Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1892-01-20

of the household stop for awhile The
| theory acted on, though perhaps not an
nounced, is: 'The children will have to
do as | did and take their chances. Life
| is a lottery anyhow, aud some draw
prizes and some draw blanks, and we
| will trust to luck"
| Skip twenty years and come back to
| the neighborhcod where that family
! used to live. You meet on the street or
on the road an old inhabitant of that
neighbOrhood, and you say, ''Can You
tell me anything about the Petersons
who used to live here?' Yes says
the old inhabitant; Il remember them
very well. The father and mother have
been dead for years. 'Well, how about
the children? What has become of
them?' The old inhabitant replies:
''They turned out badly. You know the
old man was about half an indel and
the boys were all infides. The Oldest
son married, but got into drinking
habits, and in a few years his wife was
| not able to live with him any longer and
hisschildren were taken by relatives, and
he died of dclirium tremenS on Black
Weli's Island. His other son forged the
name of his employer and fled to Canada.
cone of the daughters Of the old folks
married an incbriate with the idea of re-
forming him. and you know how that al
WAYS endS-in the ruin of both the eN-
| perimenter and the one experimental
with. The other daughter disappeared
| mYSteriOuSly and has not been heard of.
There was young woman picked out of
the East River and put in the morgue,
and some thought it was her, but | can
not say els it poSsiblc?" you cry out.
Yes. it is possible" The family is
D1ofD
just what might have been expected.
All this is only the Echo, the dismal
Echo, the awful Echo, the dreadful Echo
of parental obliquity and unfaithfulness
The old folks heaped up mountain of
wrong influences, and this is only what
my text calls The sounding of the
mountains"
Indeed our entire behavior in this
world will have resound. While oppor-
tunitieS fly in a straight line and Just
touch us once and are gone never to re-
turn, the wrongs we practice upon others
fly III circle, and they come back to the
place from which they started. DR..
Guillotine thought it smart to introduce
the instrument of death named after
him, but did not like it SO well when his
own head was chopped off with the
guiilOtine.
So also the Judgment Day will be an
Echo of all other DAYS. The universe
needs such day, for there are SO many
things in the world that need to be fixed
up and explained. Ii God had not APP
pointed Such a day all the nations would
cry out, 'Oh, God, give us a Judgment
Day. But we are apt TO think of it and
speak about it as a day away off in the
failure, having no special connection with
hi II
that we are now making up its voices:
its trumpetS will only sound back again
to us what we now say and do This is
the meaning of all that Scripture which
says that Christ will on that day address
the soul, Il was naked and We clothed
me; [ was sick and in prison and ye
visited me-
On that day all the charities. all the
self-Sacrltices, all the philanthropieS, all
the beneticent last wills and testaments,
all the Christian work of all the ages,
Will be piled up into mountains, and
those who have served God and served
the suffering human race will hear what
my text styles 1.-THE sounding of the
mountains.
Suppose the boss of a factory or the
head of a commercial firm some day
comes out among his clerks or en-
ployes and putting his thumbs in the
armhOleS of his vest says, with an air of
swagger and jocosity: ''Well, | don't
believe in the Bible or the church. The
one is an imposition and the other is full
of hypocrites. / declare ! would not trust
one of those very pious people further
than | could see him. That is all he
says, but he has said enough. The young
men go back to their counters or their
oh mfr nd wit in hn, Sp1x-
"WelI he is successful man and has
probably studied up the whole subject
and is probably right"
That one lying utterance against B-
bleS and churches has put five young
men on the wrong track, and though the
influential man had spoken only i'll half
jest, the echo shall come back TO him in
five ruined lifetimeS and five destroyed
eternities. You see the Echoes are an
octave lower than he anticipated. On
the other hand, some rainy day, when
/ there are hardly any customers, the
| Christian merchant comes out from his
! counting room and stands among the
! young men who have nothing to do and
! says, ':Well, boys. this is a dull day, but
/ it will clear off after awhile There are
/ good many ups and downs in business,
! but there is all overriding Providence.
Years ago | made up my mind to
! trust God and He has always seen me
/ through. I remember when ] was your
/ age, had just come to town and the
/ temptations Of city life gathered around
me, but | resisted. The fact is there
were two old folks out on the old farm
! praying for me and | knew it, and some
/ how | could not do as some of the clerks
/ did or go where some Of the clerks went.
/ | tell you, boys, it is the best always to
do right, and there is nothing to keep
/ one right like the old-fashioned religion
of Jesus Christ John, where did you
! go to church last Sunday? Henry, how
/ is the Young Mems Christian AsSocia-
! ton prospering?"
About noon the rain ceases and the
/ sun comes out and the clerks go to their
! places, and they say within themselves:
! well. be is a successful merchant and
/ guess he knows what he is talking about,
/ and the Christian religion must be Il good
1 thing. God knows | want some help in
4 this battle with temptation and sin. :"
! The successful merchant who uttered