"I GOT A-GOING,
AND COULD NOT STOP."
I HEARD of a boy who was standing on the top of a hill, and his father was standing half-way down, and the father called to his boy, "Come."
He ran down, but did not stop where his father was, but went to the bottom of the hill.
His father said, "Why did you not come to me when I called you?"
He said, "O father, I got a-going, and I could not stop."
Young reader, take care lest you have to say,
"I got a-going, and I could not stop."
I will tell you what once happened. There was a young man only twenty years of age, and he was lying in jail. He had killed a man, and he was going to be hung. He had been a Sabbath-school boy, and his teacher went to see him in prison.
He had to go through a long, dark passage, and presently he came into the miserable cell.
It was a beautiful day; everything was lovely outside; the birds were singing, the sun was shining, and everything was green and beautiful.
And this young man—only twenty years of age—was lying in this dreadful cell, his limbs chained together, going to be hung And the gentleman spoke to him kindly, and said,—
"Oh, I am so sorry to see you here."
The young man burst into tears, and said: "Ah! Sir, if I had minded what my father and mother said to me—if I had attended to what you told me at school—I should not now be here! I got into bad company. I followed one young lad and another. I got something to drink. One bad thing led to another bad thing, and one day, being half drunk, I killed a man, and now, sir, I am going to die."
Ah! "He got a-going, and could not stop!"
Take care about the bottom of the hill. Do not "get a-going." You may not be able to stop till you get to the very bottom."
Rev. J. Vaughan.