The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-30

sermon 0elfVefeu fo nkteeN pr twenty people. But the crisis I speak of was 1 not properly met. The man in strug- l gle with evil habit heard that stormy ii day no word that moved him. He I went out in the rain uninvited and un- helped back to his evil way and down to his overthrow Had 1t been a sun shiny Sabbath he would have heard something worth hearing. But the | wind blew from a stormy direction that Sabbath day. The gospel husbandnan noticed 1t and acted upon it's sugges- tion and may discover some day his great mistake. He had a sackful of the finest of the wheat. but he with held it. end some day he will find, when the whole story Is told. that he was a vivid illustration of the truth of my text. "fie that ohserveth the wind ekall not sow"
 Not Worth Sowing.
 There was another person In that | stormy Sunday audience that deserved something better from that pastor than extemporized nothingness. 1t was a mother who was half awakened to a sense of responsibility in regard to her household. She had begun to question | herself as to whether 1t would not be better to introduce into her home re- | ligion that would decide alright the des- | tiny of her sons and daughters. Her | hcme had so fsr hcen controlled cply by worldly principles. She had dared the riot of the elements that morning and had found her way to church, hop ing to hear something that would help her to decide the domestic question | which was to her a solicitude. A good. strong sermon under the divine bless | ing would have led her into the king dom of God and afterward. her whole | family. The children, whether they be- came farmers or mechanics or mer- chants or artists or men of learned pro- | fession or women at the head of house. | holds, would have done their work In a Christian way and after lives of useful ness on earth would have taken thrones in heaven. It would have been a whole family saved for time and saved for eternity. But the pastor had adjourn ed the strong and effective discourse to a clear Sunday. The mother went home chilled in body, mind and soul and con- cluded not to trouble herself or her household about the future and to let tomorrow take care of itself and keep | on doing as they had been doing. Nc God in that home. No religious con- solation in time of bereavement Nc formation of thorough Christian char. acter in the lives of those growing ur boys and Riorls. They will Eo out into the world to meet It's vicissitudes with out any sublime reinforcement of the gospel. What a pity 1t was that he did not put down the manuscript of his well prepared sermon on the Bible If he preached from notes Or pour 1t out of his soul if he had lodged 1t there through careful preDaration! No. He allowed that opportunity, which could never return. to pass into eternity un- improved. He observed by the way the rain dashed against the windows of the parsonage and the windows of the church that the wind was from the east or the northeast, and he did not SOW or sowed that which was not worth sowing.
 Tn all departments of life there are those hihdered by the wind of public opinion. It has become an aphorism in politics and in all great movements. 1 He is waiting to see which way the wind blows" And it Is no easy thing to defy public opinion. to be run upon by newspapers. to be overhauled in so- cial circles. to be mathematical by those who heretofore were your friends and admirers, It requires a heroism which few possess. Yet no great re- formatory or elevating movement has ever been accomplished until some one was willing to defy what the world should think or say or do. But there nave been men and women of that kind. They stand all up and down the corridors of history, examples for us to | follow. Charles Sumner in the United l states Senate. Alexander H. Stephens in Georgia Convention. Savonarola stalking his life in time of persecution Martin Luther fighting the battle for religious freedom against the mightiest anathemas that were ever hurled. Will liam Carey leading the missionary movement to save a heather world while churches denounced him as a fanatic and with attempting an impos- sibtlity. Jenner, the hero of medicine, oaricatured for his attempt by vac l cination to beat back the worst dis ease that smcte the nations. They who watch the wind of public opinion will not SOW. It Is an uncertain indication and Is apt to blow the wrong way.
 1 Let us have war with England. if needs be-" said the most of the people of our Northern States in 1861, when Mason and Slidell. the distinguished Southerners, had been taken by our navy rom the British steamer Trent and the English government resented the act of our government i'm stoppinT one of their ships. Give up those prisoners" said Great Britain. No. ' said the almost unanimous opinion of the North. do not give them up. Let us have war with England rather than l surrender them" Then William Fl Seward, Secretary of State, faced one Of the hercest stroms of public opinion ever seen in this or any other country. | Seeing that the retention of these two
 men was of no importance to our coun- try and that their retention would put Great Britain and the United States in- to immediate conflict. said, We give | them up.' They were given up. and through the resistance of popular clam or by that one man a worldwide ca lamity was averted.
 Some of us remember as boys huza- ing when Kossuth, the great Hun garian, rode up Broadway, New York. Most Americans were in favor of talk ing some decided steps for Hungary, The only result of such interference would have been the sacrifice of all good precedent and var with European nations. Then Daniel Webster, in his immortal "Hulsemann letter." brave6 a whirlwind of popular opinion and saved this nation from useless foreign entanglement Webster did not ob- 1 serve the wind when he wrote that let ter. So in state and church there have always been men at the right timG ready to face a nation full-yea, a doworld full-of opposition.
 I How many there are who give too much time to watching the weather vane and studying the barometer! Make up your mind what you are golng to do and then so ahead and do 1t There always will be hindrances. It is | a moral disaster if you allow prudence