Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-11-08

all for their young. The salmon swim
up the rivers at spawning time. They
deposit their egsvs in the shallow wa.
tiers. Then the mother fish Mt once be
comes cannibal and viii eat her
young IL she has the chance. But in
the human family everything is chang.
ed. There love has it's throne. There
human heart cllngs TO human heart.
There the old love the young and the
young love the old. There the strong
help the weak and the weak help the
strong. Though In some human hearts
you find the love power stunted In its
growth, yet everywhere In man you
can find the moral compass telling him
what is his duty to his fellow men,
There is no eye so dull but 1t can spar.
kle az the thought of some sacrifice.
There is no ear so deaf but 1t quivers
at the wall of anguish. There is nc
hand so weak but 1t grasps the hand
of some other human being in friend.
ship. There is no human heart so dead
but In it somewhere can be found az.
fection pulsating with life. Yes, the
lowest form of human being is infinite
ly above the highest form of the brute
creature. for in every human heart is
the trembling needle of the moral
compass pleading with man to be
better man than he Is and showing
him his duty to his fellow men. Hon.
or all men," On account OF their pow,
ers Of affection, however meager they
may be, honor all men.
Judge Not Harshly.
But there is another reason why we
should heed the injunction Of my text.
We should honor all men because OF
the bitter struggles through which
most of them have gone before they
have yielded to the calls of sin and
cut themselves adrift from their own
higher ideals and from the love and
respect of their fellow men. 1t Is EASY
to sit superciliously upon the self
righteous thrones of our own gilded
cgotism and look down upon the fall
en- and the low and say, "We would
not have done as they did If we had
been in their place." 1t is q fer diff.
ferent matter to have had the same
environment as they and to have
turned out differcntIv.
Inc older l Er less harshly j
JNNSS thS hhpiH- SSSeS anu SNORT
comings of those who fall into sin. In
nearly every case | have investigated
l have found that these so called social
outcasts had certain trials and temp
tations, injustices practiced against
them, which would have flung me If I'm
my own strength I had been CON-
PEELED to contend against them. Then
L might have turned out as badly as
they did. This fact is not only true
about the men and women whom |
meet In daily life, but also of those
whose crimes have become the hor-
ror and the loathing of two hemis-
pheres. If you will investigate the
causes OF crime with an impartial
mind you will be compelled TO become
more and more lenient in your criti-
cisms, MS all men should.
Men do not start out intending to
be bad. They do not want to be enc
mics OF society, but the temptations Of
life sometimes fame up in the blood
on account of the sins of their ances.
tors or on account of their own evil
surroundings, or injustices are prac-
ticed upon them, or wrongs have been
done them. They are battered and
beaten and trodden in the dust until
at last they arise, desperate. Then
their evil passions are let loose, aud
their hate OF the world breaks like
destroying conflagration. So, my
friends, before you judge men harshly
think OF the temptations which they
have had to meet. Think how made
Quate is their human strength to over
fhnSn 90 m
what you would have done had you
been placed in their surroundings with
their tainted ancestral blood. II you
do all this, will you not have a better
idea OF sinful mankind than you ever
had in the past? Honor all men,"
Honor All Men.
But we should honor all men be-
cause we can see the work of grace
which the gospel can perform In the
heart of even the vilest sinner. We
see how Gods love can enter a sinful
heart and purify 1t and recreate 1t. 1t
is not the raw. crude material Of phys
ical life that is OF so much value, but
when that raw material has been made
over by the skilled hand of the divine
Workman then the finished article be-
comes Of great intrinsic worth. Man
may be In the beginning repulslve and
repugnant to the eyes OF others, but
cleansed by grace he is worthy to be
honored not only by the inhabitants
OF earth, but also by the denizens OF
the skies.
In the marble Quarries near Rome
years ago there was cut q massive
stone for agreat sculptor. But alas,
after this huge piece OF marble was
dragged from the side OF the mountain
1t was found that an unsightly seam
ran through 1t, and it was cast aside.
Many sculptors came and looked at its
white surface, but rejected 1t as use
less. One day a young man, not yet !
twenty-five years of age, named Mich
ael Angelo, came and looked at the
stone and ordered it taken to his
studio. Then with mallet and chlsel
he began to work on It day in and day |
out. He cut in and around this ugly |
seam until at last tie greatest OF his |
early masterpieces Sok form and that
stone became the marvel of the. age
as David the SheDherd' preparing for
ms battle with u 3hty Goliath. So |
God can take man r5ugh, uncouth, sin
ful man, man with all his imperfec- |
lions. and chisel him and cleanse him, |
and man the sinful will become |
"man the pure" TO dwell with him for
ever.
Oh, II we could only catch an In |
spired vision Of what God can do for
US, then there would be no difficulty in
realizing what he car do for othersi