The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-11-14

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many prayers offered for him we can
trust him still" Then at 5 or 9 o'clock
just before they retire, for they go
early to bed, they kneel down and
commend you to that God who watches
in country and in town, .on the land
and OF the sea.
Some one said to a Grecian general,
What was the proudest moment of
your life?" He thought a moment and
said, "The proudest moment was when
sent word home to my parents that /
had gained the victory" And the glad
dest and most brilliant moment in
your life will be the moment when You
can send word to your parents that
you have conquered the evil habits by
the grace Of God and become eternal
victor.
Honor to Parents.
God pity the young man who has
brought disgrace on his fathers name!
God pity the young man who has
broken his mothers heart! Better that
he had never been born. Better If in
the first hour of his life, instead of be-
ing laid against the warm bosom of
maternal tenderness, he had been cof-
fined and sepulchered. There is no
balm powerful enough to heal the heart
of one who has brought parents to a
sorrowful grave and who wanders
about through the dismal cemetery
rending the air and wringing the hands
and crying, Mother, mother!!" Oh,
that today, by all the memories of the
past and by all the hopes of the future,
you would yield your heart to God!
May your fathers God and your moth
er's God be your God forever!
This hour the door of mercy swings
wide open. Hesitate not a moment. In
many a case hesitation is the loss of
all. At the corner of a street l saw a
tragedy. A young man evidently
doubted as to which direction he had
better take. His hat was lifted high
enough SO you could see he had an
intelligent forehead. He had a stout
chest and a robust development. Splen-
did young man! Cultured young man!
Honored young man! Why did he
stop there while so many were going
up and down? The fact is that every
young man has a good angel and a bad
angel contending for the mastery OF
his spirit, and there was a good angel
and a bad angel struggling with that
young mans soul at the corner of the
street. Come with me- said the good
angel. II will take you home. 1 will
spread my wings over your pillow.
will lovingly escort you all through
life under supernatural protection. I
Will bless every cup you drink out Of,
every couch you rest on, every door
way you enter. I will consecrate you
tears when you weep, your sweat when
you toll, and at the last l will hand
over your grave into the hand Of the
bright angel of a Christian resurrec-
ton. l have been sent Of the Lord to
be your guardian spirit. Come with
me-" said the good angel in a voice of
unearthly symphony. 1t was music like
that which drops from a Lutte of heaven
when a seraph breathes on it.
"Oh, no." said the bad angel. Come
with me. l have something better to
offer. The wines 1 pour are from chal-
ices of bewitching %carousal. The dance
/ lead is over floors tessellated with
unrestrained indulgence. There is no
God to frown On the temples of sin
where l worship. The skies are Ital-
ian. The paths I tread are through
meadows daisied and primrosed. Come
with mel"
Hesitation Is Ruin.
The young man hesitated at a time
when hesitation was ruin, and the bad
angel smote the good angel until it de-
parted, spreading wings through the
starlight, upward and away, until a
door swung open in the sky and for
ever the wings vanished. That was
the turning point in that young mans
history, for, the good angel flown, he
hesitated nc longer, but started on a
pathway which is beautiful at the
opening, but blasted at last. The bad
angel led the way through gate after
gate, and at each gate the road became
rougher and the sky more lurid, and,
what wal peculiar, as the gate slam
med shut it came to with a jar that
indicated it would never open. Past
each portal there was a grinding of
locks and a showing of the bolts, and
the scenery OF each side the road
changed from gardens to deserts. and
the June air became a cutting Deem
Der blast, and the bright wings OF the
bad angel turned to sackcloth, and the
fountains that at the start had tossed
with wine poured forth bubbling tears
of foaming blood, and on the right side
of the road there was a serpent, and
the man said to the bad angel, What
is that serpent?" And the answer was,
THAT is the serpent of singing re-
morse" On the lett side of the road
there was a lion, and the man asked
the bad angel, What is that lion?"
The answer was, ''That is the lion of
all d%evouring despair" A vulture flew
through the sky, and the man asked
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