St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-08-01

OsSSADs
We oil feel we can manage our own
affairs We have helm and compass
and chart and quadrant Give u,
plenty Of sea room and We sail on and
Eail on; but after awhile there comes Z
Caribbean whirlwind mp the coast, and
we are helpless in tho gale, and we cry
out for harbor. All our calculationa
upset, we say with the poet:
Change and decay co al around -;
OThou who chanssst not. abide with mel
Tho south wind Of mild providence
makes MS throw OF the cloak Of Chris.
tian character and we catch cold, but
the sharp east wind Of trouble makes
us wrap around 10 the warm promisea.
The best thing that ever happens TO al
Il trouble. That II hard thing. per
haps, to say. but repeat It, for God
announces it again and again, the best
thing that happens to NJ II trouble.
When the French army went down
into Egypt under Napoleon, m engi.
neer, in digging for . fortress, came
across . tablet which has been called
the Rosetta stone. There were inscrip'
tions in three or four languages on
that Rosetta stone. Scholars study.
ing out tho alphabet of hero
glyphics from that stone were
enabled to read ancient inscrip'
tions on monuments and on tomb
stones. Well, many of the hsndwrit-
ings Of God in our life are indecipher-
able hieroglyphics; we can not under.
stand them until we take MP the Roeet.
t. stone of divine Inspiration. and the
explanation all comes out, and tho
mysteries all vanish, and what wal
before beyond our understanding
now Is plain in its meaning, ~ wd
read: "All things work together for
good to those who love God" So va
decipher the hieroglyphics. Oh! my
friends! have you ever calculated
what troahle did for Dav3df II
made him The sosrsd mineere(
for III aGso. What ia tsoah1e 20 1us
JceepA1 1(aae him. tAsbseper q tAs
eorn-cri6 - 1Upk What ~ y de
for Paulf l1o1e Nh the gssae apostle
to the-Oeatilsa What dA = = -
samuel Rutherford llads A,a tnvolte.
ism more filustrious than robust
health. What did It do for Richard
Baxter? Gave him capacity to write
OF tho ''Saint's Everlasting Rest.
What did It do for John Bunyanf
Showed him tho shinging gates Of
the city. What has it done for your
Since the loss Of that child your spir-
it has been purcr. Since the loss Of
that property, you have found ont
that earthly investme nts are insecure.
Since you lost your health. You feel -
never before rapt anticipation OF
eternal release. Trouble has hum
bled you. has enlarged You, has multi
piled your resources, has equipped
you, has loosened your grasp from this
world and tightened your grip on the
next. Oh! bless God for the east wind.
It has driven you into tho harbor Of
Gods sympathy.
Nothing like trouble to show us that
this world IL an insufficient portion.
Hogarth was about done with life, and
he wanted to paint the end Of all
al things. He put on canvas . shat
tered bottle, . cracked bell, IN un-
strung harp, = sign-board of . tavern
called ''The World's End" falling down,
. shipwreclk, the horses Of Phoebua
living dead In the clouds. tho moon
in her last quarter, and the
world ON fire. .'One thing more,
said Hogarth, aud my picture IS done.
Then he added the broken palette
Of . painter. Then he died. But trou-
BILE, with hand mightier and more
skillfull than Hogarth's, pictures the
falling, failing, moldering. dying
world. And we want something per.
manent to lay hold Of. and We grasp
with both hands after God, and say;
1.-THE Lord 10 my light, the Lord il my
love, the Lord is my fortress, the Lord
Il my sacrifice. the Lord, the Lord II
my God"
Bless God for your trials. oh, my
Christian friend! keep your spirits mp
the power Of Christ's Gospel Do not
surrender. Do you not know that
when you give mp. others will give upl
You have courage. and others will
have courage. The Romans went into
the battle. and by some accident there
was an inclination of tho standard.
The standard upright meant for
ward march; tho inclination Of the
standard meant surrender. Through
the negligence of tho man who car
ried the standard, and the inclination
of It, the army surrendered. Oh! lot
NJ keep the standard up. whether It Be
blown down by the east wind, or the
north wind, or the south wind. No In
clination to surrender. Forward into
the conflict
There is near Bombay tree that
they call tho borrowing tree, the Pc
culiarity Of which u it never puts forth
any bloom in the daytime, but in the
night puts out al its bloom and Ill it
redolence. And have to tell You thst
though Christian character puts forth
itssweetest blossoms in the darkness oi
sickness, the darkness OF financial dia.
tress, the darkness of bereavement, the
darkness Of death, weeping may en-
dure for . night, but Joy cometh In thu
morning" Across the harsh discordi
Of this world rolls tho music Of the
skies-music that breaks from the lips
music that breaks from the harps and
rustles from tho palms. music like
falling water over rocks, music lik>
wandering. winds among leaves
muaic like carrolling birds among
fdt0ots, music like ocean billows
storming the Atlantic beach: "They
shall hunger NO more, neither thirst
any more, neither shall the sun ligh'
ON them NOR any heat; for the Laml
which 10 IN the midst Of the throne
shall lead them 70 living fountains o.
water, and God shall wipe away
al tears from their eyes"
80 . great Christian hest up
proachin9 that harbor. Some q
the ships come In With sasll
rent and bulwarls knocked way. ba'
still afoat Neazer and nearer TIL
shinin9 shoee. Nearer and neareI
eternal anchorage. Haul away. my
lads, haul away. 6o0e Of the ship
bad . mighty tonnage, and other
were shallope easily lifted Of tn
wind and wave. Some were men-of
war and armed u Tho thundsrs O
Christian battle, and others were nm
pretendine tues taking others throagl
fhe ssEaxroWs." and others Worl