Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1892-06-10
ISLAND POND VERMONT JUNE 10, 1899

know it and they feel It and they canno,
get away from it.
Two funerals after awhile-not more than
two years apart, for it is seldom that there
ls more than that lapse OF time between
| fathers going and mothers going-two
funerals put out of sight the old folks. But
where are the children' The daughters are
in homes where they are incarn ations OF
Goot sense, industry and piety. The sons
! perhaps one farmer, another a merchant
another mechanic, another minister OK
the Gospel. useful, consistent, admired,
honorei. What a power for good those
seven sons and daughtersl Where did they
| get the powerS From the schools, and the
| semnaries, and the collegesf Oh no. though
! these may have helped. From their superior
| mental eniowment2 No | do not think
they had unusual montal caliber. From ac.
! cidental cirCumstancesS No, they had moth =
| ing OF what is calle astounding gooi luck.
| think we will take a train and ride 10 the
| depot nearest " the homestead from which
! those men and women started. Tho train
| halts. Let us stop few minutes at the vii
| lage graveyard auisee the tombstones OF the
| parents. Yes, the one was seventy-four
! years OF age and the other was seventy-two
AMI the cpitaph says that after useful life
they died "a Christian death" How appro-
| priatelv the Scripture passage cut on the
mothers tombstone, "Shs hath done what
she could" And how beautiful the passage
cut on the fathers tombstone Blessed are
the dead who die in the Lord, for they rest
from their labors aud their works do follow
them"
On over the country road we ride-ths
road !lttla rough, for the spring weather
Is not quite settle1 and once down in a rut
| II Is hard to get the wheels out again with
out breaking the shafts. But at last We
come 10 the lane in front Of the farmhouse.
Let mo get ont Of the wagon and open the
gate while You drive through Here is tho
arbor under which those boys and girls many
years ago used TO play. But it is quito
out OF Order now, for the property Is
in other hands. Yonder is the orchard
whore they used to thrash the trees for
apples sometimes before they were quite
ripe. There is NOW where they hunted for
eggs before Easter. There is the doorsill
upon which they used II sit There is the
room in which they hai family prayers and
where they all knelt-the father there, the
mother there and the boys AMI girls there.
We have got 10 the fountain OF pious and
gracious influences at last. That is the place
that decided those seven earthly and i'm
mortal destinies. Behold! Baholdi That
is the secret pln - Of thunder. Boys are sell
dom more than their fathers will let them
De. Girls are seldom more than their mothers
will let them be. But there come times when
1t seems that parents cannot control their
children. There coma times in a boys life
wncn he thinks h9 knows more than his
father does, ani | remember now that
knew more Mt tfteca years OF aes than
have ever known slnch.
There come tunes in n girls life when sho
thinks her mother Is notiOnll and does not
understand what is proper AMI best and the
sweet child says, 'Oa, pshaw m and she longs
for the time when she will not have to bo
dictated to, and she goes out Of the door or
goes to bed with pouting lips, and these
mothers remember for themselves that they
knew more at fourteen years Of age than
they have ever known since. But father
and mother. do not think you have lost your
influence over your child. You have a re-
source Of prayer that puts the sympathetic
and omnipotcnt God into your parental un-
dertakiug. Do not waste your time In read
ing tilmsy b poks about the best why's to
bring up children. Gro into tho secret place
OF thunter.
At nins O'Clock Nednes lay morning, June
ijn'xt. on the steamer City Of New York,
i expect to sail for Liverpool, to be gone un-
til September. IL is in acceptance OF many
invitations that nm going on a preaching
, tour. 1 expect 10 devote my time to preach.
ing the Gospel in England, Scotland, Ireland
and Sweden. | want to see how many souls
| can gather for the kingdom OF God. Those
countries have for many years belonged TO
my parish, AMI | 60 TO speak - them and
shake hands with them. | want to visit
more thoroughly than before those regions
from which my ancestors came, Wales and
Scotland.
But VINO is sufficient for the work under
tokey call upon you who have long been
/ my coadjutOrS t. gl into the secret place OF
the Almighty, and every day from now
until my work Is dons on the other side OF
the sea, ID have mo in your prayers In
( proportion 10 the intensity aud continuance
nnd faith of ths prayers yours AMI mine,
, will be the Results. Ii you rsmsmber mo in
( the devotional circle, that will be well, hu.
/ what | most want is your impor tuning,
! your wrestling supplicaton in the secret
/ place Of thunder
God aud you alone may make me the
humble instrumentallty in the redemption
! of thousands OF souls. i shall preach in
churche3 in Chapels and In the fields. will
make it campliSn for God and eternity,
and | hope to get during this absence a
! baptism OF power tnat will make me Of
! more service 10 you when ! return than
ever yet have been. For, brethren and
sisters in Christ our opportunity for
usefulness will soon ba goue and we shall
have our fac upliftel 70 the throne Of judg-
ment, before wnich W. mus give account.
| That day there viii bs no secret place Of
thunder, for all the thunders will be out.
There will bo the thunder Of tho tunbling
rocks There will be tho thunie. of the
bursting waves. There will be the
thuu Ter Of the descending chariots. There
will b. the thuu Ter OF the parting heavens.
Boom Boom
But all that dim aud uproar and caash
will find US unafrri@htei, anl will leave
W uudismayel if we have made Christ
our confidence, and as after an August
shower, when ths whole heavens have
been an unlimbered battery cannonad-
ing the earth, the fields arc more green,
and the sunrise is the more radiant and
the waters are moro opaline SO the
thunders of tho last day will make the
trees of life appear more emerald, and
the cGrbuucle OF the wall more crimson, and
tho sapphire seas tho more shimmering, and
tho sunrise of eternal gladness the more en-
purpled. The thuuders OF dissolvlng nature
will be followed by celestial psalmody the
sound of which st. John on Patmos de-
scribed, when he said, 81 heard voice like
the voice of mighty laundering" Amenl