The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1901-08-16

spair, be careful what you say 10 the vic.
tim of the vice and what YOU do. He
needs more sympathy than the man who
came up from incbrety and debauch and
assassination, for many such repent and
are saved, but confirmed gamblers hardly
ever reform. During the course Of a pro
longod ministry j have seen thousands re-
deemed, many of them who were clear
gone In sim by Almighty grace rescued
Ina all parts of this land and in some parts
ct other lands / have seen those who were
given up as iucoTigible and lost rcc0v-
cred for God and heaven. but how many
confirmed gamblers have / seen converted
from their evil waysg A thousandg No
Five hundred? No Fifty? No. Two!
No. Oneg No. / read in a book Of one
such rescued. / have no doubt there have
been other cases. but no evil does It's work
80 thoroughly and eternally as gambling.
Such almost hopelessness of reformation
ought TO call forth from you deeper sympa-
thy than you feel for any other uniortu-
nate. Pity, by all means, for those who,
shipwrecked and bruised among the tim
bers, have nevertheless climbed up TO the
fsherman's cabin and found warmth and
shelter, but more pity for those who never
reach shore, but are dashed to death in
the breakers. BE angry at the sin, but
sympathize with its victims.
There is another sin that we are often
times called to be angry with and that is
fraud. We all like honesty, and when 1t
is sacrificed we are vehement in denunca-
ton. We hope that the detective will soon
come upon the track of the absconding
bank official, of the burglar who blew up
the safe, of the clerk who skilfully changed
the figures in the account book of the fall
sitter who secured the loan on valueless
property, of the agent who because of his
percentage wrongfully admits man to
the benefit Of a life insurance policy when
his heart Is ready to stop and who comes
from an ancestry characteristicallv short
lived. One act of fraud told of in big
headlines In the morning papers rightfully
arOuses the nations wrath. 1t is the in
terest of every good man and good woman
who reads of the crime to have it exposed
and punished Let it 90 unscathed, and
you put a premium on fraud you depress
public morals, you induce those who are
on the fence between right and wrong to
60 down on the wrong side, and you put
the business of the world on a down grade
The constabulary and penitentiary must
do their work. But while the merciess
and the goddess cry, Good for him-I am
glad he is within the prison doorsl" be
it your work to find out if that man is
worth saving and what were the causes
OF his moral overthrow. Perhaps he
started in business life under a tricky
firm, who gave him wrong notions of bust
ness integrity; perhaps there was a COM
bination of circumstances almost unpar-
aIleled for temptation, perhaps there were
alterations, perhaps he was born wrong
and never got over it, perhaps he did not
realize what he was doing, and If YOU are
a merciful man you will think Of other
perhapses which, though they will not ex.
cuse, will eXtenuate. Perhaps he has al
ready repented and is washed in the blood
Ct the Lamb, and is as sure of heaven as
you are.
What an opportunity you have now for
obeying my text! You were angry at the
misdemeanor, but you are hopeful for the
recovery of the recalcitrant Blessed all
prison reformers! Blessed are those Gcv-
ernors and Presidents who arc glad when
they have a chance to pardon! Blessed
the forglvlng father who welcomes home
the prodigal! Blessed the dying thief
whom the Lord took with Him to glory
saying, This day shalt thou be with Me
in paradise"
There is another evil that we ought to
abhor while we try to help the victim, and
that is infdelity. It snatches the life pre-
server from the man ahoat and affords
not so much as a spar or a plank as sub
stitute 1t would eXtinguish the only
light that has ever been kndled for the
troubled and the lost. Let the spirit of
inidehtY take hold of a neighborhood,
and in that town the marriage relation is
a farce, and good morals give place to all
styles of immOrals. Let it take possession
Of this earth, and there would be no vir-
tue left in all the worlds circumference.
/ think if a famous infdel of our time
instead of being taken away instanta-
DaOuclV had Iipd in his bod offa. lie
and months of illness he would have re-
voked his teachings and left for his be-
loved family consultations which they
could not find in obsequies at which not
one word of holy Scripture was read or at
Fresh Pond crematory, where no Chris
tian benediction was pronounced. | do
not positively say that an a prolonged i'll
ness there would have been a retraction,
but / think there would.
say to all young men hoping to achieve
financial, moral or religious success, con-
or rebuff defeat you. Verdi, the great
musician, applied to become student in
the Conservatory of Music at Milan, and
he was rejected by the director, who said
that he could make nothing of the new
conner, as he showed no disposition for
music But the criticism did not exasper-
ate or defeat him. The most of those who
have largely succeeded in all departments
were characterized by self control. In
battle they could calmly look at the bomb
thrown at their feet, wondering whether
it would explode. In commercial life,
when panics smote the city, these men
were placid, while others were yelling
themselves hoarse at the Stock Exchange
| While Others nearly swooned because a
certain stock had gone 100 points down
they calmly waited until it would get 100
points up. While the opposing attorney
in the courtroom frothed at the mouth
other side he of the equipoise put glass
of water to his lips in refreshment and
! proceeded with the remark, Gas / was
saying when the gentleman interrupted