Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1893-12-15

email pellets prepared by the cold, and No
physician 50 skilful or 50 mighty as the frost.
Scotland has had great physicians but her
greatest doctors have been the Abernethies
and AbrrrrOmbies that have come down
o !er the highlands horse ! on the north wind.
England has had her great physicians. but
her greatest doctors have been the Andrew
CIarkes and the Mackenzies who appeared
the first night tho fields Of England were
trimmed with white. America has had its
great physicians. but her greatest doctors
have been the willard Parkers and Valentine
Motifs who landed from bleak skies while
our fingers were benumbed and our ears
tingled with the cold. On. it is high time
that you add another line to your liturgy
1t Is high time that you make an addenium
to your prayers. 1t is high time that you
enlarge the catalogue of your blessings.
Thank God for frost 1t is the best of all
Germicide=. It is the only hope in bacteriol-
ogy. 1t IS the medicament Of continents It
Is the salvation of our temperate zone. 1t is
the best tonic that God ever gave the human
race. 1t Is the only strong stimulant which
has no reaction. The best commentary on
II had while walking near here one cool
morning with my brother John. who spent
the most of his life as missionary in China,
and in that part of it where there are no
frosts. He said there was a tingiing glad
ness in his nerves indescribable, AMI an almost
intOxication ofdelight from the fact that it
was the first time for years he had felt the
sensation Of frost. We complain of if, we
scOld it. We frOwn upon it, when we ought
to be stirred by it to gratitude and hoist it on
4 doXOlOgy.
But must 90 farther AMI speak of the
frost es a jeweler. As the snow is frozen
rain, so the frost is frozen dew. God trans
forms If from a liquid into a crystal. 1t is
the dew glorifed. In the thrty-eighth chap
ter of that inspired drama, the book of Job,
God says to the inspired dramatist with
heaven, who hath gendered it?' God there
asks Job If he knows the parentage of
the frost. He inquiries about its pedigree.
He suggests that Job study up tho frost's
genealogical line. A minute before God had
asked about the parentage of q raindrop in
words that years ago gave me a suggestive
text for a sermon, "Hath the rain a father"
But now the Lord Almighty is catechising
Job about the frost. He practically says
''Do you know its father? Do you know its
mother? In what cradle of the leaves did
the wind rock it? The hoary frost of heaven
who hath gendered itY"
He is a stupid Christian who thinks so
much of the printed and bound Bible that
he neglectS the Old Testament of the fields
Eor reads the wisdom and kindness and
beauty Of God written in blossoms on the
orchard, in sparkles on the lake, in stars on
the sky, in frost on the meadows. The
greatest ieweer Of ali the earth is the frost
crystallography. Some morning in Decen-
Der whole continent is found besprent with
diamonds, the result Of one nights work by
this ieweler.
Do you make the depreciatory remark that
tho frost is impermanent and will last only
two or three hours? What of that? We 20
into London tower and look Mt tho crown
jewels of England but we are ina procession
that tho guards keep moving on, and five
minutes or less are your only opportunity of
looking at those crown Jewels but at the
crown jewels bestarred of the frost in parks
and fields you may stand to look deliberately
and for hours, and no one to tell you to move
on.
OA, these regalias and diadems of beauty
flung out of heaven! Kings and queens on
celebrative days have come riding through
the streets throwing handfuls of silver and
gold among the people. but the queen of the
Xjnter morning isthe only queen rich enough
u throw pearls, and the king of frost the
only king rich enough to throw OpalS and
sapphire5 and diamonds. Homer describes
n necklace of amber given to Penelope, but
the frost necklaces continent. The carcanet
of precious stones given to Harmonic had
piniOns of orange jasper and white moon
stone and Indian agate. but it was a misfOr-
tune to any one who owned or inherited it.
and its history, generation after generation,
was a history of disaster. but the regalia OF
frost is the good fortune of every morning
that owns it.
The imperial household of Louis XVI
could not afford the diamond necklace which
had been ordered for Queen Marie AntOinette,
and it was stolen and taken apart and lost.
but the necklace that the frost puts on tho
wintry morning, though made of rs many
brllliants as the withered glass blades. is
easily afforded by divine Opulence and is
never lost, but after its use in tho coronation
Of the fields is taken back TO heaven. men
and women. accustomedt to go into ecstasy
when in foreign travel you come upon the
historical gems of Nations. whether the Jewel
be called the Mountain of Glory, or the Sea
of Light. or the Crown of the Moon, or the
Eye of Allah. or the Star of Sarawak, or the
KOh-i-nOOr. | imDlea1 you study the jewels
strewn all round your wintry home and rea-
lie that "by the breath of God frost is
given.
But go step farther and speak of the
frost as an evangelist and a text of Scripture
is not of much use to me unless | can find
the gospel in il. The IsraeItes in the viii.
derness breakfasted on something that
looked like frozen dew. and the dew evapOr-
ated and left pulveri1ed material. white and
looking like frost, but it was mama. and of
that they ate. SO now this morning, mixed
with the frozen dew of my text, there is
mamma on which we can breakfast our souls.
You say the frost kills. Yes, it kills some
things. but we have already seen that it gives
health and life to others. This gospel is the
savor of life unto life or Of death unto death.
AS the frost is mighty, the gospel is mighty.
As the frost descendS from heaven. the gospel
descends from heaven. By the breath of
God frost is given. By the breath of Godthe
gospel is given. a the frost puri1es, 50 the
grace of God purifies. As sbs frost bestars
the earth, so grace h9i6wels the seul. As the
frost prepares ior food many things that
otherwise would be inedible. SO the frost of
trials ripens and prepares food for the soul. In
the tight grip Of the frost the hard shells OF
walnut and chestnut an hickory open. and
the luxures of the woods come into our laps
or upon our tables so the frost Of trial takes
many hard and prtckly shell and crushes
it until that which stung the soul now
feeds it.
There are passages of Scripture that once
were enigmaS. puzzles. riddles AMI impOSS;-
biIities for you to understand, but the frosts
oftrouble after awhile eXpoSedthe full mean
ing to your soul. You said, II do not see
why David keeps rolling over in his psalm
the story of how he was pursued and perse-
cuted." He describes himself as surrounded
by bees. He says, "They comp lssed mo
about like bees; yea, they cOmpassed me
about like bees You think what au ex-
aggerating thing for him to eXtllim, "Out
Of the depths of hell have 1 cried unto Thee,
Q Lord =
And there is so much Of that style of lam
cntatiOn in his writings you think he over
does it, but after awhile the frost comes upon
YOU in the shape of persecution. and You are
stuck with this censure and stuck with that
defamation, and stuck with some falsehoo1,
and lies in SwarmS are buzzlnG, buE1inG
about your ears, and ut last you uuderStan
what David meant when he said, ''Incy
cOmpasSed me about like bees; yen, they
compassed me about like bees. and you so
down under nervous prostration and feel
that you are as far down as David when he
cried, "Out of the depths of hen!'
What opened all those chapters that
hitherto had no appropriateness? Frosts s.!
For Iong while the Bible seemed lopsided
and a disproportionate amount of it given
up to the consolatory. Why page after page
and chapter after chapter and book after
book in the Bible taken up with allevia'
tions. with pacifcations. with condolencef
The book seems like an apothecary store
with One-half of the shelves occupied with
balsams. Why such superf1uity of bal
sans? But after awhile the membraneous
Group carries off your child, or your health
gives way under the grip, or your property
is swept of by bad investment or perhaps
all three troubles come at Once-bank-
ruptcy, sickness AMI bereavement. Now