The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-04-10
Church not less devoted than the best,

| than any. God bless the MetnouiS,,
church. Bless all the churches, and blessed
br God. who in this. our great trial. CIV
9th Us the churches" :,
! When bad book is printed, you do veil
to blane the publisher. but most OF all
blame the author. The malaria rose from
his inkstand: the poison that caused the
moral or snritrai death dropped in the
huid from the tin of his pen. The manu-
facturer of that ink could tell you that it
is made OF tannin and salt of iron and nut
gals AID green vitriol. but many an author
has dipped from, his nistand hyper
criticism and ma,cvolence amid SANDER
rnd salaciousness, as from fountain OF
death.
Rut blessed De God for the authors ink;
stand in 10000 studies which are ded dicated
to pure intelligence. highest inspiration
and erandest purpose. Thev are the ink
stands out Of which will be dipped the re-
demptiop Of the world. The DESTROYING
ANGELS with their swords seen in Ezekiell's
vision will he finally overcome by the
mcrciful angel and he writer's iukhorn. :.
Among the most important are the edI-
torial and reportorial inkstands. The
thick ink on the printers roller, is differ
ent from the ink into which the writer
dip5 his pen and ia compounded of linseed
oil and >lampb'ack and made thick by
boiling or burning. But the editorial and
reportorial pens are responsible TOR that
which the printers ink roller impresses
uron the hving sheets. Where one man
reads book. 5000 men read a newspaper.
What change of opinion in regard to the
printing nress since the day when the
great Addison wrote concerning it. Cone
cannot but be sorry that such a. pernicious
machine is erected among them. and
when, under the reign of Charles H., only
one newspaner, the London Gazette. was
allowed to he printed. and that only on
Mondays and Thursdays Not until the
Judgment dav, when the forces which have
influenced the world shall be compared
and announced. will be known the power
Of the modern newspaper.
With its telephone and telegraphic an.
neyes, all the world twice day passes n
review. The manner in which continental
and international erents are put before US
makes deep impression.
We gaze on all the conhagratio7s and
watch the pursuit of all the desDcradoes
and hear the crash of all the collisions and
rejoice in all the discoveries and thank
God for all the noble achievements.
After the editor has corrected the last
proof of his editorial and the reporter has
put into the form his last steno2raphic re-
mort of swift utterance or announced IN
hest form some great munihcence or
sketched in most forceful style some brave
rescue by fremen or liseboatt, he has
right to 60 home feeling that hs has done
something worth doing, something that
his coincidence will approve and God will
bless.
A wraag theory is abroad that the news
paper Impression is ephemeral. Becausss
we read and cast it aside in an hour and
in ,ryna n
we are parted from its influence. No vol
ume of 500 pages makes such impression
upon the people as the daily newspaper.
It is not what we put away carefully upon
the shelf and once in awhile refer to that
has as close relation to our welfare rs the
story of what the word is now doing OF
has recently done. Yesterday has more
to do with to-day tnan something occur.
ring a century previous. The engineers
who now guide the rail trains, the sea
captains who now command the ships. tte
architects who now design the buildings,
the batons tina. now control the orche!-
tras, the legislators who now make the
laws, the generals who now march the
hosts, the rulers who now govern the ma
tions. the inkhorns that now flood tee
world with intelligcnce-thess are what
we have most to do with.
Thomas Guthrie dipped into it and
brought up "The Gospel In Ezekiel" ohm
Cumming dipped into it and brought up
"The Apocalypse" Oh. the opulence, OF
Christian 1iterature Oh. the. mighty
streams of evangelistic power that have
poured from the writer's inkhorn that ap'
peared in Ezekiel's vision!
While you recognize the dlstingulshed
ones. who have dipped into the inkstand
of the worlds evangelization do not for
get that there are hundreds of thousands
OF unknown men and women who are en-
gagged in inconspicuous ways doing the
same thing. How many anxious mothers
writing to the boys in town! How many
sisters writing encouragement to brothers
far away! low many invalids bolstered
up in bed, the inkhorn on the stand at
their side, writing letters of coincidence
to those worse off than themselves! They
are flying all the time kind words, gospel
words, helpful words. saving words.
Call the evangelistic inkhorn into serv.:
ice in the early morning; when you feel
we'll, and you are grateful for the protec-
ton during your sleeping hours, and write
before you retire at close OF day to those
who all night long will be saying, would
to God it were morning." How many
bruised and disappointed and wronged
souls of earth would be glad to get a let
ter. from you! Stir up that consolatory
inkhorn.
All Christendom has been waiting for
great revivals of religion to start from
the pulpist and prayer meetings. now
suggest that the greatest revival OF all
time may start from concerted and Or
ganized movement through the inkhorns
Of all Christendom, each writer dipping
gospel invitation, gospel hope, gospel warn,
ing, gospel instruction. The ink is al!
ready on hundred thousand tables, and
beside it are the implements with, which
to dip it out. Why not through such
process have millions of souls brought to
God before next summer? By letter you
could make the invitation more effective
than by word of mouth. The invitation
from your lips may be argued back, may
evoke querulous reply, may be answered
by joke, but good. warm, gospel letter,
written in prayer, and started witt praye<,
and followed by prayer, will be read over
and over again ana cannot be answered IN
4 frivolous way.
Within arms reach of where you sit
there may be fluid that you may put on
wing with message Of light and love. Oh,
for the swift flying angel of mercy which
Ezekiel saw in vision with writer's ink
horn by his side"
The other angels spoken of in my text
were destroying angels, and each had
what the Bible calls slaughter weap-
on" in his hand. 1t was lance or bat
tleax or a sword. God hasten the time
when the last lance shall be shivered, and
the last battleax dulled, and the last
sword sheathed. and the angel Of the text,
who Matthew Henry says was the Lord
Jesus Christ, shall from the full inkhorn
OF His mercy give saving call to all ma
tons. That day may be far off, but it is
helpful to think of is coming.
As Dr. Raleigh declared that when thir-
ty-six miles at sea off the coast of New
England the cattle on board the ship as
| well as himself scented the clover on the
New England hills, 8 we amid all the toss
ing waves of the worlds controversies in.
hale the redoence of the white lilies of