The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-05-18

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! YOU may be able to save him. He has
writ an me that he has attended your
church. VIII you pray for himY' The
far country of sin Is sometimes touno
among the evils Of political NE IN the
legislative halls of the state and the ma
ttonal capital Sometimes sin Is entreneh-
ed in a pulpit of the land where minis
ter has become an apostate and JUDAS
like. has sold his Christ for thirty pieces
off silver Wherever the far country of
sin may be there is the place where the
nobler and purer and better parts OF
mans life are being strangled
Once a sailing vessel was sighted noat-
ing among the icebergs OF the arctlcs.
The captain of the approaching Vessel
put the trumpet to his lips ana shouted:
siShip ahoy! Whittier bound? wilmer
bound?" No answer Again the trump
ct called. but the only sound heard by
| the CAPTAIN was the echo of his own voice.
| A small boat was lowered When the de-
| relict was boarded, it was found to be
| the ship of death. That floating snip
carried a dead crew. The wheelman had
been frozen dead in the pilothouse, the
| ca>Stain frozen to death in his cabin the
| sailors frozen to death In their ounKs.
| The derelict had been drifting around
for thirteen long years, with Its crew nn-
able to raise a hand utter sound or
| furl a sail.
The far country of the land of SIM
where the inhabitants are dead to God
| They are dead in their desire to make
| o,it of themselves what Christ would
have made them. They are dead to spir-
| itual love They are dead that they Will
not hear the Divine Fathers voice call
| ing them back TO the heavenly homestead.
A Word to Young Men.
Though the far country of sin may be
anywhere vet it is always a great dis
lance away from the flreside of Chris
| tan home. As soon as the younger son
determined to revel In sin he wanted to
get away from the presence of his aged
| Christian father He practically said:
Father, give me the share OF money
which will come to me when you are
dead and 1 will leave home and live in
| dependently | do not want to see your
loving eve and feel the kiss of holy af-
lection upon my lips. l want to go with
| evil companions and not associate with
you. even though you are my father
| The Christian home ought to be the hap
| piest place on earth to child. 1t is a
happy place if the child wishes and tries
to do right. But the Christian home is
a repulsive place to live when the boy
wants to do those things which should be
| left undone. When a boy or girl does not
wish to stay at home at night with the
rest of the family or finds other compan-
| ionship more desirable than that of moth
| 3r or father, look out-beyare!
"where are you going, Charlie?" said a
mother to her son, who was putting on his
coat and hat preparing to leave the
] house. "Oh." answered the young man,
"the firm wants me to collect few bills.
l will be home early, mother Do not be
anxious sit up for me If | am detain-
| ed The young man passed down the
street. He sounded a low whistle. A
couple of other young men met him at
! the corner. Boys" he said, mother is
! becoming suspicious. She did not want
| me to leave home. | must be more care
! full. Come let's have some fun" That
night In place of evil resort this group
of young men gambled and smoked and
| sang their lewd songs. 1t was great
| sport! They did not cease their carousal
until the morning sun announced to the
night Waterman that his work was done
and it was time for him to go to bed.
few years later in an eastern city in
a noted murder case the jury brought in
a verdict of murder in the first degree.
When the judge asked the defendant why
sentence should not be passed upon him,
| a young man arose. He turned a pale
face toward the Judge AS he began to
speak We see he was the same young man
of whom l have just spoken. Your
honor" said he Il am not afraid to die.
If l committed murder in that drunken
row a few months ago, l should be put
to death. But sir, before sentence is
passed upon me | should like to speak a
word to the young men crowding this
courtroom l would like to tell them that
l started on the road to the gallows when
l used to leave my home at night to go
out with evil companions. When 1 went
out thus I always directly or indirectly
had to deceive my mother" The far
country of sin may seem to be only a
step to the corner saloon. 1t is as far
away as if it was ten thousand million
miles away from the firesde of a Chris
tian home.
Mistaken Parental Kindness
The far country of sin generally has
broader and smoother highway for the
younger members of the family than for
the older sons and daughters Easy it
Is for every one to go to destruction I'M
less sustained by the grace of God. The
old as well as the young can have a sa-
tanic guide to lead them into the valley
of death if they are willing to be led,
but it is especially easy for the younger
members of a family to fling themselves
over the precipce of eternal death. When
the older children We're young, in all
probability the father was having hard
work to make financial ends meet. He
had to work day and night and night and
day He economical wherever possible.
But after awhile the father got a good
foothold in business of a professional
career. Then the money commenced to
flow into the family treasury. Then SER
wants were able to be hired to do the
work of the mother and sisters. Then
the younger son was able to have his
spending money and drive horse and go
with the young scions of the Weather
families. Then it was easy for him to
buy a through ticket and go by the fast
express to the far country of sin.
Mr. Moody we'll said: This father of
the parable ought to be censured. We
cannot help but blame him. When the
son said. Father, divide and give me
my portion, the father should have said:
| You show a bad spirit. 1 will make you
go without your share That IA
Their could not have done a greater I'M
kindness to the boy than to give him
his goods and money and let him go. A
true father would have said to such a
coptepnptibla flial shirt Go and aar,,