The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1897-02-23
H.


1rowess. They admire Paul making Fe-
llx tremble and they only wish that
tn. had some such grand occasion in
which TO preach Righteousness. temper
lnce. and judgment 20 come. All they
want Is an opportunity to exhibit their
Christian heroism. Now the apostle
comes to as and he practically says: Il
viii show you a place where you can
exhibit all that Is grand and beautiful
and glorious In Christian character,
and that Is the domestic circle"
II one Is not faithful IN an insignia
cant sphere he will not be faithful In
rcsoundlng sphere. II Peter will not
help the cripple at the gate Of the TEN
pie. he will never be able TO preach .
three thousand souls into the kingdom /
az the Pentecost II Paul will not take
pains 10 instruct In the way OF saliva
ton the sheriff Of the Philipplan dun
geon, he will never make Felix trem-
bic. He who Is not faithful In n sklr-
mlah would not b. faithful In an Ar
mageddon. The fact Is. We are all
placed In Just the position IN which we
can most grandly serve God. and we
ought not TO be chiefly thoughtful
about some sphere Of usefulness which
we may after awhile gain. but the all
absorbing question with you and with
me ought to be: Lord. what wilt thou
have me tnow and herel 20 do?"
There IA one word in my text
around which the most Of our thoughts
will to-day rcyolye. The word "a
HOME Ask ten different men the
meaning OF that word and they will
give you ten different definitions. To
one Il means love at the hearth. Il
means plenty az the table. industry at
the workstanl. intelligence at the
books. devotion at the altar. To him
Il means a greeting nj the door and
smile at the chair Peace lowering like
wings. Joy clapying rs hands with
laughter. Life 4 tranquil lake. PHI
lowed on the rlpples sleep the shadows
Ask another man what homo h.. and
he will tell you Il Is want. looking out
OF a cherries nIe-grato and kneading
hunger IN an empty bread-tray. The
damp air shivering with curses. No
Bible on the shelf. Children. robbers
and murderors In embryo. vile songs
their lullaby. Every face a picture OF
ruin. Want In the background and sin
staring from the front. No Sabbath
wave rolling over that doorsill. Vesti-
hule OF the pit. Shadow OF Internal
walls Furnace for forging everlasting
chains. Faggots for an unending fun
eral pile. Awful word! Il Is spelled
with curses. u wecps with ruin. q,
chokes with woe. Il swoats with the
death-agony OF despair.
The word Home" In the one case
means everything bright. Tho word
Hone" In the other case means every
thing terrific.
shall speak 10 you Of home as a
test OF character. home a. refuge.
home a. political safeguard. home
as a school. and home as a type OF
heaven.
And In the FIRST place I remark that
homo Is a powerful test OF character
The disposition In public may be In
gay costume. while In private Il II In
dishabllle. AZ play-actors may appear
In one way on the stage and may ap-
pear In another way behind the scenes.
80 private character may be- very dlf-
ierent from public character Private
character 10 often public character
turned wrong side out A man may
receive you into his parlor as though
he we're a distillation OF smiles. and
yet his heart may be a swamp OF net
ties. There are business men who all
day long are mild and courteous and
genial and good-natured In CONNER
olal life. keeping back their lrritabuity
and their petulanoc and their dlscon-
tent: but At nigh,fal the dam breaks.
and scolding pours forth In foods and
freshota
Reputation IA only tho shadow OF
character. and a very small house
sometimes will cast a very long shad.
ow. The llps may seem 10 drop myrrh
ana cassia. and the disposition 10 be as
bright and warm asa sheaf OF sun.
beams, and yet they may only
be magnificent show window
TO a wrc,ched stock OF goods.
There Il many man who IA
anablo In public life and amid CONNER
clal spheres. who. In a cowardly way
takes bis anger and his petulanco home
and drops them In the domestic circle
The reason men DO not display their
bad temper IN public u because they
40 not want 20 be- knocked down. There
are men who hide their pctulance and
their lrrltabllliy Just for the same rea-
son that they DO not let their notes 80
to protest Il does no, pay. or for the
same reason that they DO no, want a
man In their stock company to sell his
stock AZ less than the right price. lest n
ieprcciate the value AZ az sunset the
wind riser so after a sunshlny day
there may be a tempes,uous night
There are people who In public act the
philanthfopls,. who at home act the
Nero, with respect TO their slippers and
heir Gown.
Audubon. the great ornithologist,
b with gun and pencil. went through the
! forests OF America to bring down and
20 sketch the beautiful birds. and after
years Of toll and exposure completed
his manuscript and put Il In a trunk
In Philadelphia for few days Of recro-
alton and rest. and came back and
J found that the rats had utterly de-
, siroyed the manuscript; but without
any dlscomposurc and without any IRE.
or bad temper, he again picked mp HIS
KUN and pencil and visited again al
the great forests Of America and repre-
ducod hts immortal work. And yet
there arc people with the ten.thous.
andth par, OF that loss who are utterly
irroconcllahlo. who. % the loss Of a pen.
cil or en- article ot mlmcnt. viii blow