The Leon reporter., 1901-01-03

hearty, common sense Christian ad,
wiser, for word ftly spoken is "like
apples Of I'D in baskets of silver"
So p 4s word Of invitation po-
tent beautiful. Who can describe
the drA> iing power of that word, so
small and yet so tremendous, Come"
1t is short word. but its influence is
as long as eternity. Not sesquipeda-
lian word, spreading its energy over
many syllables, but monosyllabic,
Whether calling in wrong direction or
right direction, many have found it
irresistible. That one word has filled
all the places of dissipation and dis
soluteness. 1t is responsible for the
denominations that curse the earth. In
quire at the door Of persons what
brought the offender there, and at the
door of almshouses what brought the
pauper there, and at the door of the
lost world what was the cause of the
incarceration, and if the inmates speak
the truth they will say, "The word
Gomez brought us here" Come and
drink. Come and gamble. Come and
sin. Come and die. Pronounce that
word with one kind of infection, and
you can hear in it the tolling Of all the
bells of confiagration and woe.
The chief baker in prison in Pha-
raoh's time saw in dream something
quite different from apples of gold in
baskets of silver, for he said to Jo-
seph, Il also was in dream, and, be-
hold, had three white baskets on my
head, and in the uppermost basket
there was all manner Of baked meats
for Pharaoh, and the birds did eat
them out of the baskets upon my
head" Joseph interpreted the dream
and said it meant that the chief baker
should be beheaded and the birds
would eat his flesh. So many a man
has in his own bad habits omens of
evil that peck at him and foretell doom
and death.
But oh, the power of that word
Come" when Alright uttered! We do
we'll when we send young men into
schools and colleges and theological
seminaries and by nine years of in
struction and drill hope to prepare
them to sound Alright that sweet and
enrapturing and heaven descended
word Come" The gospel we believe
in is a gospel of "Come!" That word
speak all the churches. That word is
now building thrones for conquerors,
and FURNISHED coronets for kings and
queens. That word is to sound so
clearly and impressively and divinely
that the day is advancing when all ma
tions shall respond, "We come!" "W,
come!" And while the upper sleeps
toward God and heaven will be throng-
ed with redeemed souls ascending
there will not be one solitary travele,
on the road to sin and death.
The Gospel Bell.
In the Kremlin at Moscow, Russia
is what is called the liking Of BELLS"
but it is a ruined bell, and it has rung
no sound for near 200 years. 1t is 67
feet in circumference and in height l.
is more than ten times the height O..
the average man, and it took score
of men to swing its brazen tongue. 1t
weighs 200 tons. On the 10th of June
1706, in great fire it fell and broke
1t broke at the part which was weak
ened by the jewels which the ladies of
Moscow threw into the liquid metal at
the casting. The voices of that bell
are forever hushed. 1t will never ring
again, either at wedding or obsequy or
coronation. What majestic and overI
,powering silence! Enthroned and ever
lasting. .quietude! One walks around it
full of wonder and HISTORICAL reminis.
cence and solemnity. On it are figures
in relief representing ozar and en-
press and Christ and Mary and the
evangelists. But as I stood before it
| last summer I bethought myself Of a
greater bell and one still ringing. It is
the gospel bell, ages ago hung on the
beam of the cross. 1t has vaster cir
cumference and with mightier tongue
sounds across seas and continents and
awakens echoes amid Alpine and Him.
alayan and Sierra Nevadan ranges.
The jewels of affection thrown into 1t
at it's casting by ransomed souls of
earth and heaven have not weakened
it, but made it stronger and more
glorious Evangelists and apostles
rang it, and martyrs lifted their hands
through the flames to give it another
sounding. 1t will ring on until all ma
tions hear it and accept its invitation,
Come! Come!" It will not fall, as
did that of Moscow. No storm can
stop it. No earthquake can rock it
down. When the fires of the last day
blaze into the heavens, amid the crash
of mountains and the groan of dying
seas, it's clear. resounding voice will
be heard calling to the last inhabi-
tant of the burning planet, "Come!
| Comet"
MISSHAPEN PEARLS,
TO aJ,IonohIo Folk Praf~v fp,> T,n-o.e>.x