St. Landry democrat., 1885-09-12


by evening. It was found out afterward
that she went there to pray for her house
hold, and while there one evening she
wrote that beautiful hymn, famous in all
ages for cheering Christian hearts:
"Ilove TO steal while away
From every numbering care,
And spend the hours of setting day
In humble, grateful prayer"
Shall there be no reward for such I'M
pretending, yet everlasting service?
Clear back in the country there is
boy who wants to get to college and get
an education. They call him book
worm. Wherever they find HMM the
barn or in the house-he is reading a
book. What a pity it u.s." they say,
g that Ed can not get an education" His
father, work as hard as he will, can no
more than support the family by the
product Of the farm. One night Ed had
retired to his room and there is family
conference about him. The sisters say
g Father, wish you would send Ed to
college; if you will, we will work harder
than we ever did, and we will make our
dresses do" The mother says: " Yes, 1
will get along without any hired help;
although | am not as strong as I used to
be, l think / can get along without
any hired help" The father says: "Well,
I think by working nights | can get along
without any assistance" Sugar is ban
ished from the table, butter is banished
from the plate. The family is put down
on rigid, yea, suffering economy, that the
boy may go to college. Time passes on.
Graduation day has come. Think not that
mention an imaginary case. God knows
| it happened. Commencement day has
come, and the professors walk in on the
stage in their long gowns. The interest of
the occasion is passing on, and after
| awhile it comes to a. climax of interest as
the valedictorian is introduced. Ed has
| studied so hard and worked so well that
| he had the honor conferred upon him.
There are rounds of applause sometimes
breaking into moderation. 1t is great
| day for Ed. But way back in the galleries
are his sisters in plain hats and their
faded shawls, and, the old-fashioned father
and mother-dear me, she has not had a
new hat in six years, he has not had a new
coat for six years-and they get up and
look over the platform, and they laugh
and they cry, and they ST down, and they
look pale, and they are very much flushed
| Ed gets the garlands, and the old-fash-
Toned group in the gallery have their share
of the triumph. They have made that
scene possible, and in the day when God
| shall more fully reward self-sacriices
made for others, He will give grand and
glorious recognition. "As his part is that
| goeth down to the battle, so shall his part
be that tarrieth by the stuff"
There is high encouragement in this sub
iect, also, for those who once wrought
nightly for Christ and the church, but
| through sickness or collapse of fortune,
or advanced years, can not now go to the
front. These two hundred men OF the
text were veterans. Let that man bare
his arm and show how the musles were
torn. Let him pull aside the turban and
see the mark of battle-axe. Pull aside
| the coat and see where the spear thrust
him. Would it have been fair for these
men, crippled, weak and old, by the brook
/ Besor, TO have no share in the spoils of
| triumph? Do you think my Lord is going
| to turn off His old soldiers because they
are weak and worn? Are they going to
get no part in the spells of victory? Just
look at them. Do you think those crevtces
in the face are wrinkles? No; they are
battle-scars. They fought against sick
ness, they fought against trouble, they
| fought against sin, they fought
for God, they fought for the
church, they fought for the truth, they
fought for Heaven. They were ready to
! do any work, endure any sacrifice, do the
most unpopular thing that God demanded
| Of them. But now they can not go fur
| Their. Now they have physical infirmities,
now their head troubles them. They are
weak and faint by the brook Besor. Are
! they to have no share in the triumph? Are
| they to get none of the treasures, none of
the spoils of conquest? You must think
that Christ has very short memory if
you think He has forgotten their services.
Fret not, We aged ones. just tarry by
the stuff and wait for your share OF the
| spoiis. Yonder they are coming. | hear
the bleating of the fat lambs and see the
/ Jewels CLINT in the sun. 1t makes me
laugh to think how you will be surprised
when they throw chain of gold over your
neck and tell you to go and dine with the
King. see you backing out because you
feel unworthy. The shining ones come up
on one side, and the shining ones come up
on the other side, and they push you on,
and they push you up, and they say:
"Here is an old soldier of Jesus Christ"
and the shining ones will rush out toward
you and say: Yes, that man saved my
soul, }" or they will rush out and say: "Oh,
yes, she was with me in the last sickness"
Aud then the cry will go round the circle:
g Come in, come in. come up, come up;
we saw you away down there, old and sick
and decrepit and discouraged because you
could not go to the front, but As his
part is that goeth down to battle, so shall
| his mari he I'll AT tarrieth hy the stuff, y