
him to a cunning fox, saying, Go ye and
tell that fox" But, alert to the cry of