Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1892-06-18
know IT, ana they feel It. and they cannot

KnOw II, ana they 1eei IL, ana they cannot
get away from it.
Tyo funerals after awhile-not more than
two years apart. for it is seldom that there
is more than that lapse OF time between
fathers going and mothers goiug-two
funerals put out Of sight the old folks. But
where are the children, The daughters are
in homes where they are i~ncarnations Of
good sense, industry and pieey. Tho sons,
perhaps one O far mer, another q merchant,
another a mechanic, another a minister OF
the Gospel, useful, consistent, admired.
honored. What a power for good those
seven sons and daughters. Where did they
get the powers From the schools and the
seminarles and the colleges; Oh. no, though
these may have helped. From their superior
mental endowment? No, | do not think
they had unusual mental caiiber. From &C.
cidental circumstances No, they had moth
ing of what is called astounding gooi luck.
l think We will take a train and ride to the
depot nearest 10 the homestead from which
those men and women started. The train
halts. Let US stop q few minutes at the vii
lage graveyard anisee the COMMISSIONERS Of the
parents. 1eS> une one was seventy-fouE
years of age and the other was seventy-two.
and the epitaph says that latter a useful life
they died a Christian death" How appro-
priately the Scripture passage cut on the
mothers tombstone, She hath lone what
she could" Aud how beautiful the passage
cut on the fathers tombstone. Blessed are
u icdd wa ~ III -Iuc J., - tic1 tCSt
from their labors and their works do follow
them
On over the country road we ride-the
road a little rough, for the spring weather
is not quite settled, and once down in q rut
it is hard tozget the wheels out again with
out breaking the shafts. But at last Wa
come 10 the lane IN 'front.' or the farmhouse.
Let me get out Of the wagon and open che
gate while You drive through. Here is the
arbor under which those boys and girls many
years sea ot ago sr5 used nd to play, lay th But n it is quite ;s
in other hands. Yonder is the orchaFd
where 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 doorsili
room in which they had family prayers and
where they all knelt-the father there, the
mother there and the boys and girls there.
We have got to the fountain Of pious AMI
gracious influences at last. That Is the place
that decided those seven earthly and i'm
mortal destinies. Behold! Behold. That
is the secret place OF thunder Bows are sal
dom more than their fathers will let them
be. Girls are seldom more than their mothers
viii let them be. But there come times when
it seems that parents cannot control their
children. There come times In q boys life
when he thinks he knows more than his
father does, and l remember snow That
knew more at fifteen years OF age than
have ever known since.
There come times in a girls lie when she
thinks her mother is notional and does no,
understand what Is proper and best, and The
sweet child says o pshaw. - and she long:
for the time when she will not have to b.
dictated to, and she goes out OF the door o.
goes to bed with pouting lip, and thes
mothers remember for themselves that they
knew more at fourteen years OF age thai
they have ever known since. But, father
and mother. do not think you bave sost YOU
influence over your child. You have a re
source of prayer that puts the sympatheti
and omnipotent God into your parental un
dertaking. Do not waste your tune in read
ing fimsy books about the best ways t
bring up children. Go into the secret plac
of thunder.
At nine o'clock Wednesday morning, Jun
IS next on the steamer City of New YORK
l expect to sail for Liverpool, to be gone Ut
til September. 1t is in acceptance Of man,
invitations that l am going on a preachin,
tour. [ expect to devote my time to preach
ing the Gospel in England, Scotland, lrelan
and Sweden. l want to see how many SOU
/ can gather for the kingdom of Ged. Thos
countries have for many years belonged
my parish, and / 20 to speak to them an
shake hands with them. L want to Wis
more thoroughly than before those region
from which my ancestors came, Wales an
Scotland.
But who Is sufficient for the work I under
take? 1call upon you who have long bee
my coadjutors to 60 into the secret place {
the Almighty, and every day from no
until my work Is done on the other side {
the sea, to have me in your prayers. /
proportion to the intensity and c%ontinuanc
and faith of the prayers, yours and mine
will be the results. II you remember ms i
the devotional circle. that will he we'll. b,
what l most want Is your importunins
your wrestling supplication In tho secre
place Of thunder.
God and you alone mey make me tn
2 humble instrumentality IN the redemptio
of thousands of souls. l shall preach
churches, in chapels and IN the fields. Wi
5 make it a campaign for Goa aud eternit,
9 and l hope to get during this absence
baptism OF power that will make me
I more service to vou when I ratnr~ tt,an
r sisters In Christ our opportunity f
| usefulness will soon be gone, and we sha
t have our faces upliftei to the throne OF jud;
ment, before which we must give accoun
| That day there will be no secret place
thunder, for all the thunder will be ou'
{ There will be the thunder OF the tunblin
a rocks. There will be the thunder Of Il
:. bursting waves. There will be Il
n thunder Of the descending chariots. The
9 will be the THUNDER of the parting beaver
"a but ali That dlrn aud upoar and caa
- will find us unaffrightei, AMI will lea
=, us undismayet II we have made Chr
- our confidence, and As after al Augu
a shower, when the whole heavens ha'
~ been an unlimbered battery cannona
- ing the earth, the fields ara more gree
, and the sunrise iS th- mora valiant =
: the waters are. more opallne. so t
u thunders OF the last ny will make t
- trees Of life appear more emerald, a.
the carbuucle OF the wall more crimson, a.
- the sapphire seas the mora shimmering, q,
n the sunrise OF eternal gladness tho more q
IF purpled. The thunders OF disso4ving natu
y will be followed by q celestial peamody t
a sound OF which st. John on Patmos {
4 s%crilesi, when he said, II heard q voics h
q, she voice Of mighty thundering" Amen
ID