The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1898-03-05

EAfNsA- Z NGaA SLdlE - Va nv III
T$HAh MksgA MHErents, or the sun,
EiAiSAENS ZHMH or the flowers had
REV. TALMAeE- anything to say, he
was very apt to hear it. The EttriclS
shepherd of Scotland, who afterwards
took his seat in the brilliant circle of
Wilson and Lockhart, got his wonder
full poetic inspiration in the ten years
In which he was watching thelocks of
Mr.. Laidlaw. There is often a sweet
poetry in the rugged prose of the
Scotch shepherd. One of these
Scotch shepherds lost his only
son, and he knelt down in prayer.
and was overheard to say: 'Oh, Lord,
it has seemed good in thy prov
idence to take from me the staff of my
right hand at the time when to us
sand blind mortals l seemed to be most
in need of it; and how 1 shall climb up
the hill of sorrow and auld age with
out it, thou mayst ken, but L dinna-"
David, the shepherd boy, is watching
his fathers sheep. They are psstur-
ing on the very hills where afterward
q lamb was born of which you have
heard much, 1.-The lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of tho world"
David. the shepherd boy, was beauti-
full, brave, musical and poetic Think
he often forgot the sheep in his
reveries. There in the solitude he
struck the harp string that is thrill
ing through all ages. David, the boy,
was gathering the material for David
the poet and David the man. When
he became an old man, thinking of the
goodness of God, he seemed to hear
the bleating of his fathers sheep
across many years, and to think Of the
time when he tended them on the
Bethlehem hills, and he cries out In
the text: The Lord is my shepherd. "
II God will help me, 1 will talk to you
of the shepherds plaid, the shepherds
crook, the shepherds dogs, the shep-
herds pasture grounds and the shep-
herds hocks.
And first: The sheperd's plaid: II
would be preposterous for a man going
out to rough aud besoiling work to
put on splendid apparel. The potter
does not work in velvet; the serving
maid does not put on satin while toll
ing at her duties; the shepherd does
not wear a splendid robe in which to
go out amid the storms, and the rocks,
and the nettles; he puts on through ap.
p6ECA dPPAO = ~ ms S0POlSo WI n"
The Lord our shepherd, coming out to
hunt the lost sheep, puts on no regal
apparel, but the plain garment of our
humanity. There was nothing pre-
tentious about it. 1 know the old
painters represent a halo around the
babe Jesus; but l do not suppose that
there was any more halo about that
child than about the head of any other
babe that was born that Christmas eve
In Judea- Becoming a man, He wore
q seamless garment TIL scissors and
needle have done nothing to make 1t
graceful. 1 take il to have been a sack
with three holes in it; one for the neck,
and two for the arms. Although the
gamblers quarreled I'VE it, that Is no
evidence of its value. 1 have
seen two rag pickers quarrel
over the refuse OF an ash barrel,
No; in the wardrobe of Heaven He
left the sandals of light, the giriles Of
beauty, the robes of power, and put on
the besoiled and tattered raiment of
our humanity. Sometimes He did not
even wear the seamless robe. What is
that hanging ebout the waist of
Christi Is it a badge of authority Is
1t a royal coat of armsp No; it Is q
towel. The disciples feet are filthy
from the walk on the long way, and
are not fit to be put upon the sofas on
which they are to recline at the meal,
and so Jesus washes their feet, and
gathers them up in the towel to dry
them. The work of saving this world
was rough work, rugged work, hard
work; aud Jesus put on the raiment
the plain raiment. of our flesh The
storms were 70 bea Him, the crowds
were to jostle Him. the dust was to
sprinkle Him, the mobs were to pursue
Him. Oh! Shepherd of Israeli leave at
home Thy bright array. For Thee,
what streams to ford, what nights all
unshelteredi
Next I mention the shepherds crook.
This was a rod with a curve at the end,
which, when a sheep was going astray,
was thrown over it's neck; and in that
way 1t was pulled back. When the
sheep were not going astray. the shep-
herd would often use it as a sort of
crutch, leaning on it; but when the
sheep were out of the way, the crook
was always busy pulling them back.
All we. like sheep, have gone astray.
and had it not been for the shepherds
crook, we would have fallen long ago
over the precipices. Here Is a man
who is making too much money. He
is getting very vain. He saysI After
awhile l shall be independent Of all
the world. o, my soul. eat, drink and
be merry" Business disaster comes
10 him. What Is God going to do
with himP Has God any grudge
against him3 o. no. God Is throw
ing over him the shepherd's crook
and pulling him back into better pas
lures. Here is a man who has always
been well. He has never had any
sympathy for ~invalids; he calls them
coughing, wheeling ~nuisances- After
awhile sickness comes to him. He
does not understand what God is going
to do with him. He says: is the Lord
angry with meP' On, no. With the
shepherds crook he has been pulled
into better pastures Here is u happy
household circle. The parent does not
realize the truth that these children
are only loaned to him, and he forgets
from what source come his domestic
blessings. Sickness drops upon those
children, and death swoops upon a
little one. He saws: SIS God angry
with me?" No. His shepherds crook
pulls him back into better pastures. L
do not know what would have become
of us if it had not been for the shep-
herds crook. Oh, the mercies of our
troublesl You take up apples and
plums from under the shade of the
trees. and the very best fruits of Chris
tian character we fad in the deep
ahade of trouble.
When / was on the steamer coming
across the OCEAN / got a c'nder in my
eye, n several persons tried to get it