Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1906-05-25
SATURDAY
NIGHT TALKS
GRACE, GRIT AND GUMPTION.
May 20, '0e-(Mark s:14-2s)
By r. z DAWSON


man, not IS years Of age. 1t was
caused by the spite Of an adulterous
woman and her libidinous dancing
daughter. 1t was accomplished to
pay off the obligations Of licentious
king made In a moment Of drunken
rashness. 1t happened when the dis
tinguished preacher was deprived OF
the presence Of every disciple or
sympathizing friend. 1t took place at
midnight, in the gloomy recesses OF
prison, and was nothing short OF
red-handed murder.
The last of the prophets OF the
old dispensation, was guilty OF no
crime except the straight out rebuke
of the iniquity of the royal pair. NO
trial of any sort whatever was given
him. He had no chance to reply, no
opportunity to appeal. The hand OF
vengeance seized him, he was hurled
into dungeon, his head was
chopped off by the executioner, and
the CORY member was taken on a
dish and laid at the feet Of harlot.
Nothing more unjust, inhuman, sa-
tanic, can be found in the annals or
history.
Since the beginning of the world
some of its noblest men and
women have been locked up in pri-
son. Christ was arrested. All the
apostles got into Jail. Almost every
city he visited furnished Paul prison
quarters. Joseph was lied about and
his liberty taken away by wicked
woman. Jeremiah was put in dun
geon because he would not preach to
please an Ubiquitous crowd. Peter
had to be continually interrupted In
his work by a jail sentence. John,
the beloved, was eXiled to an island
fortress. John Bunyan spent IL years
in Bedford prison. John Wesley was
dogged by constables all over Eng
land. John Knox occupied a prison
cell. Madam Guyon was incarcera-
ted for years. 1t should not surprise
us therefore, to read that John the
BAPTIST. ended his life in dungeon.
Grace, grit and gumption are the
characteristics Of the genuine re-
former. And the men who are the
pioneers of the race, the pathfinders
of the ages, are characterized by
these qualities. John the Baptist, was
a brilliant example of the men VINO
seem to be born into the world TO
create disturbance. They can no
more avoid it than thunder storms
can hold back forked lighting and
reverberating uproar. Men COVER
during the tempest, but the air Is
purer after it has passed, and the
face of nature is changed. The Ian
guage of the reformer Is often lurid,
his tongue a firebrand, he handles
language as Jupiter did thunderbolts,
but he usually smites only that
which needs to be overthrown.
The reformer, such as was John
the Baptist, is usually a lonely man.
His meat is appropriately locusts and
wild honey. Soft raiment would not
become his rugged form, q girdle OF
skin about the loins Is much more
fitting. Such heroic characters are
out of place at pink teas. We cannot
imagine any one of them wearing
delicately embroidered dressing gown
and slippers. When we speak OF re-
formers we think Of the three He
brews, who stiffened their back bones
erect when the throng on the plains
of Shinar bowed in idolatrous wor-
ship; Of Paul, preaching straight
from the shoulder at Felix till the
corrupt judges knees knocked to-
gether; of Martin Luther mailing his
thesis on the cathedral doors; OF John
Knox, bringing tears to the eyes or
the bloody. Queen Mary; of Peter the
Hermit, arousing all Europe with his
battle shout; of Jonathan Edwards,
preaching with such dramatic inten-
sity that the audience grasped the
pillars of the house lest they should
slide into hell; of John the Baptist,
uttering his personal message to
King Herod against the deep damna-
ton of his private life.
And the death of John the Baptist
Is In perfect harmony with his lie.
The bombshell which crashes down
the wall of the fortress Is Itself an-.
initiated. The world has only one
answer for the men Of that stamp.
Whom 1t cannot meet In argument II
assassinates. See the long list OF
those whom history records as the
benefactors of. mankind who have
met violent deaths. The fathers MUIR
der them and their children erect
monuments over their graves.
From the hour when righteous
Abel was slaughtered in the field,
down to the latest victim OF the
worlds hate, the noble army OF mar
tyrs he's been a long procession. The
standard bearers of civilization. OF
progress. of scientific achievement,
of invention, of Christianity have
been assassinated upon the picket
line. not by the foe ahead, but by
the stupid and laggard army be-
hind.
Nevertheless, nothing has ever
permanently stopped the work OF the
reformer. John the Baptist died, but
not until he had accomplished his
mission. He was only voice, and
the voice was heard. He was only a
forerunner, and he introduced the
King. He was sent to prepare the
way Of the Lord, and to make his
paths straight, and he did 1t. When
the sun arises 1t Is fitting that the
stars should disappear. Johns vale