The Forrest City times., 1890-08-23

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 | Rev. T. Dc Witt Talmagc, the Brooklyn preacher, discourscd last Sunday to an lmmonse gathering of farmers at Mount GretnA near Lebanon, Pa Representa- tives of tho great farmcrs' associations from all parts of the country. weru present At an encampment, preparations for which had been going on for many weeks. Dr. Talmsge addressed the great throng oh the subject, Farming gospel type" His text was, l. Kings 19:19.--''Elisha tho son of Shaphat, who was ploughing with twelve oxen before him, and he with the twelfth"
 Farmers of Americal said he, accept my salutation. Our text puts us down into the blows furrow, where many of us have been before My boyhood passed on farm, and my father farmer, your style of life is familiar to me. One of my earliest recol. lections is that of my father coming in from tho hot hsrvest-held exhaustcd tho precipitation streaming from his forehead and chin, and fainting on the doorsill, and my mother resuscitating him, until seeing the alarm of the household, he said, Don't be frightened. got little tired, and the sun was hot, but am all right new" And remember mother seated at the table, often saying, Well, am too tired to eati' The fact is, that do not think tho old folks got thoroughly rested until they lay down In tho graveyard back of Somerville; to take the last sleep.
 Ofiice-seekers go through tho land and they stand on political platforms, and they tell the farmers the story about the inde- pendent life of . farmer, giving dattery where they ought to give sympathy. Inde- pendent of whatl No class of people in this country have it harder than farmers. Independent of whats Of the curculio that stings the peach trecsl of the rust in tho wheati of the long rain with the rye downi Independent of the grashopperi of the locusti of the armyawcrnii of the potato bugi Independent of the drought that burns up the harvest! Independent of the COW with tho hollow horni or the sheep with the foot-roti or the pet horse with the nail In his hoofl Independent of tho cold that freezes out the winter graini Independent of the snowbank out of which he must shovel himselfi Independent of the cold weather when he stands threshing his numbcd fingers around his body to keep them from being frosted. In- depcndendent of the frozen ears and tho frozen fecti Independent of whati Fan cy-farmers who have made their fortunes In tho city and go out in tho country to build houses with all tho modern improve ments 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 edu- cate their children, and pay their taxes and meet the interest on mortgaged farms such men find terrific struggle And my hope is that this great National Farmers Encampment may do something toward bearing the burdens of the agriculturists. 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 horsc balanced each other; and drove the cattle afield, our barc fcc. wet with the dew, and rode the horses with the halter to the brook until we fell of, and hunted the now for nests until the feathercd occupants went caot- ling away. So we all understand rustic allusions The Bible is full of them. In Christ's sermon on the Mount, you sec tho full-blown lilies and the.glossy back of the crows wing as 1t flies over Mount Olivet. David and John, Paul and Isaiah find in country life source of frequent illustra- tion, while Christ takes the responsibility of calling God a farmer, declaring My Father is the Hnsbandman'
 Noah was the first farmer We say nothing about Cain. the tiilcr of the soil Adam was gardener on n largo scale. but to Noah was given all the acres of tho earth Elisha was an agricultarist. no, culturing ten-acrc lot, for in my text you find him blowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. In Bible times tho land was 80 plenty and tho inhabitants 50 few. that Noah was right when he gave to every inh~bitant certain portion of land; that land, If cultured, ever after to be his own possession.
 There were not small crops raised in those times. for though tho arts were rude, the blow turned np very rich soil, and bar. Icy, and cotton, and flax. and all kinds of grain came up at tho call of the haryesters. pliny tells of ono stalk of grain that had on it between threc and four hundred ears, The rivers and the brooks, through arti- ficial channels, were brought down to tho roots of the corn. and to this habit of turn ing river wherever 1t was wanted, Solo mon refers when he says; Tho kings heart is in tho hand of the Lord, and Hc turneth it as the rivers of water arc turned whithersoever Hc wiiir
 Tho wild beasts wern caught, and then a hook was put into their nose, and then they were led over tho flcid, and to that God refers when He says to wicked Sen. nacherib: Il will put hook in thy nose and will bring thee back by the way which thou camestn And God has hook in every mans nose, whether 1t be Nebuchail. nexxar 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 in regard to the culture of Che ground: ssThou shalt not blow with an OK and an ass together,n illustrating the folly of ever putting intelligent and useful and pliahle men in association with
 the stubborn and the unmanageAble. The vast majority of troubles in tho churches and in rcformatory institutions comes from the disregard of this command of the Lord !:
 Thou shalt not blow with m OK and an ass together"
 In all ages there has been great honor paid to agriculture. Scven-eighths of tho people in evcry country arc disciples of the blow. A government is strong in propor- tion as it Is supported by m athletic and industrious yeomanry. So long ago n b. fore tho fall of Carthage, Strabo wrote twenty-cight books on agriculture; Hesiod wrote poem on the same subiect-.sThe Weeks and Days.n Cato was prouder of his work on husbandry than of all his military conquests. Standing amid tho harvests and orchards and vineyards of the Bible, and standing amid the harvests and orchards and vineyards of our own country --l want to run out the analogy between the production of crops and the growth of grace in the soui--all these sacred writers making use of that analogy
 In the first place Ircmark, in grace as in the fields there must be blow. That which theologians call conviction Is anly the plpwsharc turning up tho sins that have been rooted and matted in the soul A farmer said to his indolent son There nrS, | hundred finllnrs hurric.l A.Aaxs y.. that