Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-04-09

Dack would be recelVedF "Oh, says
some man, "you don't know where have
been; you don't know how far have wan
dered; you wouldn't talk that way to me
If you knew all the iniquities have COM
mitted." What is that hutter among the
angels of God? What is that horseman
running with quick dispatchp 1t is news,
it is news! Christ has found the lost.
Nor angels can their joy contain,
But kindle with new Sre.
The sinner lost is foulI, they sing,
And strike the sounding Tyre.
Gods Infinite Mercy.
When Napoleon talked of going into
Italy, they said: "You can't get there. If
you knew what the Alps were, you would
not talk about it or think about It, You
can't get your ammunition wagons over
the Alps" Then Napoleon rose in his
stirrups, and, waving his hand toward
the mountains, he said, "There shall be
no Alpsr' That wonderful pass was laid
out which has been the wonderment of all
the years since-the wonderment of all en-
gineors. And you tell me there are such
mountains of sin between your soul and
God there is no mercy. Then see Christ
waving his hand toward the mountains. 1
hear him say, 81 will come over the noun
tains of thy sin and the hills of thine iniq-
uity." There shall be no Pyrenees; there
shall be no Alps.
Again, l notice that this resolution of
the young man of my text was founded in
sorrow at his mishehavior. 1t was not
mere physical plight. 1t was grief that he
had so maltreated his father. 1t is sad
thing after father has done everything
for child to have that child ungrateful.
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have thankless child.
That is Shakespeare. "a foolish son is
the heaviness of his mother" That is the
Bible. Well, my friends, have not some of
us been cruel prodigalsP Have we not NAL
treated our Father? And such a Father!
Three times day has he fed thee. He has
poured sunlight into thy day and at night
kindled up all the street lamps of heaven.
With what varieties of apparel he hath
clothed thee for the seasons. Whose eye
watches thee? Whose hand defends thee?
Whose heart sympathizes with thee? Who
gave you your childrenS Who is guarding
your loved ones departedf Such Father
So loving, so kind. If he had been stran-
ger; If he had forsaken us; il he had flag
ellated us; If he had pounded us and turn
ed us out of doors on the commons, 1t
would not have been SO wonderful-our
treatment of him. but he is a Father, so
loving, SO kind, and yet how many of us
for our wanderings have never apologized
If we say anything that hurts our friends
feelings, if we do anything that hurts the
feelings of those in whom we are interest
ed, how quickly we apologize! We can
scarcely wait until we get pen and paper
to write letter, of apology. How easy it is
for any one who is intelligent, right heart
ed, to write an apology or make an apollo
Cyl We apologize for wrongs done to our
fellows, but some of US perhaps have COM
mitted ten thousand times ten thousand
wrongs against God and never apologized.
An Irreparable Loss.
remark still further that this resolu-
tion Of the text was founded in feeling
of homesickness. do not know how long
this young man, how many months, how
many years, he had been away from his
fathers house, but there is something
about the reading Of my text that makes
me think he was homesick. Some of you
know what that feeling is. Far away from
thing bright and pleasant-plenty Of
friends-you have said, ~ would give the
world to be home tonight" Well, this
young man was homesick for his fathers
house. I have no doubt when he thought
Of his fathers house he said, "Now, per-
haps father may not be living" We read
nothing in this story, this parable, found
ed on everyday life-we read nothing
about the mother. 1t says nothing about
going home to her. think she was dead.
think she had died of broken heart at
his wanderings, or perhaps he had gone
into dissipation from the fact that he
could not remember loving and sympa-
thetio mother. A man never gets over hav
ing lost his mother Nothing said about
her, but he is homesick for his fathers
house. He thought he would just like to
go and walk around the old place. He
thought he would just like to go and see
il things were as they used to be. Many a
man after having been off a long while
has gone homo and knocked at the door,
and stranger has come. 1t is the old
homestead, but stranger comes to the
door. He finds out father is gone and
mother is gone and brothers and sisters
all gone. think this young man of the
text said to himself, "Perhaps father
may be dead" Still he starts to find out
He is homesick. Are there any here today
homesck for God, homesick for heaven?
A sailor, after having been long on the
sea, returned to his fathers house, and his
mother tried to persuade him not to go
away again. She said: "Now, you had bet
ter stay at home. Don't go away. We
don't want you to go. You will have it a
great deal better here" But it made him
angry. The night before he went away
again to sea he heard his mother praying
i'll the next room, and that made him
moro angry. He went far out on the sea,
and storm came up and he was ordered
to very perilous duty, and he ran up the
ratlines, and amid the shrouds of the ship
he heard the voice that he had heard in
the next room. He tried to whistle it off,
he tried to rally his courage, but he could
not silence the voice he had heard in the
next room, and there in the storm and
darkness he said: ooh, Lord! What a
wretch / have been? What wretch am =!
Help mo just now, Lord God" And
thought in this assemblage today there
may be some who may have the memory
of fathers petition or a mothers prayer
pressing nightly upon the soul, and that
this hour they may make the SANG resolu-
tion find in my text, saying, II will
arise and go to my father"
God Is Waiting.
A lad at Liverpool went out to bathe;
went out into the sea, went out too far,
got beyond his depth, and he floated far
away. A ship bound for Dublin came
along and took him on board. Sailors are
generally very generous fellows, and one
gave him cap and another gave him
jacket and another gave him Shoes A gen.
tleman passing along on the beach at Liv-
erpool found the lads clothes and took
them home and the father was heartbro-
ken, the mother was heartbroken, at the
loss of their child. They had heard moth
ing from him day after day, and they Or
dered the usual mourning for the sad