The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1896-09-05
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Touchingly Beautiful Discourse on
Christianity Of Childhood.
Nothing More Lovely Than tho ChiId's
Trusting Faith In Jesas-Deathbed
Ecstacy Which Is Alone In
spired by God.


text:
And when the child was grown, 1t fell on
day that he went out to his father to the reap
ers. And he said unto his father, my head. my
head! And he said to lad. carry him to his
mother And when he had taken him. and
brought him TO his mother, he sat on her knees
till noon, and then died. II Kings w., 10. 10,
~
There is at least one happy home in
Shunem. To the luxuriance and
splendor of great house had been
given the advent of child Even
when the Angel of Life brings new
soul to the poor mans hut, star of
Joy shines over the mapger. Infancy,
with it's helplessness and innocence,
had passed away. Days of boyhood
had come-days of laughter and frolic,
days of sunshine ana promise, days of
strange questions and curiosity and
quick development. suppose among
all the treasures of that house, the
brightest was the boy. One day there
is the shout of reapers heard afield.
A boys heart always bounds ut the
sound of sickle or scythe. No sooner
have the harvestcrs 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 us 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 laborers drop their sielsles;
and they rush out to see what is the
matteS. and they fan hin. and they try
TO cool his brow; but all is of no avail.
In the instant of consciousness, he
puts his hands against his temples
and cries out: MY head! my headl'
And the father said: Garry him to
his mother just as y father would
have said; for our hand is too rough,
and our voice is too harsh, and our
foot is too loud to doctor sick child,
il there be in our home gentler voice
and gentler hand and stiller foot
step. But all of no avail. While the
reapers of Shunem were busy in the
field, there came II stronger Reaper
that way, with keener scythe and for
richer harvest. He reaped only
one sheaf, but o, what golden
sheaf was that! 1 do not want
to know any more about that
in just one pathetic sentence: "lle sat
on her knees till noon and then died.
Though hundreds of years have passed
away since that boy skipped to the
harvest-held and then was brought
home and died on his mothers lap the
story still thrills us. Indee d, child
hood has charm always and every
where. shall now speak to you of
childhood; its beauty, its susceptible
ity 10 impression, its power over the
parental heart, and its bissful transi-
tion from earth to Heaven.
The child's 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 de stitution.
lou have forgot ten great many per-
sons whom you met, of finely-cut fea-
lures and with erect posture and with
faultless complexion, while you will
always remem Der this poor girl who,
on u cold, moonlight night, as you
were passing late home, in her thin
shawl and barefoot on the pavement,
put ont her hand and said please to
give me penny All, how often we
have walked on and said 20, that is
nothing but street vagabondism;" but
after we got block or two on, we
stopped and said: "Ah, that is
not right and we passed
up that sane way and dropped
mite into that suffering hand, as
though it were not matter of second
thought, so ashamed were we of our
Observation-Disclosures. With what admira-
ton we look upon group of children
on the playground or in the school,
and we clap our hands almost invol-
unfairly and say: .'How beautiful"
All stiffness and dignity are gone, and
your shout is heard with theirs and
you trundle their hoop, and fly their
kite, and strike their ball, and all your
WEAKNESS and anxiety are gone as
when child you bounded over the
playground yourself. That father
who stands rigid and unsympathetic
amid the sportfulness of chill
dren ought never to have been
tempted out of crusty and
unredeemable ,olitariness. The waters
leap down tn, rocks, but they have
not the graceful step of childhood
The morning aomes out of the gates
of the east, throwing its silver on the
lake and its geld ON the towers and it's
fire on the cloud; but it is not so bright
and beautiful as the morning of life!
There is no light like that which is
kindled in a child's eye, no color like
that which blooms on a child's cheek,
no music like the sound of child's
voice. Its face in the poorest picture
redecms any imperfection in art.
When we are weary with toll, their
little hands pull the burdens off our
back.
o, what a dull. stale, mean world
this would be without the sportfulness |
OF children. When find people that
do not like children, Immediately
doubt their moral and Christian char
acter. But when the grace of God
comes upon child, how unspeakably
attractive. When Samuel begins to