Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1891-12-12
Almost evsrv fam;lv lob. h.e. - . h,n,

Almost every family looks back to q home
stead-soms 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 rspsacked the
barn. You waded into the brook. You
thrashed the orchard for apples, and the
neighboring woods for nuts. and
everything around the old homestead
is of interest to you. l tell you of the old
homestead OF eternity. In my Fathers
house are many mansions When we talk
OF mansions we think of Chatsworth and its
park, nine miles in circumference. and its
conservatory that astonishes the world: its
galleries OF art, that contains the trumphs
or Chantrey, Canova and Thor waldseu. 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 AMI prineas and dusens
are as nothing to tns family mausion that is
already awaiting on our arrival The hand
OF the Lord Jesus lifted the pillars and swun7
the doors and planted the parks Angel!
walk there, AMI thu gods of all ages. The
poorest man in that house is millionaire.
and the lowliest a king, and the tamssi
word he speaks in an anthem and the short
est life an eternity
1t TOOK Paxton to build for Chatsworta
towering for the wonderful flower. Vic
toria Regia, five feet in diameter. But our
LILY OF the Valley shall nssi no shelter from
the blast, and in tbs open gardens os God
shall put forth its full bloom, aud all heaven
shall come to LOOK at it, and its aroma shall
be az though the cherubim had swung before
the thronea thousand censers have not
seen It yet. am in a foreign land But my
Father IS waiting for me TO come homo. !
baye brothers and sisters there In the
bioie have letters from there. telling me
what t1ne place it is. 1t matters not much
70 me whether am rich or poor, or whether
the world hates ma or loves me, or whether
go by land or by sea, if only | may lift my
eyes at last on the family mansion.
1t 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 It's walls are
grown with the ivy of many ages and the
arns at the gateway are abloon with the
century plants of eternity The Queen of
Sheba hath walked its halls, and Esther and
Marie Antoinette aud Lady Huntingdon and
Cecil and Jeremy Taylor and Samuel Ruth
arford and John Milton, and the widow who
gave two mites, and the poor men from the
aospital-these last two perhaps outshining
all the kings and queens of eternity.
family mansion means reunion. Some
Of your families ara very much scattered
The children married, and went off to St
Louis or Chicago or Charleston; but per-
naps once year you come together at the
Did place How you wake up the old piano
hat has been silent for years Father and
mother do not play in It'll How YOU bring
put the old relics, and rummage the gar
ret, and open old scrapbooss, and shout and
laugh and cry and talk over old times, ana
though you may be forty-five years of age,
act as though you were sixteenl 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? 1t is a good while since
you parted at the door of the grave. There
will be Grace AMI Mary and Martha and
Charlie and Lizzie and all the darlings of
your household-not pale aud sick and gasp
ing for breath, as whsn you saw them last
but the eye bright with the luster of heaven,
ana the cheek roseats with the flush of celes-
ial summer.
What clasping of hands! What en-
oraeings! What coming together Of lip to
lip! What tears of joy! You say, II
thought there were no tears in heaven
There must be- for the Bible says that ''God
shall wipe them away" and if there We're no
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
ness. Christ will come AMI say; What
,hild of heaven, is it too much for thee5
Oost thou break down under the Gadness OF
this reunion Then | will help thee" And,
with His one arm around us and thu other
arm around our love- one, He shall hold II;
lp III Tue ebSfDdl 1AplEe-
While l speak. sons of you, with broken
hearts can hardly hold your p3ace. You
feel as if you would speak out aud say: "Oh,
blessed day speed on. Toward thee prsss
with blstera1 feet over the desert way. Ny
eyes fail for their weeping | faint from
listening for feet that will not come aud the
sound of voices that will not spsak Sped
on, oh, day of reunioni Aud then, Lord
Jesus, be not angry with me il after | havs
Just once kissed Thy blessed feet | turn
around to gather up the long lost treasure;
of my heart. Oh, be not angry with mel
/ One look at Thee were heaven. Bat all these
reunions are heaven encircling heaven
heaven overlapping heaven, heaven con-
mingling with heayenm
was at Mount Vernon and went into tins
dining-room in which our first President en-
tertaine1 the prominent men OF this and
/ other lands. 1t was very interesting spot.
! But oh. the banqueting hail of the family
mansion of which | sp,aki Spread the ta-
bic; spread it wide, for n 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 tho
! heavenly vineyards and press them
| into the golden tsukards for that
which, ii 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 trumpet, and Miriam with the
titnbrel, for the prodisals are at home, and
! the captiyes ara free, ami the Father hath
invited the mighty of heaven and the re-
deemed OF earth to come and dine,