The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1911-05-06
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REySAMUELW. pUgvES.D.D
TIE HOUSE OF BONDAGE.

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Is the bond servant of sin."-(R W John
will, 81.
Ever visit prison? Gray stone, iron
bars. locks and keys; hard faced. cat
footed guards; pallid faced, leaden
heeled prisoners; silence, labor, ever
and always deadening sense of re-
straint. The dungeon, the chamber
Of horrors" the 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, 1.-THE way of the transgressor is
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
grow smaller and smaller. The prisons
a cemetery; the cells grave. A trife
is remembered for weeks. The coming
Of a new man, time up for another,
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. furtivc eyed
creature goes forth he will be a marked
man. Police, detective and plain clothes
man will 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.
The 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-veritable
slaves in the devils prison house.
Bondage of bad habits, temper, appe-
tite, 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 at 5 o'clock in the morning,
walk the streets in a binding snow
storm, waiting for the corner saloon
to open. The appetite cracks the
whip, and he tramples over home and
wife and child to answer his master.
He must obey. He Is a slave! See
him as an unholy passion leads him
to the gates of perdition. Hat down
over eyes he skulks through the red
light district. The tigers in his
veins. For the woman with the
scarlet kimona he forsakes respect
ability, manhood, honor. He's a
slave! The conductor taps another
on the shoulder. "Fare, please" 81
JOu SOl Ou. SOhhuNtOh
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 supremely
selfish. Greed's got. him! His
hearts freezing His souls dead, But
all sins servitude. No jailers so cruel
and merciless. Sin is fire in the blood
Scorpions sting in every nerve cell
and fiber
Christ the DeIiverer.
"Whom the Son makes free shall
be free indeed" He frees nations
Sin enslaves them. When nations die
( they commit suicide. Graft and cor
ruption defeat Spain or Russia
He frees mind of prejudice, falsehood
selfshness. He helps one control his
will, sanctify his body, master hi
moods and Danish fear-his worst en-
envy. Let the skeptic mock. The!