The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1911-01-13
SATURDAY.
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By. .:.:%H,i4ENAY
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THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE.


IL the bond servant OF sin."-CR W john
viii. "a
Ever visit prIson1 Gray stone, iron,
bars. locks and keys; hard faced. cat
footed guards; pallid faced, leaden,
heeled prisoners: silence, labor, ever
and always a deadening sense Of re-
straint. The dungeon, the chamber
Of horrors" tho lock step. the striped
suits, the shaved heads, the averted,
faces, the ever present consumptive-
cough, were just the surface things,
your eye and ear caught You muir.
INJURED. "The way Of the transgressor Ia
hard" But those things told nothing
OF the real horrors OF that house Of
bondage tears, remorse, bitterness, de.
spair. Prison walls tell no tales. In
spections and Investigations mean ex.
ternal things only. The life and soul
a cemetery; the cells a grave, A tribe
ia remembered for weeks. The coming
OF new man, time up for another. a
death by tuberculosis. another by sui
eide, execution day with its suppressed
excitement, are red letter days In the
calendar OF stone. When the "bit' is
served and once more the thin haired.
low voiced, paste faced, furtive eyed
creature goes forth he will be marked
man. Police. detective and plain clothes
man viii shadow" him. He's Jail
bird" he's "done time" has "a record. ~
he will be ''pinched" on suspicion. he'
will be bounded and harassed until
man handled and driven he Is back In
the CELL Say, when you came out from
your visit you took a great big breath,
Of fresh air and thanked God for free
dom, didn't you? Well you might. One
Of the darkest and most pathetic sto-
ries ever writ In hearts blood is that
Of our brother In the house Of bondage.
Tho Slave Drivers Whip.
But listen, friend! These hundred
thousand more or less Of the caught
and uncaught are only few. We're
all bond servants Of sin--verltable
slaves in the devils prison house
Bondage of bad habits, temper, appe-
lite, lust and greed. We're often.
chained to them. Paul said, who
shall deliver me from the body OF
this death?" Know this figure? Man,
chained to the dead, rotting, stencil.
full body Of his victim. Eat, drink,
or sleep, the sickening carcass Is
there. Whose sins is compelled to,
bear its consequence. Notice the drink
slave See his master drive him out
Of bed ut 5 o'clock In the morning,
walk the streets in n binding snow.
storm, waiting for the corner saloon
to open. The appetite cracks this,
whip, and he tramples over home and
wife and child to answer his master.
He must obey. He Is a slave! See
him rs an unholy passion leads him,
to the gates of perdition. Hat down
over eyes he skulks through the red.
light district. The tigers I'm his
veins. For the woman with the
scarlet kimona he forsakes respect
slave! The conductor taps another
on the shoulder Fare, please" 81
paid you when got on" Conductor
glances at the fare register. He
knows he didn't, but what's the use
arguing? He laughs when the mer-
chant makes mistake In change or
when he holds the hard pushed seller
to an evident slip Of tongue or pen,
He's sly, deceitful, tricky. Supremacy
selfish. Greed's got him! His
hearts freezing. His souls dead But
all sins servitude. No jailer's so cruel
and merciless. Sin is fire in the blood.
Scorpions sting in every nerve cell
and fiber
Christ tho peiiverer.
"WhOm the Son makes free shalt
be free indeed" He frees nations.
Sin enslaves them. When nations die,
they commit suicide. Graft and cor
ruption defeat Spain or a Russia.
He frees mind Of prejudice, falsehood,
selfishness. He helps one control his
will, sanctify his body. master his
moods and Danish fear-his worst en-
envy. Let the skeptic mock. They
did so at the man born blind whom.
Christ gave sight. They sneered. but
there stood the man! John Bunyan.
the swearing, Sabbath breaking tinker.
Is released from his bondage. Jerry
MacAuley. the New York river thief,
drops his chains. John q. Cough, the.
hopeless drunkard, Is released from
the bonds Of his master It's a mys-
terry. You can't do II by force. After
the shock Of war we go back to diplo-
macy--not by legislation. The Magma
Charta Is given, the emancipation proc
lamatiOn Is signed. the legislative en-
actment Is passed, but the works Just
begun! Not even education and civil
lization do the trick. Who's your jail
er. brother? Christ's your delivererg
Were you at the G. A. r. encampment
at Atlantic City last summer Great
crowds; brass bands: big parade
Next to the crippled and MANNED the
most eloquent procession was the ex-
prisoners of war, Here were men from
Libby, Andersonville, Salisbury, Belle
island-each had a badge with name
or his prison on IT. Some had two,
some three! They were prisoners not
ashamed OF their bondage. /. thought
OF some other prisoners-prisoners OF
Christ, ambassadors in bonds, having
also fought the good Hght. see an
other parade-the grand army Of the
redeemed. that will march down the
streets Of the city OF our God, applaud
ed by heavenly throngs-thousands