Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1896-10-27

4
ing the golden light
of the wheat field. And when l open
my Bible to take my text, the Scripture
leaf rustles like the tassels of the corn.
We were nearly all of us born in the
country. We dropped corn in the hill,
| and went on Saturday to the mill, ty-
| ing the grist in the center of the sack
| so that the contents on either side the
horse balanced each other; and drove
| the cattle afield, our bare feet wet with
| the dew, and rode the horses with the
| halter to the brook until we fell off.
| and hunted the NOW for nests until the
fccthered occupants went cackling
| away. We were nearly all of us born
| in the country, and all would have
stayed there had not some adventur-
| Gus lad on his vacation come back
with better clothes and softer hands,
and set the whole village on fire with
ambition for city life. So we all I'M
derstand rustic illusions. The Bible
Is full of them. In Christ's sermon
on the Mount you could see the full
blown lilies and the glossy back of the
~" "iAtS3 as IL hiOo ofNi I'louht VII
vet. David and John, Paul and Isaiah
find In country life source of fire.
| quent illustration, while Christ in the
| text takes the responsibility of calling
God farmer. declaring, my Father
| Is the husbandman."
Noah was the first farmer. We say
nothing about Cain. the tiller of the
soil. Adam was gardener on a large
scale, but to Noah was given all the
acres Of the earth. Elisha was an ag-
riculturist, not cultivating a ten-acre
lot. for we find him blowing with
twelve yoke of oxen. In Bible times
the land was 50 plenty and the inhabi
tants so few that Noah was right when
he gave to every inhabitant a certain
portion Of land; that land, if culti
waited, ever after to be his own posses
sion. Just as in Nebraska the United
States Government on payment of SIG
years ago gave presumption right to
16O acres to any man who would settle
there and cultivate the soil.
All classes of people were expected to
cultivate ground except ministers of re-
ligion. 1t was supposed that they
would have their time entirely occu-
pied with their own profession, al
| though I am told that sometimes min
listers do plunge so deeply into world
Illness that they remind one of what
Thomas Fraser said in regard to a
man in his day who preached very
well, but lived very i'll: When he is
out of the pulpit, it is pity he should
ever go into it. and when he is in the
pulpit it is pity he should ever come
out Of it"
They were not small crops raised in
those times, for though the arts were
rude, the pillow turned up very rich
soil, and barley, and cotton, and fax,
and all kinds of grain came up at the
call of the harvesters. Pliny tells of
one stalk of grain that had on it be-
tween three and four hundred ears.
The rivers and the brooks, through ar
tificial channels, were brought down TO
| the roots of the corn, and to this habit
of turning river wherever it was
wanted, Solomon refers when he says.
1.-THE kings heart is in the hand of the
| Lord, and he turneth it as the rivers of
water are turned, whithersoever he
will"
The wild beasts were caught, and
then hook was put into their nose.
and then they were led over the field,
and to that God refers when he says
to wicked Sennacherib: II will put a
| hook in thy nose and l will bring thee
| back by the way which thou earnest. -
And God has hook in every bad mans
nose, whether it be Nebuchadnezzar or
Ahab or Herod. He may think himself
very independent, but some time in
his life, or in the hour of his death.
he will find that the Lord Almighty
has hook in his nose.
This was the rule in regard to the
/ culture of the ground: Thou shalt
not pillow with an OK and an ass to-
| gether," illustrating the folly OF ever
putting intelligent and useful and pill
able men in association with the stub
born and the unmanageable. The vast
majority of troubles in the churches
and in reformatory institutions comes
from the disregard of this command
of the Lord, Thou shalt not pillow
with an OK and an ass together"
There were large amounts OF prop
erty invested in cattle. The Moabites
paid 100000 sheep as an annual tax.
Job had 1000 sheep, 1900 camels, 500
yoke of oxen. The time of vintage
was ushered in with mirth and music.
The clusters of the vine were pat into
the wine press. and then five men
| would get into the press and trample
out the juice from the grape until their
| garments were saturated with the wine
| and had become the emblems of
| slaughter. Christ himself, wounded
until covered with the blood of cruel
| fiXion, making use of this allusion
when the question was asked: Where
I fore art thou red in thine apparel and
thy garments like one who treadcth the
wine vat?" He responded: II have
trodden the wine press alone"
| In all ages there has been great
| honor paid to agriculture. Seven
eighths of the people in every coun-
try are disciples of the pillow. A gov
eminent is strong in proportion as 1t