The Progress., 1898-10-22

by the ordinary rate OF multiplication OF
the worlds population in u century, your
descendants will be over three hundred
ana by two centuries over fifty thousand
and upon every one Of them, you, the
! mother Of to-day, will have an influence for
good or evil. And il in four centuries your
| descendants shall have with their names
| filled q scroll OF hundreds Of thousands.
will some angel from heaven, to whom is
| given tho capacity to calculate the num-
| Der OF the stars Of heaven aud tho sands
| OF the seashore, step down and tell US how
| to be an octogenarian. That Is we'll, but
my subject sweeps thousand years,
! million years, a 9uadrillion Of years. |
| cannot stop at one cradle, | am looking at
| the cradles that reach all around the
world and across all time. am not talk
| ing OF mother Eunice. / am talking OF
! grandmother Lois.
Good or bad influence may skip one gem
! Grafton or two generations, but 1t will be
sure to land In the third or fourth genera
| ton, Just as the Ten Commandments,
| speaking Of the visitation Of God on fam
! lilies, says nothing about the second gen.
Grafton, but entirely skips the seconds, and
! speaks Of the third and fourth generation:
"Visiting the iniQuties OF the fathers upon
! that hate me-" Parental influence, right
and wrong, may jump over generation,
many descendants you will have in the
| four thousandth year OF the worlds pos
| sible continuance? Do not let the grand
mothers any longer think that they are re-
tired, and sit clear back out of sight from
the world feeling that they have no re-
! iation to it. The mothers Of the last century
are to-day in the person Of their de-
scendants, in the Senates, the Parlia-
ments, the palaces, the pulpits, the banking
houses, the professional chairs, the prisons,
| the almshouses, the company OF midnight
brigands, the cellars, the bitches Of this
century. You have been thinking about
the Importance of having the right in
tluence upon one nursery. You have been
thinking of the Importance ofgetting those
two little feet on the right path. You have
been thinking OF your child's destiny for
the next eighty years, If it should pass on
but 1t will come down further on rs sure as
you sit there and | stand here. This eX-
plains what we often see-some man or
woman distinguished for benevolence when
the father and mother WerO distinguished
for penuriousness, or you SEQ some young
man or woman with bad father and q
hard mother come out glOriOu5ly for Christ,
and make the Church sob and shout and
sing under their eXhOrtations. We stand
In corners OF the vestry and whisper over
the matter, and say, GLOW is this, such
great piety in sons and daughters OF such
parental worldliness and SIM" will ex-
plain 1t to you II you will fetch me the old
family Bible containing the full record.
Let some septuagenarian look with me
clear upon the page Of births and mar
ri and fall m whn that
with the old fashioned name Of Jemima
or Betsy or Mehitabel. All, there size Is,
the old grandmother, or great-srand.
mother, who had enough religion to sat-
urate century.
There she is, the dear old soul, Grand
mother Lois. In beautiful Greenwood
Cemetery there is tho resting place OF
George w. Bethune. once minister Of
Brooklyn Heights, his name never spoken
among intelligent Americans without sug-
costing two things-eloquence and evan
gelism. In the same tomb sleeps his grand
mother, Isabella Graham, who was the
chief inspiration Of his ministry. You are
not surprised at the poetry and pathos and
pulpit power OF the grandson when you
read OF the faith and devotion Of his won
derful ancestress, When you read this let
ter, In which she poured out her widowed
soul in longings for sons salvation, you
will not wonder that succeeding genera
tions have been blessed
New York, May 20, 1901.
This day my only son loft me in bitter
wringngs of heart; he Is again launched
on the ocean-God's ocean. The Lord
saved him from shipwreck, brought him to
my home, and allowed me once more to in.
dulge my affection over him. He has been
!. with me but short time, and i'll have I
improved 1t; he Is gone from my sight, and
| my heart bursts with tumultuous grief
[ Lord, have mercy on the Widows son, "the
, only son OF his mother"
l ask nothing In this world for him; re.
, peat my petition, Save his soul alive, give
him salvation from sin. It Is not danger o.
the seas that distresses me; 1t is not the
r hardships he must undergo; 1t Is not the
dread Of never seeing him more in thi!
world; 1t is because I cannot discern thu
l fulAlment Of the promise In him. cannot
discern the new birth nor Its fruit but ever!
, symptom Of captivity to satan, the world
, and self-wilI. This, this is what distresse:
me; and in connection with this his beinl
shut out from ordinances ut a distanc,
, from Christians; shut up with those whit
forget God, protane His nahe, and breal
| His Sabbaths; men who often live and di'
like beasts, yet are accountable creatures
l who must answer for every moment OF tim'
l and every word, thought ID action. {
Q Lord, many wonders hast thou shown me
. Thy ways Of dealing with me and mine hav
not been common ones; add this wonder t.
! the rest. Call, convert, regenerate and es
y tablish sailor in the faith. Lord, al
3 things are possible with Thee; glorlfy TIL
Y Son aud extend His kingdom by sea an
: laud; take the prey from the strong. rol
Q him over upon Thee. Many friends try t.
t comfort me; miserable comforters are the
o all. Thou art the God Of consultations; onl
n confirm to me Thy precious word, on whlc
r Thou causedst me to hope in the day whe
a Thou saidst to me, "Leave thy fatherles
n children, will preserve them alive" Onl
a let this life be spiritual life, and put
v blank In Thy hand as to alltemporal thing:
!. wait for Thy salvation. Amen.
d With such a grandmother, would yo
9 not have right to expect George W
g Bethune? And all the thousands converte,
IS through his ministry may date the sayin;
. power back to Isabella, Graham.
q God fill the earth and the heavens wit
a | euch an0m Of harc. WA mn al coma dow ~