Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1886-03-08

the subject being The Domestic Circle
Before the sermon he read the names o
seventy pew members, making the presen
number of ommuuicsnts about thirty'thret
hundred. The hymn sung was:
ooh, could s. reak the matehless wsrth!
Oh, could sound the glorious forth
That in my Saviour shine"'
Appropriate passages of Scripture were
read and expounded by Dr.. Tslmsge, aftsl
which he took his text from Mark v. l9
Go home to thy friends, and tell them how
great things the Lord hath done for thee
Following is
THE SERMON
in full:
Th.re are great many people longing
for some grand sphere in which to serve
God. They admire luther at the Diet Of
Worms, and only wish that they had some
such great opportunity in which to display
their Christian prowess. They admire
Paul making Felix tremble, and they only
wish that they had some such grand occa
sion in which to preach righteousness, tenn
persnce and judgment to come; all they
want is only an opportunity to exhibit
their Christ an heroism. Now the Apostle
comes to us and he practically says; 81
will show you a place where you can ex
hibit all that ia grand and beautiful and
glorious in Christian character, and that is
the domestic circle"
If one is not faithful in an insignificant
sphere be will not be faithful in On honored
sphere. If Peter will not help the cripple
at the gate OF the Temple he will never be
able to preach three thousand souls into
the kingdom at the Pentecost If Psul
will not take pains to instruct in the way
Of salvation the jsiler of the Philippisn
dungeon, he will never make Felix trem
bic. He who is not faithful in a skirmish
would not be faithful in an Armsgeddon
The fact is we are all placed in just the
position in which we can most grandly
serve Sod and we ought not 10 be chiefly
thoughtful about some sphere Of useful.
ness which we may after while gain, but
the all absorbing question with you and
with me ought to be: Lord, what wilt
Thou have me now and here to doY
There is one word in my text around
which the most OF our thoughts will this
morning revolve. That word is
"HoME.'
Ask ten different men the meaning OF that
word and they will give you ten different
definitions. To one it means love at the
hearth, 1t means plenty at the table, indus
try at the works.and, intelligence at the
books, devotion ct the altar To him 1t
means O greeting at the door and smile
at the chair. Peace lowering like wings.
Joy clapping its hands with laughter.
Lie tranquil lake, Plllowed on the rip.
pies sleep and shadows.
Ask another man what home is and he
will tell you it is want, looking out Of a
cheerless FIRE CRATE, knsading hunger in
an empty bread tray. The damp air
sbivering with curses. No Bible on the
shelf. Children, robbers and murderers in
embryo. Obscene songs their lullaby
Every face picture Of ruin. Wantin the
background and sin staring from the front.
No Sabbath wave rolling over that door
sill. Vestibule of the pit, Shadow of in
ternsl walls. Furnace for forging ever.
lasting chains. Faggots for an unending
funeral pile. Awful work 1t is spelled
with curses, it weeps with ruin, it chokes
With woe, it sYeats with the death agony
of despair.
The word Home" in the one case
means everything bright. The word
Home" in the other case means every
thing terrific.
! shall speak to you this morning Of
home ss tsst of character, home as
refuge, home as a political safeguard,
home as school, and home as type OF
heaven.
And in the frst place remark, that
home is
POWERFUL TEST or CHARACTER.
The disposition in public may be in gay
costume, while ia private it is in disha-
billie AS play actors may appear in one
way on the stage and may appear in an
other way behind the eceneg, go private
character may be very different from pub
lie character. Private character is often
public character turned wrong side out
A man may receive you into his parlor as
though he were distlllation OF smiles, and
yet his heart msy be swamp of nettles
There are business men who all day long
are mild and courteous aud genial and
good natured in commercial life, dsmming
back their irritabii,y and their petulsnce
and their discomfort, but at Dightfsll the
dam breaks and scOlding 'pOurs forth>in
foods and freshsts.
Reputation is only the shadow of char
ter, and very small house sometimes will
cast very long shadow. The lamps may
seem to drop with myrrh and csssis and
the disposition to be as bright and warm
as a sheaf OF sunbeams, and yet they may
only be magnificent show window to a
wretched stock Of goods. There ia many q
man who is atiable ih pubic lie and amid
commercial spheres, who, in a coWardly
way, takes his anger and his petulsnce
home and drops them on the domestic
circle.
The reason Iaen do not dispisy their bsd
temper in pablo is because they do not
want to be knocked down. There are
men who hide their petulance and their ir'
ritability Just for the same reason that
they do not let their notes go to protest:
1t does DQt pey. Or iar tie sane reason
that theS DO not Vsnt man
in their company to sell bis
stock ct less than the right
price, lest it depreciste the value. As at
sometimes the wind rises, so after sun
shisJ dsy there LaaJ b. c taaFestrors
NIGHT Iaefs ara people who In public act
the philsnthropist, who at home aeS me
Nero, With respect to their slippers snO
their gosn, -,
Audubon, the great oruiihologist. with
gun and pencil, went through the forests
Of America to bring down and to sketch
the beautiful birds, and after years OF to'
and exposure completed his manuscript
and put ii in trunk in Philadelphia tor
few days OF recreation and rest. apd came
back and found that the rats hGd utterly
destroyed the manuscript; but without any
discomposure and without any fret or bsc
temper, hs again picked up his gun and