Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1901-10-16

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1 time, and during his absence his wife
( died, and she lay in the next room pre-
pared for the obsequies. and he went in
and dragged her by the locks and shook
! her ont of the shroud and pitched her
! out Of the window. Oh, when rum
1 touches the brain you cannot hush it up!
! My friends, you see all around about
you the need that something radical be
/ done. You DO not see the worst In the
midnight meetings in London a great null
! titude have been saved. We want few
hundred Christian men and women TO
come down from the highest circles Of So
! ciety to toll amid these wandering I'D
| destitute ones and kindle up light in he
! dark alley, even the gladness Of heaven.
/ De not go wrapped in your fine furs a1.d
I from your well filed tables with the iiea
/ that pious talk is going to stop the geaw-
| ing of an empty stomach or to warm
| stockingless feet. Take bread, take raj
ment, take medicine, as well as take
/ prayer. There is great deal of common
/ sense in what the poor woman said to the
| city missionary when he was telling her
/ how she ought TO love God and serve him.
oh" she said, IF you were as poor and
cold as | am and as hungry you could
| think of nothing else
! A great deal Of what Is called Chris
| tian work goes for nothing for the simple
reason that it was not practical, as after
! the battle of Antietam a man got out
of an ambulance with a bag of tracts.
and he Went distributing the tracts, and
George Stuart, one of the best Christian
men in this country. said to him: What
| are you distributing tracts for now?
| There are three thousand men bleeding
to death. Bind up their wounds and
then distribute the tracts We want
more common sense in Christian work,
taking the bread Of this life in one hand
and the bread of the next life in the
| other hand, No such inapt work as that
done by the Christian man who during
| our Civil War went to a hospital with
! tracts and, coming TO the bed of a man
whose legs had been amputated, gave him
tract on the sin of dancing. | rejoice
| before God that never are sympathetic
words uttered, never a payer offered.
never Christian almsgiYing INDUCED in,
but 1t is blessed. | am not here to thrust
| you back with one hard word. Take the
bandage from Jour bruised soul and put
on it the soothing salye of Christ's gos-
pei and OF Gods compassion. l tell you
there is more delight in heaven over one
man that gets reformed by the grace of
God than over ninety and nine that never
got off the track.
Attacking the Weak Point,
| could give you the history in a minute
of one of the best friends | ever had.
Outside of my own family | never had a
f-tx
home at the west. He was of splendid
personal appearance, but he had an ardor
of soul and warmth of affection that
made me love him like brother.
saw men coming out of the saloons and
gambling hells. and they surro lnded my
| friend, and they took him at he weak
point-his social nature-and / saw him
going down, and l had a fair talk with
him, for l never yet saw a man you
could not talk with on the subject of his
habits if you talked with him in the
right way. | saiG to him, why don't
you give up your bad habits and become
| Christian" l remember now Just how
he looked, leaning over his counter, as he
replied: Il wish | could. Oh, sir, l
| should like to be q Christian, but | have
| gone so far astray l can't get back. So
the time went on. After awhile the day
| of sickness came. | was summoned to
his sickbed. | fastened. 1t took but a
few moments to get there. | was sur
prised as | went in. | saw him in his
ordinary dress, fully dressed, lying on
top of the bed. | gave him my hand, and
he seized it conyulsively and said: "Oh,
how glad | am to see you! Sit down
there" | sat down, and ne said Mr..
Talmage, just where you sit now my
mother sat last night. She has been
dead twenty years. Now, | don't want
you TO think | am ont of my mind or
that | am supersttious; but, sir. she sat
there last night and she said, Roswell,
| wish you would do bet.er-I wish you
would 90 better l said: Mother. /
wish | could do better; | try to do better
but l can't. Mother, you used to help
me. Why can't you help me now?' And,
sir, got out of bed, for it was reality,
and | went 10 her and threw my arms
around her neck, and | said, Mother,
| will do better, but you must help. |
can't do this alone" / knelt and pray
ed. That night his soul went TO the Lord
who made it.
Arrangements were made for the obse-
quies The question was raised whether
they should bring him to the church
Somebody said, You cannot bring such
a dissolute man as that into the church"
/ sad: You will bring him in church;
he stood by me when he was alive, and
win stand by him when he is dead.
Bring him As l stood in the pulpit and
saw them carrying the body up the aisle
l felt as if l could weep tears of blood.
On one side of the pulpit sat his little
child Of eight years, sweet, beautiful
little girl, that | had seen him hug CON
vulsively, in his better moments. He
put on her all jewels and gave her all
pictures and toys, and then he would go
away, as if bounded by an evil spirit,
to his cups and the house of iniquity.-
a fool to the correction of the stocks. She
looked up wonderingly. Shc knew not
what it all meant. She was not old
enough to understand the sorrow of an
orphan. On the other side sat the men
who ruined him; they were the men who
had poured the wormwood into the
orphans cup; they were the men who
had bound him hand and foot knew
them. How did they seem to feel? Did
they weep? No. Did they say, What
a pity that so generous man should
be destroyedF NJ. Did they sigh re-
pentingly over what they had done? No.
Did they reform? | was told they were
in the places of iniquity that night after
my friend was laid in lakewood cemetery,
and they blasphemed and they drank.
Oh how Dprcilpss mon arc agnoe4 liz,