Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1893-08-12
MUsING BY THE FIRE.
THE PsALMlsT RECALLS THs DAYS
OF HIS YOUTH.

The PSAEmlST RECALLS @THH DAYS
OF HIS YOUTH.
DR.. TaimaGo breaches on the Benefits of
Solitary Contemplation-The Hand of
Providence In tho vicissitudes of Life.
II Preparation For tho Hereafter.
BROOKLYN, Aug 8.-Rev. DR.. Talmage
has chosen as the topic for today pan
prama Of "reminiscences appropriate to
the season, the text selected being Psalm
xxx, 8, "Whilo was musing the fire
burned
| Here is David, the pselmist. with the
forefnger Of his right hand against his
temple, the door shut against the world,
Engaged In contemplation. And it would
lbe well for us to take the some posture
often, closing tho door against the world
while we sit down In sweet solitude to
contemplate.
In small island off the coast once
passed Sabbath in delightful solitude,
for had resolved that would have one
day of entire quiet before I entered upon
autumnal work. thought to have spent
the day In laying out plans for Christian
/ work, but instead Of that 1t became q
Eday Of tender "Reminiscences. reviewed
my pastorate. I shook hands with IN old
departed friend, whom I shall greet
lagain when the curtains Of life are lift
Jed. The days Of my boyhood came back,
/ land WIS 10 years of age, and / was s,
land was 0. There was but one house
ION the island, and yet from Sabbath day
break, when the bird chant woke me,
until the evening melted into the bay,
from shore to shore there were 10000
|Imemories, and the groves were a-hum
|swith voices that had long ago ceased.
n YOUTH AND AGE.
/. Youth is apt too much to spend all Its
time in looking forward. Old age Is apt
Moo much to spend oil its time in looking
backward. People in midlife and on the
|lapex look both ways. 1t would be well
For us, think, however, to spend more
Elmo in Renaissance. By the constitu-
Zion Of our nature we spend most Of the
F|Eims looking forward. And the vast
Of people live not 80 much in
lfhe present as in the future. find that
you mean. to make reputation. You
lmean to establish yourself. and the ad-
IYantages that you expect to achieve abb
|sorb great deal Of your time But !
lsee no harm In this If 1t does not mako
You, Disconnected with the present or
|Imsqualify you for existing duties.
isss;It.is a useful thing sometimes to look
back and to see the dangers we have es-
capped, and to see the sorrows we have
Suffered, and the trials and wanderings
ZOE our earthly pilgrimage, and to sum
lups our enjoyments. l mean today, so
Lar as God may help me, to stir up your
memory Of the past, SO that In the re-
view you may be encouraged and hum
lbled and urged to pray.
lsEThere Is chapel In Florence with q
Ifresco by Guido. It was covered up
lE5sit6 Two inches Of stucco until our
American and Europe artists went
there and after long toll removed the
lowering and retraced the fresco And /
am aware that the memory Of the past,
with many of you, is all covered up with
lie, 900 DELIBERATIONS, and propose this
morning, so far as the Lord may help
me, to take away the covering, that the
old picture may shine out again.
h want to bind In one sheaf all your
past advantages, and I want to bind in
another sheaf all your past universities.
1T is precious harvest, and must be
cautious how swing the scythe.
Among tho greatest advantages Of
your past life was On early home and its
surroundings. The bad men of the day,
for the most part, dip their heated pas
sions out Of the boiling spring Of an I'M
happy home. We are not surprised that
IByron's heart was concentration Of
sin when we hear that his mother was
abandoned and that she made sport Of
his infrmity and often called him "the
lame brat" He who has vicious parents
has to fight every inch Of his way if he
would maintain his integrity and at last
reach the home Of the good in heaven.
Perhaps your early home was in the
city. It may have been In the days
when Canal street, New York, was far
up town. That old house In the city
may have been demolished or changed
into stores, and 1t seemed like sacrilege
Ito YOU, for there was more meaning In
that plain house, in that small house,
than there is In a granite mansion or q
turreted cathedral. Looking back this
morning, you see 1t as though 1t were
yesterday-the sitting room, where tho
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 floor OF under the table;
your father with firm voice command
ing silence, that lasted half minute
HAPPY CHILDHOOD DAYS.
Oh, those were good daysl IF you had
your foot hurt, your mother always had
10 soothing salve to heal it. If you We're
wronged In the street, your father was
always ready to protect you. The year
was one round Of frolic and mirth. Your
greatest trouble was an April shower,
moro sunshine than shower. The heart
had not been ransacked by troubles, nor
had sickness broken it, and DO lamb had
IA warmer sheepfold than the home in
which your childhood nestled
Perhaps you were brought up In the
country. You stand now today In mem
ory under the old tree. You dubbed 1t
for fruit that was not quite ripe because
you could not wait any longer. You
hear the brook rumbling along over the
pebbles. You step again into the furrow
where your father in his ehirt sleeves
shouted to the lazy oxen. You brighten
the swallows from the rafters OF the
barn and take just one egg and silence
your conscience by saying they will not
t. L ~