The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-06-26

the dogs were fighting and commanding,
should catch a glimpse of a heavenly
vision, where there shall be no loath-
some occupations as is this one of the
canine scavengers of the east? Heaven Is
to be a place of continual work. Heaven
is however to be a place of glorious,
happy, jubilant, honored occupations
Roaming again through the narrow.
crowded streets of eastern Palestine
know from the smile of my text that
the Christians earthly translation is not
to be horror a tragedy, terrific re-
pulsive and n terror inspiring demise.
When the Christian dies he does not die
like a dog, but he ascends as did the
Saviour He does not growl and whine
with fear, but he mounts from JOY to
joy, from sublmity to sublimity, from
exultation to exultation from glory to
glery.
AS the Dog Dies.
The eastern dogs death Is a gloomy
picture. He dies the death of all wild
beasts, and that death is tragedy.
Some years ago the author of history
Of the beasts of the African forests
made this statement, which Will long
live In my memory: mo beast OF bird
or reptile In all the dark continent dies
a natural death. No sooner does his
physical strength weaken than there
are some bestial or serpentine cannibals
or some enemy Of his species ready to
feed upon his dying body and sui the
feeble or the quick beatings of his
heart. That means every deer or fawn
that dies dies a tragic death every
quick eyed and sharp clawed lynx must
fall in time before a mortal Zoe EVERY
monster leader of the elephantine herd,
every shaggy named Bengal king must
die violent death. So dies the dog; but,
thank God, so does not die the Christ
ian.
Sometimes It's true that the body of
man may die the death of dog, but the
Christian has hope in his death Though
his body perish in battle or in accident,
though 1t may be crushed or burned so
that 1t cannot be recognized, his soul 10
safe. He has the consciousness that
Christ is able to keep that which has
been committed to him and whatever
may befall the body the soul will be pre-
served.
John b. Cough. in one of his wonderful
lectures gives q description of the re-
markable escape of his father, who was
an old Engl,sh soldier, from dying hor-
ribe death. u was during the famous
Franco English war of 1909. when the
British troops were retreating before
lightning horsed Marshal Soult Hungry
and faint and sick from exposure and
lack of food and also from loss Of blood
from a wound in the chest, young Cough
staggered along with his Regiment as
long as he could and then fell by the
roadside TO die. Gle must die" said his
son. ut seemed inevitable that he must
die. Suddenly, as he lay upon the ground,
a large bird of prey, with red neck
growing out of a ruffle of feathers, came
swooplng along. almost touching my ia
theirs body with It's wings. and then.
circling up it alighted on point OF a
rock and turned its blood redeye on Its
intended victim. AS my father saw that
horrible thing watching and waiting to
tear him In pieces, even before life was
extinct, it so filled him with horror that
he cried: 4 cannot endure this Wien
| am unable to drive that fearful thing
away It will be tearing my flesh He
rose to his feet and crawled and strug-
gled on till at length he crept into a
hut and found safety" The death which
menaced that wounded man is the death
which awaits the eastern dog. When he
is incapable Of defending himself he is
torn to pieces. Men, too have perished
through the vindictive passions Of their
fellows. Some have been crucifed as
was Christ; some have been stoned. as
was Stephen; some have been beheaded,
as was Paul some have been BURNED at
the stake, as were Ridley and Latimer.
But how different was their future from
that Of the dog From out those crushed
and mutilated bodies the martyr spirits
have gone UP, redeemed and glorihed, TO
dwell forever before the throne.
ye mortals, destined to live forever