West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1888-03-08

| fO.ut 'hiIl destiny Tor tho next eighty years,
! ~ IL shpntt pass on 70 be an octogenarian.
| That Is well, but my subject sweeps n thou
Sand years, million years. n quadrillon OF
| years. cannot stop ut one cradle / am
looking at the cradles that reach all around
the world and across all time. | am not Talk
| ing OF mother Eunce / am talking OF grand
mother LOIS. The only way you can tell the
| force OF current Is by sailing up stream: or
the force OF an ocean wave, by running tho
| snip against IL. Running along with n wa
| cannot appreciate tho force In estimating
maternal influence we generally run along
| with IL down tho stream OF time. and
so we don't understand tho full force
! Lot us come up 20 it from tho
eternity side, after it has been working on
| for centuries, and 500 all the COOL Il has done
anu all tho evil 10 has accomplished, multi.
ple IN magnificent or appalling compound
interest. The difference between that moth
er 5 influence ON her children now. aud the
influence when 10 has been mutipliel i'm
hundreis OF thousan IS Of lives il the
difference between the Mississippi River wnv
up at ths top o. the continent starting
IRON the little lake ltascn. seven miles long
anu ono W dc, and its mouth at tho Gulf OF
Mexico whore n1vies might ride Between
the birth Of that river and It's hurinl i'm tho
sea INC Missouri pohrs in. and tho Ohio pours
IN anu tne Arkansas DOurs in, and the Rod
and White and Yazo0 Rivers pour in and All
the states and Territories between the Ale
ghany and Rocky Mountains make contribu.
ton. now, IN order % test tho power of a
ii'tE-A = nlluence, we neel 10 come i'm OF OF
inc ocean OF eternity aud sail toward the one
cradle, and we will find ten thousand trib
utarieS or influence pouring in and pouring
down. But II is after all one great river OF
power rolling on and rolling forever.
Who can fathom iti Who can bridge
III Who can stop Il, Had not
mothers better be intensifviug their
prayers' Had they not better be eIevatinp
ther eNamplef Had they not better be
rousing themselves with the consideration
that by their faithfulneSs or neglect they
are starting an influence which will be
stupendous after the last mountain of earth
ilat, ana the last sea has been dried up,
and the last flake of the ashes OF n con
Sumed world shall have been blown
away, and all the telescopes of other worlds
directed TO the track around which our world
once swung shall discover not so much as n
clnder OF tho burned down and swept Off
planet In Ceylon there is a granite column
thrty-six square feet i'm size, which
IS thought by the natives TO decide
the worlds continuance An angel
With robe spun from zephyrs is once n cen
fury To descend aud sweep the hem of that
robe across the granite, and when by that At
tiltlon the column IS worn away they say
Tune viii end. But by that pro 'ess that
granite column would be worn out of exis-
tenco before that mothers influence will be-
gin 10 give away.
If mother tell n child il he Is not good
some bugaboo viii come and catch him, the
fear excited may make the child n coward
anu the fact that he fin Is that there is no
bu2aboo may make him liar, and the echo
OF that false alarm may be heard after fifteen
generations have been born and have ex PRED
III mother promise a child a rewarl for
good behavior and after the good behavior
torgets to give the reward, the cheat may
crop out in some faithlCssness half n THOUSAND
years further on. If mother culture a
enid vanity and eu ogiZe his curls and extol
the night-blacS or sky blue or nut brown of
the child's eyes and call out in his presence
the admiration and pride of specta
tors, pride and arrogance may be
prolonged after half "A dozen fam
lily records have been oblitcrated IL
mother express doubt about some statement
OF the Holy Bible i'm child's presence. long
after the gates of this historical era have
closed aud the gates of another era have
opened, the result may be seen in a champion
oiasphemer but, on the other hand,
il a mother walking With a child
see suffering one 10y the way
ten cent piece 10 that lame boy,n The result
may be seen on the other side OF the follow.
ing century IN some George Muller building
whole village Of orphanages. II mother
sit almost every evening by the trundIe hal
OF child AMI teach it les ions of a Saviour's
love and Saviours example, of the i'm
portance OF truth and the horror
OF lie, and the virtues IF in
dustry and kindness and sympathy
and self sacrifice. long after the mother has
gone and the child has gone and the lettering
snail have been washed out by the storms OF
nnumerable winters, there may be standing,
as result of those trunde-bed Lessons fam.
ing evaugels, woodworking reformers. weep
ing Paysons, laundering Whitehelds emapct
pating W0shingtons.
Cool or bad influence may skip one genera
ton or two generations but il will be sure 10
land in the third or fourth generation. inst as
the Ten COMMITMENTS. speaking of the
visitation o. God on families SAYS NOTHING,
about the second generation, but entirely
skips the second and speaks OF the third and
fgff rtHr Nltn faf.,r "a
OF tho fathers upon the third and fourth
generations OF them that hate men Parental
influence. right and wrong, may lump over a
generation, but 10 will come down further on
as sure as you sit there and | stand here
Iimothys ministry was pro iccted by his
grandmother, Lois. There are men and
women here, the SONS and daughters of
the Christian Church. who are such rs
result Of tho conservation of great
tgrandmothers. WHY, who do Won
think the Lord Isl You talk as though His
memory was weak. He can no easier remem.
Der prayer five minutes than he can five
centuries This exp aims what We often see
some man or woman distinguished for
benevolence when the father and mother
were distinguished fer pcuuriousness o.. yor
sac some young man or woman with "a
bad father and n hard mother come
out glorously for Christ and mike
the church sob and shout and sing under
.hair cShOrtatiouS We stand in corners Of
the yestry AMI whisper over tho ma ,r AMI
and daughters Of such parental worldiness
and SIN" VIII explain ITO YOU II you will
fetch me the old Family Bible containing tho
tuil re ord. Let some septuac olarian look with
IN clear upon the page OF births aud mar
riagcs, and tell me VINO that woman was
with the Old fashioned name Of Jemima or
Betsy or Nehitab8l. All there she is the old
grandmothcr or great grandmother. who
had enough religion 20 saturato "a century
There she u.s. tho dear old soul Grand
mother Lois. In our beautiful GreonwOod- |
may we all sleep there when our work Is
done, for when / get mp in the resurrection /
morning ] want my congregation all about
meI-in Greenwood there is the resting place
% George W.. Bethune once a minister OF
Brooklyn Heights, his name never spoken
among intelligent Americans without sug
costing two thinge-e.oJucnce AMI eyangei- |
ism ln the same tomb sleep h.z grandmother
Isabella Graham who was the chief insufra-
ton Of bis ministry. You are not surprised
~ the poetry and pltho5 and pulpit power Of
the grandson when you rotd of the faith and
devotion of his wond -rflI anrcstraeg When
you READ this letter in which She poured ont
her Widowed SOU JIM lOngings for a sons sal
walton, Won viii not wonlcr that succeeding /
generations have been L'o cd.
~ ltH such "a gran iuYlh.r. would y1u not |
have right 10 expect n Gcorzo W Bathuua1
and az the thousands converted through his
ministry may dnte tho saving power back to
Isabella Graham.
FEv york Way ll. 170t
AHl. 0Ir wv only f0l .nr. inc n b..frr urrv.r,l /