The Penn's Grove record., 1891-07-31
XIV DR.. TAIlMAGR
me Drooklyn Dfvlns1s Sunday
Sermon.


Set on the table the cutlery and the chased
silverwareo 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, jeweled INC plumei, come in and
take their places. When people are invited
to a kings banquet they are very apt to go.
But before the covers are lifted from the
feast Saul looks around and finds q vacant
seat at the table. He says within
himself. perhaps audibly, "What does
this meanf Where is my son-in-law?
Where is David, the great war.
. vacant chair at the kings banquetr' The
tact was that David, she warrior, had
been seated for the last time at his father
ln-law's table. The day before Jonathan
bad coared David to go and occupy that
place at the table, saying to David in the
words Of M text, Thou shalt be missed,
because thy seat will be empty" The pre-
aiction was fulfilled. David was missed.
poke louder than all the occupied chairs at
the banquet.
In almost every house the articles of fur
niture take q living personality. That
~picture-a stranger would not see anything
remarkable either in its design OF execution,
but 1t is more to you than all the pictures of
The Louvre and the luxembourg. You re.
eAeh1Do Who obukhb A. ANU WIN difulTtu
It. And hat hymn book-you remem-
Der who sang out Of it. And that
sradle-you remember who rocked it. And
that Bible-you remember who read
out of it. And that bed-you remember who
dept in it. And that room-you remember
who died in it. But there is nothing in all
-FOUR house so eloquent and so mighty voiced
Is the vacant chair. l suppose that before
Saul and his guests got up from this banquet
here was q great clatter of wine pitchers,
but all that racket was drowned out by the
.oice that came up from the vacant chair at
he table.
Millions have gazed and wept at John
Quincy Adamss vacant chair in the house of
representatives, and at Wilson'S vacant
,hair In the vice-presidency, and at Henry
Clay's vacant chair in the American senate,
md at Prince Albert's vacant chair in Wind
Or castle, n at Theirs vacant chair in the
councils Of the French nation. But all these
shairs are unimportant to you as compared
With the vacant chairs in your own household.
Have these chairs any lesson for US to learn?
Are we any better men and women than
Ehen they first addressed us?
First l point out to you the fathers va.
sant chair. Old men always like to sit in
he same place and in the same chair.
They somehow feel more at home, and some
lines when you are in their place and they
ome into the room You jump up sud-
lenly and say, 'Here. father, here's your
hair." The probability is it is an arm
hair, for he is not so strong as he once
vas, and he needs a little unfolding. His
lair Is q little frosty, his gums a little de-
,ressed, for in his earl days there wa not
much dentistry. Perhaps a zane chair and
Id fashioned apparel, for though You may
rave suggested some improvement, father
loes not want any Of your nonsense. Grand
ather never had much admiration for new
Angied notions.
I sat at the table of one of my parishion-
rs in q former congregation; an aged man
ras at the table, and the son wa presiding,
md the father somewhat abruptly addressed
he son and said, my son, don't try o to
now of because the minister is here|
Your father never liked any new customs
" manners, he preferred the old way OF
Icing things, and he never looked SO
sappy as when with his eyes closed, he sat
n the armchair In the corner. From
he wrinkled brow to the tip of the slippers,
what placidityi The wave of the past years
II his life broke at the foot Of that chair.
Perhaps sometimes he was a little impa-
isnt, and sometimes told the same story
mice; but over that old chair how many
Messed memories hoveri 1 hope you did
rot crowd that old chair, and that it did-hot
ret very much In the way.
Sometimes the old man chair gets very
nuchin the way, especially il he has been so
mwise as to make over all his property to
lis children, with the understanding that
hey are to take care of him. l have seen in
uch cases children crowd the old mans
thair To the door, and then crowd it clear
INTO the street, and then crowd it into the
Door house, 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 up on the rungs
- IL ko- n nxopd piuhf ktss and fhA LONGER lA
stayed the better you liked it, But that
chair has been vacant now for some time.
The furniture dealer would not give You
atty cents for it, but 1t is a throne of infiu-
snce in your domestic circle. saw In the
French palace, and in the throne room, the
chair that Napoleon used to occupy.
II was q beautiful chair. but the most
sienificant part Of it was the letter
sEn embroidered into the back OF the chair
In purple and gold. And your fathers old
chair sits in the throne room OF your beart,
md your affections nave embroided into the
hack Of that old chair in purple and gold tine
letter .F." Have all the prayers OF thai
old chair been answered. Have all tn.
~counssls OF that old chair been practiceai
Gpaak outl old armchair.
History tells US of In old man whose tire
SOM were victors in the OIpnpas games, and
when they came back these thrts sons, with
their garlands, put them on the fathers brow,
and the old man was 50 rejoiced at the vic
tories 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 usefulnss
and put it on your fathers brow, or on the
vacant chair, or on the memory of the one
departeds Speak out, old armchair With
reference to your father, the words of my
text nave been fulfilled, Thou shalt be
missed, because thy seat will be empty"
! go a little further on in your house and
I find the mothers chair. 1t is very apt to
fe q rocking chair. She had so many
cares and troubles to soothe that it must
nave rockers. I remember it well; it was
an old chair, and the rockers were almost
worn out, for I vas the youngest, and the
chair had rocked the whole family. 1t
made a creakins noise as it moved; but
there was music in the sound. 1t was just
high enough to allow us children to put our
heads Into her lap. That was the ban
ries. Ali what a chair that was. II was
different from the fathers chair; it was EN-
tirely different. You ask me hows l cam
not tell; but we all felt it was different.
Perhaps there was about this chair mora
gentleness, more tenderness, more grief
when we had lone wrohe. When We were
Maynard father scolde1, but mother crieL
It was a very wakeful chair In the
sick days of children other chairs
sould not keep awake; that chsir always
kept awake-kept easily awake. The char
Knew all the old luliabies an all thoss
wordless songs which mothers sing to their
rick children-songs in which all pity AMI
compassion and sympathetic influence ore
That old chair has stopped rocking for q
good many years. 1t may be set up i'll the
oft or the garnet, but it holds a queeniy
yet. When at midnight you went
INTO that grog shop to get the Intoxicating
1raught did you not hear a voice that said,
my son, why go in theres' And louder
han the boisterous encore of the place of
sinful amusement a voice saying. my
on, what do you do herey' And when
you went into the house of abandonment,
, voice saying, "What would your mother
10 il she knew you were herey' And you
we're provoked with yourself, and you
charged yourself with superstition and la
aaticism and your head got hot with You
pwn thoughts, and you went home and
you went to bed, and no sooner had you
ouched the bed than a voice said: "Whapl
prayerless pillowf Manl what Is the
natterf' THIS. You are too near your
mothers rocking-ohair.
''Oh, pshaw p you say. There's nothing
n that. Pm 1--WE hundred miles of from
.hers / was born. Pm three hundred miles
IN from tine church whose bell was the
irst music ] ever heard" l cannot help
hat. You are too near your mothers