Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1888-01-05


fancy. Oh. no! Childhood was to be hon
ored by that advent He must have a
chiId's light limbs, and a child's dinipled
hand, and a child's beaming eye, and Q
ch;ld's flAven hair, and babyhood was 10 he
honored for all time to come, and q cradle
was to mean moro than grave Mighty
God! May the reflection OF that one child's
face be seen in all infantile faces. Enough
have all those fathers and mothers on hand
IL they have child In the house A throne
a crown. a scepter, a kingdom under charge
Be careful how you strike him across the
head, jarring the brain. What you say to
him will be centennial and millenial. and a
hundred years and a thousand years will not
stop the echo and re-echo. Do not say: at Is
only child" Rather say: ut Is only an inn
mortaLn II is only masterpiece Of Jehovah
1t is only being that shall outlive sun and
moon and star and ages quadrillennial. God
has infinite resources and he can give pres
ents OF great value. but when he wants to
give the richest possible gift to household
be looks around all the worlds and all tho
universe, and then gives child. The great
est present that God gave our world he
gave about 1887 years ago, and he gave 1t on
a Christmas night, and 1t was OF such value
that heaven adjourned for a recess, and came
down and broke through the clouds to look
at it. Yea, in all ages God has honored
childhood. He makes almost every picture a
failure unless there be a child either playing
on the floor, or looking through the window,
or seated on the lap gazing into the face Of
kitchen that told the great Syrian war
rior where he might go and get cured
of the leprosy, which at his seventh
the bottom Of the river. 1t was to the
cradle OF leaves in which a child was laid,
rocked by the Nile, that God called the at
tention of history. It was sick child that
evoked Christ's curative sympathies 1t was
child that Christ sat in the midst of the
sluabbling disciples to teach the lesson OF
humility. We are informed that wolf and
leopard and lion shall yet be 50 domesticated
that little child shall lead them. A child
decided Waterloo, showing the army of
Blucher how they could take short cut
through the fields when, il the old road
had been followed, the Prussian gem
eral would have come up too late
!, to save the destinies Of Europe. 1t
was child that decided Gettysburg,
be having overheard two Confederate Gem
erals in conversation, in which they de,
Harrisburg, and thisIreported to Governor
Curtin, the Federal forces started to meet
thnir opponents at Gettysburg. And the
child Of to-day is to decide all the great bat
ties, make all the laws, settle all the desti-
nies and usher in the worlds salvation or
destruction. Men. women, nations, all earth
and all heaven, behold the child Is there
anv velvet so soft as child's cheek9 Is there
any sky so blue as child's eyel Is there any
music so sweet as .child's voiee9 Is there
any plume so wavy as childs HART
Notice also that in this Bible night scene
God honored science. Who are the three
wise men kneeling before the divine infant9
Not Doors. not ignoramuses, but Caspar, Bel
thasar and Me'chior men who knew all that
was to be known. They were the lssac New
tons and Herschels and Faradays Of their
time. Their alchemy was the forerunner of
our sublime chemistry, their astrology the
mother Of our magnificent astronomy. They
lad studied stars, studied metals, studied
physiology, studied everything. And when
see these scientists bowling before the beautiful
babe, ! see the prophecy Of the time when all
the telescopes and microscopes, and all the
Leyden jars, and all the electric batteries,
and all the, observatories, and all the
universities shall bow to Jesus. 1t is much
that way already. Where is the college that
does not have morning prayers, thus bowling
at the manger2 Who have been the greatest
physiciansi Omitting the names OF the hv-
ing, lest we should be invidious, have we not
had among them Christian men like our own
Joseph G. Hutchinson, and Rush, and Valen-
tine Mott, and Abercrombie, and AbeTnethyi
Who have been our greatest scientists? J0-
seph Henry, who lived and died in the faith
Of the Gospel, and Agassiz, who, standing
with his students among the hills, took off
his hat and said: Young gentlemen, before
we study these rocks let us pray for wisdom
to the God who made the rocks" To
day the greatest doctors and lawyers
Of Brooklyn and New York, and Of all
this land, and of all lands. revere the Chris.
linn inriOy nt oah tn OoU ~
before juries and legislatures and senates.
All geology will yet bow before the Rock Of
Ages, All botany will yet worship the Rose
of Sharon. All astronomy will yet recognize
the Star.of Bethlehem. And physiology and
anatomy will join hands and say: We must
by the help of God get the human race up to
the perfect nerve, and perfect muscle, and
perfect brain, and perfect form of that per-
feet child before whom nigh twenty hundred
chior bent their tired knees in worship.
Behold also in that first Christmas night
that God hc0Ored the fields. Come in, shep
herd boys, to Bethlehem and SEQ the child.
NO. they say; "we are not dressed good
enought to come inn Eyes, Fou are, come
in" Sure enough, the storms and the night
dew and the bFambles have made rough work
with their apParel, but none have better
right to come in. They were the FIRST to hear
the music of that Christmas night. The first
announcement OF q Saviour's birth was made
to those men i'm the fields There were wise
acres that night in Bethlehem and Jerusalem
snoring in deep sleep, and there were sal
aried officers OF government who, hearing
Of it afterward, may have thought that
they ought to have had the fiBst news Of
such great event, some one diSnOunting
from swift camel at their door and knock
ing till at some sentiners question: WHO
comes theFe2m the great ones OF the palace
might have been told Of the celestial arrival; !;
No; the shepherds heard the first two bars Of
the music, the fsst in the major key and the
last in the subdued minor: "GlDrY to God
in the highest, and on earth peace, good will
to men, All, yes; the fields were honored
The old shephsfds with plaid and crook have
| for thu most part vanished, but we have graz
! ingon our United States pasture fields and
| prairie about forty five million Sheppard all
1 their keepers ought to follow the shepherds
of my text, and all those who toll in the fields,
! all wine dressers, all orchardists, all hus-
! bandmen. Not only that Christmas night,
but all mp and down the worlds history God
| has been honoring the fields Nearly all the
/ messiahs of reform. and literature, and elo-
! quence, and law, and benevolence, have
Come from the fields. Washington from the
fields, jefferson from the fields The presi
4 ddntial martyrs, Garfield and Lincoln. from
the fields. Henry Clay from the netds
Daniel webster from tno neius; MAJ ~ =. !.
Luther from the fields And before thii
world is right the overflowing populations oi
our crowded cities will have to take to the
fields. Instead Of ten merchants II
rivalry as to who shall sell thai
one apple, we want at least eigh'
Of them to go out and raise apples
Instead Of ten merchants desiring to sell tina
one btlshel of wheat, we want at least eigh
Of them to go out and raise wheat, I'M
world wants more hard hands, more bronzet
cheeks. more muscular arms. To the fields
Co] hornred them when He woke ND tht