The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-09-23
.,ded hnt mothsr cri.a. ~ wal,


o very wakeful chair, In the sick days II
children other cha rs could not keep awake;
that chair always kent awake, kept easily !
awake. That hair knew all the old lula
bies and all those wordles songs which |
mothers slug TO their sick chill lren-songs in
viii h all pity and compassion and sympa- |
thetic influences are comOined. That Id |
chair has stopp ii rocking for good many ,
years It may bs set up in the loft or the
ga ret, but 1t holds a Queenly over vet.
Whom at midnight You went into that grog-
sho9 to get the Intoxicating draught, did you
not hear voice that sa d: MY son, why go
In therec' Aud lou or th,n the bois erou'
enc ore Of the | In o of wicked amusement,
vol saying; my son, what do you ref
Ill. lso IN q little further: come TO the
invalids chair. What How long b I'VE you
been sick. "Oh, | have been sick ten,
twenty, thirty years" Is itpossibei What
a story Of endurance There are in many
families OF my congregation these invalid
chairs Tho occupants of them think they
are ling no cool in tn, world; but that in
valid char Is the mighty pulpit from which
they have been preaching, all these years,
trust in God. One day, ON an island Just OF
fran Sandnsky, Ohio: preached, and there
was great throng Of people there; but the
throng did not Impress me SO much as the
sp 'ctacle Of just one face-the face of an in
valid who was wheeled in on her chair, l
said to her afterwa d: "Maian, how long
have you been prosti ated y for she was lyin,
fat in the thar. "Oh," she replied.
said: DO yon suffer very muchH "Oh,
yes she said; II su Ter very much. suffer
all the time; rart Of the time was blind. I
always 81 err" "WeI,n | sail, "cau you
kosp your courage up" On yes" she said,
i am happy, very happy indeed" Her fare
showel it She ,oked the happiest of any
one on the ground. Oh, what means u
grace to the world. these Invalid chairs!
On that field Of hun an suffering the graHe
of God gets its victory. Edward Payson, the
invalid, ami Richard Ba >ter, the invalid,
aud Robert Hall, the inval d, aad the ten
thou and OF who u the word has ne er hard,
but of whom all heaven is cogni2ant The
most consoi no is thing on eacth tor Coils
eve and thu eye OF angels to rest on Is
not throne Of earthly power, but it is
the invalid's oh 'ir. Oh, these men
and women who are always suffering but
never complaining victims OF SPINAL
disease. AMI ne lralgic torture, and rheu-
mate excru iation. will answer to the IL
call OF the martyrs, and rise to the martyrs
throne, and will wave the mar yrs ralm!
But when one of these invalid chairs be-
come vacant, how sugge tive it isl No more
bolstern, up of the weary heal. No more
changing iron side to side to get an easy
20 ition. No more use of the bandage, and
the catap'asm and the prescription. That
invali1s chair may be folded up or taken
apart or set away but it will never lose its
queenly lower; it VIII always preach of trust
in God and cheerful submission. Suffering
all ended now. With respect to that invalid
the words of my text have been fulfilled
Thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will
be emlty."
". / pass on and find one more vacant
chair. 1t is high chair. Ii is the child's
chair. If that chair be occupied, think it
is the mo potent chair in all the household
All the chairs wait on it: all the chairs are
turned toward it. 1t means more than Davids
chair at Sauls banquet. AT any rateit makes
more racl ct That strange house that
can be dull with child in it. How that child
breaks up the hard worldliness of the place,
and keeps you young to sixty seventy and
eighty years Of age! If you la, e no chill of
your own, adopt one; it will open heaven 10
your soul 1t will ay It's way. lis rowing
in the morning will give the day cheefal
starting, and its glee at night will give the
day acheeriul close You do not like chi!dre
Then you ha better stay out of heaven. for
there are so many there they would fairly
make you clay! Only about five hundred
million of them The old usty disciples told
the mothers to keep the child en- away from
Christ You bother Him." they said: 'you
trouble the Master" Trouble him He mas
filled heaven with that KIM of trouble.
A pioneer in Cali ornia saws that for the
first year or two after his residence in
Sierra Nevada County, there was not q
single child in all the reach of hundret
miles. But he eth of July came, AMI the
miners were gathered together, AMI they
were celebrating the 4th with Grafton and
! poem, and boisterous brass band; and
while the ba d was playing an infants
! voice was h ard crying, AMI all the miners
We're startled, and the swarthy men began to
| think OF their homes on the Eastern coast,
an OF their wives and children far away,
! and their hearts were filled with homesick-
ness as they hearl the tabs cry. But the
mu sic went on, and the child cried louder
and louder, and the brass band played louder
and louder, irving to d own ont the in
fantile interrur I'll N, when u swarthy miaer,
the tears ro ling down his ia e, got up and
shook his fist, and said: "etop lat noisy
band, and give the baby chance" Oh,
there WIS patho' as well as good cheer
in it, There is nothing to arouse, and melt,
aud slbdue the soul ike chitd's voice.
But when it goes away from you the high
chair becomes a higher chair. and there IL
desolat on all about you. In three -fourths
of the no mes of my cong "eIaton there Is
vacant Ii oh chair. Somehow you never get
over it. There is no one to put to bed at
nj ght: no one to ask strange que ,tons alb out
God AMI heaven Oh. what is the use OF
tat high chairt 1t is to call you higher.
WHAT drawing u ward it is to have chill
dren in heavenl And then it is such 1r,-
ventive against s.n. If a la5her is gong
away into Il he leaves his living oh ldren
with their moth,r: hut if c father is go n :
away INTO sin what is he o NJ to do with his
dead oh iren floating about him and hover
ing over his every waywarl step! Oh, speak
out, va ant high chair and say: "lather,
come back from sin; mother, co ne back from
worliiness | am wat hing you. / am wa t.
Ing foryou." With respect toyour ch ID the
words OF my text have been fulfilled: Thou
shalt lie miss d, because thy seat will be
| emuty,n
NJ hearers, l have gathered up the voices
of your departed friends. and tried to intone
them into one invitation upward. / set in
array all the vacant chairs of your homes,
and Of your social circle, and | bid them cry
out. ''Time is short. Eternity isnear. Take
my Saviour. Be at peace with my God.
Come up where / am. We lived together on
earth come let us live together in Heaven
We answer that invitation. Wecome Keep
n seat for us, a Saul kept seat for David
but that seat shall not be empty. When we
are all through with this wolli. and we have
shaken hands all around for the last time
and all our chairs in t e home circle and in
tae outside world, shall be vacant, may we
be worshiping God in that pla from which
we shall 90 out no more forever. l thanR
God there will be No va can't chairs in heaven.
n,oos, lnsn.nu nf Gnokna