, 1886-05-16

of honor that coull be conferred. Christ
says the angels that have care OF little
children have permanently bestowed upon
them this exaltation They always behold
the face of God.
Now take these nll tog ather and ref 'ct on
what John says. that il all that Clrist said
and did were to lie written in books, til
whole world could not contain them. the
fruitfulless o. Christ as repres med by
~John-thcre must have been hundreds of
other ~instanc $ of Christ's tenderness IN
regard to little children There can
be 10 doubt therefore on TINT subject
He found the Jew instructed already as re
CARDS the bringing up OF children. AMI there
fore there was very little a Id ID to the ma
tional knowledge on that subject, for the
Jews were. from the earliest day OF their
complete nationality, eminent, not alone
among oriental people, but among all
modern people, for the great tender
ness and love shown to children in the
family, but eminent to this day Tor the care
which they take in the education of their
children. and in teaching them, as far rs it
is possible in their earliest days, the ways of
life AMI righteousness So that it was
scarcely necessary to teach in that d re tion-
But He infused into the circe OF child life a
charm that never can be appreciated by
those that on'y look upon the outward, and
not the invisible and spiritual
As an actor, conscious and voluntary, a
child is moth ng. He is wholly acted upon,
as n babe new born. 1t is true he b eathes,
and that the blood c~irculates. That is all there
is Of it. He does not think. He ha, no emo
ton. He has no will. He has no sight He
has no hearing. He has no capacity
for mo ion or for activity. He is whit
ing to be born From the market view we
get therefore nothing. That is worth what
1t can do, in commerce. Value from secular
service. there is In lite children none. un-
less it be that Internal value which comes
from dragging them, to make them objects
of compassion, by beggars.
Now, Christ instead of measuring the
value Of children from any OF tho lower
standards by which we MEASURE genius and
skill and commercial objects. He measured
the value of children from a rnnscendcntly
higher point of view. Upon a celestial scale
He measured them. and in His mca surfing
their value is inestimable. What ch.lire1.
are measure outside of Gods moral kingdom
We all very well know. Science has very little
except biology and rhy siolocy TO do with
them. Science speaks of the origin of human
beings and knows but little at that The
slow growth. the bringing down Of traits OF
their anc stors; children are narrowed
h~ieroglyphics; they are the inscriptions, or
rather they are what they were in part who
lived long before them. The trace back
ward of the constituents of n child eludes
investigation. As an exquisitely wrought
golden necklace, when finished, is the ndmi-
ration Of all eyes, yet who can pick the
single particles Of COLL that are in it,
which came down the stream,, were
collected. and finally reduced to this
particular forml Who can tell whether
it is from father. or mother, or grandmother,
or grandfather. or st II other ancestors. this
or TINT or tn other trait or shade. the light
or the dark in them camel They Travelled
down a long track before they emerged into
individual human life. The profound.
est mystery yet Is the origin OF
child life. 1t is an ~unexplored
history. Ths sublimest results often
are there, and yet not a step can we
trace with dcfiniteness backward. and to
know the cause of which this is the little
effect. The future beams with revelations
in their behalf. The past OF each child, the
collected r0rticles, who can guess; who
knows nnytnins about iti The great sphynx
standing a,onc Egypt. half buried in the
sand, what mind conceived that, wlai hnnd
carved it Standing in loneliness ami desert
sands, what has 1t to say for itself. and who
shall SPEAK for it, Yet every ceadle has a
,phyrN, more unreliable and moro mys-
FERROUS than the old sphynx of the desert
1t is chiefly this future which parents brood.
\ mothers heart is n miracle. She sees
what /, not there; she creates what she sees,
rccr ates it when a breath blows it all away.
She loves what has no lovabls quality. The
child is a mere prophecy. These feet shall
yet walk, but not now; these eyes shall beam.
but now they sleep; those hands shall work,
or caress, or carve. or carry the sword-but
they are helpless now MARY kept a these
things, but ponderel them in he heart Is
true of every Mary and of every other name
by which the mother Is known Sha ponders
the miracl, OF the babe, and is herself
another miracle, creating the life which is
to come, and which is purely ths myth OF
the imagination. The thin Is spoken by the
angels OF the Messiah. she OF the mother.
hood Of Jesus pondcred, the redemption of
LrIcl; but every mother is a Mary and pom
ders the little traveller knocking at the door
OF life or sleeping in tle hosnitable era lie:
p%onlcrs, but IL yer learns. The unwritten
poetry of a mothers heart would give t the
world a literature beyond all printed words:
and what n bo k.
Who would believe me if | were to say
inii tHlluItH III III IbDb Ol All ClNlllZitlDnf
When W, talk about civilization springing
from industry. from commerce., from insti.
tutinns Il learning. from the gospel Itself
why, chi drcn are he beginning Of all civil
iz,tion.
When mon sprany forth and began the
long march toward civilization. "A little chill.
himself ignorant OF the way. lei them. Who
will not be startled to hear tn vt God taught
the race by the Grad g before He taught it by
priest or prophet That not from Zion, nor
the tabernacle, nor from the temple / self,
came the influences that have red emed the
race from animnlism. Every cradle ha, in
1t both Mount Zion and the soul of Mount
Zion and the only Interpretation OF Calvary
itself is in the cradle, which inspires the
parent life. Toe very moral qu llities
which %distingu's ST the cool from the
bud, all tn, fidelities, the efli-
cnces OF love, were developed in
man. yea. anterior to his exist
ence on earth. in the higher form, of III,
animal life. from the love in viii "a parents
take care of their offsprin;. The JOY of the
parental love can never lie drawn. No one
can take statistics OF these golden
moments They al the hous,. 1t Is
a pure joy that we have in the con-
sciou ness Of our chill iren. 1t is not
tue JOY OF Tue banquet, nor the ecstacy OF
anything originating in adult love, which is
coarse even when it creates happiness. is d.
filed with ~self>lmcss. warped. intermit emit
1t is often clouled, it liesupon theeIges OF the
Vc,nn as the oyster lies, the rudest
and honeliest Of all LIVING things, and
yet when opened, behold the PEARL
And in adult life, amidst all the troubles and
designations OF living together, the jeal.
ousies, the fears, The trelcheries, the angers,
the sullen douLr,, behold the pearl comes,
and is worth having lived for, to nave so
and beauteous a thing. There Is
no giving or taking in this love.
1t is tho outflow of the unpollutei
fountain OF spontaneous and disinteres,od
affection; not for what the child is, nor yet
for what 1t shall be. but from n heavenly