Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1904-08-19


you the executor OF his estate. You
mlsmanaged IT, You criminally mis-
managed IL. You used her money for
your own benefit IL that widow had
wanted, she might have put you I'm Jail.
Now you hate her. You never want TO
meet her. not because she has wronged
you, but because you have wronged her.
why We DO Not Forgive.
Why is that lifetime friendship be-
tween you and your school chum
broken upT You were both born In
the same country village. You grew up
together. You played bali together,
flew kites together. went fishing In the
old brook together. sat side by side be-
hind the same school desk and ate your
lunches out Of each others basket.
You came to the city on the same train,
lived in the same boarding house and
went TO work at the same city store on
the same day. Why are you estranged?
1 will tell you. You both fell in love
with the same girl. In order to win
that girls affections you lied about
your old friend. You circulated evil re-
ports about his past life. when you
knew that no squarer. truer man ever
lived. You said his family was not re-
spectacle, when his mother used TO be
second mother to you and helped
nurse you when you were sick. You
hate your old school friend not because
he has done an injustice 10 you. but be-
cause you have done an injustice TO
him. what il the matter with Mr..
So-and-soY' I once asked my father.
HE never comes around the house as
he used TO do" NO" said father. "he
is my enemy. loaned him some mon
ey. He would not pay me back. How
ever, for old times sake forgave him
the debt and said II was all right But
he has never forgiven me the injustice
he has done me-"
But again 1 learn that our first an
cestors sought other refugees besides
leaf and flower and clinglng vine and
tree trunk and bush. 1t is true that
the tropical forests are so dense that
they make excellent hiding places. Sir
Gordon Cumming, the great hunter OF
wild beasts. tells us that the Ceylon
jungles in places are so impenetrable
to the eye that the keenest and most
experienced hunters may sometimes be
unable to distinguish the wounded
elephantine monster only n few yards
| away, though the valleys and the
mountain sides may be thunderous
with the bellowings OF the dying wild
beast But sin never tries to cover up
sin by the curtain of leaf alone. Sin
always tries to conceal sin behind the
bulwarks of other sins. Thus, when
Adam and Eve hid themselves from
the presence of God In the garden, they
tried TO conceal their sin with the sin
of falsity. They pretended they did
not hear God when lie called. They
tried to conceal sin by saying, 1.-The
reason we have not answered thee, o
| God, is because we were unclothed and
dare not appear before thee naked. as
thou didst create u.s. They tried to
conceal sin in exactly the same way
| as thousands and tens OF thousands OF
| living men try TO conceal sin with sin.
All, the poisonous IVY behind which
| Adam and Eve concealed themselves
was not an arbor OF oak but an arbor
of lies and deceits. II they had spoken
the truth, they would have said. THE
| shame we feel. the shame that forced
us to hide ourselves from thy presence,
| is due TO our consciousness OF wrong
doing"
ConceeIipE Sin
| How does man try to conceal his first
sin behind a mighty bulwark of many
sins? Here is a young man who has
! been brought up i'm a country home.
He was raised up right He had his
first gospel lessons instilled into him
at the family altar, I'm the Sunday
school, and in the church pew, where
as little child, he used TO be taken
TO hear the service, and would sleep
through the long sermon. claspcd in his
mothers arms. Away from home he
falls into bad companionship- He
gradually gets into the habit OF spend
ing his evenings in billiard halls, and
his Sundays on excursion trains and
picnic parties. He drinks little. He
plays cards little. He dresses n little
better than he can afford. He runs a
little ia debt. One night while seeing
some OF his companions gambling he
says to himself, why cannot / make
a little money that wayT He is a col.
lector for the store. He plays and
loses He plays again and loses. He
Isfeels again for money in his pocket
Now his cheeks pale and his hands
tremble, for his fingers have touched
tho envelope which belongs TO his EN-.
ployer. He says 10 himself: IT must
win. Will borrow SIS and pay il back
very soon" He plays again and loses:
again, and loses. What Is the result?
The next day he dare not confess. so
he doctors his accounts He keeps
on using other peoples money unit. at
last one night in order TO conceal his
past sins he forges Then all the In
fernal regions clap their hands for 10y.
At last they have new victim. The
law places its heavy hand upon that
young mans shoulder. A striped suit
and penitentiary cell and broken
hearted mother are the results OF the
| sinner trying to conceal his sin behind
bulwark OF many sins.
But why invent parable to illus
trate my thought? We can, IL we
would, ind a conspicuous illustration
In the history OF our own country by
Following the downward path OF one
whose name might have been among
the most honored In American history.
All intelligent men, women and chill
dren in this audience have spoken the
name OF Benedict Arnold with execra-
ton and contempt. Living or dead.
the sentence which this imbittered ex-
lie spoke to the fugitive Charles Maui
rice Talleyrand. who was asking him
for letters OF Introduction to friends In
America, is true: ~ am the only man
born in America. who fought In the
American war for liberty. who has not
friend in all America. I am Bene-
| dict Arnold. the traitor"
But today i do not see alone Arnold
the traitor. do not see merely the
betrayer OF West Point. / see, first,
Benedict Arnold the hero of Ticonder-
oga. i see Benedict Arnold the hero
| and commander OF the wonderful ex-
petition against Quebec. which in 1775
In midwinter marched through the
Maine woods / see BENEDICT Arnold