St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-01-27

4 Sdiu. IL any SeutIeIl1u III l0lS 800l
encc has in his pocket Roman pen.
ny, wish he would just hand it uI
to Me- And some one handed Him .
penny, such as YOU can now find
in some of the museums, the diverse
of it bearing the face of Tiberius. the
emperor. and the reverse the words
..PontifeX MaNimus,' the other title
of the emperor. and then came the
overwhelming answer of Christ:
! Render to Caesar the things that
are Caesars and to God the things
that are Gods" Magnetic and cpl
grammatic this inspired peasant.
Useless attempts he declares as
pearls cast before swine;" unimpor-
tant results He describes as the at
tempt to gather figs of thistles.'
Allegcries! Why. the parallels are
all allegories, and how He flung them
out upon His audiences. whole arm
| fuls of amethysts ard emeralds and
diamonds and rubies!
But we must not only look at Him
from 4 worldly standpoint. How He
| smote whirlwinds into silence, and
| made the waves of the sea lie down,
and opened doors of light into the
| midnight of those who had been born
blind. and turned deaf ears into gal
leries of music, and with one touch
made the scabs of incurable leprosy
fall off, and renewed healthy circula-
ton through severest paralysis, and
made the dead girl waken and ask
for her mother, and at His crucifix-
ion pulled down the clouds until at
IL o'clock at noon it was as dark
as IL o'clock at night, and started
an influence that will 60 on until
the last desert will grow roses. and
the last case of paresis take healthtul
brain, and the last illness become
rubicund of cheek and robust of chest
and bounding of foot. ana the last
pauper will get his palace. and the
last sinner taken unto the warm
bosom of a pardoning God! Where
did ell this start? In that cradle
within sound of bleating sheep ard
believing cattle and amid rough ban
tering Of herdsmen and camel driv-
ers- What a low place to start for
such great heights. 0 artists, turn
eur camera obscura on that village
of Bethlehem. Take it Ill in-the
wintry skies lowering, the flocks shi.-
ering in the chill air, Mary, the pale
mother, and Jesus, the child. No
wonder that Paul Veronese and Cuyp
and Rubens and Tintoretto and Cor
reggie and Perugino and Ghirlandajo
ard Raphael put their best pencils in
that scene Lord God. by Thy gra-
cious spirit, fix that Madonna in all
our souls! So these thoughts come in
upon us Mt this gladdcst part of the |
year.
Swing softly. bells. on Christmas morn
Wake not the King Of Glory!
Swing soft and swift across the snow
The cd Judean story.
So have shown you the shadows and |
the sunshine of that Christie cradle of |
In these Christian times I |
realize that there are many cradles un-
der shadows. Oh. the story of empty |
cradles ell up and down the earth, in
cabins and in palaces. There are stand
ing in garretx or in storerooms cradles
that will never rock again. "Rachel
for her children and will not
be confcrted because they are not"
But through all the shadows break
CLEANS of sunshine. as the clouds OF the
Christie cradle were cleft by glorious
light. Escaped from the struggles
through which we have all passed and
must yet pass, those little ones took
Heaven at one bound. Instead of an
earthly career it is a Heavenly career,
With capacities. with velocities. with
beyond our comprehen-
ion. Instead of celebrating on earth
he Saviour's birth they stand in the
,aviour's presence. Instead of the hol-
day celebrations of the old homestead
is to them eternal jubilee at table
yhcrc the angels OF God are the cup
bearers and amid festivities that re-
ound with a laughter and music
nd blaze with a brilliance and glory
that eye hath not seen nor ear heard"
70 use in wishing them q merry Christ
mas, for the merriments of Heaven ring
ut upon them from temples that are
lways open, amid pleasures that never
lie. Oh, il is not a dull Heaven, but
lively Heaven, for there are SO many
hildren there! They throng the
treets: they look out Of tie House Of
(any Mansions;" they stand on the
each to see the fleets cast anchor with
, the vale; they crowd the gates with
reetings when the old folks come in;
hey clap their hands in an eternal
ladness; they dance in an eternal glee.
&c you not the sunshine that pours
ito the shadows of that cradle until
,ey are all gone?
But shadows have their uses. There
lust be background to every good
lcture. Turner always put at least =
ne flock Of clouds on his canvas, and
le clouds of earth will be the back
round to bring out more nightly the !
rightness of Heaven. And will il not ,
: glorious it after all this scene of !,
lrthly vicissitude we meet again in !
lr Fathers house and talk over the i
asst in an everlasting holiday. But 4
eanwhile look out for the cradles. !
ow much they decide for this world n
i'd the next! When Wellington was \
Urn at Mornington, England, that de-
aed Waterloo and saved Europe.
hen Handel was born in Halle, Sax
", that decided the oratorios OF "Ju-
Is Maccabaeus" and ESTHER" and Al
srael III Egypt" and "Jepthah" and h
fessiah.' When Eli Whitney was m
I'm at Westboro, that decided the
ealth of all the cotton fields OF the IL
nth. When Gutenberg was born at N
etz, Germany, that decided the libra IL
IS Of all Christcndom. When Clark C.
n was born in Cambridgeshire, Eng N
nd. that decided the doom Of human &C
ndage. When Morse was born at
eed's Hill, Mass, that decided that y,
e lightnings of heaven should become o.
Hoping couriers or stretch ihrob- -
ng iron nerve clear under the sea III
hen Washington was born at West OF
ireland, Va, that decided American f.
When Christ was born ca