Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1894-05-18

| any better than does the Atlantic. l want to
see the wondrous architecture OF India, and
the Delhi and Cawnpore where Christ was
! crucif1ed in the massacre OF His modern dis
| ciples, and the disabled Juggernaut un-
| wheeled by Christianity, aud to see if the
| Tai which the Emperor Sha Jehan built in
| honor of his empress really means any moro
| than the plain slab we put above our dear
| departed. I want to see the fields where
Havelock and Sir Colin Campbell won the
| day against the sepoys. l want to see the
| world from all sides. How much of 1t Is in
! darkness, how much of 1t is in light, what
| the Bible means by the tends Of the earth"
| and get myself ready to appreciate the ex-
tent of the present TO be made TO Christ as
spoken of in the Psalms, "Ask of me, and l
shall give thee the heather for thine inheri-
tance and the uttermost parts OF the earth
for thy possession" and so shall be ready
to celebrate in heaven the victories OF Christ
in more rapturous song than could nave
rendered had / never seen the heathen
denominations before they were conquered.
And so hope to come back refreshed, re-
enforced ar d better equipped, and to do in
ten years moro effectual work than L have
done in the last twenty-five.
And now, in this twenty-fifth anniversary
sermon, 1 propose to do two thfnSs-frst. to
put a garland on the grave of the genera
tion that has just passed of and then to put
u palm branch in the hand of the generation
Just now coming on the field OF action, for
my text Is true, "One generation passeth
away, and another generation cometh. Oh,
how many we revered and honored and loved
In the last generation that quit the earth
Tears fell at the time Of their going, and
drges were sounded, and signals OF mourn
ing were put on, but neither tears nor dirge
nor somber veil told the half we felt. Their
going left vacancy In our souls that has
never been filed up. We never get used to
their absence. There are times when the
sight Of something with which they were es-
aH nil n
or q staff-breaks us down with emotion, but
we bear 1t simply because we have to bear 1t.
Oh, how snow white their hair got, and how
the wrinkles multiplied, and the sight grew
more dim, and the hearing less alert, and the
step more frail. and one day they were gone
out of the chair by the fireside, and from the
plate at the meal, and from the end Of the
church pew, where they worshiped with US.
Oh, my soul, how we miss them But let US
console each other with the thought that we
shall meet them again in the land Of saluata-
tion and reunion.
And now l twist garland for that de-
parted generation. It need not be costly,
perhaps, just handful Of clover blossoms
from the field through which they used to
walk, or as many violets as you could hold
between the thumb and the forefinger,
plucked out of the garden where they used
to walk in the cool of the day. Put these old
fashioned flowers right down over the heart
that never again will ache, and the feet that
Will never again De weary, ll1u tue dEIl lutI
has forever ceased to toll. Peace, father!
Peace, mother! Everlasting peace! All that
for the generation gone.
But what shall we do with the palm
branch? That we will put in the hand OF the
generation coming on. Yours ls to be the
generation for victories. The last and the
present generation have been perfecting the
steam power and the electric light, and the
electric forces. To these will be added trans
portation. 1t will be your mission to use
all these forces. Everything Is ready for you
to march right up and take this world Tor
God and heaven. Get your heart right by
repentance and the pardoning grace OF the
Lord Jesus, and your mind right by elevat-
ing books and pictures. and your body right
by gymnasium and field exercise, and
plenty Of ozone and by looking as often as
you can upon the face of mountain and OF
sea. Then start In Gods name, start And
here is the palm branch. From conquest to
conquest, move right on and right up. You
will soon have the whole field for your
self. Before another twenty-five years have
gone, we will be- out of the pulpits. and the
offices, and the stores. and the factories, and
the benevolent institutions, ana you Will
be at the front. Forward into the battle! If
God be for you, who can be against you?
"He that spared not His own Son, but deliv-
cred Him up for US all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give US all things?"
And, as for US who are now at the front,
having put tho garland on the grave of the
HSt generatlOn, ana having put tne paim
branch in the hand of the coming genera
ton, we will cheer each other in the remain
ing onsets and go into the shining gate
somewhere about the same time, and greeted
by the generation that has preceded US we
will have to wait only little while to greet
the generation that will come after US. And
will not that be glorious? Three generations
in heaven together-the grandfather, the
son and the grandson the grandmother, the
daughter and the granddaughter. And so
with wider range and keener faculty we
shall realize the full significance of the text,
zone generation passeth away, and another
generation cometh.