St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-09-19

testament you are making. my brotherI
''In the name of God, amen. l. being
Of sound mind. make this my last vii!
end testament. ! bequeath to my
children all the money l ever made
and all the horses own; bus
I disinherit them. rob them Of the
ancestral grace and the Christian in.
auence that inherited. have squan-
dered that on my own worldliness.
Share and share alike must they in the
misfortune and the everlasting out
rage. Signed, sealed and delivered in
the presence of God and men, and an
gels. and devils, and all the genera
tions Of earth and Heaven and hell,
July, 1896"
oh, We Of highly favored ancestry
your opportunity and responsibility.
I think there must be On old cradle. or
. fragment of cradle somewhere that
could tell story of midnight suppli-
cation in your behalf. Where is the
old rocking-chair in which you were
sung to sleep with the holy nursery
rhym? Where is the old clock that
licked away the moments Of that sick-
ness on that awful night when there
were but three Of you awake-you and
God and mother? Is there not an old
staff in some closet? We beg You to
turn over a new leaf this very day.
Oh! the power of ancestral piety.
we'll illustrated by young man of New
York who attended a prayer meeting
one night and asked for prayer. and
then went home and wrote down
these words: twenty-five years ago
tonight my mother went to Heaven.
my beautiful, blessed mother, and I
have been alone, tossed up and down
upon the pillows of life's tenn
pestuous ocean. Shall I ever go to
Heaven? She told me / must meet
her in 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 last prayer,
she prayed that might meet her in
Heaven. wonder il l ever shall?
My mothers prayers. Oh! my sweet.
blessed mothers prayers. Did ever a
boy have such mother as had? For
IS years l have not heard her pray
until tonight have heard all
her prayers over again. They have
had in fact terrible resurrec.
tion. Oh! how she was won't to pray.
She prayed as they prayed tonight.
SO earnest, SO impOrtunate, so below
ing. Shall I ever be Christian? She
was Christian. Oh! how bright and
pure and happy was her life. She was
q cheerful and happy Christian. There
is my mothers Bible. l have not
opened it for years. Did she believe l
could ever neglect her precious Bible?
She surely thought would read it
much and often. How often has she
read it to me. How did she cause me
to kneel by my little bed and put my
little hands up in the attitude Of
prayer. How has she knelt by me
and over me, and I have felt her
warm tears raining down upon my
hands and face. Blessed mother. dill
you pray in vain for your boy? 1t
shall not be in vain. All! no, no, il
shall not be in vain. / will pray for
myself. Who has sinned against so
much instruction - / have? Against
SO many precious prayers put up to
heaven for me by one of the most
lovely, tender. pious, confiding. trust
ing of mothers in her Heavenly
Fathers care and grace. She never
doubted: she believed "She always
prayed as if she did. My Bible, my
mothers Bible, and my Conscience
teach what l am and what l have
made myself. Oh! the bitter pangs
of an accusing conscience. l need
q Saviour mighty to save. l must seek
Him. will. i am on the sen of exc
istence, and I can never get of from it.
am afoat No anchor, no rudcer. no
compass, no book of instructions, for 1
have put them all away from me.
Saviour Of the perishing, save, or I
perish" Do you wonder that the mex:
day he arose in prayer meeting and
said: "My brethren, stand before you
a monument of Gods amazing mercy
and goodness; forever blessed be His
holy name: all have and all am I
consecrate to Jesus, my Saviour and
my Qod?" Oh! the power Of ances trail
prayer. Hear it! Hear it!
But l turn for q moment to those
who had evil parentage, and l want
to tell you that the highest thrones in
Heaven sand the mightiest triumphs
and the brightest crowns will be for
those who had evil parentage, but
who by the grace of God conquered
conquered. As good, as useful, as
splendid q gentleman as l ever knew
had for father a man who died bias.
pheming God until his neighbors had
to put their fingers in their ears to
shut cut the horror. One of the
most consecrated and useful Chris.
tan ministers Of today was
the SON OF drunken horse
jockey. Tide of evil tremendous in
some families. It is like Niagara rap.
ids, and. yet men have CHING to rock
and been rescued. There Is family
in New York, whose wealth has rolled
up into many millions, that was found
ed by q man who, after he had vast es
tate, sent back paper of lacks be
cause they we're two cents more than
he expected. Grip and grind and
gouge in the fourth generation-I sup
pose it Will be grip and grind and
gouge in the, twentieth genera.
ton. The thirst Of intoxicants has
burned down through the arteries Of
$50 years. Pugnscity or colnbative-
ness characterize other families. Some
times one form of evil, sometimes an.
other form of evil. But it may be re-
sisted, it has been resisted. II the
family frailty be avarice,. culti-
vate unselfishness and charity,
and teach your children never to
eat an apple without Offering some
body else half of it Is the family
frailty combativeness, keep out of the
company of quick-tempered people,
and never answer an impairment ques-
ton until you have counted l00 both
ways, and after you have written an
angry letter, keep it week before you
send it, and then burn it up Is the
family frailty timidity and cow
ardice, cultivate backbone; read
the biography Of brave men
l;ko IoShua Or paul and see II