Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1891-07-20
A TALK ON EMPTY CHAIRS
A POWERFUL ARGUMENT FROM Or.
TALMAGE IN OHIO.

side.
LAKESIDE, o., July I9.-For many years
people have gathered in mutitudes at this
season OF the year for great outdoor AS
sembly. The grounds are short sail
from sandus&y; the place beautiful be.
yond description DR.. Talmage preached
this morning in this delightful place to a
vast multitude. His subject was the IVA
cant Chair" and his text, Samuel Xxx, 1S,
Thou shalt be missed. because thy seat
will be empty"
Set on the table the cutlery and the
chased sllverware Of the palace, for King
saul VIII give a state dinner today. A dis
tinguished place is kept at the table for his
son-in-law, celebrated warrior, David by
name. The guests, jeweed and plumed,
come In and take their places. When PEG
pie are invited to kings banquet they
are very apt to go. But before the covers
are lifted from the feast Saul looks around
and finds vacant seat mt the table. He
says within himself, perhaps audibly;
What does this mean? Where IN my SON
ln-lawp Where is David, the great war
riorS invited him. lexpected him What
vacant chair at the kings banquetp
The fact was that David, the warrior,
had been seated for the last time at his
fatherin-law's table The day before Jon
athan had coaxed David TO go aud occupy
that place at the table, saying to David in
the words of my text, "Thou shalt be
missed, because thy seat will be empty"
The prediction was fulfilled David was
missed. His seat was empty. That one
vacant chair spoke louder than all the oc
cupted chairs at the banquet.
In almost every house the articles of fur
niture take living personality. That
picture-a stranger would not see anything
remarkable either in its design or execu
tion, but 1t Is more to you than all the
pictures Of the Louvre and the Luxem
bourg. You remember who bought it, and
who admired it, And that hymn book
you remember who sang out of it. And
that cradle--you remember who rocked it,
And that Bible-yOu remember who read
out of it. And that bed-you remember
VINO slept In IL. And that room-you re
member who died in it, But there is
nothing in all your house so eloquent and
so mighty voiced rs the vacant chair,
suppose that before Saul and his guests got
mp from this banquet there was great
CHATTER of wine pitchers, but all that racket
was drowned out by the voice that came up
from the vacant chair ut the table.
Millions have gazed and wept ut John
Quincy Adams vacant chair in the house
of representatives, and at Henry Wilson's
vacant chair in the vice presidency, and at
Henry Clay's vacant chair in the American
senate, and at Prince Albert's vacant chair
In Windsor castle, and at THEIRS vacant
chair in the councils of the French nation
But all these chairs are unimportant to
you as compared with the vacant chairs in
your own household Have these chairs
any lesson for us to learn2 Are we any
better men and women than when they
first addressed usS
FATHERS CHAIR.
First point out to You the fathers va
cant chair. Old men always like to sit
In the same place and in the same chair.
They somehow feel more Mt home, and
sometimes when you are in their place and
they come into the room you jump up sud
denly and say, "IIere, father, here's your
chair" The probability is it is an arm
chair, for he is not so strong as he once
was, and he needs little unfolding. His
hair is little frosty, his gums n little de-
pressed, for in his early days there was not
much dentistry, Perhaps a cane chair
and old fashioned apparel for though you
may have suggested some improvement
father does not want any of your nonsense
Grandfather never had much admiration
for new tangled notions.
sat Mt the table of one of my parish
toner's in former congregation; an aged
man was at the table, and the son was pre-
siding, and the father somewhat abruptly
addressed the son and said, my son, don't
now try to show Off because the minister
is herel" Your father never liked any new
customs or manners; he preferred the old
way of doing things, and he never looked
so happy as when, with his eyes closed, he
sat in the armchair in the corner. From
the wrinkled brow to the tip of the slippers,
what placidityl The wave of the past years
of his life broke at the foot of that chair
Perhaps sometimes he was little impa-
tient, and sometimes told the same story
twice but over that old chair how many
blessed memories hoverl | hope you did
mot crowd that old chair, and that it did
not get very much in the way.
Sometimes the old mans chair gets very
much in the way, especially If he has been
so unwise rs to make over all his property
to his children, with the understanding
that they are to take care of him, | have
seen in such cases children crowd the old
mans chair to the door, and then crowd it
clear into the street, and then crowd it
into the poorhouse, and keep on crowding
it until the old man fell out of it into his
grave.
But your fathers chair was a sacred
place. The children used to climb mp on
the rungs of it for good night kiss, and
the longer he stayed the better you liked it.
But that chnir has been vacant now for
some time. The furniture dealer would
mot give you fifty cents for it, but it is n
throne of influence in your domestic circle
I saw in the French palace. and in the
throne room, the chair that Napoleon used
to occupy, 1t was a beautiful chair, but
the most significant part of it was the letter
IN" embroidered into the back of the
chair In purple and gold And Your faith
ers old chair sits in the throne room of
your heart, and your affections have EN-
broidered into the back of that old charin
purple and gold the letter "F." Have all
the prayers of that old chair been answer
edP Have all the counsels of that old chair
been practiced2 Speak outI old armchair,
History tells us of m old man whose
three sons were victors in the Olympic
games, aud when they came back these
three sons, with their garlands, put them
on the fathers brow and the old man was
so reioiced at the victories of his three
children that he fell dead in their arms
And are you, oh, man, going to bring a
wreath of joy and Christian usefulness
and put 1t on your fathers brow, or on the
vacant chair or on the memory of tile one
,departedg Speak out, old armchairl With
reference to your father, the words of my
text have been fulfilled, Thou shalt be
l..
MOTHERS CHAIR.
.ro a littla further ON in ypur housa and