The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1896-09-04
CHILDREN OF GOD.
Rev. DR.. TaImage breaches ON
Christianity in Children.
Tho Unspeakabls Attraetiveness OF Ch'io
Under the Influence of GODS
Grace-There is m Angel
In tho House.

The following sermon by Rev. L.
Dewitt Talmage was delivered before
his Washington congregation oeing
based on the text:
And when the child was grown. IL iell on
day that he went out to his father to the reap
ers And he said unto his father, my head my
hsadi And he said to a lad. carry him to his
mother. And when he had taken him, ana
brought him to his mother. he sat on her knees
tai noon. and then died.-u Kings w., 49, w.
20
There is at least one happy home In
Shunem. To the luxuriance and
splendor of a great house had been
Given the advent of a child. Even
when the Angel of Life brings a new
soul to the poor mans hut, star Oh
Joy shines over the manager. Infancy
with it's helplessness and innocence,
had passed away. Days OF boyhood
had come-days of laughter and frohc.
davs of sunshine and promise, days OF
strange questions and curiosity ana
quick development ! suppose among
all the treasures of that house, the
brightest was the boy. One day there
lis the shout of reapers heard aneid.
A boys heart always bounds at the
sound of sickle or scythe. No sooner
have the harvesters cut swath
across the field than the lad joins them,
and the swarthy reapers feel young
again as they look down at that lad
as bright and beautiful as was Ruth
in the harvest fields of Bethlehem
cleaning after the reapers But the
sun was too hot for him. Congestion
of the brain seized on him. l see
the swarthy la borersdrop their sickles;
and they rush out to see what Is the
matter, and they fan him and they Try
to cool his brow; but all Is OF no avall.
In the instant of consciousness, he
puts his hands against his temples
and cries out: ''My head! my head!'
And the father said: Garry him to
his mother" just as any father would
have said; for our hand is too rough
and our voice is too harsh, and our
foot is too loud to doctor a sick child,
if there be in our home a gentler voice
and gentler hand and stiller loot
step. But all of no avail. While the
reapers of Shunem were busy in the
field, there came stronger Reaper
that way, with keener- scythe and for
a richer harvest He reaped only
one sheaf, but o, what golden
sheaf was that! 1 do not want
to know any more about that
heartbreaking scene than what see
in lust one pathetic sentence: HE sat
on her knees till noon and then died. :"
Though hundreds of years have passed
away since that boy skipped to the
haryest-field and then was brought
home and died on his mothers lap, the
story still thrills US. Indee d, child
hood has a charm always and every
where. / shall now speak to you OF
childhood; it's beauty, its susceptible
itv to impression, its power over the
parental heart, and its blisstul transit
ton from earth to Heaven.
The childs beauty does not depend
upon form or feature or complexion
or apparel. That destitute one that
YOU saw on the street, bruised with
unkindness and in rags, has charm
about her, even under her restitution
You have forgot ten great many per
sons whom you met, of finely-cut Tea
lures and with erect posture and with
faultless complexion, while you vii
always remem Der this poor girl who
on a cold, moonlight night, as yot
were passing late home, in her thir
shawl and barefoot on the pavement
nut out her hand and said: "Please t.
give me penny" All, how often w
have walked on and said: 20, that
nothing but street vagabondism;" blu
after we got block or two on, w
stopped and said: "Ah, that
not right" and we passe
up that same way and droppe
a mite into that suffering hand, a
though it were not a matter of secon
thought, so ashamed were we of GU
bard-heartedness. With what admire
ton we look upon group OF childre
on the playground, or in the schoo
and we clap our hands almost invo
unfairly and say: "How beautiful
All stiffness and dignity are gone, an
vour shout is heard with theirs an
YOU trundle their hoop. and fly the
kite, and strike their ball, and all you
WEAKNESS and anxiety are gone q
when a child you bounded over tn
playground yourself. That fath'
who stands rigid and unsym?athet
amid the sportfulness of chi
dren ought never to have bee
tempted out of crusty an
unredeemable solitariness. The waite
lean down the rocks, but they ha'
not the graceful step of childheo
The morning comes out of the gat
of the east, throwing its silver on Il
lake and its gold on the towers and
fire on the cloud; but it is not SO brig
and beautiful as the morning OF lii
There is no light like that which