p. 521 | ONLY SIXTEEN

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 26, 1893

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 33.

ONLY SIXTEEN.

Only sixteen, so the papers say, Yet there on the stony ground he lay; 'Tis the same sad story we hear every day. He came to his death in the public highway. Full of promise, talent, and pride, Yet the rum fiend conquered him—so he died. Did not the angels weep o'er the scene? For he died a drunkard—and only sixteen, Only sixteen.

Oh! it was sad he must die all alone; That of all his friends not even one Was there to list to his last faint moan, Or point the suffering soul to the throne Of grace. If, perchance, God's only Son Would say, "Whosoever will may come"— But we hasten to draw a veil o'er the scene. With his God we leave him—only sixteen— Only sixteen.

Rumseller, come view the work you have wrought; Witness the suffering and pain you have brought To the poor boy's friends. They loved him well, And yet you dared the vile beverage to sell That beclouded his brain, his reason dethroned, And left him to die out there all alone. What if he was your only brother? What if your wife were that poor boy's mother— And he only sixteen. —Selected.