The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1892-01-08


by the midnight anthem, and He will,
while the world lasts, continue to honor
the fields
Behold, also, that on that Christmas
night God honored motherhood. Two
angels on their wings might have
brought an infant Saviour to Bethlehem
without Mary's being there at all;
when the villagers, on the morning of
December 26, awoke. by divine ar
rangement, and in some unexplained
way the Child Jesus might have been
found in some comfortable cradle OF
the village. But no, no! Motherhood
for all time was to be consecrated, and
one of the tenderest relations was to be
the maternal relation, and one of the
sweetest words mother"
In all ages God has honored good
motherhood. John Wesley had a good
mother: St Bernard had good mother;
Samuel Budget a good mother; ODD
drige a good mother; Walter Scott a
good mother; Benjamin West a good
mother. In great audience.
most OF whom were Christians,
asked that all those who had been
blessed of Christian mothers arise, and
almOs, the entire assembly stood up.
Don't YOU see how important it is that
all motherhood be consecrated? Why
did Titan, the Italian artist, when he
sketched the madonna, make it an Ital-
ian face? Whv did Rubens, the Ger
man artist, in his madonna, make it a
German face? Why did Joshua Rey-
nolds, the English artist, in his madon-
ma, make it an English face? Why did
Murillo, the Spanish artist, in his ma
donna, make it Spanish face? I never
heard, but think they took their own
mothers as the type of Mary. the mother
of Christ. When you hear some one,
in sermon or Grafton, speak in the ab-
stract of good, faithful, honest moth
er. your eyes fill up with tears, while
you say to yourself, that was my
mother"
The first word a child utters is apt to
be mother" and the old man, in his
dying dream, calls: "Mother! mother"
| 1t matters not whether she was
brought up in the surrouni iings of a
/ city, and in aflluent home, and was
! dressed appropriately, with reference
to the demands of modern life, or
whether she wore the old time cap and
great round spectacles, and apron of
her own make, and knit your socks
with her own needles, seated by the
| broad fireplace, with great log ablaze,
on a winter night 1t matters not how
many wrinkles crossed and recroSsed
her face, or how much her shoulders
| stopped with the burdens of a long life,
| if you painted madonna, hers would
be the face. What gentle hand she had
when we were sick, and what,
a voice to soothe pain, and was there
any one who could so fill up 4 room
with peace and purity and light? And
what sad day that was when we came
home and she could greet us not, for
her lips were forever still. Come back,
mother, this Christmas day, and take
your old place, and as ten, or twenty,
or fifty years ago, come and open the
old Bible as you used to; read and kneel
in the same place where you used to
pray, and look upon us as of old whe n
you wished us n merry Christmas or a
happy New Year. But, no! You had
| troubles enough, and aches enough,
and bereavements enough while you
were here. Tarry by the throne,
mother. till we join you there, your
prayers all answered, and in the eternal
| homestead of our God we shall
again keep Christmas jubilee together.
But speak from your thrones, all you
glorified mothers, and say to all these,
your sons and daughters words of love,
words of warning, words of cheer.
They need your voice for they have
travelled far and with many heart
break since you left them, and you DO
well to call from the heights of heaven
to the valleys of earth. Hail, en-
throned ancestry! We are coming.
Keep a place right beside you at the
| banquet.
SOW footed years, Most swiftly run
In;o the gold of that unsetting sun,
Homesick are for thee,
| NnItu land beyond the