Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1895-11-09


time as TO be idly sauntering out evening
by evening II was found out afterward
that she went there to pray for her house
hold, and while there one evening she
wrote that beautiful hymn, famous in all
ages for cheering Christian hearts:
love to steal awhile away
From every cumbering care
And spend the hours Of setting day
In humble, grateful prayer.
Shall there be no reward for such unprc-
tending yet everlasting service?
Clear back in the country there Is n boy
who wants to go to college and get an ed
ucation. They call him bookworm.
Wherever they find HMM the barn or in
tho housc-he Is reading book. What a
pity 1t is" they say, THAT Ed cannot get
an education His father, work rs hard
as hc will, can no more than support the
family by the product of the farm. One
night Ed has retired to his room and there
Is family conference about him. The
sisters say: Father, / wish you would
send Ed TO college. II you will, we will
work harder than we ever did, and we will
make our old dresses do" The mother
says: "Ycs, will get along without any
hired help, although l am not as strong as
used to be. / think / can get along with
out any hired help" The father says.
"well, think by husking corn nights I
can get along without any assistance"
Sugar Is banished from the table, butter is
banishcd from the plate. That family is
put down on rigid-yea, suffering-econ-
omy that the boy may go to college. Time
passes on. Commencement day has come.
Think not that mention an imaginary
case. God knows 1t happened. Com
mcnccmcnt day has come, and the profess
ors walk in on the stage in their long
gowns. The interest of the occasion Is
passing on, and after awhile II comes to q
climax of interest as the yalcdictorian Is
TO be introduced. Ed has studied so hard
and worked so well that he has had the
honor conferred upon him. There are
rounds Of applause, sometimes breaking
into vocifcration. 1t is n great day for
Ed. But away back in the galleries are his
sisters In their plain hats and their faded
shawls, and the old fashioned father and
mothcr-dcar me, she has not had n new
hat for six years, he has not had new
coat for six years-and they get up and
look over on the platform and they laugh
and they cry, and they sit down, and they
look pale and then they are very much
flushed. Ed gets the garlands. and the old
fashioned group in the gallery have their
full share of the triumph. They have
made that scene possible, and in the day
when God shall more fully reward self sac
riflces made for others, he will give grand
and glorious recognition. LAS his part is
that goeth down TO the battle, so shall his
part be that tarrieth by the stuff"
Veterans In Work.
There is high encouragement in this
subject, also, for those who once wrought
nightly for Christ and the church. but
through sickness or collapse Of fortune or
advanced years cannot now 60 to the
front. These 200 men OF the text were
veterans. Let that man bare his arm and
show how the muscles were torn. Let
him pull aside tho turban and see the
mark Of battle ax. Pull aside the coat
and sec whero the spear thrust him.
Would 1t have been fair for those men,
crippled, weak and old, by the brook
Besor, to- have no share in the spoils of
triumph was In the Soldiers hospital
in Paris. and / saw there some of the men
CT the first Napoleon. and 1 asked them
where they had fought under their great
commander. One man said, ''I was at
Austerlitz. Another man said, "I was
Mt the Pyramids. Another man said,
"I was In the awful retreat from Mos
cow" Another man said, ~ was at tho
bridge of Lodi" Some OF them were
lame; they were all aged. Did the French
government turn Off those old soldiers to
die In want. No; their last days were
spent like princes. Do you think my Lord
Is going to turn of his old soldiers because
they are weak and worn and because they
tainted by the brook Besor? Are they GO
ing to get no part of the spoils Of the VIC
toryi Just look mt them. Do you think
those creviccs in the face are wrinkles?
No; they arc battle scars. They fought
against Sickness they fought against trou-
BILE, they fought against sin, they fought
for God, they fought for the church, they
fought for the truth, they fought for heav-
en-. When they had plenty Of money,
their names were always ON the subscrip-
tion list. When there was any hard work
TO bo done for God, they were ready to
take the hcavi st part of 1t. When there
came n great revival, they were ready TO
pray all night for the anxious and the sin
struck. They were ready TO do any work,
endure any sacrifice, do the most unpopu-
lar thing that God demanded Of them.
But now thcy cannot go farther. Now
they have physical inflrmities. Now their
head troubles them. They are weak and
faint by the brook Besor. Are they to
have no share In the triumph? Arc they
to get none of the treasures. none of the
spoils Of conquest? You must think that
Christ has very short memory II you
think he has forgotten their services.
Ernf nf rad met hxr
the stuff and wait for your share OF tho
spoils. Yonder they are coming. l hear
the bleating Of the fat lambs and see tho
jewels CLINT In the sun. 1t makes me laugh
TO think how you will be surprised when
they throw n chain OF gold over your neck
and tell you to go In and dine with tho
king. I SEQ you backing out because you
feel unworthy. The shining ones come up
on the one side and the shining ones come
up ON the other sidc and they push you on
and they push You up and they say, "Here
Is an old soldier Of Jesus Christ, " and the
shining ones will rush out toward you and
say, "Ycs, that man saved my SOUL" or
they will rush out and say, "Oh. yes, she
was with mo in the last sickness" And
then the cry will go round the circle,
"Comc I'm, come in, come in, come up.
We saw you away down there, old and sick
and dccrcpit and discouraged because you
could not go 10 the front, but AS his part
Is that gocth down 10 the battle, SO shall
his part no that tarrieth by the stuff"
Aged Ministers.
There Is high consolation, also. In this
for aged ministers. see some of them
here today. They sit in pcws in our
churches. They used TO stand in pulpits.
Their hair is white with tho blossoms OF
the tree of life. Their names marked ON
the roll Of the general assembly or of the
consolation, Emeritus. They some
times hear IA text announced which brings
TO mind II sermon they preached 80 years
ago ON the same subject. They preached
more gospel ON $500 u year than some Of
their SUCCESSORS preach on a, 900. Some
Sunday the old minister is in church
and near by in another pew there is hus-
band and n wife and row OF children.
And after the bcncdiction, the lady comes
up and says, Doctor, you don't know
me, do yous'' "Wcll,'' he says, your face
Is familiar. but l cannot call you by
name why" she says, ''you baptized
me and you married me and you buried
my father and mother and sisters" "Oh.