Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1893-08-18
REV. DR.. TAlMAGE.
TIE BROOkLNN DININE'< SIN
DAY SERMON.
SUBJECT: "FREsIDF MUSNG."

TErr: "FAils I ,,as uusinq tie fl.
burned. Psalm xxx, B.
Here is David. the psainist with the fore
finger OF his right hand against his temple.
the door shut against ths world. enSaged In
contemplation And II WOul5 be well for US
TO take the same posture often. closing the
! door against the world while We sit down in
sweet solitude 10 contemplate
In small island OF the coast once passai
Sabbath In delightful solitude, for | had
resolved that | would have one day Of entire
quiet before | entered upon autumnal work
thought TO have spent the day in laying out
plans for Christian work, but instead OF that
It became day OF tender reniniscence. /
reviewed nv pastorate | shook hands with
an old departed friend whom I shall greet
again when the curtains OF life are lifted
The days OF my boyhood came hack. and /
was 10 years OF age, and was 9, and / was
! 3. There was but one house on the island.
and yet from Sabbath dayhreat, when the
bird chant woke ne, until the evening melted
into the bay, from shore to shore there were
icee memories, and the groves were a-hum
with voices that had long ago ceased
Youth is apt too much to spend all its time
In looking forward. Old age is ap, too much
to spend all its time in looking back kwari.
People in midlife and on the apex look both
ways. II would be well for US, / think, how
ever. to spend more time in reminiscence
By the constitution OF our nature we spend
most OF the time looking forward And the
vast majority OF people live not 50 much in
the present as in the future. ind that YOU
mean to make reputation. You mean to
establish yourself. and the advantages that
you expect TO achieve absorb great deal
OF your time. But see TO harm in this IL
II does not make you disconte ended with the
present or disquAlify you fer existing duties.
II is useful thing sometimes 10 look back
and TO see the dangers we have escaped and
10 see the sorrows we have suffered. and the
trials and wAnderings of our earthly pill
grimAge, and TO sum up our enjoyments. I
mean To-day. so far as God may help me, TO
stir up your memory Of the past, so that in
the review you may be encouraged and hum
bled and urged TO pray.
There is a chapel IN Florence with a freseo
by Guido. 1t was covered up with two
inches OF stucco until our American and
European artists went there and after long
/ toll removed the covering and retraced the
fresco. And l am aware that the memory OF
the past. with many OF you, is all covered up
/ with l0, 900 obliterations, and l propose this
! morning. 80 far as the Lord may help me- 10
take away the covering, that the old picture
NAV shine out again.
want TO bind IN one sheaf all your past
buVknIAktS, Auu Whuk 10 Diuu hlClQsT
sheaf all your past adversities. IL is prec-
/ ious harvest. and must be cautious how l
swing the scythe.
Among the greatest advantages Of your
past life was an early home sni It's surround
ings. The bad men Of the day. for the most
part, dip their heated passions out Of the
boiling spring OF an unhappy home We
are not surprised that Byron heart was a
! concentration OF sin when we hear that his
nrfh -. kns l.,
/ sport OF his inArmity and often called him
/ 'the lame brat" He who has vicious parents
has to fght every inch OF his way II he
would maintain his integrity and at last
reschthe home OF the good in heaven.
Perhaps your early home was in the city.
! II may ha~ been In the DAYS when Canal
street. New York. was far up town. That old
house In the city may have been demolished
c. changed into stores, and 1t seemed Ike
sacrilege TO you. for there was more meaning
/ In that plain house, In that small house, than
there is in a granite mansion or turreted
cathedral. Looking back this morning. you
see II as though 1t were yesterday-the sit
ting room, where the loved ones sat by the
plain lamplight, the mother at the evening
stand, the brothers and sisters, perhaps long
/ ago gathered into the skies, then plotting
mischief on the door or underthe table your
father with a Arm voice commanding silence.
that lasted half a minute.
oh. those were good days II you had
your foot hurt, your mother always had
soothing salve 10 heal ii. II you were
wronged in the street, your father vas always
ready 10 protect you. The year was one
round of frolic and mirth- Your greatest
trouble was an April shower, more sunshine
than shower. The heart had not been ram
sacked by troubles nor had sickness broken
t. and no lamb had q warmer sheepfold
than the home in which your childhood
! nestled.
Perhaps you were brought up In the coun-
/ try. You stand now to-day in memory under
/ the old tree. You clubbed II for fruit that
was not quite ripe because you could not
wait any longer. You hear the brook runo-
ling along over the pebbles. You step again
! into the furrow where your father in his
shirt sleeves shouted 10 the lazy oxen You
frighten the swallows from the ratters OF the
/ barn and take Just one egg and silence your
conscience by saying they will not miss IT.
| You take a drink again out OF the very bucket
that the old we'll fetched up. You so for the
COWS at night and ind them wagging their
heads through the bars. Outlines In the
dusty and busy streets you wish you were
home again on that cool grass or in the hall
OF the farmhouse. through which there was
the breath OF new mown hay or the blossom
! Of buckwhest-
You NAV have In your windows now beauti-
full plants and flowers brought from across
the seas. but not one of them stirs In your
soul 80 much charm and memory as the OLD
iyy and the yellow sunfover that stood
sentinel along the garden walk and the for
| retmenots playing hide and seek mid the
| long grass. The father. who used TO come
| In sunburned from the telds and sit down on
| the doorsill and wipe the sweat from MS
brow. may have gone TO his everlasting rest.
! The mother who used to sit at the door a
little bent over. cap and spectaeles on, her
face meIlowing with the vicissitudes OF many
Years. nav have put down her gray head on
the pillow in the valley, out iorse' 'hAa n0ll'
you never will.
! Have YOU thanked God for it? Have you
rehearsed all these blessed reminiscances2
oh. thank God for Christian father. Thank
God for Christian mother Thank God Tor
an early Christian altar at which you were
taught TO kneel. Thank God for an early
Christian home.
7 hiring to mind another passage In the his
tory of your life. The day came when you
| act mn your own houshold. The days passed
along in quiet blessedness. Your twain sat at
the table morning and night and talked over
| ,our nlans for the future. The most stgnih-
csnt afYair In your life became the subject OF
mutual consultation and advisement. You
were so happy you felt you never could De
any happier.
dwelling, and it got darker and darker. But
ont of that cloud the shining Messenger ol
God descended to incarnAte an immortal
spirit. Two little feet started on an eternal
tourney, and you were to lead them: geu
to Cash in heavens coronet, and you tc
polisb II. Eternal ages of light and dark
ness -aIcnlny Ihe starting our 9: . aS" !.
created being.
You reioiced and you trembled at the re
eponsibility that in your possession an i'm
mortal treasure was placed. You prayed an'
rejoiced, and wept and wondered, and prsye'
and rejoiced, and wept and wondered. foV
were earnest in supplication that you nigh
lead II through life into the kingdom OF God
There was a tremor in your earnestness
There was double interest about that home
There was an additional interest why yo'
| shonld stay there and be faithful and wheI