The Brookhaven leader., 1890-12-04

Oh, this Country Boy Of Nazareth,
come forth to atone for the sins OF the
world, and to correct the follies OF the
world, and to stamp out the cruelties Of
tho world, and to illume tho darkness
OF the world, and to transfgure the
hemispheresi So 1t has been the mis-
sion of the country boys in all ages to
transform and inspire and rescue.
They como into our merchandise
and our court rooms and our heal
ing art and our studios and our
theology. They lived in Nazareth bo.
fore they entered Jerusalem. And but
for that annual influx our cities would
have ennervated and sickened and slain
the race. Late hours and hurtful ap-
parel and overtaxed digestive organs
and crowding environments Of city life
would have halted the world, but the
valleys and mountains of Nazareth have
given fresh supply OF health AMI moral
invigoration to Jerusalem, and the
country saves the town. From the hills
of New Hampshire, and the hills Of
Virginia, and the hills Of Georgia,
come into our National eloquence the
Websters, and the Clays and the Henry
w. Gradys. From the plain homes of
Massachusetts, and Maryland come into
our National charities the George Pea
bodys and the William Corcorans. From
tho cabins Of the lonely country regions
come into our National destinies the
Andrew Jacksons and Abraham Lin
coins. From plow-boy's furrow and
village counter and blacksmlth's forge
come most of our city giants. Nearly
all the messiahs in all departments
dwelt in Nazareth before they camo to
Jerusalem. / send this day thanks
from these great cities, mostly made
prosperous by country boys, to the farm
house and the prairies and the mount
ain cabins and the obscure homesteads
of North and South and East and West,
to tho fathers and mothers in plain
homespun, il they be still alive, or the
hillocks under which they sleep the
long sleep Thanks from Jerusalem to
Nazareth.
But, alas, that the city should so
often treat the country boys as of old
the one from Nazareth was treated at
Jerusalem! Slain not by hammers and
spikes, but by instruments just as cruel.
On every street of every city the cruci-
fixion goes on. Every year shows its
ten thousand Of the slain. Oh, how we
grind them up! Under what wheels,
in wha mills and for what an awful grist!
Let the city take better care of these
boys and young men arriving from the
country. They are worth saving. They
are now only the preface of what they
will be If, instead of sacrificing, you
help them. Boys as grand as the one
who with his elder brother climbed into
a church tower and, not knowing their
danger, went outside on some timbers
when one of those timbers broke and
the boys fell and the older boy caught
on beam and the younger clutched
the foot of the other; the older could
not climb up with the younger hanging
to his feet, so the younger said: John,
l am going to lot go; you can climb out
into safety, but you can't climb up
with mo holding fast; l am going to
let go; kiss mother for me and tell
her not to feel badly; good bye!" and he
let 60 and was so hard dashed upon the
ground he was not recognizable. Plenty
OF such bravo boys coming up from Naz-
areth! Let Jerusalem be careful how it
treats them! A gentleman long ago en-
tered school in Germany, and he
bowed very low before the boys, and the
teacher said: "Why do you do that?"
oh" said the visitor, II do not know
what mighty man may yet bo developed
among them" At that instant the
eyes Of one of the boys flashed
fire. Who was it? Martin Luther.
A lad on his way to school passed
doorstep on which sat a lame
and invalid child. The passing boy
said to him: why don't you go to
school?" "Oh, l am lame and can't
walk to school!' Get on my back"
said the we'll boy, "and I will carry you
to school," And so he did that day, and
for many days until the invalid was
fairly started on the road to an educa-
tion. Who was the we'll boy that did
that kindness? l don't know. Who
Robert Hall, the rapt pulpit orator of
all Christendom. Better give to the
boys who come up from Nazareth to
Jerusalem a crown instead of cross.
On this December morning in Pales
tine on our way out from Nazareth we
saw just such a carpenters shop as
Jesus worked in, supporting His wild
owed mother, after lie was old enough
to do So / looked in, and there were
hammer, and saw, and plano, and auger,
and wise, and measuring-rule. and chis-
el, and drill, and adze, and wrench, and
bit, and all the tools of carpentry
Think of it! He who smoothed the sur.
face of the earth, showing plane. He
who cleft the mountains by earth
quake, pounding a chisel. He who
opened the mammoth caves of the
earth, turning an auger. He who
wields the thunderbolt striking with a
hammer. He who scooped out the bed
for the ocean, hallowing ladle. He
who flashes the morning on the earth,
and makes the midnight heavens quiver
with aurora, constructing a window. l
can not understand, but believe it. A
skeptic said to an old clergymen: 81
will not believe any thing can not
explain" "Indeed!' said the clergy
man, you will not believe any thing
you can not explain. Please to ex-
plain to me why some cows have
horns and others have no horns" "No!"
said the skeptic: II did not mean
exactly that l mean that 1 will not
believe any thing l have not seen"
'Indeed?' said the clergyman. ''you