#S3f 
 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 The Taproot. 
 Conf Pam 12mo #597 
 
No. 92. 
 
 THE TAPROOT. 
 
 (J\ a bright and bracing afternoon early in March, 
 returning from a visit to an afflicted family, I met 
 •vith one of my intelligent parishioners' sitting on a 
 fence. A gorgeou3 sunset wks displaying its glories 
 in the west, aud my friend gave true indications that 
 the day closing around us hud not been spent in idle- 
 ness. ''What,'' said ], in a friendly tone of recogni- 
 tion, " are you doing here ?'- "I want," said he, "to 
 transplant that pretty elm into my door-yard, and I 
 have been laboring here for hours fc) dig it up, in vain. 
 The tree, perhaps, is a little too old to be transplant' 
 od ; but if removed early in the spring, and with a 
 large root, trees frequently live, even beyond the age 
 of this." 
 
 I crossed the fence to take a view of the tree. I 
 found it surrouuded by a deep trench, and its lateral 
 roots all cuty and feeling that a strong pu^h would 
 lay it on the ear h, I gave it one. Not a twig <ior a 
 leal moved the more on that account. I wondered — 
 and turning to my friend, I asked, "Why is it so firm, 
 when so many of its roots are cut and when united to 
 the earth by a stem so small ?" "The taproot" said 
 he, "remains, and until that is cut, it will stand firm."' 
 Hearing ths phrase for the first time in my life, I ask- 
 ed, " What do you moan by the taproot t ' " Almost 
 every tree," said he, "has its taproot, which goes as 
 strait down into the earth as the trunk goes in* 
 
air; and until that root is cut the tree stands, and will 
 grow. And if I should fill up this trench now, tht 
 tree would feel but little the cutting of all these later- 
 al roots. They would soon grow out, and the tree 
 would be as strong as ever." 
 
 We soon parted. I pursued my way home ponder- 
 ing these remarks. The tree was transplanted, and 
 now stands, a noble and beautiful tree, just in the 
 {►lace selected for it. My friend has been transplant- 
 ed to another world. Years have passed since the 
 above conversation, but it has never been forgotten. 
 It has suggested many truths to my mind; and it ex- 
 plains many things frequently occurring" under our 
 own observation, and which frequently cause doubt 
 and hesitation. Ponder some of these. 
 
 Are trees transplanted with difficulty after they 
 have received a certain growth ? This alf admit.— 
 The rule is, transplant them, whether fruit,' forrest, or 
 ornamental, when young. Such is the law which 
 rules in the kingdom of grace. " How can a man be 
 born when he is old? " is a question of emphatic im- 
 port to those who have grown up to mature years 
 without repentance. < ( 
 
 Has almost every tree its taproot? So every sin- 
 ner has his besetting sin, which sustains him tn his 
 rebellion against God more than any other, and even 
 when almost all others seem to be laid aside. 
 
 Are the lateral roots cut in vain, until the taproot is 
 cut? Does the tree stand until the taproot is sever- 
 ed? So, as far as their salvation is concerned, men 
 are reformed in vain from immoral practices, until the 
 hear* i3 converted. A depraved heart is the taproot 
 of tnat tree of evil which bears fruit unto $eath.— - 
 And until that heart is taken away, the tree 
 stands. 
 
Is the tree sustained by one root when all others 
 are cut ? Through that one root is it nourished into 
 a, permanent, if not a luxurious growth? So one bin 
 unmodified, with its power over the soul unbroken, 
 secures its final, its eternal loss. 
 
 How manifold are the illustrations of these truths 
 in the Bible. Why did Balaam, who understood the 
 will of God, and saw the visions of the Almighty, 
 do as he did? Why did Judas, after having preach- 
 ed the gospel, and wrought miracles, and been num- 
 bered with the apostles, betray his Master ? WhJ 
 did Ananias and Sapphira, and Simon Magus, do as 
 they did ? Why did the young man who asked of Je : 
 sus what he should do to inherit eternal life, and 
 whom Jesus loved, do as he did ? In all these cases 
 covetousness was the taproot sin ; and that was uncut. 
 O, covetousness — often miscalled prudence and econ- 
 omy, but, by God, idolatry — how many souls hast thou 
 destroyed and art thou destroying. 
 
 But I have said that the above conversation with 
 my friend at the tree also explains many things fre- 
 quently occurring, and which induce doubt and hesi- 
 tation. 
 
 Under the ministry of a faithful pastor sat an amia- 
 ble man, with unfailing regularity, for years. All 
 hoped he was a Christian. At each returning com> 
 mnnion season it was expected that he would profess 
 his faith in Christ ; but he came not. None were 
 more tender than ho seemed ; and his pastor suppos- 
 ed that he was kept from the communion of the saints 
 only by that diffidence and distrust which are often 
 the accompaniments of true piety. A truer explana- 
 tion came at last. lie loved strong drin k, but. took it 
 only at night. The appetite grew until it vanquished 
 shams, and he becams a daily and open drunkard. 
 
He forsook the bouse and the- ordinances of God. 
 During the absence of his family at church on a cer- 
 tain Sabbath, he drank beyond measure — he fell into 
 the fire — and when his family returned he was dead, 
 and a portion of his body bnrned to a cinder. Why 
 " did not this man, in the days of his tears and tender^ 
 ness, take Christ for his, portion ? The taproot was 
 not cut. 
 
 I knew a young man, who ? although the child of 
 praying parents, grew up an alien and outcast from 
 the commonwealth of Israel. Grace is not heredita- 
 ry ; it is the gift of G®d. In a spiritual refreshing, he 
 was deeply convicted — he hoped he was converted. — 
 He sought admission to the church ; butfearing that 
 all was not right, he was kindly requested to wait un- 
 til the next comunion season. In a few weeks after- 
 wards he sat at a gaming table until the stars were 
 quenched in the light of the rising sun. And he con- 
 tinued until his death, tenfold more the child of hell 
 than he was before. The taproot was not cut. 
 
 And the prevalence of some- one sin— its reigning 
 power over the soul— is the reason why every sinner 
 that hears the gospel does not believe it ; or, that be- 
 lieves the goppel, does not at once, by repentance 
 towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, seek 
 the salvation of his soul. And the remaining influ- 
 ence of a sin whose power has been broken, is the 
 reason why any Christian fails in consecrating him- 
 self a living sacrifice to God. 
 
 Reader, are you a sinner convinced of the truth of 
 tbe gospel, without repentance, without faith in Christ? 
 If so, how important to know the sin that holds you 
 back from the work of your salvation. There is 
 some one sin that does this more than any other; 
 perhaps, more than nil other*. What is it? 
 
What are the objects that most delight you ? What 
 are the gratifications on which you bestcrw most time ? 
 Thoughts as to what, most intrude themselves when 
 alone? The last thing -which the sailor throws over- 
 board, in his efforts to save his sinking vessel, is that 
 which he deems most precious : which is the sin yon 
 are most anxious to retain ? When you think of being 
 a Christian, what is the sin, the pursuit, the habit, that, 
 you feel in prospect would give you the most pain to 
 abandon? These questions point to your besetting sin 
 — your taproot sin. Unless cut, you are lost. 
 
 But if old trees Cannot be transplanted, may not old 
 sinners be converted ? Yes, they may. As to aged 
 sinners, the difficuty lies in the nature of man, and of 
 sin, and of evil habits, and not in the grace of God. — 
 Grace is all-conquering when God see's fit to apply it. 
 Reader, are you an aged sinner? I have seen the man, 
 fourscore and two years old, who bled in the battles of 
 the Revolution, who learuedits worst vices and contin- 
 ued in their practice until the age stated, hopefully con- 
 verted. I have seen him brought, trembling with pal- 
 sy, in his arm-chair to God's house, and there joining 
 himself to the people of God ; and having commemora- 
 ted the love of Christ, lifting up his withered hands to 
 hea/en in thanksgiving for the mercies vouchsafed. — 
 And his subsequent life and triumphant death testified 
 that the work was of God. But in my experiencethis 
 stands out a»solitary case, to check presumption on the 
 one hand, and despair on the other. Take then these 
 thoughts for meditation : 
 
 1. You have a besetting sin, stronger in* its bad in- 
 fluence ever you than any other. 
 
 2. It is of the highest importance to you to know 
 what it is. Resolve to know it. 
 
 3. Reformation is not conversion. The tree stands 
 when all its lateral roots are cut. 
 
 4. Unless by the grace of God your heart is changed, 
 
» 
 
 all is vain. The tree of evil, whose fruit is death, re- 
 mains, because the taproot is not cut. 
 
 5. However aged, or wicked there is grace and power 
 to meet your case. Seek them without delay, and 
 aright, and they are yours. 
 
 FEARFUL WARNING TO SARBATH 
 BREAKERS. 
 
 Upon the banks of a noble river in a sister State, 
 lived a thrifty farmer, Though respectable and order- 
 ly, and generally esteemed by those who knew him as 
 a good citizen — a term, by the world too indiscrimi- 
 nately applied — he was nevertheless, ons of those who 
 in their hearts have little reverence for the laws of 
 God, and often and fearlessly transgress them ; while, 
 as far as the code enacted by men is coiyerned, they 
 are very careful to confine themselves within the strict 
 letter of the law, and to do nothing that can affect 
 their standing in the community as honest, upright, 
 and law-abiding citizens. 
 
 This man had two sons, of the respective ages of 
 eleven and thirteen, noble, promising boys, the light of 
 the household, and the joy and pride of their doting 
 parents' hearts. 'Twas springtime and a bright and 
 beautiful sabbath morning. The sun had just lifted 
 himself above the horizon, and shed his gentle beams 
 
7 
 
 across the brqad landscape, and the "dfew-drQp* still 
 
 glistened in his morning rays. Everything was full of 
 life and beauty. The glad notes of the little birds as 
 they eang their morning praises to the God who made 
 them, filled the air with melody, and there wa.s 
 nonjht to disturb the quiet and reigning beauty of the 
 scene. It was just such a morning as will call forth 
 the highest strains of praise from the christian's 
 heart, as he gazes out upon the beauties of nature, nmi 
 meditates upon the goodness and mercy of God, 
 
 Very differently was the mind of the farmer engag- 
 ed, and he was intent upon spending the hallowed 
 hours of that beautiful morning in a very different 
 way than in praising God. Having arisen and'dressed 
 himself, he proceeded to the chamber where his sons 
 were still wrapped in their morning slumbers dream- 
 ing perchance of happy days to come. Having 
 aroused them from their slumbers he ordered them to 
 dress and accompany uim to examine a "trout line" 
 which he had stretched across the river a day or two 
 previously. The three went down to the river togeth- 
 er, and having entered a little boat tied to the shore 
 proceeded to their sabbath n o.ning business and sport. 
 They had reached the middle of the stream, appa- 
 rently well rewarded, as they had drawn several fish 
 out of the water when the boat suddenly sprung a leak 
 and rapidly filled and sunk to the bottom. AIL were 
 ^ood swimmers, yet strange as it may seem all were 
 drowned. 
 
 Thus the lives of the Sabbath-breaker and his sons 
 wer? suddenly and unexpectly destroyed ; the father 
 going down, not only. as a sabbath- breaker, but we 
 may say, as ihe murderer of his own offspring. What 
 a fearful weight of guilt f Some one standing upon 
 the bank of the river conveyed the mournful intelli- 
 gence to the remaining members of the household, and 
 the wail of agony which came up from the widowed 
 
8 
 
 mother's heart, and broke the "stillness of that sabbath 
 morning, was enough to move the most obdurate to 
 tears of sympathy. . 
 
 What a fearful warning was this to sabbath-breakers ! 
 For one thus suddenly cut off in his career of wicked- 
 ness there is no hope. The awful fate of the ungodly 
 is sure to be his. The portals of eternity, to the sab- 
 buth-breaker, dying unrepentirig, unlorgiven, 'open 
 only u;»on the very blackness of despair and misery. — 
 Then let all such beware, lest they venture too far. — 
 The slender cord "of life by which they are suspended' 
 over the burning lake may be snapped in the twinkling 
 of an eye, and they will sink to rise no»moie forever, 
 into an abode of unappeasable torment, and of anguish 
 unallaycM. He who hath said ""Remember the sab- 
 bath day, to keep it holy," hath also said, " The soul 
 that siaueth it shall die," and "he is not a. man that he 
 should lie, neither the son of man that he should re- 
 pent." and it well bccometh all those who habitually 
 desecrate his holy day, and devote its sacred hours to 
 the pursuit of business, or -pleasure or frivolous amuse- 
 ments, or idle conversation, or vain display, to pause 
 ere the final summons come, and the command go 
 forth.. "cut him down,. why cumbereth he t»he ground." 
 And the summons may come when least expected. — 
 The command may be executed without warning!— 
 Then it will be too late to pause and turn ! Then it 
 will be too late to repent. Then it will be too late to 
 cry for mercy ! All will be lost," finally, irretrievably 
 and eternally lost ! J. B. R. 
 
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