The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-12-23

off on every side a wilderness Of worlds. For
us thew shine. For us they sang at a Saw
iour's nativity. For US they will wheel into
line and with their flaming torches add to
the splendor Of our triumph on the day Tor
which all other days were made.
In the third walk go around the Eternal
CITY. As we come near it. bark to the rush
of lis chariots and the wedding peal of its
great towers. The bell of heaven has struck
Twelve. 1t is high noon. We look of upon
the chaplets which never fade. the eyes that
never weep, the temples that never close, the
loved ones that never part, the procession
that never halts, the trees that never wilmer,
the walls that never can bs captured. cue
sun that never sets, until wa can no longer
gaze, and we hide our eyes n exciaim:
HEye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
have entered into the heart Of man, the
things which God hath prepared for them
that love Himr' As these tides or glory
rise we have 70 retreat and hold fast lest we
ha swent off and drowned in the emotions or
giadness and thanksgiving and triumph.
. What think you OF the family property
It is considered an honor to marry ntoa
family where there is great wealtn. Inc
Lord, the bridegroom OF earth inc neaVsp,
offers Won His heart and His hand, saying
in the words OF the Canticles, Rise up, NY
love. Nv fair one, and come away"
once having put on thy hand the signet ring
of His love you will BE- endowed with all the
wealth Of earth and all the honors or neaVen-
Almost every family looks back to q home
stead-some country place where you grew
up. You sat on the doorsill. You heard the
footstep of the rain on the garrett roof. You
swung on the gate. You ransacked the
barn. You waded into the brook. You
thrashed the orchard for apples, and the
n~eighboring woods for nuts; and
oxvarvfbinn oro,,nI Tho old hnpnacfaoH
is of interest to you. I tell you of the old
homestead Of eternity. In my Fathers
house are many mansions. When We talk
Of mansions we think Of C~hatsworth and its
park, nine miles in circumference, n its
conservatory that astonishes the world; its
galleries Of art that contains the triumphs
Of Chantrey, Canova and Thorwaldsen; of
the kings and the queens who have walked,
its stately halls, or, flying over the heather,
have hunted the grouse. But all the dwell
ing places Of dukes and princes and queens
are as nothing to the family mansion that is
already awaiting on our arrival. The hand
of the Lord Jesus lifted the pillars and swung
the doors and planted the parks. Angels
walk there, and the gods OF all ages. The
poorest man in that house is a millionaire,
and the lowliest a king, and the tamest
word he speaks in IN anthem and the short
est life an eternity.
~ UOCh q l dAOOu w Uutlu LII -
acovering for the wonderful flower, Vic
toria Regia, five feet in diameter. But our
Lily of the Valley shall need no shelter from
the blast, and in the open gardens OF God
shall put forth its full bloom, and all heaven
shall come to look at it, and its aroma shall
be as though the cherubim had swung before
the thronea Thousand censers. I have not
seen it yet. I am in a foreign land. But my
Father is waiting for me to come home.
have brothers and sistsrs there. In the
Bible have letters from there, telling me
what a fine place it is. It matters not much
to me whether I am rich or poor, or whether
the world hates me or loves me, or whether
I 60 by land or by sea, If only l may LIT my
eyes at last on the family mansion.
It is not a frail house, built in a month,
soon to crumble, but an old mansion which
Is as firm as the day it was built. Its walls are
crown with the ivy Of many ages, n the
urns at the gateway are abloom with the
century plants Of etarnity. The Queen OF
Sheba hath walked its halls, and Esther and
Marie Antoinette and Lady Huntingdon and
Cecil and Jeremy Taylor aud Samuel Ruth
erford and John Milton. and the widow who
gave two mites. and the poor men from the
hospital-these last two perhaps outshining
all the kings and queens Of eternity.
A family mansion means reunion. Some
of your families are very much scattered.
The children married, aud went of to st.
Louis q Chicago or Charleston; but par
haps once a year you come together at the
old place. How you wake up the old piano
that has been silent for years! (Father and
mother do not play in it) How you bring
out the old relics, and rumma2e the gar
ret, and open old s~crapbooSs, and shout and
though you may be forty-lve years Of age,
act as though you were sixteen! Yet
soon it is goodbye at the car window, and
goodbye at the steamboat wharf. But how
will we act at the reunion in the old family
mansion of heaven? It is a good while since
you parted at the door Of the grave. There
will be Grace and Mary and Martha and
Charlie and Lizzie and all the darlings OF
your household-not pale and sick and gasp
ing for breath, as when you saw them last,
but the eye bright with the luster Of heaven,
tial summer.
What clasping Of hands! What en-
bracings! What coming together Of lip to
lip! What tears Of joyl You say, II
thought there were no tears in heaven"
There must be, for the Bible says that "God
shall wipe them away" aud if there were %
tears there, how could He wipe them away?
They cannot be tears of grief or tears Of dis
appointment. They must be tears OF glad
QeSS. CuTlSU Will COmo duu S6J
child Of heaven, is it too much for thee?
Dost thou breakdown under the gladness Of
this reunion? Then T will help thee" And,
with His one arm around US and the other
arm around our loved one, He shall hold US
up in the eternal jubilee.
While I speak, some Of you, with broken
hearts, can hardly hold your psacs. You
feel ash you would speak out and say: "Oh,
blessed day! speed on. Toward thee press
with blistered feet over the desert way. My
eyes fail for their weeping. I faint from
sound Of voices that will not speak. Speed
on, oh, day of reunion! And then, Lord
Jesus, be not angry with me if after I have
just once kissed Thy blessed feet I turn
around to gather up the long lost treasures
Of my heart. Oh, be not angry with me-!
One look at Thee were heaven. Blu all these
reunions are heaven encircling heaven,
heaven overlapping hsaven, heaven COM
mingling with heaven
dining-room in which our first President en-
tertainei the prominent men OF this and
other lands. 1t was q very interesting spot.
But oh. the banqueting hall Of the family
mansion Of which I spsak! Spread the Ia
BILE; spread it wide, for a great multitude
are to sit at it. From the Tree by the River
gather the twelve manner Of fruits for that
table. Take the clusters from the
heavenly vineyards and press them
into the golden tankards for that
table. On baskets carry in the bread OF
which, il man eat, he shall never hunger.
Take all the shot-torn flags of earthly con.
quest and entwine them among the arches.
Let David come with his harp, and Gabriel
with his ,umpet, and Miriam with the
timbrel, for the prodigals are at home, and
the captiyes are free, and the Father hath
invited the mighty Of heaven and the re-
deemed Of earth to come and dine.
MRS. POTTER PALMER has been re-