The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-07
angry at sin. but sympathise with It's
 victims. % An Evil to Be Avoided. t {

victims. l An Evil to Be Avoided. W
 There is another end that we are of | tentimes called to be angry with. and that is fraud. We all like honesty, and when 1t Is sacrificed we are vehement in denunciation. We hope that the de- tectives WI soon come upon the track of the absconding bank official. of the burglar who blew up the safe, of the clerk who skillfully changed the figures In the account book, of the falsifier | who secured the loan on valueless prop erty. of the agent who because of his | percentage Wrongfully admits a man to the benefit of life insurance policy when his heart is ready to stop and who comes from an ancestry character istically short lived. One act of fraud told in big headlines in the morning paper rightfully arouses the nations I wrath. It Is the interest of every good man and good woman who reads of the crime to have 1t exposed and punished. Let 1t go unscathed, and you put pre- mium on fraud. you depress putSic morals. you induce those who are on the fence between right and wrong to l get down on the wrong side. and you put the business of the world on down grade. The constabulary and penitentiaries must do their work. But while the merciless and the goddess cry Good for him-I am glad he Is within the prison doors!" be 1t your | work to find out If that man is worth 1 saving and what were the causes of his l moral overthrow. Perhaps he started | in business life under a tricky firm, who gave him wrong notions of busi- ness integrity; perhaps there was a combination of circumstances almost unparalleled for temptation, perhaps l al a born wrong and never got over 1t, per- haps he did rot realize what he was doing, and If you are merciful man 1 YOU will think of other perhapses | which. though they will not excuse, | will extenuate. Perhaps he has all ready repented and is washed in the blood of the lamb and is as sure Of | heaven as you are.
 What an opportunity you have now for obeying my text! You were angry at the misdemeanor. but you are hope ful for the recovery of the recalcitrant. Blessed all prison reformers! Blessed are those governors and presidents who are glad when they have chance to pardon, Blessed the forgiving father who welcomes home the prodigal! Blessed the dying thief whom the Lord took with Him to glory. saying. This day shalt thou be with Me in para disc"
 There is another evil that we ought to abhor while we try to help the vic- tim. and that Is infidelity. It snatches the life preserver from the man afioat and affords not so much as spar or plank as a substitute. It would extin- guish the only light that has ever been kindled for the troubled and the lost. i, Let the spirit of infidelity take hold Of a neighborhood. and in that town the l rrio rnlo iQ good morals give place to all styles of im- morals. Let 1t take possession of this earth, and there would be no virtue left in all the worlds circumference. All the sins rebuked in the Ten Com" mandmeu would be dominant. The torch that shall kindle the conf1agra- tion of the earth in its last catastrophe will not dc as much damage as would infidelity and agnoscticism if they get a chance. Be angry with such theories of unbelief and hatred of God. Never laugh at the witticjsms of those who would belittle the Bible with their joc- ularity.
 Pity the Sinner.
 Have a lightning in your eye and a flush in your cheek and frown on your brow for a dastard 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 dark ness. You do well to be angry, but how about those who have been flung of skepticism. and that is more millions than you will ever know of until the judgment day reveals everything. An, here comes your opportunity for gen. tleness kindness and sympathy. The probability Is that if you had been piled with these same influences as this unbelieVer there would not be Bible in all your house from cellar to attic. Perhaps he was in some important transaction swindled by member of the church whose taking of the sacra- ment was a sacrilige. Perhaps he read agnostic books and heard agnostic lec- lures and mingled in agnostic circles until he has been befogged 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 peat you at that. He has a whole artillery If weapons ready to open fireA Remember that no one was ever reformed for this life or saved for the life to- come by an argu- ment, but in humblest and gentlest way, your voice subdued, ask him a few questions. Ask him if he had a Christian parentage. and If he says yes ask him whether the old folks died happy. Ask him if ne ever heard Cf any one gong out of this life in rap. lures of infidelity and agnosticism Ask him if it Is not some "aat re- markable fact that the Bible, Gfter so many years. sticks together and that there are more copies of it in existence than ever before. Ask him if he knows of any better civilization than Chris tian civilization and whether he thinks the teachings of Confucius or Christ are preferable Ask him if he thinks 1t would be a fair thing in the Creator of all things to put in this world the hu- man race and give them no direct com munication for their guidance. and, If they did wrong, tell them of no way Of recovery.
 I think if a famous infidel of our time instead of being taken away ln- simultaneously had died in his bed after weeks and months of illness he would have rekoved his teachings and left for hls beloved family cancellations which they could not find in obsequies at which not one word of holy Scripture was read or at Fresh Pond crematory, where no Christian benediction was