St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-09-19

Is 10 snow you tn86 II you nave COWO
of q Christian ancestry. then you arc
solemnly bound to preserve and
develop the glorious inheritance,
or. if you have come OF : depraved
ancestry, then it is your duty to brace
yourself against the evil tendency by
all prayer and Christian determination,
and you are to find out the family
frailties, and in arming the castle put
the strongest guard at the weakest
gate. With these smooth stones from
the brook. hope to strike you, not
where David struck Goliath. in the
head, but where Nathan struck David,
in the heart. .sWhose son art thou,
thou young man?'
There is something in all winter
holidays to bring up the old folks.
think many OF our thoughts Mt such
times are set to the tune of "Auld
Lang Syne." The old folks were so
busy at such times in making us happy,
and perhaps on less resource made
their sons and daughters happier than
you ON larger resources are able to
make your sons and daughters. The
snow lay two feet above their graves,
but they shook of the white blankets
and mingled in the holiday festivities
the same wrinkles. the same
stoop Of shoulder under the weight of
age, the same old style of dress or
coat, the same smile, the same tone of
voice. hope you remember them be-
fore they went away. If not, hope
there are those who have recited to
you what they were, and that there
may be in your house some article of
dress or furniture with which you as
sociate their memories. want to
arouse the most sacred memories of
your heart while ! make the impas-
stoned interrogatory in regard to
your pedigree: Whose SON art thou.
thou, thou young man?'
First. / accost all those who are
descended of Christian ancestry. lido
not ask if your parents were perfect.
There are no perfect people now. and
/ do not suppose there were any per-
feet people then. Perhaps there was
sometimes too much blood in their eye
when they chastised you. But from
what know of You, you got no more
than you deserved, and perhaps little
more chastisemcnt would have been
salutary. But you are willing to ac-
knowledge, think, that they wanted
to do right. From what you over
heard in conversat ions, and from what
you saw at the family altar and at
neighborhood obsequies, you know
that they had invited God into their
heart aud their life. There was some
thing that sustained those old people
systematically. You have no doubt
about their destiny. You expect if you
ever get to Heaven to meet them as
you expect to meet the Lord Jesus
Christ. That early association has been
a charm for you. There was time
when you got right mp from house Of
iniquity and walked out into
the fresh air because you thought
your mother was looking at
you. You have never been very
happy in sin because of a sweet,
old face that would present itself.
Tremulous voices from the past ac-
costed you until they were seemingly
audible, and you looked around to see
who spoke. There was an estate not
mentioned in the last will and testa-
ment. vast estate of prayer and holy
example and Christian entreaty and
glorious memory. The survivors of
the family gathered to hear the will
read. and this was to be kept and that
was to be sold, and it was ''share and
share alikf.." But there was an un-
writtens.IyiA that read something like
this: I'm the name Of God, amen, l
being Of sound mind, bequeath to my
children NH my prayers for their sal
walton; l bequeath to them all
the results of a lifetime's toll; I be-
queath to them the. Christian religion,
w6ish hR$ tbeep p much comfort to
me. add 1hope ma be solace for them;
l bequeath to them hope of reunion
when the paintings Of life are over.
share aHd share alike may they in
herit eternal riches l bequeath to
them the wish th0eehey may avoid my
errors and copy anything that may
hav1 been wort1al:In the name Of
God who made. ne, and the Christ
who redeemed me, and the Holy
GhQst, MkS;sfpeftdes me, make this
my last will and testament. Witness
alrs T6lksh6ts 'sof Heaven. Witness
time. witness eternity. Signed,
sealed and delivered in this our dying
hour. Father and Mother" You did
not get that will proved at the surro-
gates Office, but take it out to-day
and l read it to you. take it out of
the alcoves of your heart. l shake the
dust off it. ask il you will accept
that inheritance, or will you break
the will? s
Oh, ye of Christian ancestry! You
have a responsibility vastsbcyond all
measurement. God will not let you OF
with just being as good AS ordinary
people when you had such extraOrdi-
nary advantage. Ought not flower
planted in dollhouse be more thrifty
than a flower planted outside in the
storm? Ought not a factory turned by
the Housatonic do more work
than q factory turned by thin
and shallow mountain stream?
Ought not you Of great early oppor-
tunity be better than those who had a
cradle unblessed? A father sets his
SOu uP Ia OuSAUCoSs AAO NVOtso ~ ~
count of all the expenditures. So
much for store fixtures, SO much for
rent, SO much for this, SO much for
that, and all the items aggregated,
and the father expects the son to give
an account Your Heavenly Father
charges against You all the advantage
of q pious ancestry-so many prayers,
50 n,,ch Christian example, 50 many
kline entreaties--all these gracious
influences, one tremendous aggre-
gate, and he asks you for an account
of it. Ought not you to be better
than those who had no such advaL-
tage? Better have been q founding
picked up of the city com mons than
with such magnificent Inheritance of
conservation to turn out indifferently.
Ought not you, my brother, to be
better, having had Christian nur-
ture, than the man who can truly
say this morning: "The 6rst word
remember INV father speaking to me
,roc ~ <1.th. Tho s,.St tima I rome m hpr