The Penn's Grove record., 1896-07-31

sometimes too much blood in their eye whet
they chastised you. But, from what know
of you, you got no more than you deserved
and perhaps a little more chastisemen
would have been salutary. But you ar
willing to acknowledges. i think, that the.
wanted to do right. From what you over
heard in conversations and from what yot
saw at the family altar and At neighborho0C
~obse9uies you know that they had invited
God into their heart and their life. There
was something hat sustained those ole
people s~upernaturally. You have no doub
about their destiny. You expect If you ever gs
to heaven to meet them rs you expect to NEE
the Lord Jesus Christ.
That early asso cation has been a charm
for you. There was n time when you gO'
right up from II house OF iniquity and walksC
out into the fresh air because vol Thought
your mother was looking at You. You have
never been very happy in sin because Of {
sweet old face that would present itself
Tremulous voices from the past accostet yor
until they were seemingly audible, and you
looked around to see who spoke. There wa
an estate not mentioned in the last will and
testament, a vast estate of prayer and holy
example and Christian e~ntreaty and glorious
memory. The survivors Of the family gath
cred to hear the will read. and this was tC
be kept and that was to be sold, aud it was
''share and share alike But there was al
unwritten will that rea something like this
Tin the name OF God. amen, l being OF SCUM
mind, bequeath to my children all my pray
erS for their salvaiion; | pequeath TO then
all the r suits OF n lifetime's toll; l ~bequeatt
to them the Christian religion, which has
been 80 much comfortto me, and | hope may
be solace for them; l ~bequeath to them /
hope of Ieunion when the partings OF life art
over. Share aud share alike, may they in
herit eternal riches. 1 bsqueath to them tht
wish that they may avoid my errors anC
copy anything that may have been worthy
In tue name Of God who made int, and thu
Christ who redeemed me, aud the Holy
Ghost who sacrifices me-, 1 make this my las
will and testament. Witness all you most.
of heaven. Witness time, witness eternity
Signed, sealed and delivered in this oul
dying hour, Father and Motuer." You did
not get that will proved at the surrogate
office, but | take Ii out to-day and l read Il
to you. take 1t out of the alcOyes OF your
heart. l shake the dust off it. l ask if you
will accept that inheritance, or will yoi
break the will?
o We of Christian ancestry, you have 4
responsibility vast beyond all measurement
God will not let you OFF with just being IL
good as ordinary people when o had sucf
extraordinary advantage. Ought not {
flower planted in II dollhouse be more thrift!
than n flower planted outside III a storm
Ought not n factory turne by the Honsa
tonic do more work than a factory tn ned by
a thin and shallow mountain streamH OuSh
not you Of great early opportunity be bette
than those who had a cradle nnhlessed2 4
father sets his son up in business. HI
keeps an account OF all the expenditures, sc
much for store fixture. so much for rent, 81
much for this, so nue. for that, and all the
items aggregated, and the father expects thu
son TO give an account. Your Heavenly
Father charges against you all the advan
tages OF IL pieus anecs;ry-so many prayers
20 much Christian example, so many kline
entreatirs-all these gracious influences, on,
tremendous aggregate, nd he asks You To-
an account of II. Ought not you to be bette
than those who had no such advantage? Bet
ter have been a founding picked up off thi
city common than with such magniicen
Inheritance of"cons Grafton to turn out in
differently. Ought not YOU, my brother, Il
be- better. having had Christian puture, thul
the man who can truly say this morning
''The first word / remember my father speak
ing to me was an oath; the first tint re.
member my father taking hold of me was II
wrath; | never SAW a Bible till | was tel
years of age, aud then | was told it was 1
pack OF lies. The first twenty years OF my
life / was associated with the vicious. SCENE,
to be walled III by sin and death"
Now, my brother, ought you mott leave
1t as a matter OF fairness with you-ought yor
not to be better than those who had no early
Christian influence? Standing as you do be
tween the generation that is past and the
generation that Is to come, are you going to
pass the blessing on, or are you going tc
have your life the gulf in which that tide o.
blessing shall drop out OF sight forever? You
are the trustee Of piety in that ancestral linz.
and are you going to augment or SquandeI
that solemn trust fund.- Are you going to
disinherit your sons and daughters of the
heirloom which your parents left your All,
tkat n "a -. Ia. ,,Na5tlIa- a. nannnt ha rNA.athlA
that you are going to take such a position as
that. You are very careful about life insur.
ances, and careful about the deeds. aud
careful about the mortgage, and careful
about the title OF your property, because
when you step of the stage YOU want youi
children to get 1t all. Are you making NO
provision that they shall get grandfather's
or grandmother's reiigion2 Oh, what a last
will and testament you are making, my
brother! SIN the namo Of God, amer l,
being Of sound mind, make this my last will
and testament. l bequeath TO my children
all the money / ever made and all the houses
I own, but / q isinherit them, l rob them oil
the ancestral grace and the Christian in
fiuence that / inherited. 1 have %sQuandered
that on my own wor,dliness. Share and
share alike must they in the misfortune and
the everlasting outrage. Signed, sealed and
delivered in the presence of Col and men
and angels and devils and all the genera.
lions of earth and heaven and hell, July,
1885,"
o We of highly favored ancestry, wake u
this morning TO a sense of your opportunity
and responsibility. think there must bs an
old cradle or a fragment of Il cradle some
where that could tell a story of midnight
suppiication In your behalf. Where is the
Old rocking chair in which you were sung t.
sleep with the holy nursery rhymep Where
is the old clock that licked AVA the mo
ments of hat sickness on that awful night
when there were but three Of o awake
you and God and mother? Is there not ar
old stan In some closet2 We beg youto turf
over u new leaf this very day.
Oh. the power of ancestral piety, well il
Illustrated by a young man of New York who
attended n prayer meeting one night and
asked for prayers and then went home and
wrote down these words: Twenty-Five years
ago tonight my mother went to heaven, my
beautiful, blessed mother, and l have been
al me. tossed up and down upon the pillows
OF LIES tempestuous ocean. Shall 1 ever &C
to heaven? She told me / must meet her 10
heaven. When she took my hand in hers and
turned her gentle. loving eyes on me and
gazed earnestly and long into my face and
then lifted them to heaven In that Iiasi
prayer, she prayed that l might meet her in
heaven. wonder i'll ever shal2 My moth
sr's prayers-oh. my sweet, blessed mothers
pThyorbi Dlu oNeE u 10Y nhVo sucu q ulOtHel
as / hsd2 For twenty-five years l have moi
heard her pray until tonight. l have heart
her prayers all over again. They have had
In fact, a terrible resurrection. Oh, how she
was wont to pray! She prayed as they prayed
tonight, 80 earnest, SO importunate, so be
lieving. Shall / ever be a Christian? Sh'
was a Christian. Oh, how bright and pur'
and happy was her lifel She was a Cheerful
and happy Christian.
"TherSis my mothers Bible. have not
opened 1t for years. Did she believe l coult
ever neglect her precious Bibley She surely
thought l would read it much and often
How often has she read it to me! How die
she cause ne to kneel by my little bed ant
put my little hands up In the attitude o
prayer! How has she knelt by me and owe
me, and | have felt her warm tears %rainint
down upon my hands and facet Blessed
mother, did you pray in vain for your hov
It shall not be in vain. All, no, no, 1t shall
not be in vain. will pray for myself. Who
has stnned against SC much instruction as l
have2 Against SO many precious prayers
put mp to heaven FOR me by one of the most
lovely. tender, pious, eon1ding. trusting OF
mothers in her Heavenly Fathers care and
grace? She never doubted; she believed.
She always prayed as II she did. My Bible,
my mothers Bible and my conscience teach
what 1 am and what l have made myself.
oh tha hitler panQs of an accusing con-