Democratic messenger., 1893-07-01
to bear up unaer me Domparament or

upon her come the cares Of motherhood, and
the agonics of bereavement, and the brutal
treatment of one who swOre before high
heaven that he would cherish and protect.
Do not waste the best hour for making an
impression upon your little one. the hour
Of dusk, the beach between the day and the
night. Sing not "A dolcful song. but sug-
gcstivc song, u Christian song a song you
will not bc ashamed to meet when il comes
20 You in the eternal destiny Of Your son
and daughter The oriole has u loud song,
and the chewink "A long song. and the blue
bird 4 short song brt i.s;s always u family
song and let your gloNiing song to your
children, whether loud or long or short, be
N Christian song.
These family songs are about all we keep
OF the old homestead. The house where
you were born will go into the hands Of
strangers. The garments that were care
fully kept as relics will become moth eaten.
The family Bible can 20 into the possession
of only one Of the family. The lock Of gray
hair may be- lost from the locket. and in a
few years all signs and mementos of the
old homestead will be gone forever. But
the family songs. those that we heard at 2
years of age. at ) years of age, at 10 years OF
age. will bc destructible, and at 20 or 80
or 30 or 40 years of age will give us mighty
boost over some rough place in the path Of
our pilgrimage.
THE CAPTIvEs' song.
Many years ago u group Of white children
were captured and carried off by the In
dians. Years after mother who had lost
two children in that capture went among
the Indians. and there were many white
children in line. but so long time had
passed the mother could not tell which
were hers until she began To sing the old
nursery song and her two children imme-
diately rushed up, shouting, Mamma!
Mammal" Yes, there is an Immortality in
n nursery song. Hear it. all the mothers
an immortality of power 10 rescue and save
What an occasion that must have been
in Washington Dec. L. 1870, when Jenny
Lind sang Home, Sweet Home" the au-
thor Of those words, John Howard Payne,
seated before her. She had rendered her
other favorite songs. 'Casia Diva and her
II lutte Song" with fine effect, but when
she struck Home. Sweet Home" John
Howard Payne rose under the power, and
President Fillmore and Henry Clay and
Daniel Webster and the whole audience
rose with him. Anything connected with
home ransacks our entire nature with a
in the nursery or 10y the family hearth roll
on after the lips that sung them are forever
silent and the ears that first heard them
forever cease 70 hear.
preach this sermon just before many
Of you will 20 out To pass days or weeks in
the country lie careful how you treat the
birds Remember they are Gods favorites
and if you offend them you offend him.
lie is so fond 81 their voices that there are
forests where for hundred miles no hui
man foot has ever trol and no human ear
has ever listened. Those interminablc for
csts are concert halls with only one audi
tor-thc Lord God Almighty. lie buildrd
those :uditorums Of leaves and sky and
supports all that infinite min~trclsy for
himself alone. BE careful how you treat
his favoriic choir.
In Deuteronomy he warns the people.
IF II birds nest chance tn bc before thee in
the way in any tree. or Oh the ground,
whether they be young ones or eggs, thou
shalt not take the dam with the young
that il may be well with thee, and that
thou maycst prolong thy days" So you see
your own longevity Is related To your treat
ment Of birds. Then 60 forth and attend
the mnstrclsy. Put off startling colors
which frighien the winged songsters into
silence or flight, and put ON your more so
bcr attire and move noisclcssly into the
woods. farther and fart her from the main
road, and have no conversation for many
concert i'll and out of doors has been ruined
by persistent takers. and then lit down on
a mOssy bank
Where wild stream with hcadlong shock
Comes brawling down bed of rock.
And after perhaps half an hour of intense
solitude there will be a tap of bcak on
tree branch far up sounding like the tap Of
n musical baton, and then first there will
be n solo. followed by II duet or quartet
and aftcrwnr,i by doxologics in all the tree
tops and amid all the branches, and il you
have Bible along with you, and you can
without rustling the leaves turn To the one
hundred and forty eighth Psalm of David
and read. Praise the Lord beasts and all
cattle creeping things and flying fowl"
and then turn over quietly To my text and
read. by them shall the fowls of the
heaven have their hahitation. which sing
among the branches" or ii under the
power of the bird voices YOU are trans
ported, as when DIR. Worgan played so
powerfully ON the organ at 1t. Johns that
Richard Cecil said he was in such blessed
bcwldcrmen; he could not find in his Bible
the first chapter Of Isaiah. though he lcafed
the book over and over and YOU shall be So
overcome with forest harmony that you
cannot find the Psalms of David Never
mind. for God will speak TO YOU 80 might
ily it will make no difference whether You
hear his voice from the printed page or the
vibrating throat ~ one of his plmnIci crea-
lures.
COPS FIRST TEMPLES.
While this summer more than usual out
Of doors let us have what my text suggests
an ont of doors religion What business
had David, with I'll the advantages of
costly religious service and smoking in
cense on the altar. To bc listening to the
chant rcsscs among the tree branches: All,
he wanted to make himself and all who
should come after him more alcr, and more
worshipful amid the >wrc, sounds and
beautiful sights of ilir natural world.
There i I'M old chUrth that needs 10 bc r..
dedicated. II j. Older than It. Paul's or
st. Peters or 81 Marks or II. Soph:a's or
81. lsaac's II is the cathedral of nature
That j. he church in " hich III. services Of
the millennium will hr held. The build
ings fashioned ont of .turr and brick and
mortar will ne; l"li the people
Again the Mount II Olives will he the
pulpit Again The Jordan will lt. the hap
tisiry. Again the mountains will he the
galleries. Again the skies will hc the blue
,ciling Again the sunrise will he the
front door and the S;ins,t the hack door of
that temple. Again the clouds will bc the
upholstery aud the morning mist the in.
cciisc Again the trees will hc the organ
loft where the fowls nf heaven have their
has tat ion which sing am"n:, he branch
g. saint Francis IL d'AS>Si preached "A
sermon la birds and pronounced n ianriic
tion upon them. but all birds preach To us.
and their bcnc,liction i almost stipcrnal
While this summer amid the works of
God let us learn responsiveness. Surely il
we cannot sing we can hum tune. and il
we cannot hum tune We can whistle. II
we cannot lr an nriolc. can bc II quail
In some way let us d,nnn>trate our graft
tudc To God Lei IL not bc beaten by
the chimney swallow and the hummine
bird AMI the brown thraSher Let try
e. set everything in orr life to music. and