The weekly sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1886-1887, 1886-09-09


| has to Teach Us--A Sermon Full of Sweet.
ness and PatIios.
| Specially Reported for The Sentinel.
BROOKLYN, N. Y, Sept. 5: The Rev
| T. Dewitt Talmage's text to-day was
| Samuel, Oh. Xxx, v. IS: s'Thou shalt be
| missed, because thy seat will be empty"
| Following is the sermon in full:
| Set on the table the cutlery and chased
| Silverware of the palace, for King Saul
| will give state dinner to-day. A dis
tinguished place is kept at the table for
| his son-in-.aw, celebrated warrior,
! David by name. The guests, jeweled
| and plumed, come in and take their
| places. When people are invited to a
| kings banquet they are very apt to 60
| But before the covers are lifted from
| the feast Saul looks around and finds
vacant seat at the table. He says with
in himself, or perhaps audibly: :" What
| does this mean? Where is my son-in-
| law: Where is David, the great war;
rior? l invited him. I expected him.
What? A vacant chair at Il kings
| banquet
The fact vas that David the warrior
had been seated for tho last time at his
father-in-law's table. The day before
| Jonathan had coaxed David to go and
| occupy that place at the table, saying to
| David in the words OF my text: - Thou
| shalt be missed, because thy seat will be
empty
The prediction was fulfilled. David
was missed. His seat was empty. That
one vacant chair spoke louder than all
the occupied chairs at the banquet. In
| almost every house the articles of furni-
ture take a living personality. That
PICTURE stranger would not see any
thing remark bile either in its design or
execution, but il is moro to you than all
Luxembourg You remember who
bought it and who admired it. And that
hymn book-you remember who sang
out Of it. And that cradle-you remem-
Der who Rocked it. And that Bible
you remember who read out of it. And
that bed-you remember who slept in 1t.
And tina room you remember who died
in it. But thers is nothing in all your
hols1 80 eloquent and so miShty-voiced
as Lh-- hacau. chair. l suppose that be-
fore saul and his guests got up from this
banGu- L:iere was q great CHATTER OF
wine pitchers, but all that racket was
drowned out y the voice that came up
from the vacant chair at the table
Many have gazed and wept at John
Quincy AdamsS vacant chair in the
House O. Representatives, and at Mr..
Wills is vacant chair in the Vice-Presi-
dency, and 1t Henry Clay's vacant chair
in the American Senate. AMI at Prince
Alberis vacant chair in Windsor Castle
and at Ti..e.s5 vacant chair in the coun-
ellis of the French nation; but all these
chairs are unimportant to you as COM
pared with The vacant chairs in your
own household. Have these chairs any
lessons for you to learn? Are we any
better men and women than when they
first address ed US?
vacant chair. Old men always like to
sit in the same place and in the same
chair. They somehow feel more at
home, and sometimes when you are in
their place and they comeinto the room,
you jump up suddenly and say: Here.
father. here's your chair" The proba-
bility is IT is an armchair, for h is not
little uphnlding. His hair is a little
frosty, his gums a. e a little depress ed for
in his early days there was not much
dentistry. Perhaps cane chair and
oldfashioned apparel, for thou you
may have suggested sne improve
ment, father does not want -'y o. your
nonsense. Grandfather never had much
admiration ( / IIew-fangled no ions. L
sat at the tahl,, of on of my pa: shion-
ers in il former congregtt ton; an aged
man at / Ia lt and his Ii WAS
presiding, and til. father somewhat alb
ruptly addressed the son all Sail: My
son, ont now Try TO show off because
never liked any lew customs or man.
hers lie preferred III old way of doing
things, anu he never looked so happy as
when with his eyes closed he Sa. i'll the
armchair III the corner. rom rink ed
brow to the p of the slippe. S, what
I'iitCidl y. The wave OF the past years
OF his life broke at tie foot of that
cadlr. Perhaps, sometimes, he was a
little imp tlent, and sometimes told the
same story twice; but over that old
ciIaI how many blessed memories
mover. L hope you did not crowd that
old chair, and that it did not get very
much in the way. Sometimes the old
mans chair get very much IL he way,
especial, II he has Ueen 50 unwise as
to make over all his roperty to his
children with the un erStandlng that
they are to take care of him. l have
seen in such cases children crowd the
old mans chair to the door, and then
crowd 1t clear into the street, and then
crowd 1t into the poorhouse, and keep
on CT wding it until the cd man fell out
o: 1t into his grave.
But your fathers chair was a sacred
place. The children used to climb up on
the rungs OF 1t for a goodnight kiss,
AID the longer he stayed the b tier you
liked it. But that c..air has be vi
cant now for some time. The fHrni- ure
dealer would not give you fifty cents
for II, but II is a throne of influence in
your domestic circle. | saw in the
French palace and n The throne room
TIL, chair that Napoleon used to occupy.
1t was beautiful chair, but the most
Significant part OF it was the letter IN"
embroidered into the back of the chair
i'll purple and gold. And your fathers
old chair sits in the throne room of
your heart, and your affections have en-
broider d into the back of that chair in
purple ami gold the letter e F. Have
all the prayers OF that old chair been
| answered? Have all the counsels of
that old chair been practiced? Speak
out old arm chair, History tells u of
old man whose three sons were
victors in the Olympic games, AMI when