The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1896-10-28
Gods Red Standard as Guide.

for soul-Ths Straight Furrow with
Gods Red Standard as Guide.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 1S.-pnis sermon
at this season, after most people nave
had good, long breath OF the conn-
try, il they do not actually live there,
will revive many pleasant memories,
while it deals with great religious
truths. Dr.. Talmage'S text was John
xv, l, 'sMy Father IS the husband
man"
This last summer, having gone IN
different directions over between I've
and six thousand miles Of harvest
fields, I can hardly open my Bible
without smelling the breath of new
mown hay and seeing the golden light
of the wheat6eld, and when open
my Bible to take my text the ScrlpsNre
leaf rustles like the tassels OF the corn.
We were nearly all OF us BORN ~
the country. We dropped corn IN !ne
hill and went on Saturday 10 she hllI,
tyins the grist in the center OF tne
ssck so that the contents on eltner sioe
the horse balanced each otner, ana
drove the cattle aheld, our bare ieet
wet with dew, and rode the horses
with the halter to the brook until we
fell off. and hunted the NOW for nests
until the feathered occupants went
cackling away. We were nearly al
of us born in the country, and al
would have staid there had not some
adventurous lad on his vacation come
back with better clothes and softer
hands and set the whole village on
fire with ambition for city life. 50 we
all understand rustic illusions. The
Bible is full of them. In Chrlst's ser
mon on the mount you could see the
full blown lilies and the glossy black
of the crows wing as it flies over
Mount Olivet. David and John, Paul
and Isaiah find in country life
source of frequent illustration, while
Christ in the text takes the respoosl'
bility of calling God farmer, declar.
ing, "My Father is the husbandman.
Noah was the first farmer. We say
nothing about Cain, the tiller OF the
soil. Adam was a gardener on q
large scale, but to Noah was given all
the acres Of the earth. Elisha was an
agriculturist. not cultivating ten acre
lot, for we find him plowing with II
yoke of oxen. In Bible times the land
was so plenty and the inhabitants so
few that Noah was right when he gave
to every inhabitant a certain portion
of land; that land, if cultivated, ever
after to be his own possession, just as
in Nebraska the United States govern
ment on payment of SIC years ago
gave preemption right to 100 acres to
any man who would ssttle there and
cultivate the soil.
All classes of people were expected
to cultivate ground except ministers
of religion. It was supposed that they
would have their time entirel ~ occu-
pied with their own profession, al
though am told that sometimes min
isters 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 60 into it. and when he is IN the
pulpit, it is 8 pity he should ever come
out Of it.
They were not small crops raised n
those time, for though the .sfts were
rude, the plow turned up very rich
soil, and barley andsotton and flax
and all kinds of grain came up at the
call of the hspTesters. Pliny tells of
one stskW grain that had on it be-
tween three and four hundred ears.
9H5EsTers and the brooks, through ar
tifcial channels. were brought down
to the roots of the corn, and to this
habit of turning river wherever 1t
was wanted Solomon refers when ne
says, ''The kings heart is IN the hand
OF the Lord, and he turneth It as the
rivers of water are turned, wh'therso-
ever ne will
The wild beasts were caught, and
then a hook was put into their nose,
and then they were led over the field,
and to that God refers when he says
to wicked Sennacherio, Il will put a
hook in thy nose and will bring thee
back by the way which thou camest. .
And God has hook in every bad
mans nose, whether it be Nebuchad-
nezzar 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 End that the Lord
Almighty has hook in his nose.
This was the rule in regard to the
culture of the ground, 'sThou shalt
not plow with an OK and an ass to-
sether.'' illustrating the folly OF eyer
putting intelligent and useful and Pill
able men in association with the stub,
born and 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 ploW
with an OK and an ass together"
There were large amounts OF prop
erty invested in cattle. The Moabites
paid 100000 sheep SIS an annual tax.
Job had 1000 sheep, 3,0CJ camels, SOC
woke of oxen. The time Of vintage
was ushered in with mirth and music
The clusters of the vine were put into
the wine press, and then five men
would get into the press and tramp!e
out the juice from the grape un:lI
their garments were saturated with the
wine and had become the emblems OF
slaughter. Christ himself, wounded
until covered with the blood Of cruel
fxion, making use Of this alluslon
when the question was asked:
Wherefore art thou red in thine ap
parel and thy garments like one who
treadeth the wine vat2" He responded
sII have trodden the wine press alone.
In all ages there has been great
honor paid to agriculture. Seven
eighth of the people in every country
are disciples of the plow. A govern
ment is strong in proportion as 1t Is
supported by an athletic and industrl
Gus yeomanry. So long ago as before
the fall Of Carthage, Strabo wrote q