Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1891-12-31
voice' Is there any plume SO wavy as child,

| maShiHcent astronomy. They nad Stuuleu
stars, studied metals, studied physiology,
studied everything. And when I see
these scientists bowling before the beau.
tiful babe, see the prophecy Of the time
| when all the telescopes and microscopes, and
all the Leyden jars, and all the electric batter.
les, and all the observatorcs, and all the uni.
| verslties shall bow to Jesus. 1t is much that
way already. Where is the college that does
not have morning prayers, thus bowling at the
mangerf Who have been the greatest physi.
clans? Omittng the names OF the living lest
| we should be invidious, have we not had among
| them Christian men like our own Joseph g.
| Hutchinson and Rush and Valentine Mott and
Abercrombie and Abernethy? Who have been
| our greatest scientists? Joseph Henry, who
lived and died in the faith OF the gospels, and
| AgasiZ, who standing with his students among
| the hills took of his hat and said,
| young gentlemen, before we study these
rocks, let us pray for wisdom to the God who
| made the rocks" To-day the greatest doctors
| and lawyers Of Brooklyn and New York and of
| this land and OF all lands revere to the Chris.
| tan religion, and are not ashamed TO say 50
| before iuries and legislatures and senates. All
4 geology will yet bow before the Rock of Ages
| All botany will yet worship the Rose of Sharon
! All astronomy will yet recognize the Star Of
Bethlehem. And physiology and anatomy will
join hands and say, 1--WE must by the help OF
| God, got the human race up to the perfect
| nerve, and perfect muscle and perfect brain,
| and perfect form OF that perfect child, before
| whom, nigh twenty hundred years ago, the
| wise men bent their tired knees in worship
Behold also in that first Christmas night that
| God honorcd the fields. Come in, shepherd
| boys, to Bethlehem and see the child. NO."
| they say 1--WE are not dressed good enough to
| come in" Eyes, you are; come in" Sure
| enough, the storms and the night dew and the
| brambles have made rough work with their APP
| parel, but none have u better right to come in.
I NVprn fhn fret IN haar tln rio hat
| Christmas night The first announcement of
| Sayiours birth was made to those men in the
| fields. There were wiSeacreS that night In
| Bethlehem and Jerusalem snoring in deep
| sleep, and there were salaried officers OF gov.
| eminent, who, hearing of it afterward, may
| have thought TINT they ought TO have had tho
| hrst news OF such a great event, some one dis
| mounting from a swift camel at their door and
| knocking till, at some sentinelS question,
| who comes theref' the great ones Of the pal
| ace might have been told of the celestial ar
| rival. No; the shepherds heard the first two
! bars of the music, the first in the major key
and the last in the subdued minor "Glory to
God in the higaest, and on earth peace, good
will to men" All, yes; the fields were hon.
| ored .E
| The old shepherds with plaid and crook have
| for the most part vanished but we have graz
| ing-our United States pasture fields and prai-
| RE about A, 900 sheppard all their keepers
| ought to follow the shepherds II my text and
| all those who toll in fields, all nedressers,
all orchardists, all husbandmen Not only that
Christmas night, but all up and down the
worlds history God had been honoring the
fields. Nearly all the messiahs of reform and
literature and eloquence and law and benev-
olence, have come from the fields.
Washington from the fields. Jefferson from
| the fields. The Presidential martyrs, Garfield
and Lincoln from the fields. Henry Clay from
| the fields. Daniel Webster from the fields.
Martin Luther from the fields. Before this
world is right, the overlooking populations OF
our crowded cities will have to take to the
| fields. Instead of ten merchants in rivalry as
| to who shall sell that one apple, we want at
least eight Of them to go out and raise apples
Instead of ten merchant desiring to sell that one
buShel OF wheat we want at least eight OF them
| to go ont and raise wheat The world wants
now more hard hands, more bronzed cheeks,
more muscular arms. To the fields! God hon.
ored them when he woke up the shepherds by
the midnight anthem, and he will, while the
world lasts, continue to honor the fields. When
the shepherds crook was that famous night
stood against the wall of the Bethlehem kahn,
IL was prophecy of the time when thresher's
fail and farmers plough and woodmans axe
and ox's yoke and sheaf binders rake shall sur
render to the God who made the country, as
man made the town.
Behold also, that on that Christmas night
God honored motherhood. Two angels on their
wings might have brought an infant Saviour to
Bethlehem without Marys being there at all.
When the villagers, on the morning of Dec
70, awoke, by divine arrangement, and in
some unexplained way, the Child Jesus might
have been found In some comfortable cradle Of
the village But no, no! Motherhood for all
time was to be consecrated, and one of the ten
dercst relations was to be the maternal relation
and one of the sweetest words, mother" In
all ages God has honored good moth
erhood. John Wesley had good mother; ST.
Bernard had good mother Samuel Budget, a
good mother; Doddridge, good mother; Wal
ter Scott good mother; Benjamin West,
good mother In a great audience, most Of
whom were Christians, l asked that all those
who had been blessed Of Christian mothers
arise, and almost the entire assembly stood
up. Don't you see how important ii is that all
motherhood be consecrated? Why did
Titan, the italian artist, when he
sketched the Madonna, make it an italian face?
Why did Rubens, the German artist, in his
Madonna, make IL a German face? Why did
Joshua Reynolds, the English artist, in his
Madonna. make 1t an English faceY Why did
Murillo, the Spanish artist make 1t a Spanish
facey l never heard, but think they tooE their
own mothers as the type of Mary, the mother
OF Christ. When you hear some one, in sermon
or GRAFTON, speak in the abstract of good,
faithful, honest mother, your eyes fill up with
| tears, while you say to yourself, "that was my
mother"
The first word a child utters is apt to be
Mother" and the old man, in his dying dream,
calls, Mother! motherl" 1t matters not
whe Their she was brought up in the surround
ings of city, and in affluent home, and was
dressed appropriately, with reference to the
demands OF modern life, or whether she wore
the old-time cap, and great round spectacles,
and apron of her own make, and knit your
socks with her own needles, seated by
the broad fireplace, with great black
- v.x.tN, tg,t.N tNnRsa
now how many wrinkles crossed and recrossed
her face, or how much her shoulders stopped
with the burdens of long life, IL you painted q
Madonna, hers would be the face What gen
ele hand she had when we we're sick, and what
o voice to soothe pain, and was there anyone
who could fill up room with peace, and
purity, and light? And what sad day that
was when we came home and she could greet
us not for her lips were forever still Come
back, mother, this Christmas day, and take your
old place and as ten, or twenty, or fifty years
ago, come and open.the old bible as you used
to; reed and kneel in the same place where you
used to pray, and look upon us as of old when
you wished us MerS Christmas Happy
New Year But no! That would not be fair TO
call you back. You had troubles enough and
| aches enough, and bereavements enough, while
| you were here. larry by the throne, mother,
! till we join you there, your prayers all an
| swered and in the eternal homestead of our
God we shall again keep Christmas jubilee
| together. But speak from your thrones,
| all you glorifed mothers and say to all
| these, your sons and daughters, words OF love,
words Of warning, words OF cheer. They need
| your voice, for they have Travelled far and with
many heart-break since you left them, and
| you do well to call from the heights of heaven
| TO the valleys of earth. Hail, enthroned an
cestryl We are coming. Keep place right
beside you at the banquet
| Slow-footed years. More swiftly run
| Into the gold Of that unsetting sun.
| Homesick we are for thee,
| calm land bevond the sea-