Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1901-11-15
strong drink. what cnance IS there for

strong drink. What chance is there for
such a young ranf
counsel you also TO seek Christian
advice. Every Christian man is bound
TO help you. IL ne declines to help you.
he Is not Christian. Now gather up
all your energies OF body. mind and soul
and. appealing to God fer success. de-
| clare this day everlasting war against
| all evil Influences. A half and half
work viii amount TO nothing; il must
be Waterloo. Shrink back now and
you are lost. Push on aud you are
saved.
Victory Over Sin.
Some of you, like myself. were born
in the country. Ard what glorious
news might these young men send
home TO their parents that this after
noon they had surrendered themselves
to God and started new lifei know
how it is In the country. The night
comes on. The cattle stand under the
| rack, through which burst the trusses
of hay. The horses have just frisked
| up from the meadow brook at the
nightfall and stand knee deep In the
bright straw that invites them to lie
down and rest. The perch of the howell
Is full of fowl. their feet warm under
their feathers. When the nights get
cold. the flames clap their hands above
the great backlog and shake the shad.
Ow of the group up and down the wall
Father and mother sit there for half
Hu hour, saying nothing. wonder
what they are thinking of. After
awhile the father breaks the silence
and says, well, l wonder where our
boy Is In town tonight" And the
mother answers: 'In no bad place,
warrant you. We always could trust
him when he was at home, and since
he has been away there have been so
many prayers offered for him we can
trust him still" Then at or o'clock
| just before they retire, for they go
early TO bed. they kneel down and com.
mend you to that God who watches in
| country and In town, on the land and
| on the sea.
Some one said to Grecian general,
what was the prcrdest moment Of
your life" he thought "A moment and
said, 'The proudest moment was when
l sent word home TO my parents that
| had gained the victory" And the glad
| dest and most brilliant moment in your
life viii 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.
oh, despiSe not parental anxiety The
time will come when you will have
neither father nor mother, and you will
| go around the place where they used to
watch you and find them gone from
the house and gone from the field aud
gone from the neighborbood. Cry as
loud for forgiveness as you may over
the mound In the churchyard, they
cannot answer. Dead! Deadi And then
you will take out the white lock of hair
that was cut from mothers brow Just
before they buried her, and you will
take the cane with which your father
used to walk, and you will think and
think and wish that you had done just
as they wanted you and would give the
world IL you had never thrust q pang
through their dear old hearts.
The Door of Mercy.
Gcd pity the young man who has
brought disgrace on his fathers name!l
God pity tie young man who has bro
ken his mothers heart. Better that he
had never been born. Better il In the
first hour OF his life, instead of being
laid against the warm bosom of mater
nal tenderness, he had been cofiined and
sepulchered. There is no balm power
ful 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. Motherr' oh, that today, by
all the memories OF the past and by all
the hopes of the future, you would
yield your heart 10 Godl May your IA
TIERS God and your mothers God be
your God foreveri
This hour tie door OF mercy swings |
wide open. Hesitate not n moment. |
In many case hesitation is the loss of |
all. At the corner OF n street / saw a |
tragedy. young man evidently |
doubted as TO which direction he had |
better take. Ills hat was lifted high |
enough so you could see he had an In |
telligent forehead. ue-had stout |
chest and robust development Spcn- |
did young mani Cultured young man! |
Honored young mani Why did he stop |
there while so many were going up and |
down? The fact is that every young |
man has n good angel and a bad angel |
contending for the mastery of his spr-
II, and there were good angel and a |
bad angel struggling with that young |
! mans soul Mt the corner of the street. |
Come along with me-" said the good |
angel; Il will take you home. | will |
spread my wings over your pillow. I |
VIII lovingly escort you all through life |
under supernatural protection. | will |
bless every cup you drink out OF. every |
couch you rest on. every doorway you |
enter. will consecrate your tears when |
you weep. your sweat when YOU toll. |
and ut the last I will hand over your |
grave into the hand OF the bright angel |
OF Christian resurrection. / have
been sent OF the Lord to be your guard |
ian spirit. Come with me-" said the |
good angel In a voice OF unearthly SYM
phony. 1t was music like that which |
drops from q lutte of heaven when a /
seraph breathes on it.
"Oh, no." said the bad angel; come |
with me. have something better to |
offer. The wines pour are from chal- |
Ices or Dewitching carousal. The dance |
Head is over floors tessellated with I'M |
restrained Indulgence. There Is no |
God to frown on the temples Of sin |
where worship. The skies are Ital- |
ian. The paths / tread are through |
meadows daisied and primrosed. Come /
with me-"
Angels of Destiny.
The young man hesitated at q 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
door swung open In the sky, aud for
ever the wings vanished That was
the turning point In that young mans
history, for, the good angel flown, he
hesitated no longer, but started on a
pathway which is beautiful at the
opening, but blasted at the last. The
bad angel Ie6 tho NOV fhrorvh xo+o |