The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1895-08-15

tain: what meaneth thou, Q sleep
er? Arise, call upon thy God, IL so be
that God will think upon us, that we
perish not" II you have a God you
had better call upon him. Do you say,
81 have no Godw Then you had bet
ter call upon your fathers God. When
your father was in trouble, who did he
fly to? You heard him, in his old days.
tell about some terrible exposure in a
snow storm, or at sea, or in battle, OF
among midnight garroters, and how
he escaped. Perhaps twenty years be-
fore you were born, your father made
sweet acquaintance with God. There
is something in the worn pages Of the
Bible he used to read which makes
you think your father had a God. In
the old religious books lying around
the house there are passages marked
with acknowledgements that make
you think your father was not god
less man, but that, ON that dark day
when he lay in the back room dying,
he was ready-all ready. But perhaps
less, a blasphemer, and you never
think of him now without a shndder.
He worshiped the world or his own
L
call upon your fathers God, but call
on your mothers God. I think she
was good. You remember when your
father came home drunk late on a cold
night, how patient your mother was
You often heard her pray. She used
to sit by the hour meditating as though
she were thinking of some good, warm
place where it never gets cold, and
%ho Cot n,1l
staggering steps never come. You re-
member her now, as she sat, in cap
and spectacles reading her Bible Sun
day afternoons. What good advice she
used to give you. How black and ter
rible the hole in the ground looked to
you when, with two ropes they let her
down to rest in the graveyard. All! l
think from your looks that I am on the
right track. Awake, o sleeper, and
call upon thy mothers God.
But perhaps both your father and
mother were depraved. Perhaps your
cradle was rocked by sin and shame,
and it is a wonder that from such a
starting you have come to respectable
ity. Then don't call upon the God Of
either of your parents, beg Of you.
But you have children. You know
God kindled those bright eyes, and
rounded those healthy limbs, and set
beating within their breasts an i'm
mortality. Perhaps in the belief that
somehow it would be for the best, you
have taught them to say an evening
prayer, and when they kneel beside
you, and fold their little hands, and
look up, their faces all innocence and
love, you know that there is a God
somewhere about the room.
l think l am on the right track at
last. Awake, O sleeper, and call upon
the God of thy children. May he set
these little ones to pulling at thy heart
until they charm thee to the same God
| to whom tonight they will say their
| little prayers!
But, alas! alas! some of these men
| and women are unmoved by the fact
| that their father had God, and that
dren have a God, but they have no
God. All the divine goodness for moth
ing. All warning for nothing. They
are sound asleep in the side of the
ship, though the sea and sky are in
/ mad wrestle. .-~.- .,..-.-----.,. -
| Many years ago man, leaving his
family in Massachusetts,, sailed from
! Boston to China, to trade there. On
the coast of China, in the midst of a
| night of storm, he made ShiDwreck
The adventurer was washed up on the
| beach senseless-all his money gone
He had to beg in the streets of Can
ton to keep from starving. For two
years there was no communication be.
tween himself and family. They sup.
posed him dead. He knew not but
that his family We're dead. He had
gone out as a captain. He was, toe
proud to come back as private 3i:ilor
But after a while he choked doKl his
pride and salIed for Boston. A1rivine
there he took an evening train for the
center of the state, where he had LEFT
his family Taking the stage at the
depot and riding score of miles hi
got home. He says that, going up ii
front of the cottage in the brigh
moonlight, the place looked like heay
en-. He raped on the window, an(
the affrighted servant let him in. HI
went to the room where his wife ant
child were sleeping. He did not dare
to wake them up for fear of the shock
Bending over to kiss the child's cheek
a tear fell upon the Wife's face. ant
she awakened, and he said, 'AIary.'
and she knew his voice, and there wa;
an Understandable scene of welcome ant
joy, and thanksgiving to God.
To-day I know that many Of you ar
sea-tossed and driven by sin in wors
storm than that which came down OF
the coast of China, and yet pray Go.
that you may, like the sailor, live t,
get home. In the house Of many man
sions your friends are waiting to NEE
you. They pre- wondering why you d
not come. Escaped from the ship
wrecks of earth, may you at last go in
1t will be a bright night-a very brigh
night as you put your thumb on til
latch Of that door. Once in, you vii
find the old family faces sweeter thai
when you last saw them, and there i
will be found that he who was YOU
fathers God and your mothers Goo
and your childrens God, is your ow
most blessed redeemer, to whom b
glory and dominion throughout a.
ages, world without end. Amen.
NapOleOn's Aggressive Schemes Sue
cessful.
! Wy;tJ, Drrccio r,o,,t,.o