The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1901-01-31

Lnc WNOlc WOTlu WOulu SURRENDER tO-fnOf.
row--yea, would surrender this hour. The
day before James A. Garfield was inaugr
rated as President | was in the cars going
from Richmond to Washington. A gentle
man seated near to me in the cars knew
me, and we were soon in familiar convcr.
sation. IL was just after a bereavement
and | was speaking to him from on over
burdened heart about the sorrow / was
suffering. Looking at his cheerful face
said: II guess you have escaped all trou.
BILE. / should judge from your counte
nance that you have come through free
from all misfortune" Then he looked at
me with look | shall never forget and
whispered in my ear: ''Sir. you know moth.
ing about trouble. Ny wife has been in
an insane asylum for fifteen years" Aud
then he turned and looked out Of the
window and into the night with silence
| was too overpowered to break. That
was another illustration of the fact that
no one escapes trouble.
Why. that man seated next to You in
church has on his sonl a weight compared
with which mountain is feather. That
woman seated next to YOU in church has
. grief the recital OF which would make
your body, mind and soul shudder.
When you are mending your net for this
wide deep sea of humanity. take out that
wire thread OF criticism and that horsehair
thread of harshness and put in soft
silken thread of Christian sympathy. Yea,
when you are mendiug your nets tear out
those old threads of gruffness and weave
in few threads of politeness and genial
ity. In the house of God lot all Christian
faces beam with look that means wei.
come. Say Good morning to the stran.
ger as he enters your pew. and at the
close shake hands with him and say, How
did you like the musicY Why, you would
be to that man panel of the door OF
heaven; you would be to him note of
the doxology that seraphs sing when
new soul enters heaven. l have in other
days entered a pew in church and the
woman at the other end of the pew looked
at me MS much as to say, How dare you?
This is my pew and l pay the rent for
it, Well, | erouched in the other corner
and made myself as small as possible and
felt as though | had been stealing some.
thing
So there are people who have a sharp
edge to their religion, and they act as
though they thought most people had been
elected to be damne. and they were glad
of it, Oh, let lis brighten up our manner
and appear in gentlemanliness or lady
hood.
The object in fly fishing is to throw the
fly far out, and then let it drop gently
down and keep it gently rising and falling
with the waters, and not plunge it like
man.of-war's anchor, and abruptness and
harshness of manner must be avoided in
our attempt at usefulness.
/ know a man in New York who is
more sunshiny and genial when he has
dyspepsia than when he is not suffering
from that depressing trouble. | have
found out his secret. When he starts out
in the morning with such depression he
asks for special grace to keep from snap.
ping up anybody that day, and puts forth
-, u.1 - - L.,
genial, and by the help of God he accom-
piishes it.
Many Of our nets need to be mended in
these respects, the black threads and the
rough threads taken out. and the bright
threads and the golden threads of Chris
tian geniality woven in.
In addition to this we need to mend our
nets with more threads OF patience. II is
no rare thing for fisherman to spend one
whole day before he can take a St. Law.
renee pike, or an Ohio salmon, or n Long
Island pickerel or a Cayuga black bass,
or Delaware catfish, and he does that day
after day without any particular discour
agement But what lack of patience if
we do not Immediately succeed in soul
catching. We are apt to give it up and
say, Il will never try again"
These dear brethren of all denomina.
tions, afflicted with theological iidgets,
had better 60 to mending nets instead of
breaking them. Before they break up the
old religions let them go through some
great sacrifice for God that will prove
them worthy of such work, taking the
advice of Talleyrand to man who wanted
TO upset the religion of Jesus Christ and
start new one, when he said, Go and
be crucified and then raise yourself from
the gravNthe third day!"
Those who propose to mend their nets
by secular and skeptical books are like a
man who has Just one week for fishing
and six Of the days he spends in reading
Izaak Walton's Complete Angler" and
Rod and Line" and Scott's
Fishing in Northern Waters" and Put
nam's wade Mecum of Fly Fishing for
Trout" and then on Saturday morning,
his last day out, goes to the river to ply
his art; but that day the fish will not bite,
and late on Saturday night he goes TO his
home with empty basket
Alas! alas! If, when the Saturday night
OF our life drops on us, it shall be found
that we have spent our time in the libra
ries of worldly philosophy trying TO mend
report as brought to God through our in
while some humble gospel
fisherman. his library made up of a Bible
and an almanac, shall come home laden
with the results, his trophies all the souls
within fifteen miles of his log cabin met
ine-house.
In the time of the great disturbance in
Naples in 1919, Massaniello, barefooted
fishing boy, dropped his fishing rod, and
by strange magnetism took command of
that city of 100000 souls. He took off
his fishing jacket and put on robe OF
gold in the presence of bowling mobs. tie
put his hand on his lips as a signal and
they were silent. He waved his hand
away from him and they retired to their
homes Armies passed in review before
him. He became the nations idol. The
rapid rise and complete supremacy Of that
Young fisherman, Massaniello, have no
parallel in all history. But something
equal to that and better than that is an
everyday occurrence in heaven. God takes
some Of those who in this world were
ishers of men and who toiled very hum.
ply, but because of the way they mended
heir nets and employed their nets after
hey were mended, He suddenly hoists
hem and robes them, and scepters them
md crowns them and makes them rulers
'yer many cities, and He marches armies
'f saved ones before them in review
unhonored on earth, but ra.
lated in heaven. The fisher boy of Ma
lies soon lost his power, but those people
# God who have kept their nets mended
md rightly swung them shall never lose
heir exalted place, but shall reign for.
ver and ever and ever. Keep that reward
n sight.