Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1893-03-20

urgent need of God. Besides that, family
prayers will be a secular advantage. A
father Went into the war to serve his
country. His children stayed and cul-
tivated the farm. Hisymife praye l.. Ol.e
of the sons said afterward. IA i
fighting, and we are digging. sad moth
er is praying All" sa i SON
praying and digging and f.a5
bring us out of our national {
We may pray in the NOR Give
us this day our daily brel, and SIT
down in idleness and starve to death:
but prayer and hard work will give a
livelihood to any family. Family reli
gion paws for both worlds. Let us have
an altar in each one Of our. households.
You may not be able to formulate
prayer. Then there are Philip Henry's
PRAYERS, and there are McDufffs prayers,
and there are Philip Doddridge's prayers,
and there are the Episcopal church pray
ers. and there are scores of books with
supplications just suited to the domestic
| circle.
MOTHERS, OF THE GOOD AND THE EVIL.
oh" says some man, 81 don't feel
competent to lead my household in pray
| err Well, j, do not know that it is your
duty to lead | think perhaps it is
sometimes better for the mother of the
| household to lead. She knows better the
wants of the household. She can read
the.Scriptures with more tender enun-
citation. She knows more offGOd. [ will
put st plainly and say she prays better.
| Oh these mothers decide almost every
! thing! .Nero's mother was q murderess.
! Lord Byron;s mother was naughty and
! inpiOus. You might have guessed that
| from their children.
Walter SCOTS mother was fond Of
poetry. Washington's mother was patri
otto. Samuel Budgets mother was thor
ouch Christian. ST. Bernard's mother
| was;nob1e minded. So you might have
! guessed from their children. Good men
always have good mothers. There may
| once in 10 or 20 years be an exception to
| the rule, bat it is only an exception. Ben
! jamin Vests mother kissed him after
she had seen his first wonderful sketch
with the pencil. Benjamin West after
ward said. THAT kiss made me q painter
a young man received furlough to
return from the army to his fathers
house Afterward he took the furlough
back to the officer, saying, Il would like
to postpone my visit for two weeks At
|
got the furlough He was asked why he
waited well" he replied. when |
| left home told my mother | would bea
Christian in the army, and was resolved
not to go home until I could answer her
first question" tOh, the almost o1nnipo-
tent power of the mother! But if both
the father and the mother be right, then
tie children are almost sure to be right.
The young people may make a wide
curve from the straight path, but they
are almost sure to come back to the right
road. It may not ;be until the death Of
one of the parents.
How often it is that we hear some one
say, ''Oh, he was a wild young man, but
since his fathers death he has been diff
ferent!' The fact as that the fathers
coffin or the mothers coffin is often the
altar of repentance for the child. Oh,
that was stupendous day, the day of
fathers burial. It was not the officiat-
ing clergyman who made the chief i'm
preston. nor the sy1npathizing mourn
ers. It was the father asleep in the cas-
ket.
The hands that had toiled for that
household SD long, folded. The brain
cooled off after 90, OF. 40 years of anxiety
abozat how to put that family in right
position. The lips closed after so many
years OF good advice. There are more
tears falling Ia mothers grave than III
! fathers grave, but over the fathers
tombE think there is d kind OF awe. L
is ut that marble pillar many young
man has been revoluti0nized.
ANCESTRAL RELIGION.
Oh, young man with cheek flushed
/ with dissipation! how long. is it since you
! have been out to your fathers grave?
viii yon not go this week? Perhaps the
storms Of the last few days may have
| bent the headstone until IS leans far
over. Yoas had better go Gut and see
whether the lettering has been defaced.
You had bettergo out and see whether
the gate of the lot is closed You had
better go and see if you. cannot find a
sermon in the springing grass. Oh, young
man, go out this week and see your fa-
theirs grave:
Religion did so much for our. Christian
ancestry, are we not ready this morning
to be willing TO receive it into our own
| households? Ii we do receive 1T, let it
come through the front. door not through
the back door. In other words, do not
let us sznuggle it in. There are q great
many families who want to be religious,
but they do not want anybody outside to
know it. They would be mortified to
death if you caught them at family pray
ers They would not sing in the .wor-
ship for fear the neighbors would hear
them They do not have prayers when
they have company.
They do not know much about the
mobility OF the western frapper. A trav-
,eler going along was overtaken by night
and storm, and he entered a cabin.
There were firearms hung up around the
calin He was alarmed He had a