The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1900-08-31

the eternal city. AS we come near IL,
bark to the rush of its chariots and
the wedding peal of its great towers.
The bell OF heaven has struck IL. 1t Is
high noon. We look off upon the chap
lets which never fade, the eyes that
never weep, the temples that never
close. the loved ones that never part,
the procession that never halts. the
trees that never wither, the walls that
never can be captured, the sun that
never sets. until we can no longer
gaze, and we hide our eyes and ex-
claim: Eye hath not seen nor ear
heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man the things which God
hath prepared for them that love
HIM" AS the tides of glory rise
we have to retreat and hold fast lest
we be swept off and drowned in the
emotions of gladness and thanksgiv-
ing and triumph.
What think you of the family prop
erty? 1t is considered an honor to
marry into a family where there is
great wealth. The Lord, the BRIDE
groom of earth and heaven, offers you
his heart and his hand, saying in the
words of the Canticles. Rise up my
love, my fair one, and come away"
And once having put on thy hand the
signet ring of his love, you will be en-
dowed with all the wealth of earth
and all the honors of heaven.
The Family Homestead.
Almost every family looks back to a
homestead-some country place where
you grew up You sat on the doorsill,
You heard the footsteps of the rain on
the garnet roof. You swung on the
gate. You ransacked the barn. You
waded into the brook. You thrashed
the orchard for apples and the neigh
boring woods for nuts, and everything
around the old homestead is Of inter-
est to you. tell you of the old home
stead of eternity. "In my fathers
house are many mansions" When we
talk of mansions we think Of Chats
worth and its park nine miles in cir
conference and its conservatory that
astonishes the world, its galleries of
art that contain the triumphs of Chan
trey, Canova and Thorwaldsen, of the
kings and queens who have walked its
stately halls, or, flying over the heath
err have hunted the grouse. But all the
dwelling places Of dukes and princes
and queens are as nothing to the fam
lily mansion that is already awaiting
our arrival. The hand of the Lord
Jesus lifted the pillars and swung the
doors and planted the parks. Angels
walk there and the good of all ages.
The poorest man in that house is mil
lionaire and the lowest king, and the
tamest word he speaks is an anthem
and the shortest life an eternity.
1t took a Paxton to build for Chats
worth a covering for the wonderful
flower, Victoria Regia, five feet in d.
ameter. But our Lily of the Valley
shall need no shelter from the blast
and in the open gardens of God shall
put forth it's full bloom, and all heaven
shall come to look at it, and it's aroma
shall be as though the cherubim had
swung before the throne thousand
censers. l have not seen it yet. am
in foreign land. But my Father is
waiting for me to come home. l have
brothers and sisters there. In the
Bible | have letters from there, telling
me what a fine place it is. 1t matters
not much to me whether | am rich or
poor, or whether the world hates me or
loves me, or whether l go by land or
by sea, if only may lift my eyes at
last on the family mansion. 1t is not
a frail house, built in a month, soon
to crumble, but an old mansion, which
is as firm as the day it was built. Its
walls are covered with the ivy
of many ages, and the urns
at the gateway are abloom with
the century plants of eternity. The
queen of Sheba hath walked in its
halls, and Esther and Marie Antoinette
and Lady Huntington and Cecil and
Jeremy Taylor and Samuel Rutherford
and John Milton and the widow who
gave two mites and the poor men from
the hospital-these last two perhaps
outshining al 1.-The kings and queens of
eternity.
The Family Reunion.
A family mansion means reunion.
Some Of your families are very much
scattered. The children married and
went off to st. Louis or Chicago or
Charleston. But perhaps once a year
you come together at the old place.
How you wake up the old piano that
has been silent for years! Father and
mother do not play on it. How you
bring out the old relics and rummage
the garnet and open old scrapbooks and
shout and laugh and cry and talk over
old times and. though you may be
forty-five years of age, act as though
you were sixteen. Yet soon it is good
by at the car window and goodby at
the steamboat wharf. But how will
we act at the reunion in the old family
mansion in heaven? 1t is a good while
since you parted at the door of the
grave. There will be Grace and Mary
and Martha and Charlie and Lizzie
and all the darlings Of your house
hold, not pale and sick and gasping for
breath, as when you saw them last,