Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1886-09-16
DEAR M=EMENTOES.
DR.. TALMAGE ON SACRED HOME
RELICS.
Treasures Kept in the Throne
Room of the Heart.
The Beloved Chairs Used by Father and
Mother.
Patient Endurance Of Suffering laugh
by the Invalid's Chair.
specia, to the Kansas Cuy Times.

| .Specia, to the Kansas CITY Times.
BRooKLYS, N. Y, Sept 5-Thc Rev DR.. T.
| Dewitt Talmage's text to-day was I. Samuel,
TX, IS: 'sThou shalt be missed, because thy
seat will be empty" Following is the sermon
| In full.
Set on the table the cutlery and chased sill
verwarc of the palace, for King Saul will give
state dinner to-day. A distinguished place
| Is kept at the table for his son-in-law, a cele-
brated 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 go. But before
| the covers are lifted from the feast Saul looks
! around and finds seat vacant at the table.
( He says within himself, or perhaps audibly:
what does this meant Where is my son-in-
! laws Where is David, the great warriori i
| invited him. expected him. What A va
| cant chair at kings banaueti' The fact was
that David the warrior had been seated for
the 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, say
ing to David in the words of my text: Thou
shalt be missed, because thy seat will be
| empty"
DEAR FAMILIAR POSSESSIONS.
The prediction was fulfilled, David was
missed His seat was empty, That one va
cant chair spoke louder than all the occupied
chairs at the banquet. In almost every house
| the articles OF furniture take living person
Atty. That picture-a stranger would not see
ANYTHING remarkable either in its design or
execution, but it is more 10 YOU than all the
| pictures Of the Louvre ana the Luxembourg.
| ,tNn,,
nlircd it. And that nn-book-you rcnem-
Der who sang out of IL And that cradle--you
remember who rocked 1t. And that Bible
you remember who read out of it. And that
6cd-you remember who slept in it. And that
room-you remember who died in it. But
| there Is nothing in all your house so eloquent
and so mighty-voiccd as the vacant chair
suppose that before Saul and his guests got
| up from this banquet there was Il great chatter
OF wine-ptchers, but all that racket was
drowned out by the voice that came up from
the vacant chair at the table. Many have
gazcd and wept at John Quincy Adams va
cant chair IN the house OF representatives,
and at Mr.. Wilson's vacant chair In the vice
presidency, and at Henry Clay's vacant chair
in the American senate, and at Prince Albert's
vacant chair In Windsor castle, and at Theirs
vacant chair in the councils of the French
nation; but all these chairs are unimportant
to you as compared with the vacant chairs in
your own household. Have these chairs any
lessons for you to learnt Are we any better
men and women than when they first address
ed us!
THE FATHERS VACANT CHAIR.
First, point out to you the fathers 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 there place and they come into the
room, you jump up suddenly and say: Here,
father, here's your chair" The probability is
1t is an arm chair, for he Is not so strong as he
once was and he needs a little upholding. His
hair Is little frosty, his gums are little
depressed, for in his early days there was not
much dentistry. Perhaps cane chair and old
fashioned apparel, for, though you may have
suggested some improvement, father does not
want any Of your nonsense Grandfather
never had much admiration for new tangled
tshoners in former congregations; an aged
Han was at the table and his son was presid,
ing and the father somewhat abruptly sd,
dressed the son and said: MY son, don't
DOW ty to show off because the minister i:
herem Your father never liked any new Gus.
toms or manners; he preferred the old way OF
doing things, and he never looked SC
happy as when with his eyes closed he
sat in the arm chair in the corner From
wrinkled brow TO the tip of the slippers what
placidty: The waves OF the past years of his
life broke at the foot of that chair. Perhaps,
sometimes, he was a little impatient and
sometimes told the same story twice; but
over-that old chair how many blessed memor
les hover! | hope you did not crowd that old
chair, and that it did not get very much in the
way. Sometimes the old mans chair gets
very much in the way, especially II he ha.
been so unwise as to make over all his prop
erty to his children with the understanding
that they are to take care of him. have seer
III such cases children crowd the old man.
chair to the door and then crowd it clear int
the street. and then crowd it into the poor
house, and keep on crowding it until the ole
man fell out of 1t into the grave.
IN THE HEARTS THRONE ROOM.
But your fathers chair was a sacred place
The children used to climb up on the rungs o.
it for goodnight kiss, and the longer ht
stayed the better you liked it. But that cha
, has been vacant now for some time. Tn,
, furniture dealer would not give you 50 cent.
!, for it, but 1t is throne of influence in you
| domestic circle. / saw in the French palac,
and in the throne room the chair that Napo
leon used to occupy. 1t was beautiful chair
but the most significant part of it was the let
ter IN" embroidered into the back of thu
chair in purple and gold. And your father
old chair sits in the throne room of your hear
and your affections have embroidered into thu
back of that chair in purple and gold the let
ter ST." Have all the prayers Of that oil
/ | chair been answered? Have all the counsel
of that old chair been practicedl Speak out
old arm chair History tells us Of an old maj
1 | whose three sons were victorS in the Olympi
, games, and when they came back, these tire
sons with their garlands and put them Of
their fathers brow, the old man was so re
, ioiced at the victories of his three childre
That he fell dead In their arms. And are you
: . man, going to bring wreath OF Joy an,
Christian usefulness and put 1t on you
fathers, brow, or on the vacant chair, or o.
the memory of the one departedl Speak Out
old arm chart With reference to your father
the words OF my text have been fulfilled
Thou shall be missdd because thy seat wi
. be empty"
p WHERE THE MOTHER ROCKED.
Second-I 20 little further on in you
o house and find the mothers chair II
{ very apt to be rocking chair. She has S
many cares and troubles to soothe that
: must have rockers. remember it well.
Z was an old chair, and the rockers were almos
worn out, for ! was the youngest and til
@ cracking noise as it moved, but there was mi
sic in the sound. 1t was just high enough
allow us children to put our head into her lal
0 That was the bank where we deposited all OF
- hurts and worries. Oh what a chair that wa.
, 1t was different from the fathers chair;
II was entirely different You ask me howl
n can not tell but we all felt it was differen
Perhaps there was about this chair more gel
l. tleness, more tenderness, more grief when v
~ had done wrong When we were waywal
> father scolded, bur Daoiher cried. 1t was
q very wakeful chair In the sick days of chi
v dren other chairs could not keep awake; th
chair always kept awake, kept easily awak
D That chair knew all the old lullabies and
X the wordless songs which mothers sing
. their sick children-songs in which all pl
J. and compassion and sympathetic influences a
+ combined. That old chair has stopped roc
ing for good many years. 1t may be set
: in the loft or the garnet, but it holds queer
il power yet
POWER OF THE OLD CHAIR.
- When at midnight YOU went into that or
II shop to get that intoxicating draught, did y
~ not hear a voice that said: my son, why
" in there!' And louder than the bostero
e. encore of the place of wicked amusement,
'. voice saying: ''Ny son, what do you here
~ And when you went into the house Of sill
K voice saying: "What would your mother do
,lr she knew you were hereP'
And you were provoked with yourself, a
al you charged yourself with superstition a
IN fanaticism, and your head got hot with "
=, own thoughts, and you went home and J
Ill went to bed, and no sooner had you touci
the pillow than voice said; ''What pray
less pillow Man, what is the matteri" I'll
You are too near your mothers rocking CHI;
"Oh, pshaw ~ you say There's nothing
a that. I'm 800 miles off from where was DO
Pm 1900 miles off from the church whose
IL was the first music | ever heard" lean not b