St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-02-06

IN awful centrifugal Of sin seeming TO
overpower the beautiful centripetal Of
Righteousness, and from 1t . groan
reached Heaven. Such . sound had
never been heard there. Plenty of
sweet sounds, but never an outcry Of
distress or an echo of agony. At
that ono groan the Prince rose from
all the blissful circumjacence, and
started for the outer gate and descend.
ed into the night Of this world. Out of
what bright harbor into what . rough
seal 'Stay with u.s." cried angel after
angel, and potentate after potentate.
NO." said the prince, II can not stay;
must be OF for that wreck Of . world.
must stop that groan. must hush
that distress. must fathom that
abyss. must redeem those nations.
Farewell, thrones and temples, hosts
cherubic. seraphic, archangelicl l
will come back again. carrying on my
shoulder ransomed world. Till this
Is done l choose earthly scoff to Heav.
enly acclamation, and . cattle pen to
q kings palace, frigid zone of earth to
atmosphere Of celestial radiance. l
have no time to lose, for bark ye to
the aroan that grows mightier while
waitl Farewell! FAREWELL "Yeknow
the grace Of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though He was rich, yet for your
sakes He becomes poor"
Was there ever contrast SO over:
powering as that between tho noon.
day of Christ's celestial departure and
the midnight of His earthly arrival?
Sure enough. the angels were out that
night in the sky, and An especial me-
teor acted as escort, but all that was
from other worlds, and not from this
world. The earth made NO demonstra.
tion of welcome. II one of the great
princes of this world steps out at a de-
pot, cheers resound, and the bands
play, and the flags wave. But for the
arrival this missionary prince OF
the skies not q torch fared, not q
trumpet blew. not . plume huttered.
All the music and the pomp were
overhead. Our world opened for Him
nothing better than barn door. The
rajah Of Cashmere sent to Queen Vic.
toria q bedstead Of carved gold and q
canopy that cost $4,000. but the
world had for the Prince of Heaven
and earth only litter Of straw. The
crown jewels in the tower of London
amount to SIS. .0OO, 600. but this member
of eternal royalty had nowhere to lay
His head. To know how poor He was,
ask the camel driver, ask the shep-
herds, ask Mary. ask the three wise men
Of tho east, who afterward came to
Bethlehem. To know how poor He was,
examine all the records of real estate
in all that oriental country, and see
what vineyard. or what field He owned.
Not one. OF what mortgage was lie
the mort9agee? OF what tenement was
He the landlord? OF what lease was
He the lessee? Who ever paid Him
rent? Not owning tho boat on
which He sailed. or the. beast on which
He rode, or the pillow on which He
slept. He had 50 little estate that in
order to pay HIS tax He had to per-
form q miracle, putting the amount of
the assessment in q fish's mouth and
having it hauled ashore. And after
His death the world rushed in to take
an inventory OF His goods, and the en-
tire aggregate was the garments He
had worn. sleeping In them by night
and travelling In them by day, bearing
on them the dust Of the highway and
the saturation Of the sea. St Paul In
my text hit the mark when he said Of
the missionary Prince: FOR your sake
He became poor"
The world could have treated Him
better if 1t had chosen. 1t had all the
means for making His earthly condi-
tions comfortable. Only few years
before when Pompey, the general. ar
rived in Brindisi he was greeted with
arches and . costly column which cell
ebrated the IL, ,OOO. 600 people whom he
had killed or conquered, and he was al
lowed to wear his triumphal robe in
the senate. The world had applause
for imperial butchers, but bufIeting
for the Prince of Peace. Plenty of
golden chalices for the favored to
drink out of, but our Prince must put
His lips to the bucket of the well by
the roadside after He had begged for
drink? Born in another mans barn,
and eating 1t another mans table.
and cruising the lake In another mans
fishing smack, and buried In another
mans tomb. Four inspired authors
wrote His biography .snd innumerable
lives of Christ have been published,
but He composed His autobiography
In . most compressed way. He said,
II have trodden the wine press alone"
Poor in the estim alton OF nearly all
the prosperous classes They called
him Sabbath-breaker, wine-bibber,
traitor, blssphemer. and ransscked
the dictionary of opprobrium from
cover to cover to express their detesta-
tion. / can think now Of only two
well-to-do men who espoused his
cause-Nicodemus and Joseph OF
His friends for the most
part were people who. In that climate
where ophthalmia or Inflammation of
the eyeball sweeps ever and anon ss
scourge. had become blind, sick
people who were anxious to get
we'll, and troubled people in whose
family there was some one dead or
dying. II He had . purse at all it
was empty. or We would have heard
what the soldiers did with the con-
tentA Poor7 The pigeon in the dove
cote, the rabbit in its burrow. the
silkworm in its cocoon, the bee In Its
hive, is better provided for, better on,
better sheltered. Aye, the brute ere
alton has = home on earth, which
Christ had not A poet says:
II ON windy days the raven
Gambol like dancing ski6.
Not the less he loves his haven
On the bosom OF the cli6.
Nalmost With eagle pinioa
Der the Alps the ehADois roam,
Yet he has some small dominion
which no doubt he calls his home.