Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1901-06-29
ACconAC c. H., VA. SATURDAY, JUNE 49, 1901

IN heaven. II would have been 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-
Guided 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 No
God In that home No religious con-
ISOLATION In time of bereavement. No
formation Of thorough Christian char
acter In the lives Of those growing up
boys and girls. They will go out into
the world to meet Its yIcssitudes with
out any sublime reinforcement OF the
gospel. What pity it was that he did
not put down the manuscript of his
well prepared sermon on the Bible IL
he preached from notes or pour 1t out
Of his soul if he had lodged It there
through careful preparation! 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.
HIuHared nv DuhllP 0nfninn.
In ali departments of life there are
those hlndered by the wind of public
opinion. II has become an aphorism in
politics and in all great movements
"He is waiting to see which way the
wind blows" And II 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. 1t requires a heroism
which few possess. Yet no great re-
formatory or eleyating movement has
ever been accomplished until some one
was willing to defy what the world
should think or say or do. But there
have 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
States senate. Alexander Ii. Stephens
In Georgia convention. Sayonarola
stalking his life In time of persecution.
Martin Luther fighting the battle for
religious freedom against the mightiest
anathemas that were ever hurled. VIII
liam Carey leading the missionary
movement to save O heather world
while churches denounced him as a
fanatic and with attempting an impOs-
sibility. Jenner, the hero of medicine.
caricatured for his attempt by vac
cination to beat back the worst dis
ease that smOte the nations They who
watch the wind of public opinion will
not SOW. 1t is all uncertain indication
and is apt to blow the wrong way.
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 from the British, steamer Trent
and the English government resented
the act of our government 10 stopping
one of their ships. "Giye 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
surrender them" Then William II.
Seward. secretary of state. faced one
of the 6ercest storms 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, I'VE give
them up" They were given up. and
through the resistance of popular clam
or by that one man a worldwide ca
lamity was ayerted.
Some of us remember as boys huzza-
ing when Kossuth, the great Hun
garian, rode up Broadway, New York.
Most Americans were in favor Of tax
Ing some decided steps for Hungary.
The only result Of such interference
would have been the sacrifice OF all
good precedent and war with European
nations. Then Daniel Webster, In his
immortal "IIulsemanD letter" braved
a whirlwind Of popular opinion and
saved this nation from useless foreign
Webster did not OBJ
serve the wind when he wrote that let
ter. So In state and church there have
always been men at the right time
ready to face q nation full-yea. a
world full-of opposition.
Watching the Weather vane.
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 going
to do and then 90 ahead and do 1t.
There always will be hindrances. IL Is
\ moral disaster If you allow prudence
60 oyermaster all the other graces. The
Bible makes more Of courage and faith
and perseverance than it does of eau
ton. 1t is not once a year that the
great ocean steamers fail to sail at the
appointed time because of the storm
signals. Let the weather bureau proph'
esy what hurricane or cyclone II may,
next Wednesday. next Thursday. next
Saturday the steamers will put out
from New York and Philadelphia and
Boston harbors and will reach Liver
pool and Southampton and Glasgow
and Bremen, their arrival as certain as
their embarkation. They cannot afford
to consult the wind. nor can you in
your life voyage.
The grandest and best things ever ac-
complished have been In the teeth OF
hostility. Consider the grandest enter.
prise of the eternlties-the salvation OF
q world. Did the Roman empire send
up invitation to the heavens inviting
the Lord to descend amid vociferations
of welcome, to come and take posses