The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1898-11-19
cats. Eighty thousand divorces in

TeNOlullOn lndl rance ever SAW anu
l tell you what you know as well as l
do, that wrong notions on the subject
of Christian marriage are the cause at
this day of more moral outrage before
God and man than any other cause.
There are some things that / want
to bring before you. know there are
those of you who have had homes set
up for great many years; and then
there are those here who have just es-
tablished their home. They have only
been in that home few months or a
few years. Then, there are those who
will, after awhile, set up for them
selves home, and it is right that /
should speak out upon these themes.
My first counsel to you is, have God
in your new home, if it be new home;
and let Him who was a guest at
Bethany be in your household; let
the Divine blessing drop upon your
every hope and plan of expectation.
Those young people who begin with
God end with Heaven. Have on your
right hand the engagement ring OF the
Divine affection. If one of you be a
Christian, let that one take the Bible
and read few verses in the evening
time, and then kneel down and COM
mend yourselves to Him who setteth
the solitary in families. / want to tell
you that the destroying angel passes
by without touching or entering the
door-post sprinkled with blood of the
everlasting covenant. Why is it that
in some families they never get along,
and in others they always get along
we'll? | have watched such cases, and
have come to a conclusion. In the
first instance, nothing seemed to go
pleasantly, and after awhile there
came a devastation, domestic disaster,
or estrangement. Why? They start
ed wrong. In the other case, although
there were hardships and trials and
some things that had to be explained,
still things went on pleasantly until
the very last. Why? They started
right.
My second advice to you in your
home is, to exercise to the very last
possibility of your nature the law OF
forbearance. Prayers in the house
hold will make up for everything. Some
of the best people in the world are the
hardest to get along with. There are
people who stand up in prayer-meet-
ings and pray like angels, who at
home are uncompromising and
cranky. You may not have every
thing just as you want it. Sometimes
twill be the duty of the husband and
sometimes of the wife to yield; but
both stand punctiliously on your
rights, and you will have Waterloo
with no Butcher coming up at night
fall to decide the conflict.
Never be ashamed to apologize when
you have done wrong in domestic af-
fairs. Let that be the law of your
household. The best thing / ever
heard of my grandfather, whom l
never saw, was this: That once, hav-
ing unrighteously rebuked one of his
children, he himself having lost his
patience, and, perhaps, having been
misinformed of the child's doings,
found out his mistake, and in the
evening of the same day gathered all
his family together and said: "Now,
/ have one explanation to make, and
one thing to say, Thomas, this morn
ing l rebuked you very unfairly. / am
very sorry for it. rebuked you in
the presence of the whole family, and
now l ask your forgiveness in their
courage to do that. 1t was right, was
it not? Never be ashamed to apollo
| gize for domestic inaccuracy. Find
out the points, what are the weak
points, if | may call them so of your
companion, and then stand aloof from
them. Do not carry the fire of your
temper too near the gunpowder. If
the wife be easily fretted by disorder
in the household, let the husband be
careful where he throws his slippers.
If the husband come home from the
store with his patience exhausted, do
not let the wife unnecessarily cross
his temper; but both stand up for
your rights, and / will promise the
everlasting sound of the war-whoop.
Your life will be spent in making up,
and marriage will be to you an I'M
mitigated curse. Cowper said:
The kindest and the happiest pair
| Will find occasion to forbear;
And something every day they live,
To pity, and perhaps forgive.
! have seen the sorrow of goddess
mother on the death of child she hac
neglected. 1t was not so much grief
that she felt from the fact that the
child was dead as the fact that she had
neglected it. She said: "If had only
watched over and cared for the child
l know God would not have taken it.
The tears came not; it was a dry
blistering tempest-a scorching 81
moon of the desert. When she wrHne
her hands it seemed as if she would
twist her fingers from their sockets;
when she seized her hair, it seemed al
if she had, in wild terror, grasped g
coiling serpent with her right hand
No tears! Comrades of the little one
came in and wept over the coffin;
neighbors came in and the moment
they saw the still face of the child the
shower broke. No tears for her. Goo
gives tears as the summer rain to the
parched soul; but in all the universe
the driest and hottest, the most scorch
ing and consuming thing is mother.