The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1897-02-12

LX5sAMHT1preach righteous
R-FttSNS AZyBIH ness, temperance
T.DEwITT TALMAGE. and Judgment to
come. All they wants an opportunity
to exhibit their Christian heroism.
Now the apostle comes to US and he
practically SAYS: Il will show you a
place where you can exhibit all that is
grand and beautiful and glorious in
Christian character. and that is the do
nestle circle" If one is not faithful
in an insignificant sphere he
will not be faithful in a resound-
ing sphere. If Peter will not help the
cripple at the gate of the temple, he
Will never be able to preach 5000 souls
into the kingdom at the Pentecost. If
Paul viii not take pains to instruct IN
the way of salvation the sheriff of the
Philippian dungeon. he will never
make Felix tremble. He who is not
faithful in a skirmiSh would not be
faithful in an Armageddon. The fact
Is we are all placed in just the posi-
ton 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
(now and here to dor
There is one word in my text around
which the most of our thoughts will
to-day revolve. That word is home.
Ask ten different men the meaning of
that word and they viii give you ten
different definitions. To one it means
love at the hearth. it means plenty at
the table. industry at the workstand,
intelligence at the books, devotion at
the altar. To him it means a greeting
at the door and smile at the chair.
Peace lowering like wings Joy clap
ping its hands with laughter. Life a
tranquil lake. Pillowed on the ripples
sleep the shadows.
Ask another man what home is. and
he will tell you it is want Looking out
of a cherries fire CRATE and kneading
hunger in an empty bread tray. The
damp air shivering with curses. No
Bible on the shelf. Children. robbers
and murderers in embryo. Vile songs
their lullaby. Every face a pic
ture of ruin. Want in the background
and sin staring from the front. No
Sabbath wave rolling over that door
sill. Vestibule of the pit. Shadow of
Internal walls. Furnace for forging
everlasting chains. Faggots for an
amending funeral pile. Awful word!
1t is spelled with curses. it weeps with
ruin. it chokes with woe, it sweats
with the death agony of despair.
The word home" in the one case
means everything bright. The word
home" in the other case means every
thing terrific.
shall speak to you of home as test
of character, home as a refuge. home
as a political safeguard, home as a
school and home as type of Heaven.
And in the first place | remark that
home is powerful test of character.
The disposition in public may be in
gay costume. while in private it is in
deshabille. As play actor may appear
in one way on the stage and may APP
pear in another way behind the scenes,
so private character may be very diff
ferent from public character. Private
character is often public character
turned wrong side out. A man may
receive you into his parlor as though
he was diStillatiOn of smiles. and vet
his heart may be a swamp of nettles.
There are business men who all day
long are mild and courteous and genial
and good natured in commercial life,
keeping back their irritability and
petulance and their discomfort: but at
nightfall the dam breaks. and scolding
pours forth in floods and freshets.
Reputation is the only shadow of |
character. and a very small house |
will cast a very long shad- |
ow. The lips may seem to drop myrrh |
and cassia, and the disposition to be as
bright and warm as a sheaf of sun |
beams. and yet they may only be a |
show window to a
stock of goods. There is
many a man who is affable in public /
life and amid commercial spheres, who, |
m a cowardly way, takes his anger and |
Detulance home and drops them in the
domestic circle.
The reason men do not display their
bad temper in public is because they /
10 not want to be knocked down.
There are men who hide their petu-
lance and their irritability just for the
same reason that they do not let their
notes go to protest; it does not pay
Dr. for the same reason that they do
lot want a man in their stock company
20 sell his stock at less than the right
price, lest it depreciate the value. As
1t sunset the wind rises, so after sun
shiny day there may be tempestuous
night There are people who in pub
ic act the philanthropist, who at home
let the Nero, with respect to their
slippers and their gown
Now, that man who is affable in
public and who is irritable in private
$ making a fraudulent overissue of
took, and he is as bad as a bank that
night have 500, 900 or $500, 900 in bills