Marble Hill press., 1890-08-28

business, and the Lord took him Or your
daughter had just graduated from the
young ladies' seminary, and YOU thought
she was going to be a useful woman and OF
long life; but the Lord took her, and you
were tempted TO say, "Ai this culture OF
twenty years for nothing" Or the little
child me home from school with the hot
fever that stopped not for the agonized
prayer or for the skillful physician. and the
little child was taken. o. the babe was
lifted out of yO1r arms by soms quick ep-
idemic, and you stood wondering why God
ever gave you that child ut all, II SO
soon he was 10 take it away. And
yet you are not repining, you ars
not fretful, you are not fighting against
God. What ha. enabled you to stand all
the trial! 'Oh. yol say, II took tn, msdi-
cine that Col gave my sick soul In my
distress l threw N gself at the feet OF
sympsthizing God; and when l was too
weak TO pray, or to Look up, He breathed
into me a peace that / think must be the
foretaste of that heaven where there is
neither tear, nor fare well, nor grave"
Come, all We who have been out OF the
grave to weep there-come, all ye comfort
ed souls, get up of your knees. Is there
no p .wer in thi, Gospel to sooth the heart!
Is there no power in this religion to quiet
the worst paroxysm OF grief! Their comes
up an answer from comfortei widOwh0od,
and Orphanage, ani childlessness. saying,
'Ay, ny, we are witness.sm
When man has trOu Ole tho world comes
In AMI says, 'Now get your mind of this;
20 out and breath the fresh air; luIge
deeper into busin ,ss." What poor advice!
Get your mind off it! When everything is
upturned with bereavement and every
thing reminds you of what you have lost.
Get your mind of IL They might as well
advise you to stop thinking. You cannot
stop thinking, and you cannot stop think
ing In that direction. Take wali in the
fresh air! why; along that very street, or
that very road, she once accomp .niel you.
Out OF that gra- s-plat she plucKcd flowers.
or into that show win low she loo Ted, fasc-
mated, saying, 'Co!ne s'e the pictures"
Go deeper into businessl Why, she was
associated with all your business ambition,
and since she has gone you have no ambi.
ton left. oh, this Is q clumsy world
when it tries 10 comfort broken heart. l
can build IA Corliss's engine, can paint u
Raphael's "Malonna,"l Can PLAY n Beet.
hoven's "EroicI SYMPHONY" Us easily as
this world can comfort broken heart
And yet you have been comfortod. How
was it done! Did Christ como to you an
say, "Get your mind off this; go out and
breathe fresh air; plunge deeper into bust
ness" No. There was minute when He
came to you-perhaps in the watches of
the night, perhaps in your place Of bust
ness, perhaps along tho street-and Ho
breathed something into your soul that
gave peace, rest, iniinit, quiet, so that you
could take out tho photograph of the de-
parted one and look into tn, eyes and tho
face Of the dear on, aud say, ut is all
right; she is better off; would not call her
back. Lord, / thank thee that thou hast
comforted my poor heart"
Again: l remark that we are witnesses
Of the fact that religion has power to give
composure in the last moment l never
shall forget the first time l confronted
death. We went across the cora fields in
the country. was led by my flther's
hand, and we came TO the flrmho lse where
the bereavement had co ne, and We saw the
crowd Of wagons ard c .rriages; but there
was one carriage that especially attracted
my boysh attention, anu it had black
plumes. SAID, whats that! what's thatl
Why those black tas,els on tho topl" and
after it was explained TO me, was lifted
up to look upon the bright face OF an aged
Christian woman, who three days before
had departed in triumph; the whole scene
made an impress on nev,r forgot.
In our sermons and in our lay exhortl.
tions we are very apt, when we want to
bring Illustrations of dying triumph, to go
back to some distinguished personage-toa u
John Knox or Harriet Newell. But
want you for witnesses want to know if
you have ever seen anything to make you
believe tnat the religion OF Christ can give
composure in the final hour Now, in the
courts, attorney, jury and Judge will never
admit mere hearsay. They demand that
the witness must have seen with his own
eyes, or heard with his own ears, and 80 I
am critical in my examination OF you now
and want to know whether you have SO IN
or heard anything that makes you believe
that the religion OF Chris. gives composure
in the final hour.
and mother depart. There was great diff
ference In their death beds. Standing by
tho one we felt more veneration. BY the
other, there was more tenderness" Before
the one, you bowed perhap, in awe. In
the other case you teit as If YOU would like
to go along with her. How did they feel In
that last hour9 How did they seem to acts
Vera they very much frightenedl Did
they take hold of this word with both
hands as though they did not want to give
it upl "Oh, no." you say; mo, remember
as though it were yesterday; she had a
kind word for us all, and there were few
mementoes distributed among tho children,
and then she told us how kiud we must be
to our father in his loneliness, and then
she kissed us good by and went asleep as
calmly as child in cradle"
What made her so compos adl Natural
courage! "No," you say, "mother was very
nervous; when the carriage inc ined 10
the side Of the road, she would cry out; she
was always rather weekly" v hat, then,
gave her composurel Was it because she
did not care much for you, and the pang
of parting was not greati "Oh," you say,
"she showerel upon us a wealth of affec.
tion; no mother ever loved her children
more than mother loved us; she showed
it by the way she nursed US when we
were sick, and she toiled for US until her
StFcusOh RuNO Out Wuht tilcu, WdS IL
that gave her composure In the last hourl
DO not hide it. Be frank and let me know.
"Oh," you say, "it was bee ,use she was
so good; she made tho Lord her portion,
and she had faith that she would 20
straight TO glory, and that we should all
meet her at last ut the foot OF the throne "
Here are people vino say, II saw q
Christian brother die, and he triumphed. +"
And some one else, ~ saw u Christian sis.
ter die, and she triumphed" Some one
else will say, II saw u Christian daughter
die. and she trumphed." Come, all We
who have seen the last moments of q
Christian, and give testimony in this cause
on trial Uncover your heads, put your
hand on the old family Bible from which
they used to read the promises, and prom
ise In the presence Of hi h heaven that
you will tell the truth, tho whole truth,
and nothing but the truth. With what
you have seen with your own eyes, and
from what you have heard with your own
ears, is there power in This Gospel to give
calmness and triumph In the last exigsncyl
The response comes from all sides, from
young, and old and middle aged; I'VE are
Witnesses
Yon sae INV frien,ia I h,vo pok ,,,,t Ia