AN ENEMY HATH DONE THIS.
By C. N. Stuttle
If a man steal our purse, or burn our buildings, or circulate false and evil reports concerning us, we say, He is our enemy. As recorded in Matthew 13, Christ said of the man who sowed good seed in his field, that while he slept an enemy came, and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. So we endeavor to sow good seed in the hearts of the children, and train them to walk in the fear of the Lord and in the paths of virtue, sobriety, and truth; but how many enemies they meet who sow in their young hearts, by words of profanity or vulgarity, or by circulating vile reading matter, seeds of evil, which may bear a harvest of unhappiness and misery sufficient to embitter their whole after lives. This man may be one of our most respected citizens; he may be228a member of the church; yet is he not as much of an enemy as the man who maliciously burns our barn or steals our purse! The latter would be dealt with by the vigorous hand of the law; the former is unpunished in this world, yet a fearful retribution awaits him hereafter. Can we not forgive the former, wholly and freely? but how hard to forgive him who has corrupted the very souls of our children! Christ still further says that a man planted a grain of mustard seed, which is the least of seeds, and it sprang up and became a tree, so that the birds lodged in its branches. So a word, spoken in the presence of a child, may cause its ruin; it may leave an impression which will never be forgotten. Reader, are there not some things stamped upon your memory which you would gladly forget? Do not cast the seed of corruption by the wayside, in the workshop, or in the place of business. If you value eternal life, “keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.”