Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1896-07-25

mother thinks she is only rocking
child. but ut the same time she may be
rocking the destiny of empires, rocking
the fate Of nations. rocking the glories
Of heaven. The same maternal power
that may lift q child up may press i
child down. A daughter came To j
worldly mother and said she was anx'
ious about her sins and she had beer
praying all night. The mother said
"Oh, stop praying! / don't believe il
praying Get over all those religious
notions, and I'll give you a dress thai
will cost five hundred dollars. and you
may wear it next week to that party. =
The daughter took the dress, and she
moved in the gay circle. the gayest o.
all the gay that night, and. sure enough,
all religious impressions were gone, and
she stopped praying. a few months aft
er, she came to die and in her closing
moments said. Mother, / wish you
would bring me that dress that cost
$500" The mother thought it was q
very strange request, but she brought il
to please the dying child. Now, said
the daughter, mother, hang that dress
on the foot of my bed. And the dress
was hung there on the foot of the bed.
Then the dying girl got up on one ell
bow and looked at her mother and then
pointed to the dress and said, Mother,
that dress is the price of my soul. " oh,
what momentous thing it is to be q
motherl
Again, and lastly, Hannah stands be-
fore you today, the rewarded mother.
For all the coats she made for Samuel,
for all the prayers she offered for him,
for the discipline she exerted over him,
she got abundant compensation in the
piety and the usefulness and the popu-
larity of her son Samuel, and that i:
true in all ages Every mother gets full
pay for all the prayers and tears in be-
half of her children. That man useful
in commercial life, that man prominent
in the profession, that master mechanic
why. every step he takes in life has
an echo of gladness in the old heart that
long ago taught him to be Christian and
heroic and earnest The story of what
you have done or what you have writ
ten, of the influence You have exerted,
has gone back to the old homestead-fo1
there is some one always ready to carry
good tidings-and that story makes the
needle in the old mothers tremulous
hand fly quicker and the fail in the
fathers hand come down upon the barn
floor with more vigorous thump. Par
ents love to hear good news from their
children. Do you send them good news
always? Look out for the young man
who speaks of his father as the "gov-
ernor, " the squire or the ''old chap.
Look out for the young woman who
calls her mother her maternal an
cestor" or the old woman. +" The eye
that mocketh at his father and refusetl
to obey his mother the ravens of the
valley shall pick it out, and the young
eagles shall eat it" God grant that all
these parents may have the great salts
faction of seeing their children grow uI
Christians.
But, oh, the pang of that mother who,
after a life of street gadding and gossip
retailing, hanging on her children the
fripperies and follies of this world, sees
those children tossed out on the sea OF
life like foam on the wave or nonenti-
ties in world where only brawny and
stalwart character can stand the shock
But blessed be the mother who looks
upon her children as sons and daughters
of the Lord Almighty Oh, the satisfac-
ton of Hannah in seeing Samuel serv-
ing at the altar; of Mother Eunice in
seeing her Timothy learned i'll the
Scriptures. That is the mothers recon-
pense-to see children coming up useful
in the world, retaining the lost, heal,
ing the sick, plying the ignorant, ear
nest and useful in every sphere. That
throws new light back ON the old
family Bible whenever she reads it; and
that will be ointment to soothe the ach-
ing limbs of decrepitude and light up
the closing hours of life's day with the
glories of an autumnal sunset.
There she sits-the old Christian
mother-ripe for heaven. Her eyesight
is almost gone, but the splendors of the
celestial city kindle up her vision. The
gray light of heavens morn has struck
through the gray locks which are folded
back over the wrinkled temples. She
stoops very much now under the burden
of care she used to carry for her chill
dren. She sits at home today, too old tc
find her way to the house of God; but
while she sits there, all the past comes
back, and the children that 40 years
ago trooped around her armchair with
their little griefs and joys and sorrows,
those children are all gone now
some caught up into better realm,
where they shall never die, and others
out in the broad world, attesting the
excellence of Christian mothers dis
cipline. Her last days are full of peace,
and calmer and sweeter will her spirit
become, until the gates Of life shall lift
and let the wornout pilgrim into eternal
springtide and youth, where the limb.
never ache and the eyes never grow
dim and the staff of the exhausted aud
decrepit pilgrims shall become the palm
of the immortal athlete