Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1899-05-17
Sermons O| |||e boy
Preached by Rev. DR.. Talmage.


Subjects "LoOkinE Backward"-It 10 Well
to Review the Past and Arouse the
Soul to "Reminiscences Of Dangers Els.
capped and Sorrows Suffered.
TEXT: "While I was musing, the fire
,urned."-Psalms xxx. 8.
Here is David, the psalmist, with the
sorefnger of his right hand against his
:emple and the door shut against the world
engaged in contemplation. And it would
% we'll for US to take the same posture
often, while We sit down In sweet solitude
to contemplate.
In a small island of tho coast of Novs
Scotia once passed a Sabbath in delight.
ful solitude, for had resolved that would
have one day Of entire qiiet before On.
tered upon autumnal work. thought to
have spent the day In laying out plans for
Christian work, but instead Of that it be.
came day Of tender "Reminiscences. / re-
viewed my pastOrate; 1 shook hands with
An old departed friend, whom shall greet
again when the curtains of life are lifted.
The days Of my boyhood came back, and
was ten years Of age, and was eight, and
Twas five. There was but one house on
the island, and yet from Sabbath daybreak,
when the bird chant woke me, until the
evening melted into the Bay OF Fundy, from
shore to shore there were ten thousand
memories, and the groves were a-hum with
voices that had long ago ceased.
Youth Is apt too much to spend all its
time in looking forward. Old age is apt
too much to spend all its time In looking
backward. People in midlife and on the
apex look both ways. 1t would be well for
US, think, however, to spend more time
In reminiscence. By the constitution of
our nature we spend most of the time look
Ing forward. And the vast majority OF peo-
pie live not so much In the present as in the
future. find that you mean to make n
reputation, you mean to establish yourself
and the advantages that you expect to
achieve absorb a great deal Of your time.
But see no harm in this II 1t does not make
you discOntented with the present or dis
lualify you for existing duties. 1t Is a USE
full thing sometimes to look back. and to see
:he dangers we have escaped, and to see the
| SORROWS we have suffered, and the trials
and wanderings Of our earthly pilgrimage,
and to sum up our enjoyments. I mean, SO
far as God may help me, to stir up your
memory Of the past, SO that in the review
! you may be encouraged and humbled and
arged to pray.
Among the greatest advantages OF your
| past life were an early home and its sur
| roundings. The bad men Of the day, for
the most part, dip their heated passions
| out OF the boiling spring of an unhappy
| home. We are not surprised to find that
when We hear his mother was abandoned
and that she made sport Of his infirmity
and often called him 1.-THE lame brat" He
who has vicious parents has to fight every
Inch Of his wav II he would maintain his
| Integrity and at last reach the home OF the
good in heaven. Perhaps your early home
was In city. 1t may have been when
Pennsylvania avenue, Washington, was
residential as now 1t is commercial, and
Canal street. New York, was far up town.
1 u T. L. Al liz
| demolished or changed into stores, aud 1t
seemed like sacrilege to youfor there was
more meaning in that small house than
| there Is in a granite mansion or a turrated
cathedral. Looking back, you see 1t as
though it were yesterday-the sitting
lamp light, the mother at the evening
| stand, the brothers and sisters perhaps
| long ago gathered into the skies, then
plotting mischief on the floor or under the
table; your father with firm voice COM
manding silence that lasted half a minute.
Perhaps you were brought up in the
country. You stand now to-day In men,
| Dry under the old tree. You clubbed it for
!ruit that was not quite ripe, because you
| couldn't wait any longer. You hear the
brook rumbling along over the pebbles.
| You etep again into the furrow where your
| father in his shirt sleeves shouted to the
| !azy oxen. You frighten the swallows from
| The rafters of the barn and take just one
egg and silence your conscience by saying
! they will not miss it, You take drink
again out Of the very bucket that the old
well fetched up. You go for the cows at
night and find them pushing their heads
through the bars. Ofttimes in the dusty
and busy streets you wish you were
home again on that cool grass, or in the
| rag carpeted hall ofthe farmhouse, through
which there came the breath Of new mown
hay or the blossom of buckwheat.
You may have in your windows now
beautiful plants and flowers brought from
| across the seas, but not one of them stir5
| In your soul SO much charm and memory
| as the old ivy and the yellow sunfiower
that stood sentinel along the garden walk
and the forget-me-nots playing hide and
seek mid the long grass. The father who
| used to come in sunburned from the field
| and sit down on the doorsill and wipe the
| sweat from his brow may have gone to his
| everlasting rest. The mother who used to
sit at the door little bent over, cap and
,pectacles on her face mellowing with the
vicissitudes OF many years, may have put
| down her gray head on the pillow in the
valley, but forget that home you never
will. Have you thanked God for tP Have
you rehearsed all these blessed reminis-
.ences? Oh, thank God for a Christian
| father! Thank God for a Christian moth
sri Thank God for an early Christian altar
at which yoE were taught to kneel! Thank
God for an early Christian home!
| I bring to mind another passage in the
history Of your life. The day came when
you set up your own household. The days
passed along in quiet b,essedness. You
| TWAIN sat at the ia le morning and night
| and talked over your plans for the future.
| The most Insignificant affair In your life
| became the subject OF mutual consultation
| and advertisement. You were SO h 'ppy
you felt you never could be any happier.
| One day a dark cloud hovered over your
dwelling, and it got darker and darker,
1 h,,A kI,,.A thxaa
| ger of God descended to incarnate an i'm
| mortal sp rit. Two little feet started on
| An eternal journey, and You were to lead
| them, a gem to flash in heavens coronet.
and you to polish it; eternal ages of light
| and darkness watching the starting out of
q newly created creature. You rejoiced
| and you trembIed at tine responsibility that
| In your possession an immortal treasure
| was placed. You prayed and rejoiced and
| wept and wondered; you were earnest in
| duplication that you might lead II through
life into the kingdom Of God. There was a
| tremor in your earnestness. There was a
| double interest about that home. There
! was an additional interest why you should
| stay there and be faithful, and when in a
few months your house was filled with the
| music OF the child's laughter you were
| struck through with the fact that you had
| q stupendous mission.
Have you kept that vow? Have you
neglected any Of these duties? Is your
home as much to you as 1t used to be.
Have those anticipations been gratifiedt
God help you in your solemn reminis-
cence, and let His mercy fall upon your
| soul II your kindness has been i'll required!
| God have mercy on the parent on the
| wrinkles OF whose face is written the story
of a child's sinI God have mercy on Il Z
mother who. In addition to her otl Ell
pangs, has the paDg OF n child's iniquitvl
| Oh, there are many, many sad sounds in
this sad world, but the saddest sound that
Is ever heard Is the breaking of mothers
| heart!
find another point In your life history
You found one day you were In the wrong
road. You could not sleep at night. There
was just one word that seemed to sol
through your banking house, or through
your Office, or your shop, or your bedroom