Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1896-08-28

plea before some men OF great attain
ments, and a gentleman said TO him
afterward, How could you be so calm
standing in that august presenceT'
"Oh," said Erskine, Ifelt my children
pulling at my skirts crying for bread" "
What stream will you not swim, what
cavern will you not enter, what battle
will you not fight, what hunger will
you not endure for your children? Your
children must have bread though you
starve. Your children must be well
clothed though you go in rags. You
say, my children shall be educated,
though never had any chance. " What
to you are weary limbs and aching head
and hands hardened and callous If only
the welfare Of your children can be
wrought out by it? Their sorrow is your
sorrow, their JOY yo-r joy, their ad-
vancement your victory. And, oh. when
the last sickness comes, how you fight
back the march of disease, and it is
only after tremendous struggle that
you surrender. And then when the
spirit has fed the great deep is broken
up, and Rachel will not be comforied
because her children are not, and David
goes up the palace stairs, crying; 80
Absalom, my son, my son, would God L
had died for theel o Absalom, my son,
my sonl"
A Lost Treasure.
There is not large family, or hardly
a large family, that has not bent over
such treasure and lost it. In the fam
lily fold is there no dead lamb! l have
seen many such cases Of sorrow. There
is one pre-eminent in my memory as
pastor-Scoville Haynes McCollum.
The story Of his death has brought hun
dreds unto God. He belonged TO my
parish In the west. A thorough boy, 9
or 10 years Of age. Nothing morbid,
nothing dull about him. His voice
loudest and his foot swiftest on the
playground Often he has come into my
house and thrown himself down on the
floor in an exhaustion Of boisterous
mirth, and yet ne was Christian, con-
secrated to God. keeping his command
ments. That is the kind Of childish
piety believe in. When the days Of
sickness came suddenly and he was told
that be could not get well, he said;
Jesus alone can save me. Jesus VIII
save me. He has saved me. Don't cry,
mamma. | shall 60 right straight up to
heaven" And then they gave him
glass of water to cool his hot lips and he
said: Mamma. l shall take draft
from the water Of life after awhile, of
which if one drink he shall never get
thirsty again. l lay myself at Jesus feet,
and l want him to do just what he
thinks best to do with me-" In those
days "Rest For the Weary" was new
HYMN, and he had learned it, and in a
perfect ecstasy of soul in his last hour he
cried out:
"In the Christians home in glory
There remains q land Of rest.
There my Saviour's gone before me
To fulfill my souls request.
There Is rest for the weary,
There Is rest for you.
"sing, oh. sing. ye heirs Of glory.
Shout your triumphs as you go,
lions gates are open for you.
You shall hnd an entrance through.
There ID rest for the weary.
"There is rest for you, papa; there Is
rest for you, mamma" And then put
ting his hands over his heart, he said,
"Yes, there is rest for me-" And then
he asked them to read "The Lord is my
Shepherd; l shall not want He maketh
me to lie down i'll green pastures and
leadeth me beside still waters" and he
cried out: 80 death, where Is thy
sting? o grave, where is thy victory?"
Only 10 years old And then he said,
Now / wish you would just turn this
bed so / can look once more on the foli-
age and see the sun set. " And they
turned the bed. And he said, II do so
wish that Jesus would hurry and come
and take me. They said TO him,
why, are you not willing to await the
Lords timer" YES" he said, Il am,
but l would rather Jesus would como
and hurry and take me. " And so, with
a peace indescribable, he passed away.
The Gain Of Death.
Oh, there is nothing sad about a
child's death save the grief in the par
ent's heartl You see the little ones go
right out from a world Of sin and suffer
ing to world of joy. How many sor-
rows they escape, how many tempta-
tions, how many troubles! Children
dead are safe. Those that live are in
peril. We know not what dark path
they may take. The day may come IN
which they will break your heart but
children dead are safe-safe forever.
Weeping parents, do not mourn too Bit
terly over your child that has gone.
There are two kinds Of prayers made at
a child's sick bed. One prayer the Lord
likes; the other prayer he does not ike.
When a soul kneels down at child's
sick bed and says: 30 Lord, spare this
little one. He is very near TO my heart.
| don't want to part with him. but thy
will be done'-that is the kind OF
prayer the Lord loves There is another
kind Of prayer which l have heard men
make in substance when they say: 20
Lord, this isn't right 1t is hard to take
this child. You have no right to take
this child. Spare this child. l can't give
him up, and won't give him up. The
Lord answers that kind Of a prayer
sometimes The child lives on and lives
ON and travels off in paths of wicked
ness to perish. At the end of every
prayer for child's life say, "Thy will,
o Lord, be done
The brightest lights that can be kin.
died Christ has kindled. Let US, old and
young, rejoice that heaven is gathering
up so much that is attractive. In that
far land we are not strangers There
are those there who speak our name day
by day, and they wonder why so long
we tarry. II could count up the names
Of all those who have gone out from
these families into the kingdom OF
heaven, it would take me all day to
mention their names A great multi
tude Before the throne You loved them
once, you love them now, and ever and
anon you think you hear their voices
calling you upward. All, yes, they have
gone out from all these families, and
You want no book to tell you of the dy-
ing experience Of Christian children.