St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-11-27
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to 70 In with the engineer
and take our plaee right sm6
the saws and the cylinderA We
wear our eyes ous and our
brain out from the fact that we are
studying under such great disadvan.
tage. Millions Of dollars for observa.
tories to study things about the moon.
about the sun, about the rings Of Sat-
urn. shout transits and POPULATIONS
and cell se&. simply because. our stu
do. our observatory is poorly situated.
We are down in the cellar trying to
study the palace of the universe, while
our departed Christian friends have
gone upstairs amid the skylights 70
study. Now, when one can sooner get
to the center of things, Is he not to be
congratulated? Who wants to be al
ways in the freshman class? We
study God in this world by the Bibli-
cal photograph OF Him; but we all
know we can, in five minutes Of inter-
view with friend. get more accurate.
idea of him than we can by studying
him 50 years through pictures or;
words. The little child that died last
night knows more Of God than all An.
dover and all Princeton, and all New
Brunswick, and all Edinburgh. and al
the theological institutes in Christen-
dom. Is it not better to 20 mp to the
very headquarters of knowledge?
Does not our common sense teach a.
that it is better 10 be at the center
than to be clear out on the rim Of the
wheel. holding nervously fast to the
tire, lest we be suddenly hurled into
light and eternal felicity? Through
all kinds OF optical instruments trying
TO peer in through the cracks and the
keyholes of Heaven-afraid that both
doors Of the celestial mansion will be
swung wide open before our entranced
vision - rushing about among the
apothecary shops of this world. won
dering il this is good for rheumatism,
and that is good for neuralgia, and
something else is good for bad cough,
lest we be suddenly ushered into .
land of everlasting health. where the
lnhabitant never says: II am sick"
It the spirit of this sermon is true,
how consoIed you ought to feel about
members Of. your family that went
early. Taken FROM the evil to come"
this book says What fortunate es.
cape they had! How glad we ought to
feel that they will never have to go
through the stl uggles which we have
had to 60 through. They had just
time enough TO get out OF the cradle
and run mp the springtime hills Of this
world and see how they looked, and
then they started for a better stopping
place. They were like ships that put
in 1t St Helena, staying there long
enough to let passengers go mp and SEQ
the barracks of Napoleon's captivity,
and then hoist sail for the port of their
own native land. They only took this
world in transitu. It is hard for us,
but it is blessed for them.
And il the spirit of this sermon is
true, then we ought not to 60 around
signing and grooming when another
year is going; but we ought to 60 down
on one knee by the milestone and see
the letters and thank God that we are
800 miles nearer home. We ought not
to 60 around with morbid feelings
about our health or about anticipated
demise. We ought not to be living &C
cording to that old maxim which used
to hear in my boyhood. that we must
live as though every day were the last;
you must live Is though you were to
live forever. for you will. Do not be
! nervous lest you.have to move out Of .
shanty into IN Alhambra-
One Christmas day witnessed some
thing very thrilling. We had just dis
tributed the family presents Christmas
morning, when heard great cry OF
distress in the hallway. A child from
| q neighbor's house came in to say her
father was dead. It was only three
doors of, and I think in two minutes
we were there. There lay the old
Christian sea captain. his face upturned
toward the the window, . though he
had suddenly seen the headlands, and
with an illuminated countenance. q
though he were just going into harbor.
The fact was he had already got
through the "Narrows." In the ad'
Joining room were the Christina
presents waiting for his distribu-
ton. Long ago. one night when he
had narrowly escaped with his ship
from being run down by q great ocean
steamer, he had made his peace with
God, and kinder neighbor or . better
man than Capt Pendleton you would
not find this side Of Heaven. Without
u moments warning, the Pilot OF the
heavenly harbor had met him just Oh
the lightship. -
He had often talked to mo OF thu
goodness of God, aud especially OF Z
time when he was about to enter New
York harbor, with his ship from Liv
erpool, and he was suddenly impressed
that he ought to put back to sea. I'm
der tho protest Of the crew and under
their very threat he put back to sea
fearing at the same time he was losing
his mind, for it did seem so unreason
able that when they could get into har
Dor that night they should put back 4
sea. But they put back TO sea. and Capt
Pendleton said to his mate: "You cal
me 1t ten o'clock at night" At /
o'clock 1t night the captain was arouset
aud said: .What does this mean?
thought told you to call me 1t tel
o'clock, and here it 10 IL" why.
said the mate. II did call you 1t tel
o'clock, and you got mp looked arount
and told me 10 keep right ON the sam
course for two hours, and then to cal
Won 1t u o'clock" Said the captain
lis it possible3 I have no remem
brance Of that"
At II o'clock the captain went O
deck, and through the rift Of a'clou'
the moonlight fell upon the SEA- an
showed him = shipwreck with 10
struggling passengers. He helpe'
them OF. Had he been any earlier o