The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-08-18
FARMING A GOSPEL TYPE.
REV. TALMAGE breaches AT THE
FARMERS ENCAMPMENr.

With His Hearers by Relating an
Incident of His Boyhood Days on
His Fathers Farm-Text OF His Ser
mon.
LEBANON, PA, Aug. 1.-THE American
Farmers Encampment at Mount Gretna,
near this city, to-day listened attentively to
a remarkable discourse by the Brooklyn
preacher, Rev. T De Witt Talmage, who
arrived here yesterday from the Chautau-
qua at Piedmont, Ga, where he spoke
Wednesday last The subject was one
peculiarly suited to the vast audience, being
on Farming a Gospel Type" l. Kings,
XIX, 10: Elisha the son of Shaphat, who
was blowing with twelve oxen before him,
and he with the twelfth"
Representatives of the great farmers as
sociations from all parts of the country are
at the encampment, preparations for which
have been going on for months in advance.
The surrounding densely populated coun-
ties of Pennsylvania are also fully repre-
sented. To-day's services were held in the
open air. An immense choir, from the
churches of Lebanon, led the music.
Rev. DR.. Talmage spoke as follows
Farmers of Americai Accept my saluta-
furrow. where many of us have been before.
Nv boyhood passed on a farm, and my
father a farmer, your style of NE Is Iamlllar
to me- One of my earliest recollectlons is
that of nv father coming IN from the not
harvest field exhaus ed, the persplratlon
streaming from his forehead and chin, and
fainting on the doorsill, and my mother re-
suscitating him, until, seeing the alarm OF
the household. he said, Don't be frightened
1 got a little tired, and the sun was hot, but
am all right now" And 1 remember
mother seated at the table, often saying,
''Well. am too tired to eat" The fact is
that do not think the old folks got thor
oughly rested until they lay down in the
graveyard back of Somervllle, to take the
last Sleep
Ofice-seekers go through the land, and
they stand on political platforms, aud they
tell the farmers the story about the indie
pendent life of a farmer, giving tiattery
where they ought to give sympathy. lnde-
pendent of what? No class of people IN this
country have it harder than farmers. In
dependent of whatl OF the curculo that
stings the peach treess of the rust in the
wheat! of the long rain with the rye DOWN.
independent of the grasshopperf of the
locust? of the army worm? of the potato
bug? independent of the drought that
burns up the harvestl Independent of the
COW with the hollow horne or the sheep
with the foot-rotl or the pet horse
of the cold that freezes out the
winter grainl Independent of the snow
bank out of which he must shove himself?
independent of the cold weather when he
stands threshing his numbed fingers around
his body to keep them from being frosted
Independent of the frozen ears and the
frozen feet? Independent of what9 Fancy
farmers who have made their fortunes in
the city and go out in the country to build
houses wi n all the modern improvements,
and make farming luxury may not need
any solace; but the yeomanry who get their
living out of the soil. and who that way
have to clothe their families and educate
their children, and pay their taxes and meet
the interest OH mortSaged farms-such
men find terrific struggle. And my hope
is that this great national farmers en-
campment may do something toward lifting
the burdens of the agricuturisls. Yes, we
were nearly all of us born IN the country.
We dropped corn in the hill, and went on
Saturday to the mill, tying the grist in the
centre of the sack so that the
contents on either side the horse bal
anced each ether; and drove the
cattle afield, our bare feet wet with
the dew, and rode the horses with the halter
to the brook until we fell off, and hun ed
the NOW for nests until the feathered occu-
pants went cackllng away. So we all I'M
derstand rustic illusions. The Bible is full
of them. Iii Christ's sermon on the Mount,
you see the full-blown lilies and the glossy
back of the crows wing as it flies over
Mount Olivet David and John, Paul and
Isaiah find i'll country life a source of fire.
quent illustration, while Christ takes the
responsibility of calling God a farmer de-
claring: My father is the husbandman."
Noah was the first farmer We say
nothing about Cain, the tiller of the soil
Adam was gardener on large scale, but
to Noah was given all the acres of the EARTH
Elisha was an agricuturist. not culturing a
ten-acre lot, for In my text you find him
blowing with twelve yoke OF oxen before
him, and he with the twelfth. In Bible
times the land was SO plenty and the in
habitants so few, that Noah was right when
he gave to every inbabitant a certain por-
tion of land; that land, if cultured, ever
after to be his own possession.
They were not small crops raised in those
times, for, though the arts were rude, the
pillow turned up very rich soil; and barley,
and cotton, and fax, and all kinds of grain
came up at the call of the harvesters
Pliny tells of one stalk of grain that had on
it between three and four hundred ears
The rivers and the brooks through arti-
fetal channels were brought down to the
roots of the corn, and to this habit of turn
ing river wherever 1T was wanted Solo,
mon refers when he says: The kings
heart is in the hand of the Lord, and he
turneth it as the rivers of water are turned,
whithersoever he will. >"
The wild beasts were caught, and then a
hook was put into their nose, and then they
were led over the field, and to that God re-
fers when he says to wicked Sennacherib:
Il will put a hook in thy nose and will
bring thee back by the way which thou
earnest" And God has a hook in every
mans nose, whether it be acknowledgements
or Ahab or Herod. He may think himself
very independent, but some time in his life
or in the hour of his death, he will find that
the Lord Almighty has a hook in his nose
This was the rule i'll regard to the culture
of the ground: Thou shalt not pillow with
an OK and an ass together" illustrating the
folly of ever putting intelligent and useful
and phable men in association with the
stubborn and the unmanageable The vast
majority of troubles in the churches and in
reformatory institutions comes from the
disregard of this command Of the Lord
Thou shalt not plow with an OK and an
ass together"
There were large amounts of property
invested in cattle. The Moabites paid 100 :
600 sheep as an annual tax. job had z. 900
sheep. 5000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen The
time of vintage was ushered in with mlrth
and music. The clusters of the vine were
put into the wine press and then five men
would get into the press and trample out
i1ai1 fha Il