The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1896-09-25
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE NOTED DIvINRs SUNDAY
DISCOURSE.
Subjects "a Shadow On The Harvest
EieId.n

ieil on Gay thar ho went ont to hig father
~ lne r.hPeu. Add De said unto hla father.
my head, my headl And Be said to a lad.
carry him 60 hls mother Aud when he had
thkrn h'm and brought HIM 20 bic mother ho
y, y, "a nof knees iill noon, aud then died &C.,
III Kings ~, is, no, o.
There iB ~ least one happy home N shu-
n,u, no tne tnKunaneo and aniendor OF a
great house had been given the advent III y
child. Even when the Angel of I.ffo brlnge
q new SOM 20 The roor mans hut. a star IA
Joy shines over the mangor. Infancy. with
lts helplesnes and innocence, had pa-sed
away Days Of boyh00l had eome-days of
laughter end irolic, days of sunshine and
promise days OF strange questions and
curiosity and quick development. / supposo
among all the treasures OF tho house tho
brightest was ihe boy. One dav there n tho
shout OF reapeu heard aGeld. A BOYS
heart alWays bounds at tho sound of sickle
ot soythe. No sooner have tho harvesiers
Guy q sWnth across the Geld than the lad
lolLs tnem and the swathy reapors feel
young again az they look down nj that
ladi ms young and beautiful DC was Ruth
IN the harvest fields Of Bethlehem
sleAnlng after the reapon But the sun
was 700 not Tor HIN. Congestion Of the brain
seized ON him. ! see the swarthv lnb0rers
arop their slcklos; and they rush ont TO SEQ
what Is the matter, and they fan him and
they try 20 cool his brow: but all h of no
avail. IN tho instant Of consciousness. he
puls hls hands against hts temples and cries
OUT: 'Ny head my headm Aud tho father
sala' Garry him 20 his mother" Just as any
lHther would have said; Tor our hand 81 too
| IouRn, anc our voice Is too harsh. and our
| foot Is too loud 30 doctor m slck child n
th're be Ia our home o genllcr voice ana a
/ grhtier hand and @ stillor footstep. But all
d no avail. While the reapers OF Shunem
were busy IN the field, there came a stronger
reaper that way, with keener sevthe and for
a rlcher harvest. He reaped only one sheaf
but oh, what O golden sheaf was thatl / DO
/ not want to know any more about that heart
pfeaSing scene than what see IN Just this
I one pathetic sentence: che sat on her knees
/ ut' hooni and then died" Though hundreds
| OF years have passed away since that bow
/ skipped 10 the harvest-neld and then was
! brought home and died on his mothers ian
/ tthe story still thrills us. Indeed, Childhood
mas charm always and everywhere. shall
! now speak to You Of childhood; ia beauty
its susceptibility to impression, It's power
| over the parental heart, and its biissfu
/ transition from earth TO heaven.
! The ohild's beauty does not depend upo,,
Iorm or feature or complexion or apparel
/ Ihat destitute one that YOU saw on IN.
! street. bruised with unkindness and Ia rags
mas a charm about her, even under her des.
dtutlon. You have forgotten a great many
/ persons whom you met, OF finely cut feature
! and with erect posture and with faultles,
Z complexion. while you will always remem
I Der tue poor girl who, on a cod. moonligh
/ hignt, as you were passing late home, in he
/ thln shawl and barefoot on the pavement
put out her hand and said: "Please to civ,
me a penny" Ali how often we hay,
walked on and said: "Oh, that Is nothing
put street vaCahondism;" but after we got a
DOCK or two on, we stopped and said: "Ah.
tnat Is not ught;' and we passed up thai
same way and dropped q mite into that suf-
leflng hand. as though il were not a matter
ofsecond thought, so ashamed were we Of
our hard heartedness With what admira-
uon we all look upon a group Of children
on the play ground or In the school. and
we clap our hands almost involun-
tarily, and say: Chow beautifulw Al
stiffness and dignity are gone. anf
your shout is heard with theirs ana
you trundle their hoop, and Il,
their Kite, and strike their bali. and all youl
WEAKNESS and anxiety are gone as when q
chllu you bounded over the playground
yourself That father who stands rigid anf
unsympathetic amid the sportfuIness OF chill
dren, ought never to have been tempted ouI
OF crusty and unreGeemabe solitarlness
Inc waters leap down the rocks, but the,
nave not the graceful step of childhood
The morning comes out Of the gates of Tn,
East, throwing its silver on the lake and n
gold on the towers and its fire on the cloud
but 1t is not so bright and beautiful as thu
morning OF life! There is no light like tina
winch IS lindled in child's eve, no colo
IKE mat which blooms on a child's cheek
no music like the sound of a child's voice
| It's lace IN the nnOFnqf T,4afnra
lmperfecdon in art. When we are wear
with toll, their little hands pull the burden
on our back. Oh, what dull, stale, meal
world this would be without the sportful
ness OF children. When I find people tina
90 not like children, l Immediately doub
their moral and Christian character. Blu
Wheh the grace Of God comes upon a child
now unspeakably attractive. When Samue
begins to pray, and Timothy begins to rea
the scriptures and Joseph shows himsel
lnVulnerable to temptation-hoW beautiful
the scene! know that parents sometime
ger nervous when their children becom
pous, because they have the idea that goo
children always die. The strange question
eoout God and eternity and the dead. excit
apprehension in the parental mind rattle
tnan congratuatiOn. Indeed, there m
some people that seem marked for HEAVIER
rms world Is too poor garden for them t
S'cNtAA Ahs lto LleS OF heaven are in tn
petals. There is something about their fore
mead thatmakes you think that the hand q
Christ has been on 1t, saying: 'Iet this on
come to Me, and let it come to Sic soon
while That one tarred in the house You fe
there was an angel in the room, and yo
thought that every sickness would be In
last; and when, finally, the winds of deaf
ala scatter the leaves, you were no more sui
prised than to see a star come out above tb
cloud on dark night; for you hnd ogte
SAID to your companions "BIy dear. W
shall never raise that child But I scor
The idea that good children always di,
Samuel the plous boy became Samu,
the great prophet Christian Timothy b
came minister at Ephesus. Young DAME
consecrated to God, became prime minist,
OF all the realm, and there are in hundred
OF the schools and families of this countr
to-day children who love God and keep II
commandments, and who are to be foremo
among the Christians and the philanthr,
plsts and the reorners of the next century
The grace Of God never kills anyoLe
child will be more apt to grow up with r
ligion than It will be apt to grow up withol
it. Length Of days is promised to the RICH
eous. The religion OF Christ does not cram