The Penn's Grove record., 1889-05-25
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON:
Other Days Lived over.

Other Days Lived over.
Thou shalt remember all the way which the
Lord Thy God led thee" Deut.S:Z.
Before entering on my subject l wish
to say that some newspaper correspoh-
dents, referring to a recent sermon IN
which welcomed foreign nationallties
to this country, have said that dvo
Gated as a desirable thing the inter-
marriage of the white and black races.
l never said so, 1 never thought 90, and
any one who so mIsrepresents tina ser
mon Is either a villain or a fool, perhaps
both.
But to open this mornings subject, l
have to say God'in the text advises the
people to look back upon their past
history. 1t will do us all good to re-
hearse the scenes between this May
morning and our cradle. whether 1t was
rocked In country or town. A rev
days ago, with my sister and brother, l
visited
TIE PLACE OF MY BoYHooD.
1t was one of the most emotional aud
absorbing days of my life. Thele
stands the old house, and as l went
through the rooms ] said. 81 could
find my way here with my eyes shut,
although | have not been here In forty
years." There was the sittlng.room,
where a large family group every even
ing gathered, the most Of them now In
a better world. There was the old
barn where we hunted for Easter eggs,
and the place where the horses stood.
There is where the orchard was, only
three or four trees now left of all the
grove that once bore apples, and such
apples too! There is the brook down
which we rode to the watering OF the
horses bareback and with a rope
halter.
We also visited the cemetery where
many of our kindred are waiting for
the resurrection, the old people side by
side. after a journey together Of sixty
years, only about three years between
the time of their going. There also
sleep the dear old neighbors who used
10 tie their horses under the shed OF the
country Westinghouse and sit at
the end of the pew, singing "Duke
Street." and "Balerma." and" An
tioch." Oh they were a glorious
race of men and women, who did their
work well, raised a splendid lot OF
boys and girls, and are now, as to their
bodies, in silent neighborh0od on earth,
but, as to their souls, In iubilant
neighborhood before the throne Of
God. | feel that my journey and visit
last week did me good, and it would
do Us all good, IL not in person, then in
thought, TO revisit the scenes of boy
hood or glrlhood. Thou shalt re-
member all the way which the Lord
thy God led thee"
THE VALUE OF "REMINISCENCES.
Youth is apt too much to spend all Its
time in looking forward. Old age is
apt too much to spend all its time in
looking backward. People in middle
life and on the apex look both ways. 1t
would be well for us. l think. however,
to spend more time in "Reminiscences.
BY the constitution of our nature we
spend most of the time looking forward,
and the vast majority OF this audience
live not so much in the present as in the
future. | find that you mean 10 make
a reputation, you mean to establish
yourself, and the advantages that you
expect to achieve absorb a great deal of
your time. But 1 see no harm IN this
II it does not make you dIscontented
with the present or disqualify you for
existing duties.
1t is a useful thing sometimes to look
back, and to see the dangers we have
escaped, and to see the sorrows we
have suffered, and the trials and wan.
behring's of our earthly pilgrimage. and
to sum up our enjoyments. l mean
this morning, so far as God may help
me, to stir up your memory of the past.
so that ii the review you may be en-
co~uraged. humbled, and urged to
pray.
There is a chapel in Florence with a
fresco by Guido. 1t was covered up
with two inches of stucco until our
American and European artists went
there, and after long toll removed the
Lowering and retraced the fresco. And
I am aware that the memory of the
past, with many of you, is all covered
up with ten thousand deliberations,
and | propose this morning, 70 far as
the Lord may help me, to take away
the covering, that the old picture may
shine out again. l want to bind In one
sheaf all
YOUR PAST ADVANTAGES,
and | want to bind In another sheaf all
your past adversities. 1t is q precious
| harvest, and I must be cautious how l
swing the scythe. Among the greatest
advantages of your past life was an
early home, and its surroundings. The
bad men of the day, for the most part.
dip their heated passions out of the
boiling spring of an unhappy home.
We are not surprised to find that
| Byron's heart was a concentration of
sin, when we hear his mother was
abandoned, and that she made sport of
his infrmity, and often called him
s.the lame brat.'' He who has vicious
parents has TO fight every inch of his
way If he would maintain his integ-
riiy. and at last reach the home of the
good in heaven. Perhaps
YOUR EARLY HOME
was in the city. 1t may have been In
the days when Canal street, New
York, was far up town, and the site of
this present church was an excursion
| lDtO Tile COUNTY, 1hat Oiu uOu66 III
the city may have been demolished or
changed into stores, and it seemed like
sacrilege to you, for there was more
meaning in that plain house, than there
is ID a granite mansion or a turretted
cathedral. Looking back thus morning
YOU see it as though it were yesterday
1.-THE sitting room, where the loved
ones sat by the plain lamplight, the
mother at the evening stand, the
brothers and sisters. perhaps long ago
gathered into the skies, then plotting
mischief on the floor. or under the
table, your father with a firm voice
commanding silence that lasted half a
minute.
oh, those were good daysl If you
had your foot hurt. your mother always
had a soothing salve to heal it. II you
we're wronged in the street, your father
was always ready to protect you. The
wear was one round of frollc and mirth.
Your greatest trouble was like an April
shower. more sunshine than shower.
The heart had not been ransacked by
troubles, nor had sickness broken 1t, and
no lamb had a warmer sheepfold than