Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-03-20


by Dr.. Talmage in the Brooklyn Acad-
emy of Music on Sunday morning,
March 16. After expounding q chapter
describing Absalom's carriage toward his
father, David, and the singing Of an ap-
as his text the words, "A foolish SON is
the heaviness Of his mother. PROV. I,
l. He said:
All parents want their children to turn
out we'll. However poorly father and
mother may have done themselves, they
want their sons and daughters TO do
splendidly. Up to forty years OF age
parents may have ambitions for them
selves, after that their chief ambitions
are for their children. Some of the old
time names indicate this. The name of
Abner means "his fathers lamp" The
name Abigail means his fathers Joy.
And what parental delight was Solo
mon TO David, and Samuel to Hannah,
and Joseph to Jacob! And the best
earthly staff father has to lean on IL o
good one, and the strongest arm q
of years is that of grateful child. But
It is not rare thing to find people un-
filial, and often the parents are them
times become querulous and snappy, and
the children have their hands full with
tho old folks.
Before entering my profession I was
for three months what is celled col
porteur. One day in the country dis
tricts stopped at the house of good,
intelligent, genial farmer. The hos
pitality of such country house is es-
pecially pleasing to me, for I was born
in the country. This farmer and his
wife were hardworking people, but tried
to make their home agreeable and at
tractive. The farmers father, about sixty
five years of age, and his grandfather,
about ninety, were yet alive and with
him. Indeed, there were four genera
tions in the house, for the father had
little children playing about the room.
We gathered at the dining table. Af-
ter the blessing was asked the farmer
put some Of the meat upon his plate and
courteously passed it to me, when his
father of sixty-five years cried ont to
his son, who was at least thirty years of
age: why do you not pass the meat as
you always do, and let us take it off the
plate ourselves2 You are trying to show
off because We have company" Mean
while his grandfather of ninety sat with
his hat on at the table, his face unclean,
and his apparel untidy. Still the farmer
kept his patience and equipose, and !
never think of him without admiration.
He must have had more grace than ]
ever had.
Because people are old they have no
right to be either ungentlemanly or un-
canny. There are old people 80 dis
agreeable that they have nearly broken
up some homes. The young married
man. with whom the aged one lives
stands it because he has been used to 1t
all his life, but the young wife, coming
in from another household, can hardly
endure it, and sometimes almost cries
her eyes out. And when little children
gather in the house they are afraid of
che venerable patriarch, who has forgot
ten that he ever was q child himself and
cannot understand why children should
ever want to play hide and SEEK or
roll hoop, or fly kite, and he becomes
impatient at the sound from the nursery,
and shouts with on expenditure Of voice
that keeps him coughing fifteen minutes
afterwards, Boys! stop that racket" as
though any boy that ever amounted to
anything in the world did not begin by
making racket
Indeed, there are children who owe
nothing to their parents, for those par
ents have been profigates. My lamented
friend, good and Christian and lovely
Henry Wilson, Vice President Of the
United States, in early life changed his
name. Henry Wilson was not his origi-
nal name. He dropped his fathers name
beeau Sc that father was drunkard and
disgrace, and the son did not feel
called upon to carry such carcass oil
his life. While children must always
be dutiful, sympathize with oil young
people who have disagreeable or un-
principled old folks around the house.
Some Of us, drawing out Of our mem
cries, know that 1t is possible, after
sixty or seventy or eighty or ninety
years of age, for the old to be kind and
genial; and the grandest adornment Of a
home is an aged father and an aged
mother, II the process Of years has
mellowed them.
Besides that, If your old parents are
hard to get along with now, you must
remember there was o time when they
had hard work to get along with you.
When you were about FIVE or seven or
ten or twelve years Of age what time
they had with you'll IL they had kept q
written account Of your early pranks and
misdoingB, 1t would make whole VOL
ume. That time when you gave your
little sister clip; that time when you
explored the depth Of jar Of sweet
things for which you had no permission;
that havoc you one day made with your
jack knife; that plucking from the or
chard of unripe fruit; that day when,
instead of being at school, as your par
ents supposed, you went a-fshing; and
many time did you imperil your young
life in places where you had no business
to climb or swim or venture. To get you
through your first fifteen years with
your life and your good morals was a
fearful draft upon parental fidelity and
endurance.
Indeed, it may be that much OF this
present physical and mental weakness
in your parents may have been result
of your early waywardness. You made
such large and sudden drafts upon the
bank of their patience that you broke
the bank. They were injured in being
thrown while trying to break the colt.
It is matter Of only common honesty
that You pay back to them some of the
long suffering which they paid to you.
A father said to his son: Surely no
father ever had as bad boy as have. !"
Yes, said the son, my grandfather
had" It is about the same froIn genera
tion to generation, and parents need to
be patient with children, and children
5dutiful to their parents. Taking it for
granted that those who hear me to- day
have had good parentage, I want to
urge upon all the young the fact that
the happiness and longevity Of parents