Sharp County record., 1888-01-05

storms, and the nlgnJ q u'", eh't 'H
bles, have mads rough work with tneir AZ
parel, but mona have better f'9n1
come in. They were the first 10 he"r .eq
mus of that Christmas night lu4
first announcement of haViours pTu
was made to those men i'll the no'W
There were wiseacres that night R
Bethlehem and Jerusalem snoring III aeF
sleep, and there were sa'aried olllcefS
government, who, hearing of 1t after"ard
may have thought that they ought
have had the first news of such grea
event. Some one dismounting 1rom
swift camel at their dor and knocking
until at some seutnePS question: W il
comes therew the great ones of tine nalacH
might have been told OF the ce'estit
arrival. No: the shepherds heard tb
first two bars of the music. tie 1lrst
the major KEY and the last in the subdus,
minor: 'Glory be to God in the highest
and on earth peace, good will to mea."
All. YES: the fields were honored. ThI
cd shepherds with plaid and crook haN
for the most part vanished, but we haNI
prazing-our United States pasture field
and rrairies contain about fortv-five mil
ion Sheppard all their keepers ought d
follow the shepherds of my text, and al
those who toll in fields, and all Nnc|
dressers, all orchardiSts, all hus bandmenl
Not only that Christmas night, but all ugI
and down the worlds history Col had
been honoring the folds. Nearly all the
messiahs of reform, and literature, aud
eloquence, and law, and benevolence
have come from the fields, washington
from the fields. Jefferson from the
fields. The presidential martyrs, Garfield
and Lincoln, from the fields. Henry Cayl
from the fields. Daniel Webster from the
fields. Martin Luther from the helds,
And before this world is right tb'
overfowing populations of our crowded
cities will have to take to the fields In
stead of ten merchants in rivalry as d
who shall sell ii at one apple, we want al
least eight of them to go out and ras
apple,. Instead of ten merchants desiring
TO sell that one bushel Of wheat, we want
at least eight of them to go out ana rals
wheat. The world wants now more har,
hands. more bronzed cheeks, more mus
cntar arms. To the fields! God hOnore
them when he woke up the shepherds ~
the midnight anthem, and he VIII, Nhil8
the world lasts, continue to honor thF
fields, When the shepherds crook NaV
that famous night stood against the wa
of the Bethlehem kahn, it was prophecF
of the time when thresher'S fail, an
farmers pow, and wOodman's axe, an
,boo hiplnI,)S rnkH shall
surrender to the God who made the couI
try as man made the town.
b B.hold also that on that ChriStmaS
night God honored motherhood TWa
angels on their wings might have brough
an infant Saviour to Bethlehem wltnouW
Marv's being there at all. When the VII
layers on tho morning Of December
awoke, by Divine arrangement and
some unexplained way, the child, J9suS'
might have been found in some comto
able cradle of the village. But no, no
Motherhood for all time was TO De con
secrated, and one of the tendere't re'
tons was to be the maternal relation, aU
one of the sweetest words "mother'"
all ages God has honored good mothH
DOOus DOuH w tolCN hA' o
mottsr,- st. iBsrnaIH had a goo
mother; Samuel Bddgett goo
mother; Doddridge a good mother; WA
ter Scott good mother; Benjamin W@
q good mother. In great audience hof
of whom were Christians, asked that
those who had been blessed of Christs
mothers arise, and almost the entire
sembly stood up. Don't you see how
portant it is that all motherhood be ca
secrated? Why did Titan, the ltalii3
artist, when he sketched the MadonI
make it an Italian face? Why did B1
bens. the German artist, in his Madon
make it German face? Why did JoSb9
Reynolds the English artist, in his Nj.
donna, make it an English face? Why
Murillo, the Spanish artist, in his MS
1onna, make it a Spanish face! new
heard, but | think they TOD
their own mothers as the tNi
of Mary, the mother of Chrd
When you hear some one in sermon
oration speak in the abstract of a god
faithful honest mother, your eyes fill
with tears, while you say to yourM
that was my mother. The first word
child utters is apt to b9 mother" al
the old man in his dying dream cay
Mother motherw IL matters
whether she was brought up i'll the 50
roundings of city, and in aff1uent hoH
and was dressed appropriately with IL
erence to the demands of modern life
whether she wore the old time ca
and great round spectacles, and apron
her own make, and knit your socks WI
her own needles, seated by the broad III
place, with great backlog ablazs Oh
winter night, 1t matters not how ma
wrinkles crossed aud recro5sed her f0'
or how much her shoulders stopped WI
the burdens of long life, if you palnu
a Madonna hers would be the face. W
a gentle hand she had when we were 81
and what voice to soothe pain, and
there any one who could so fill NJ
room with peace, and purity,
light? And what sad day that vi
when we came home and she could graE
us not, for her lips were forever ST.
Come back, mother, this Christmas %
and take your old place, and as ten'
twenty, or fifty years ago, come AZ
open the old Bible you used to req
and kneel in the same place where
used to pray, and look upon ll
as Of old when you wished us ms
Christmas or happy New Year. BnV
That would not be fair tol call yE
back. You had troubles enough,
aches enough, and bereaVehe