St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-11-27
OUR LOST LITTLE ONES.
DR.. Talmage Sends Comfort 20
Bereaved Parents.
Blessings In Abbreviated Existence In that
u h Assurance Against Moral Dis.
astor aad the Cares Aa0
Troubles Of Earth.

rroubles u Earth.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage, in the fol-
lowing sermon pours balm upon the
wounds in the hearts Of parents bereft
Of their children. The text is:
The righteous Is taken away from tbs evil to
come.-Isaiah lvii, l.
We all spend much time in pane3yric
of longevity. We consider it great
thing to live to be an Octogenarian. II
anyone dies in youth we say: "What
. pityr DR.. Muhlenbcrgh. in old age,
said that the hymn written in early
life by his own hand, no more ex-
pressed his sentiment when it said:
Z IA Iwould not live aiway.
. II one be pleasantly circumstanced.
he never wants to 60 William Cullen
Bryant. the great poet, at 81 years OF
age. standing in my house in . festal
group. reading ''Thanatopsis' without
spectacles, was just as anxious to live
as when At IS years Of age he wrote
that immortal threnody. Cato feared
at 30 years of age that he would not
live to learn Greek. Monaldesco. at
lis years, writing the history OF his
time, feared . collapse. Theophrastus.
writing . book at 80 years OF age.
was anxious to live to completes it.
Thurlow Weed, At about 81 years Of
age, found life Is great = desirability
rs when hc snuffed ont his first poll
tician. Albert Barnes, SO we'll pre-
pared for the next world At 20, said he
would rather stay here. SO it is all
the way down. suppose that the last
time that Methuselah was out OF doors
in storm he was afraid of getting his
feet wet lest it should shorten his days.
Indeed, I some. time ago preached .
sermon on the blessings of lon
gevity. but I now propose 70
preach to you about the blessings
Of an abbreviated earthly exist
ence. If were IN agnost,c would
say . man is blessed in proportion to
the number OF years he can stay on
terra TRINA, because after that he falls
of the docks, aud if he is ever picked
out Of the depths, it is only 70 be set
up in some morgue of the universe to
see If anybody will claim him. II l
thought God made man only to last
forty or fifty or = hundred years. and
then he was to go into annihilation, l
would say his chief business ought to
be to keep alive and even in good
weather to be very cautious, and to
carry an umbrella and take overshoeS
and life preservers, and bronze armor
and weapons of defense, less he fall on
into nothingness and obliteration.
But my friends, you are not agnos-
tics. You believe in immortality and
the eternal residence of the righteous
in Heaven, and, therefore, first re-
mark that m abbreviated earthly ex-
Silence il to he desired, and is bless
ing, because it makes ones life-work
very compact
Some men 70 to business at seven
o'clock in the morning and return at
seven in the evening. Others 60 II
eight o'clock and return ut twelve.
Others 60 at ten and return at four.
have friends who are ten hours . day
in business; others who are i've hours;
others who are one hour. They oil dc
their work we'll; they do their entire
work and then they return. Which
position do you think the most dcsir'
ADLER You say, other things being
equal. the man who is the. shortest
time detained in business. and who car
return nome ths quickest is&Aes most
blessed. -
Now, my friends, why not carry thai
good sense into the subject Of e3nsfer
ence from q weEI If q bersonsdie
in childhood lio8 ess through hisawori'
ut nine oecloek sin the morning. i hs
die ut 64ed = .gef he eetsgs19 Sh
his word g Sclbek nooe:3 \ Die
at 70 years Of age. he gets thfouY 3 his
work ut i've o'clock In tie
II he die At 80 he has to toll alf'nk way
up 10 lf6'eiocs At night 1lobpel
we get through our work the better
The h.f,sstsa II e:sEssak q e RE s, tn.
blefield. but, shouldering his scythe
and taking Ills pitcher sfou Under the
tree, he makes staight hue for the ole
homestead. All we want to be anxioul
about is to get our work done. and vel
done. and the quicker the better.
Again: There is . blessing in IN ab
breviated earthly existence in the fac
that moral disaster might come upor
the man If he Earried long. Recently
! man who had been prominent il
churches, and who had been admired
for his generosity and kindness every
where, for forgery was sent to thu
state PRISON. for Is years Twenty
years ago there was no more prOba
biiity of that mans committing u com
mercial dishonesty than you win com
init commercial dishonesty. Th'
number of men who fall into ruiz
between 50 and 20 years Of age il
il appalling. II they had died 50 year
before, it would have been better TO
them and better for their families
The shorter the voyage, the les
chance for . cyclone.
There is . wrong theory abroad
that il ones youth be right his oil
age will be right You might rs wei
say there is nothing wanting for
ships safety except to get it full.
launched on the Atlantic ocean.
have sometimes asked those who wer
school-mates or college-mates of som
great defaulter: "What kind of . bo
WAS hef What kind of . young ma
was her" And they have said: why
he was . splendid fellow; had no ide
he could ever 90 into such an outrage.
The fact ID. the great temptation q
| life sometimes come far on in midlif(
or in old age.
The drst time I crossed the Atlanti
ocean, it was - smooth Is = mill pond
and thought the sea captains an
voyagers had slandered the old oceaE
and l wrote home IN essay for : mags
| zine ON The Smile OF the Sea. but