Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1903-12-04

mieut TAN upon hsS future home aud
injurc some one. he gives orders 10 the
workmen 10 cut the tree down. The
ropes are tightly twisted about the
branches and tied TO other trees grow.
Ing In an opposite direction from the
house. The sharp AK begins 10 bury
It's head into the wood. The workmcn
pull With mighty groan the old for
est monster falls where II never seem
cd likely TO so. Or tornado sweeping
up the valley might push the tree over
in direction toward which Il lad
never leaned. But these exceptions are
very rare. They are as exceptional rs
the man who has always lived bad
life and ut the last moment is convert
ell by death5ed repentance and who Ia
thereby able 10 fan when the clock Ia
striking =. into the outSirctcred nrms
of loving Christ. Mos; trees indeed.
it nigh; b. said practically all tree
when they de fan in the direction In
which they have grown. About the
trees trunk and above the trees
branches ANA underneath the trees
roots are the great ever influencing
laws Of specific gravity. Ira tree leans
little TO the right. Il almost uvari.
ably falls 10 TIE right IL to the left. 1t
falls 10 the left.
svIftncss OF Death.
When man CONES 10 die. as a rule.
TIE only thing he can do il To die.
When the r:rSscns,er CONES. he las rot
any inclination TO t6:uk about any.
thinf: else but dying. lf the fatal dis
4e.-g-
months and perhaps years. the doctors
and nurses and loved ONES conceal The
truth from the patient for fear OF de-
pressing; him. CIR death comes like
stroke Of lightning out of clear SKY.
IL comes. as IL did to my father. one
moment clear Drained and on Il preach
inss tour, the next upon dcathbed and
unable 20 speak word. IL comes. as IL
came TO Robert G.. Ingersoll dizzl-
ness, fainting fit. and he IS gone II
comes by an accident. rs il came to that
young man on the night he was attend
ing Il religious meeting. The minister
urged and entreated him to make de-
cision for Christ. but he refused. "You
must make up your mind one way or
the other" Then" answered the
young man. eff l must, | refuse Christ
for tonight" That night on his way
home, while riding on horseback. his
brains Were dashed out by an over
hanging bough.
Death often comes sudGenly-as a
thief, as a watch in the night. A man
dies as a tree falls. He dies as he las
lived. Among all the Bible records
hnr is, httf
The pages of the Bible contain only
one account of n deathbed repentance.
"Oh," said n young man in my Pitts
burg church. 81 am so sorry you said
there are no deathbed repentances"
NO" answered an elder, "he never
said that. He said that though you
might want to repent upon your DEATH
bed in all probability you will have no
time TO repent. You will have only
time to die. You might repent IL you
would, but you will not" Death
bed repentances are as exceptional
among the human race as it is for q
tree in the forest untouched by human
hand to fall in q different direction
from the way 1t has grown. lie that
is unjust shall be unjust still. He that
is filthy shall be filthy still. He that is
righteous shall be righteous still. He
that is holy shall be holy still" A fall
en- log symbolizes it.
The Undying Fruit.
The fallen tree is n dead tree. the in
1uence of whose past life never dies.
Trees have an earthly mission. They
are mighty factors i'm the planets daily
life. In the celebration OF Arbor day
by the schools aud educational institu-
tons Ii would be appropriate. although
it is not especially enjoined by statute.
to couple with study OF trees lessons
on our birds and the great importance
or their protection. The young people
cannot have too great an appreciation
OF nature or too keen Il sense OF the re-
lation between her many beauties and
utilities. Atmospheric changes are
more or less influenced by trees
Droughts ANA frrShets are often caused
by the lack OF trees. Many countries
OF the far "asj have been absolutely
ruined by the ruthless destruction Of
the forests. From an lnhabitable coun-
try they have been changed into great
wastes OF arid deserts. SO the influence
or human life. like that OF II tree,
never dies. Its good or evil lives ON
and on, long after the human tree has
fallen.
Earthly demise would not be appall-
ing if when Il man died the bad he did |
while upon the earth should die with |
him. But the trouble Is that the bad |
lives on as well as the good. The Won
derful book of Eugene Sue called THE |
Wandering Jew is founded upon a |
well known Roman legend. II runs |
that when Christ had bJEn condemned
in iilate's Judgment hall the Jewish |
doorkeeper struck at him and cried:
Move on. mani Move on fasterl Why |
dost thou linger? Move onr With |
that the condemned Christ turned and \
said. II will go. but thou shalt remain
until i come" And so. says the legend. |
the brutal Jewish doorkeeper wanders |
up and down the world, begging God |
for death, but he cannot die. He cam
not die. Though that is only legend, |
ii is solemn truth that every GOOD |
word we have spoken or evil deed we |
lave done lives on after we are dead. |
II lives on in the lives OF others with |
whom we come in contact. We live
on in the good we have done. Then we |
are like that beautiful tree mentioned |
In an Easter fable whose branches |
were laden with apples of solid gold
and its leaves covered with silver bells. |
When the leaves OF that tree were |
shaken by the soft winds those bells |
would begin TO chime the sweetest |
music and that would be the signal |
for the poor and the starving to come |
and gather the falling fruit. Or we |
shall live on after we are dead In the |
evil we have done to our neighbors. |
Down through the centuries has the |
evil been perpetuated of that first sin, |
when a tempted man and woman |
plucked the fruit hanging from the |
branch of tree. So through all time |
the influence of our lives for good or |