Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1896-07-28


child shall come forth in life, its heart
attuned to the eternal harmonies, and
after life of usefulness on earth, to
go to a life of JOY in heaven; or,
whether across it shall jar eternal dis
cords, and after a life of wrong-doing
on earth, it shall go to home of i'm
penetrable darkness and an abyss Of
unreasonable plunge, is being decided
by nursery song and Sabbath lesson
and evening prayer, and walk and ride
and look and frown and smile. o, how
many children in glory! crowding all
the battlements and lifting a million
voiced hosanna, brought to God through
Christian parentage! One hundred
and twenty clergymen together, and
they were telling their experience and
their ancestry; and of the one hundred
and twenty clergymen. how many OF
them, do You suppose assigned, as the
means OF their conversion, the influence
OF Christian mother? One hundred
out OF the one hundred and twenty!
Philip Doddridge was brought to God
by the Scripture lesson on the Dutch
tile OF the chimney fireplace. The
mother thinks she is only rocking a
child; but at the same time she may
be rocking the destiny of empires
rocking the fate of nations-rocking
the glories of heaven The same
maternal power that may lift child
up may press child down. A daughter
came to worldly mother and said
she was anxious about her sins, and
she had been praying all night. The
mother said: 'Oh, stop praying! l
don't believe in praying. Get over all
those religious notions, and I'll give
you dress that will cost five hundred
dollars and you may wear it next week
TO that party" The daughter took the
dress; and she moved in the gay circle,
the gayest OF the gay that night; and
sure enough, all religious impressions
We're gone and she stopped praying.
A few months after, she came to die,
and in her closing moments said:
Mother, | wish you would bring me
that dress that cost five hundred dol
lars" The mother thought it was a
very strange request; but she brought
it to please the dying child. Now"
said the daughter, mother, hang that
dress OH the foot OF my bed;" and the
dress was hung there, on the foot of
the bed. Then the dying girl got up
on one elbow and looked at her mother
said: Mother that dress is the price
of my soulv Oh, what momentous
thing it is to be a mother!
Again, and lastly: Hannah stands
before you today, the rewarded mother.
For all the coats she made for Samuel;
for all the prayers she offered for him;
for the discipline she exerted over him,
she got abundant compensation in the
piety and the usefulness and the popu-
larity of her son Samuel; and that
is true in all ages. Every mother gets
full pay for all the prayers and tears
in behalf of her children That man use-
full in commercial life; that man promi-
nent in the profession; that master
mechanically, every step he takes in
life has an echo of gladness in the old
heart that long ago taught him to be
Christian and heroic and earnest The
story of what you have done or what
you have written, of the influence you
have exerted, has gone back to the old
homestead-for there is someone al
ways ready to carry good tidings-and
that story makes the needle in the old
mothers tremulous hand fly quicker,
aotl Ca
down upon the barn floor with a more
vigorous thump. Parents love to hear
good news from their children. Do
you send them good news always?
Look out for the young man who
speaks of his father as the governor"
the squire" or the 'old chap" Look
cut for the young woman who calls her
mother her maternal ancestor" or the
"old woman" The eye that mocketh
at his father and refuseth TO obey his
mother, the ravens Of the valley shall
pick it out and the young eagles shall
eat it," God grant that all these
parents may have the great satisfac-
ton of seeing their children grow up
Christians. But o, the pang of that
mother who, after life OF street CAD
ding and gossip-retailing, hanging on
her children the fripperies and follies
of this world, sees those children toss
ed out on the sea of life like foam on
the wave, or nonentities in a world
where only brawny and stalwart
character can stand the shock! But
blessed be the mother who looks upon
her children as sons and daughters OF
the Lord Almighty! Oh, the satisfac-
ton of Hannah in seeing Samuel serv-
ing at the altar; of Mother Eunice in
seeing her Timothy learned in the
Scriptures. That is the mothers re-
compense: to see children coming up
useful in every sphere. That throws
new light back on the old family
Bible whenever she reads it; and that
will be ointment to soothe the aching
limbs of decrepitude, and light up the
closing hours Of lfe's day with the
glories of an autumnal sunset!