The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-07-20
HOMES VACANT CHAIR.
TALMAGE TELLS OF ITS APPEAL
TO HEAVY HEARTS.


Fathers Cheir and the Mothers
Chair and the Difference Between
Them.
LAKESIDE, o., July 19.-For many years
people have gathered in multitudes at this
season Of the year for great outdoor as
sembly. The grounds are short sail from
Sandusky. The place beautiful beyond de-
scription. DIR. Talmage preached this morn
ing in this delightful place to vast multi,
tude. His subject was the Vacant Chair,
and his text. 1 Samuel Xxx, IS; Thou
shalt be missed, because thy seat will be
| empty"
Set on the table the cutlery and the
chased silverware Of the palace, for King
| Saul will give a state dinner to-day. A
distinguished place is kept at the table for
his son-in-law, a celebrated warrior, David
by name. The guests, leweled and plumed,
come In and take their places. When
people are invited to a kings banquet,
| they are very apt to 90. But before the
| covers are lifted from the feast, Saul
looks around and finds vacant seat at
the table. He says within himself, per-
| haps audibly, "WhAt does this meant
| Where is my son-in-lawl Where Is
| David, the great warriors | invited him.
l expected him. What a vacant chair at
David, the arrior, had been seated for the
last time at his father-in laws table. The
| day before Jonathan bad coaxed David to
| 20 and occupy that place at the table, say
| ing to David in the words Of my text,
Thou shall be missed, because thy seat
will be empty" The prediction was full
| filed David was missed. His seat was
empty. That one vacant chair spoke louder
J than all the occupied chairs at the banquet.
In almost every house the articles Of fur.
niture take living personality. That
| plcture-a stranger would not see anything
| remarkable either in its design or execution,
| but is more TO you than all the pictures Of
the Louvre and the Luxembourg. You re-
member who bought it and who admired it.
And that hymnbook-you remember who
| sang out OF it. And that cradle-you re-
member who rocked it. And that Bible
| you remember who read out of it. And
that bed-you remember who slept in it.
And that room-you remember who died in
1t. But there is nothing in all your house 80
eloquent and 80 mighty-voiced as the va
cant chair. 1 suppose that before Saul and
his guests got up from this banquet
there was great clatter Of wine pitch
ers but all that racket was drowned out
by the voice that came up from the vacant
chair at the table. Millions have gazed
and wept at 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 learnl
Are we any better men and women than
when they first addressed us}
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 at home, and some-
times when you are In their place and they
come into the room, you jump up suddenly
| and say: Here, father, here Is yCur
chair" The probability is, it is an arm
chair, for he is not 30 strong as he once
was and he needs little upholding. His
hair is little frosty, his gums little de-
pressed, for in his early days there was
not much dentistry. Perhaps clue chair and
old-fashioned apparel, for though you may
have suggested some Improvement, father
does not want any Of your nonsense. Grand
father never had mucn admiration for new
tangled notions. | sat at the table of one
of my parishoners in a former congrega-
ton; an aged man was at the table, and the
son was presiding, and the father somewhat
abruptly addressed the son and said: my
son, don't now try to show off because the
minister is herem Your father never liked
any new customs or manners; he preferred
the old way of doing things,
and he never looked 80 happy
as when, with his eyes closed, he
sat In the armchair in the corner. From
the wrlnked brow to the tip Of the slippers,
what placidity! The wave of the past year
Of his life broke at the
foot of that chair. Perhaps,
sometimes he was a little impatient, and
sometimes told the same story twice; but
! ar hnu
memories hoverl l hope you did not 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 as TO
make over all his property TO his children
with the understanding that they are to
take care of him. l 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 poor
house, and keep 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 up OH
the rungs of it for a goodnight kiss, and
the longer be stayed the better you liked it,
But that chair has been vacant for some
time. The furniture dealer would not give
you fifty cents for it, but it is a throne Of in
fluence in your domestic circle. l saw in
the French palace, aud in the throne room,
|
was beautiful chair, but the most signifi-
cant part of it was the letter IN" en-
broidered into the back of the chair in
purple and gold. And your fathers old
chair sits in the throne room of your heart,
and your affections have embroidered
into the back of that chair in
purple and gold the letter F."
Have all the prayers Of that old chair
been answered! Have all the counsels of
that old chair been practiced? Speak outl
old armchair. History tells US of an old
man whose three sons were victors in the
Olympic games, and when they came back
these three soas, with their garlands, puu
them on the fathers brow, and the old
man was so rejoiced at the victories of his
three children that he fell dead in their
arms. And are you, o man, going to bring
wreath of joy and Christian usefulness
and put it on your fathers brow, or on the
vacant armchair, or on the memory of the
one departedl Speak outl old armchair.
With reference TO your father, the words Of
my text have been fulfilled: Thou shalt
belmissed, because thy seat will be empty"
go a little further on in your house, and
find the mothers chair. It is very apt 10
be rocking -chair. She had so many cares
and troubles to soothe that it must have
| rockers. / remember it well It was an
old chair, and the rockers were almost
worn out, for was the youngest, and the
| chair had rocked the whole family. 1t made
| a creaking noise as it moved but there was