The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-12-26
wise P-recaution.

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Behold, thou are made whoiea
sin no, more, slestsa worse thing pes
fail thee."--JohI,T ", IA
Wickedness never heals Itself burS
goes on from bad to worse-till the
last state is worse than the first.
None Of us intends to go on cone
tinually in his besetting sin, nor Q
indulge In vice to- the bitter end
Blindness and weakness say usually:ks
"0nce more. Just this once more A
| or aFor the asttime-theSlas time
Captain A.. remarked when told
that an old friend Of whom hsShada
injured was still drinking heavily, !
"Ah, never to quit, never to qudt
and spoke wisely; but no doubt IL his
old friend had, Overheard 1t heiwould
have stoutly disputed the sad COM
Most Of JUS would be shocked -
| told we would never quit our evil
course. IF N should say to- q Q
| day, twenty-five years from now
you will be doing this same thing and
worse" Or You'll end a drug slave
in the asylum1% orTEtYo1H die
drunk o aYou,n continuesa libers
TIE and be devoured by l~oathsoMie
disease" or You're going right on
in this crookedness till you end I'M
crime, exposure and the river We
would be shocked and refuse TO be-
Yet It IS true that there is always
deadly dangeriof Observation-Disclosures
ment in sin after 1t Is begun Az the
taste which brought ion dyspepsia
continues to cry for more sauces and
sweets, so the. passions and lusts that
led to the first deadly sin 4cease5n NOE
to urge its repetition. Not only 90,
but evil being -gregartcus q sin soon
gathers a company more evil than
itself and they enter in and dwell
there" Escape from this state is
not In the pools and potions Of the
world, but IN the healing OF the
lsGreat Physician, whose restoration
enables us to assert and help onr-
selves, and whose safeguard for the
Efutureli lis t"sSin noEInore."
Grave mistakes deliberately re-
peated are inexcusableg The frat
timei was taken id bySSthat fellow ~
was his fault; but If he fools me
again it'll be. my fault" So might
we say of the devil after he has
tripped us once, and as "a burned
Igchild breads the fire." every soul
+ that has once escaped from the clutch
of sin should wisely dread and shun
it. A Government inspector told me
| that he once thrust his revolver in
the face Of a man who had grossly
insulted him. Realizing how near
he had comeSto killing q fellow man
he put his pistol away and deter-S
mined never to, carry itagain. Should
Ia man 31ess With a. dangerous assoc
Fciate or habit when he realizes what
It may .aad him to do? I know a
young Keatuckian who would never
return to the race track. after attend
/ ing once with his; father to see their
own horses runsbecause the wild ex-
citement he felt that day warneds
him that he could not affords to take
the risk Of becoming a race gambler
for life. Such men are helping them
selves, and evil fees from them.
Playing fastaand loose with, the bet-I
ter way spells failure for many who
start in It whose plans were noble
and whose hopes were high. The
dead inventors loft, full Of half fn-
ished models told the pitiful story OF
his i~nefic1ency n explained MS
failure.
Go thy way, from henceforth ain
no more = lest a worse thing be-
fall thee" This is wisdom from on
high. II 2
Let us sincerely strive with Him
for the best things. He helps us to
our feet and calls US to take up our
burden of responsibility and carry it
through the world. Serving man
kind and in fellowship with Him who
heals and champions it, let US go
bravely on our way with high hearts
and steadfast trust, so living; out the
rugged hours that at evening each
hard won day will stand as a smiling
prophecy of the ultimate triumph
we shall achieve at the end Of the
life intrusted to us. - Rev. c. @.
Wright, Chaplain U. S. Navy, in the
New York Herald. ~ !.