St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-10-17
1ALTAGE's SERMON.
Houohingiy Beautiful Discourse On
Christianity q Ohildhood.


Rev. 7. Dewitt Talmage delivered
the following sermon before his Wash-
ington eongrsgation, taking for his
text:
And whea the child was grown. II fell on .
Cay that he went out 70 his father to the reap
era 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 dieA.-u Kings w., 10. 10,
%
There il 1t least one happy home In
Shuncm- To the luxuriance and
splendor Of q great house had been
given the advent of child. Even
when tho Angel Of Life brings new
soul to the poor mans hut, star OF
Joy shines over the manger. Infancy.
with its 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. Isuppose 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 q. swath
across the field than the lad joins them,
and the swarthy reapers eel young
AGAIN as they look down at that lad.
~ bright and beautiful rs was Ruth
In the harvest fields of bethlehem
cleaning sitter the reapers. But the
sun was too hot for him. Congestion
Of the brain seized on him. l see
the swarthy laborers drop their sickles;
and they rush out to see what 10 the
matter. 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 head!
And the father said: Garry him to
his mother" just - 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 sick child,
| IL there be In our home . gentler voice
and = gentler hand and . stiller foot
step But all of no avail. While the
reapcrs Of Shunem were busy in the
field, there came n stronger Reaper
. richer harvest. He reaped only
one sheaf, but o, what . golden
sheaf was that! do not want
to know any more about that
heartbreaking scene than what oee
in just one pathetic sentences: "He sat
on her knees till noon and then died. :"
Though hundreds of years have passed
away since that boy skipped to the
harvest-feld and then was brought
home and died on his mothers lap. the
story still thrills ~. Indee d. child
hood has charm always and every
where. shall now speak to you of
childhood; its beauty. its susceptible
ity to impression, its power over the
parental heart, and its blissful transit
ton from earth to Heaven.
The child 8 beauty does not depend
upon form OF 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 destitution.
You 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 . cold, moonlight night, rs you
were passing late home, in her thin
shawl and barefoot on the pavement,
put outsher hand and said: please to
give me1 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
MP that same way and dropped
. mite into that suffering hand, as
though it were not . matter of second
thought, SO ashamed were we of our
hard-heartedness. 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 ny then
kite, and strike their hall. and all your
WEAKNESS and anxiety are gone as
when y 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 solitarines& The waters
leap down the rocks. but they have
not the graceful step Of childhood.
The morning comes out Of the gates
of the east, throwing its silver on the
lake and its gold ON the towers and ita
fire on the cloud; but It is not so bright
and beautiful as the morning Of life!
There il NO light like that which ID
kindled in . child's eye. no color like
that which blooms on . childis cheek,
no music like the sound of = child's
voice. Its face in the poorest picture
redeems any imperfection in art
When We are weary with toll, their
little hands pull the burdens Oh our
hack.
O, what 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
actcr. But when the grace Of God
comes upon q child, how unspeakably
attractive. When Samuel begins t.
pray, and Timothy begins to read the
Scriptures, and Joseph shows himself
invulnerable to temptation-how beau
tiful the scenel I know that parent.
sometimes get nervous when their
children become pious, because they
have the idea that good children al
ways die. The strange questions
about God and eternity and the dead
Nxcite apprehension In the parental
mind rather than cougratulation.
Indeed>s there are some people
THAT seo0ed marked for Heaven.
This word i too poor . garden for
them to bloom in. The hues of Heav-
en- are in the petals. There is some
thing about their forehead that makes
| you think that the hand of Christ has
been on it, asying: LET this. one
| come to Me. aad let il come to Ne