The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1896-07-31
been led into the Kingdom o

i OeeM leu lnbC thO $3.50 $780, -
God by the hands OF their ILLS
children. There are hundreds Of motii@
ers to-day who would not have been
| Christians had IL not been for Inc
prattle OF their little ones Standing
some day in the nursery, they Pc
thought themselves, this child Goa
| has given me to raise for eternity.
| What is my influence upon it? Not be-
ing Christian myself, how can ever
expect him to become Christian.
Lord, help mel 0, are there anxious
mothers who know nothing Of the
infinite help of religion? Then
| commend to you Hannah, the
pious mother of Samuel Do not
think it absolutely impossible that
your children come up iniquitous. Out
| of just such fair brows and brighteyes
and soft hands and innocent hearts
crime gets it's misunderstanding
purity from the heart, and rubbing out
! the smoothness from the brow, ana
quenching the luster OF the ey1, and
shriveling up and poisoning and putre-
flying and scathing and scalding and
blasting and burning with shame and
/
woe.
Again, and lastly: Hannah stands
| before YOU to-day the rewarded
mother. For all the coats she made
for Samuel; for all the prayers she Of
fered for him; for the discipline she
exerted over him, she got abundant
compensation in the piety and the
usefulness and the popularity of her
son Samuel; and that is true in all
ages. Every mother gets full pay
for all the prayers and tears IN
behalf of her children. That man
useful in commercial life; that man
prominent in the profession; that mas
ter mechanically 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 written, of the infiu-
ence you have exerted, has gone back
to the old homestead 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-foor
with more vigorous thnmp Parents
love to hear good news from their chill
dren. Do you send them good news al
ways? Look out for the young
man who speaks of his father
as the governor" the squire"
or the '.old chap" Look out
for the young woman who calls
her mother her maternal ancestor"
or the ''old woman" The eye that
mocketh at his father, and refuseth to
obey his mother, the ravens of the vail
ley 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
up Christians.
But, O, the pang of that mother who,
after life of street gadding, and gos-
sip-retailipg, hanging on her children
the fripperies and follies of this world,
see those children tossed out on the
sea of life like foam on the wave,
or nonentities in a world where only
brawny and stalwart character can
stand the shock But blessed be the
mother who looks upon her children az
sons and daughters of the Lord Al
mighty! O, the satisfaction of Hannah
in seeing Samuel serving at the altar;
of Mother Eunice in seeing her
Timothy learned in the Scriptures;
that is the mothers recompense-tos see
her children coming up useful in the
world retaining the lost, healing the
sick, plying the ignorant, earnest 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 aching
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 eye
sight is almost gone; but the splen-
doris of the celestial city kindle up
her vision. The gay 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 children. She
sits at home to-day, too old to 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 arm-
chair with their little griefs and joys
and sorrows-those children are all
gone now. Some caught up into bet
ter realm, where they shall never die,
and others out in the broad world, at
testing the excellency of a Christian
mothers discipline. Her last days are
full of peace; and caliner and sweeter
will her spirit become, until the gates