The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1903-04-23

he dreams the happiest Of dreams.
How Temptation Comes.
'Sin is a sweet poison" once wrote
Anthony Burgess. 1T tiCkleth while 1t
stabbeth. The first thing it does is to
bewitch, then to put out the eyes, then
to take away the sense Of feeling 1t
is when the temptation is concealed
and hidden among attractive surround
lngs that 1t has it's greatest danger. The
mighty furred bruin of the Rocky
mountains is not caught by the steel
trap lying unconcealed in the opened
pathway. He SHAMELESS along, shifts 1t,
pushes it aside with his paw, moves
round it or leaps over it. but when that
trap is concealed under the green grass
a short distance from the tempting
meat then the mountain bear has need
Tor fear. No sooner is the great paw
placed upon that harmless looking coy
erin than the steel teeth Of that trap
sDr.3~ shut The massive limb is hClI
in Il wise. and tn" great beast is rs help
loss as the murderer Hbou; to b" exc
cuArd in til" prison yard. The wild
turkey will not StnOp down of his own
accord and cnt"" th" small aperture OF
the fatal trap, hut after til" hunter has
scattered along the forest path III"
many grains Of corn this wild fowl will
lower his head and eat and eat UnitI
he is confined within til" wiz" screens
from which he will be taken out to his
death My brother and sister, are YOU
among thOs" whom King Solomon deS-
ignatcs as fools? DO YOU mock at sin
merely because it comes around in a
harmless way? The meve fact that the
highwayman crOuchCs behind the rock
makes his sudden attack the more dan
gerous; the mere fact that the quick
sands look to the Impractical eye as
strong as the rock under your feet
makes their invitations to step upon
them the more fatal.
Evil temptations should not be de-
ridcd. They assail man at his weak
est points Of character. They do not
try to assault his impregnable citadel
or attack him at those points of his ma
ture that are protected by massive
walls, so high and thick that the heav-
lest Of battering rams can only make
the slightest indentations, but they
try to destroy their victims by strategy
by throwing them off their guard;
wounding Achilles not through the
breastplate, but in the heel; coDQuering
Alexander the Great not with the
sword, but with the wine cup; destroy
ing Charles Stewart Parnell not with
mans gruff voice, but with a woman's
gentle arm; making Thomas Cranmer
sign his recantation not by the power
of argument, but by the power of fear.
1t only needs a comparatively light
blow between the eyes to stun the most
powerful animal which was ever driv-
ell into the Chicago slaughter houses
1t only needs one small sinful tempta-
ton TO appeal to Us in the right way
to destroy any man unless he is upheld
by divine panoply.
SIN Strikes the Weakest Point.
Evil temptations always assail their
victims at their weakest points. Is
there any man foolish enough to think
that his character Is so perfectly form
ed that there is no weak point in his
moral armor? A constructor who
would not try to strengthen his sag
ging girder is criminal. Awful was
the catastrophe when a few years ago
q great bridge across the river Seine
broke under the feet of the multitudes
merely because one of the iron links
fc w
would not be vigilant about the weak
est part of his Notifications. 1t was
after the famous mine was explod-
ed under the earthworks Of Peters
burg that the Federal troops were able
to drive back Robert e. Lees forces
into Richmond. And can it be that
with all your brain and force and past
experience you do not realize there Is
some helplessness, some weakness, in
your nature? Have you never been
tempted in the past and overthrown?
Can you not realize that you may be
tempted again in the future and over
thrown in the same way?
BY being aware of and trying to
strengthen our weaknesses we are able
to supplement our strength. A well
known and thrilling story is told that
the engineer of the Holland bikes was
one night invited to party. That aft
ernoon an awful storm arose. AS the
hour drew near for the festival the
engineer wavered, but at last he said:
"No; will go to the bikes, where my
duty calls. My services may be need
ed there" When he arrived upon the
bikes, he found that under the cease
less bombardment of the seas some Of
the stones in one place had become
loosened and a little water was begin
ming to trickle through. That little
stream was gradually growing larger.
Over the walls the engineer went. He
tried to stop that hole first with stones.
Then he took off his coat aud damned
it into the loosened rocks. More
clothesr' he shouted. More clothes!'
And he made his men take off their
garments. and at last the bikes were
saved Had that water been allowed
70 tu;c or5 had not tho waaI-