Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1904-08-20

and regretfully answered me: Il have
asked myself that same question a
Thousand times. but | have never
dared answer il. even to myself.
know. however. that some of our COM
pany's rifles must have killed some
soldiers during the civil war | know.
furthermore. that when | was young
man | was a crack shot. When as Il
boy | went hunting. | never used a
shotgun. but always II rifle. could
rs easily hit a flying bird or leaping
jack rabbit with one ball as l could
put four out of every five rifle shots
into the bulls eye of Il target. fur
thermore knew that there were certain
battles in which we could see the
whites of the enemy's eyes. | was one
of the best of sharpshooters. But |
never knew absolutely whether killed
man. because | never wanted to
face Of man whom | turned into a
corpse and To realize that had wreck
ell that mans home. would not want
10 know that | had made his wife a
widow and his children orphans. After
the battles were over | never crossed
the fields in the direction where l had
been shooting l was afraid to see the
proofs of my craftsmanship" RemOrse.
even when we are In the line of duty.
has awful results. How much more
terrible is il for one 10 look upon the
face of one whom the sinner has
wronged.
Oh. sinner. let me prove to you that
you are now. like Adam and Eve hid
Ing in one of the Satanic retreats Why
do you dislike Mrs. So-an;l-sOf She
was the wife of one of the best friends
you ever had Has she wronged your
No The reason YOU dislike her and
never want To he seen in her compan-
ionship is because that dead friend left
you the executor of his estate You
mismanaged II You criminally mis-
managed il You used her money for
your OWN benefit :: that widow had
wanted. she might have put you in 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 rhum
broken up? You were both born in
the same country village. You grew up
together. You played ball 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 I'm the same boarding house n nj
went to work ut the same city store III
the same day Why are you estranged ?
| 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 We're sick. Yon
hate your old school friend not because
cause you have done an injustice TO
him. What Is the matter with Mr..
So-and-so:" I once asked my father.
"IIe never comes around the house as
he used TO do" ''No.' said father. "he
Is my enemy loaned him some mon
ey. lie would not pay me back. How
ever. for old times sake | forgave him
the debt and said il was all right. But
he has never forgiven me the injustice
he has done me-
But again | learn that our first an
cestors sought other refugees besides
leaf and flower and ciinsing vine and
tree trunk and hush. II is true that
the tropical forests are 50 dense that
they make excellent hiding places. Sir
Gordon Cumming. the great hunter OF
wild beasts. tells us that the CcylOu
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 Il 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 10 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 he CALLED They
tried TO conceal sin by saying. The
reason we have not answered thee. q
God. Is because we were unclothed and
dare not appear before thee naked. as
thou didst create u.s." They tried to
conceal sin i'm 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
COncealing SIN.
How does man fry tn conceal his first