The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1905-07-28
FARMvILLE, VA FRIDAY, JULY 28, 1905

T.
Y. 1t was during the agitation OF h'
abolitionist movement The white mel
Of the north as well as the south were
against him His own friends ut th'
bar We're against him. Yet there WI
liam II Seward pleaded and KEEP
pleading When at last his client wa'
hung by the neck until he was dead
By postmortem examination II wa.
found ont that William Freeman wa'
IN truth an idiot and irresponsible fol
the crime which he had committed and
that William II Seward, the young at
tOrney, was right In his defense OF him
Cannot you feel the earnestness Of q
Seward pleadingl I can. cannot think
Of a lawyer defending a client who Is
being tried FOR bis life unless that law
yer Is In an agony Of suspense until
the acquittal comes In the two words
Not guilty" spoken by the foreman Of
the jury. do you make your client 4
interests your interestsT I once asked
a lawyer friend YES" he answered
80 much 10 / make their interests my
interests that II they are being tried
FOR life 1 am disturbed in my sleep and
dream about them Every moment Of
my waking thoughts is with them. !
often get up IN the middle of the night
during trial and write. so anxious am
I 70 save them" "Ah" then / said 10
myself, mo wonder you are great
speaker when you plead for life in
this way No wonder your whole soul
goes forth into a mighty plen for your
clients when you are as one pleading
for your own life" 80 wonder the gos-
pei orators plea Is q mighty plea. Ev-
cry word he utters every gesture be
makes. every thought that is born IN
his brain. has the mighty purpose of
saving some man from eternal death.
Nightly as a Christian lawyer does
he plead for The salvation of men
But the Christian orator hns a higher
and even q greater inspiration than the
saving of sinful men and women from
eternal death. He stands IN a unique
position. lie Is not only pleading for
the salvation Of men, but also for what
Is pleasing TO God. And Of all ln-pira
tious 10 "sublimest oratory" there Is no
inspiration Ike unto that
The Christian orator. the advocate OF
the divine VIII and pleasure. Let me
Illustrate my thought by simple YER
bal picture. You are not the only son
Of your mother She has another boy
younger than you But, whereas you
are in one sense the good boy. be has
been the bad. He drinks he swears
he lies. be does everything be ought
not 10 do Again and again your moth
er came 20 his rescue. Your father left
Der a little money She has spent it an
trying 10 save him One night he came
homo from a drunken spree When
she spoke 10 him II made him mad. In
a rage he knocked her down and kick.
ed her M the breast AS result Of
that kick a cancer has formed She is
going 20 die. You are heartsick. "Oh
mother. motherr you say. IF I could
only mako yOu well and happy agalnw
As you kneel by her bedside she runs
her fingers through your hair Just AZ
she did when you were boy and
answers. Harry. you can make me
happy. VIII your Then I want you
TO 60 after your brother Joe and get
him 10 come home again for my sake"
with a cry you leap 10 your feet
You shake the dying woman's hand of
your forehead. "What-go Tor that
drunken brute. whose cruel heel has
given You your death w0undf Never
mother-neverl / will see him in jail
aye. or I'm the Internal reglons-hrst.
Then your mother begins 10 plead. She
says. Harry, you have suffered on ae-
count Of Joe. bat have not ! suffered
Have not given my life for himi
And. oh, Harry, I cannot die happy un
less we save your brother Joe" Once
there was a time when you wanted 10
save your brother Joe FOR his own sake
Now there comes a greater inspiration
into your lie You want 10 save him
because YOU can make your mother
happy, who Ia dying on account Of Joe's
sins Il not this the figure Of Gods
lover The Christian orator Is inspired
with a desire 10 save sinful man from
eternal death for himself But more
than thst-aye. far moro than that
he is inspired with the transcendent
hope Of pleading for man TO turn from
sin and be saved in order to satisfy
the doslre Of a divine Father for the
return Of his prodieals He does II
now for Cbrists sake-for Christs
sake. For God 20 loved the world
'hM he gave his only beectten Son, that
belleveth on him should not
perish, but have everlasting life" Oh,
he mighty inspiration which makes a
gospel orator not only plead 10 save
men for themselves, but 10 save men
Tor the sake Of the divine Fathers
'orglvlng love!