The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-07-17
come upon the track of the abscondins

bank official. of the burglar who blew up
the safe, of the clerk who skilfully changed
the figures in the account book, of the fal.
sifer who secured the loan on valuelesa
property, of the agent who because OF his
percentage wrongfully admits man to
the benefit of life insurance policy when
his heart is ready to stop and who comes
from an ancestry Enthusiastically short
lived. One act of fraud told of in big
headlines in the morning papers rlghttu!ly
arouses the nations wrath. 1t is the IN.
terest of every good man and good woman
who readsgof the crime to have it exposed
and punished. Let it 60 unscathed, and
you put premium on fraud, you depress
public morals, you induce those who are
on the fence between right and wrong to
20 down on the wrong side, and you put
the business of the world on down grade.
The constabulary and Peenitentiary must
and the goddess cry, "Good for him-I am
glad he Is within the prison doors!" be
Il 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 tricky
firm, who gave him wrong notions of busi'
ness integrity; perhaps there was a COM
bination of circumstances almost unpar-
alleled for temptation. perhaps there were
alleviations, perhaps he was born wrong
and never got over it, perhaps, he did not
a merciful man you will think of other
perhapses which, though they will not e1'
cuse, will extenuate. Perhaps he has al:
ready repented and is washed in the blood
of the Lamb, and is as sure OF heaven as
you are.
There is another evil that we ought to
abhor while we try to help the victim, and
that is infdelity. 1t snatches the life pre-
server from the man atioat and affords
mot so much as a spar or plank as SUP.
stitute. 1t would extinguish the only
troubled and the lost. Let the spirit OF
infidelity take hold of 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,
Have lightning in your eye and flush
in your cheek and frown on your brow
for dastardy that would blot out the
sun and moon and .stSrs OF Christianity,
and leave all things in an ARCTIC night, the
cold equal to the darkness. You do well
to be angry, but how about those who
have been flung of skepticism, and that is
more millions than you will ever know OF
until the Judgment day reveals everything.
All, here comes your opportunity tor gen
tleness, kindness and sympathy. The
probability is that if you had been piled
with the same influences as this unbelieV.
er there would not be Bible in all your
| house from cellar to attic. Perhaps ne
was in some important transaction SWIM
died by a member of the church whose
| taking of the sacrament was sacrilege:
Perhaps he read agnostic books and heard
agnostic circles until he has been befogged
and needs your Christian help more than
any one that you know of. Do not get
| into any labored argument about the
| truth of Christianity. He may beat you
at that. He has whole artillery OF
weapons ready to open fire. Remem6er
| that no one was ever reformed tor this
life or saved for the life to come by an ar.
gument, but in humblest and gentiest
| way, your voice subdued, ask him few
questions. Ask him if he had Christian
parentage, and if he says yes, ask him
whether the old folks died happy: Ask
him if he ever heard Of any one going out
| Of this life in raptures of infidelity and
agnosticism. Ask him if it is not some.
what remarkable fact that the Bible, af:
ter so many years, sticks together and
that there are more copies of it in exist.
ence than ever before. Ask him if he
knows of any better civilization, than
Christian. civilization, and whether
he thinks the teachings Of ,Confu'
| if he thinks it would be fair thing in the
Creator of all things to put in this world
the human race and give them no direct
communication for their guidance, and i
they did wrong tell them of no way OF
I think if a famous in6del of our time
] instead of being taken away instanta.
neeusly had died in his bed after weeks
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. GO 90
ness there would have been a retractlon,
but I think there would. -'-a fss..1Ssf "
say to all young men hoping to achieve
financial. moral or religious success. con.
troll your tempers. Do not let criticism
or rebuff defeat you. Verdi, the great
musician, applied to become a student in
the Conservatory Of Music at Milan, and
he was rejected by the director. who said
that he could make pothing of the new
| conner, as he showed no disposition fol-
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 q
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
with rage because of something said on the
other side he of the equipoise put q glass
of water to his lips in refreshment and
saying when the gentleman interrupted
thing! We want it in the doctor feeling
the pulse of one desperately i'll; We want
| it in the engineer when the headlight OF
| another train comes round the curve on
| the same track; we want it in Christian
men and women in times when so much
in church and state seems going to demo-
lition-self control!
Surpassing all other characters in the
worlds biography. stands Jesus Christ,
wrathful against sin. merciful to the sim
ner. Witness His behavior. toward the
robed ruffians who demanded capital pun
ishment for an offending woman-denun-
for her sweet penitence: He did not
speak of Herod as "his highness" or "his
royal highness," but dared to compare
him to a cunning fox, saying, "Go ye and
| tell that fox" But, alert to the cry OF
suffering. He finds ten lepers, and to how
many Of the ten awful invalids did He
give convalescence and health! Ten. Re.
buking Pharisaism in the most compressed
sentence in all the vocabulary Of ana.
thema: aye serperts! Ye generation OF
vipers! How can ye escape the damna-
| ton of hell?" Yet looking upon Peter
with such tenderness that no word was
| snoken and not q word was needed for