Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1902-09-12

The poet has well described the isO-
lation of the infectious lepers in the
cast lest the rest of the community
might be stricken:
Room for the leper. ROOM" and as he
came
The cry passed on. Room for the leper,
room"
And he went forth alone. not one Of au
The many whom he loved nor she whose
name
Was woven in the fbers of his heart to
come and speak
Comfort unto him. Yea. he went forth
his way
Sick and heartbroken and alone to die.
For God had cursed the leper.
AS the disease Of leprosy is fatally
infectious. so are the leprous germs of
sin. The evil which is within us is
very apt to become the evil which
shall dwell within others. The wrongs
we do against our own selves are
truly apt to become the sins which
others shall do unto themselves also,
and as this infection Implies that to
scatter the germs of sin we must come
in contact with others is 1t not a star
Ting reflection that the people whom
we are most liable to destroy by our
sins are those who may be nearest and
dearest to u.s. 1t will be the mother
herself stricken with the leprOsy Of
sin, who will destroy her own daugh
ter; the father his own son, the BROTH
or his own brother the wife her sis
ter. Kindred ties and companionship
will only serve to facilitate the trans
mission of the deadly infection. There
| fore should we not feel as did Robert
| e. Lee when he was one winter morn
| ing walking over the SHOWS of Airing
! ton? AS he looked back lac saw his
ten-year-old boy trying to stretch his
legs to step in his fathers tracks.
Then said tie greatest man the south
| has produced for many a year, IF my
boy is going to try to walk in the path
! ! am walking In, ! must be very care
| full that | always walk IN the path Of
purity and truth and honor and right"
If our dear ones those closest to US in
life, are those most in danger Of infec-
ton from our spiritual leprosy. there
/ is another reason why. for their sakes
If not for our own, we should seek the
divine germicide. TO have the cleansing
which Naaman. the leper. received
when, at Gods command, he dipped
seven times in the river Jordan and
his flesh became like unto that of a
little child
The Infection of Sin.
May none of us ever experience the
remorse a broken hearted father felt
many years ago. He was bending over
the bleeding body of his ouly son. who
had just been brought home IN dying
condition from q drunken car0usal.
"Oh, my childw he cried. why did
you do this? Why have you broken
your mothers and fathers hearts"
The dying boy cruelty looked up into
!he face Of his weeping parent and
answered: "Why. father, what are you
crying for? l am dying as the result of
your sins as well as mine. You first
taught me to drink at your own table.
You are as much to blame as l." Yes,
the infectious results of our own lep-
rous sins are evidenced In the temporal
and eternal destruction Of those who
ought to be nearest and dearest to our
affectionate hearts.
of the rich and the poor alike; in the
palace and in the hovel; at the kings
banquet table, as well as in the beg
CARS gutter. For many years the world
supposed that leprOsy was able to
thrive only in the pestilential alleys and
filthy dens Of the east That SUPPOSE
ton was totally wrong. LeprOsy may
originally start among the low social
outcasts. but the leprous germs can
live and thrive unuer the dazzling
lights of a brilliant ballroom as well
as in the sitting air of the dark howell
of a criminals retreat. By handling the
coin which is publicly used in India a
4 traveller may become infected with lep-
o rosy, some leper having handled the
8 same coin. BY simply touching a rock
il at the foot of which Il leprOus beggaT
@ had crouched prince, arrayed in all
il the brilliant robes Of royalty, may be-
3 come a leper.
q A few years ago the most influential
y man of the kings cOurtESi the Sand
Q witch Islands was supposed to be an
@ eccentric individual because he always
/ wore a glove upon his left hand. but
il one day that courtier was compelled t.
s take off his kid glove. and he wat
found to be a leper.
h The Indifference of the Rich.
f The last people on earth to believ,
@ that they can be destroyed by the lep
e rous germs of sin are the rich. the af
% fluent and the honored. 1t is cas-,
p enough to persuade the poor outcast
" despised for her sins by the who'll
ID human race, that she needs Christ.
10 is easy enough to persuade the poo
le drunkard. writhing in the fatal elias
ID of delirium. that he needs supernatural
r aid; but, oh, it is hard to persuade tn
e rich man, the hOnored, the respectabl
a man, TO feel that the leprOus germs @
o sin may be imbedded in his own fesl
/. Afiluence and worldly honor som'
L times seem to make men Indifferent t
c. all that is vital for time and eternity
t. They are blinded to their sins an
e. scott at the warning that their. ow
lie fate may yet be that of the multitude
lie who, in the palaces of the rich and I'll
D. great. have persisted from the same il
r difference
:. Reckless and Indifferent was the att
= tude of the people of London durin
- the great plague about two centuriC
- ago. Ainsworth, the historian, tells |
- that during those narrowing and grew
~ some months the London stores wei
~ nearly all closed. The doors of the pl
:. vate homes were nearly all barred al
- bOlted save when they were opened
- the approach Of the bell ringer wi
- was seated upon a pile of stencil
cOrpses because he was out driving Il
y. dead cart and collecting the differe
:! bodies of the dead. Yet at that time
London there were men and WON'T
= who whistled and laughed and dane,
o and sang and blasphemed under t
- very shadow of these horrors.
-. But. though the leprosy of the sol
~ like the leprosy of the flesh, be a d
us ease beyond the reach of the hum'
% soul. would again draw your attic
~ ton to the fact that it yields to t
30 touch of the Divine Physician, as t
" afiiction of Naaman yielded at the J,
"a dan waters. And there are especial
Hy two or three incidents about the PHI,
an ical cure of Naaman with which
i"t would drive this truth home and lie
,u' you to the fountain of life The fiji
81 was that he was induced to tra'
from Damascus to the home of t
.n Prophet Elisha through the influer