St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1901-02-16

place. You were all wrong in your
religious theories on earth and In
your form of church government.
How did you get in?" Saved. by
grace" is the Heavenly reply. Saved
by grace!" The bigot is embarrassed
and feels for his creed and his cate
chism, and, 10, they were left on the
banks of the River Jordan as he
passed through, and he cries out:
Il think will have to enter on the
same terms. Saved by grace! Saved
by grace!" an
Denominations of Christians on
earth were necessary in order to bet
ter work and to suit preferences-as
an army must be divided into regi-
ments, yet one army; as neighbor-
hood must be divided into families,
though one neighborhood But there
is no need of such divisions in Heaven,
and therefore all belong to one denom-
ination of sainthood. Christ said in
one Of His sermons that there would
be laughter in Heaven. BLESSED are
We that weep now, for ye shall laugh"
And what could cause more merriment
among the glorified than rehearsal
Of the earthly differences between
Christians, differences once seeming
of such vast importance, but differ
ences unknown amid Heavenly wor-
shippers? What will be the bigots
amazement when he sees seated side
l. - "a river nf
life Calvin and Arminius, Archbishop
Cranmer and some dissenting preacher
Of the Gospel who never graduated, one
who on earth was robed and sur
pliced ecclesiastc, and a backwoods
minister who in the log cabin meeting
house preached in a linen duster?
Among the great surprises of Heaven
for the bigot will be the celestial
friendliness of those who on earth OPP
posed each other in wrathiest polemics.
He will get through the gate, for he
has q spark of Divine grace in his
heart but there will not be an inch
of room TO spare on either side OF him.
It will not take long for Heaven to edu-
cate him into . glorious big hearted
ness.
Again, the penurious Christian will
not have an abundant entrance. Per-
haps he was not converted until all his
habits of tight-fistedness were fixed
beyond recovery. The people who are
generous were taught to be generous
| in childhood. You can tell from the
way the boy divides the apple what his
characteristics for generosity or mean
ness will be for the next so years. if he
lives so long. If he eat it all himself
while others look wistfully on, he will
be q Shylock; if he give half of it to
some one who has no apple, he will be
an ordinarily generous man; if he give
three-fourths of it TO another he will
be q Baron Hirsch or a, George Pea
body. s st, -.H
For 80 years this man has been prac-
ticing an economy which prided itself
on never passing pin without picking
it up, and if he responded at all in
church would put on the collection
plate so insignificant = coin that he
held his hand over it SO that no one
could discover the smallness of the
denomination. Somewhere in the fiji.
ties or sixties Of his life, during a re.
vival Of religion, he became Chris.
tian. He is very much changed in
most respects, but his all-absorbing ac-
| quisitiveness still influences him. To
extract from him gift for an orphan
| age or q church or poor woman who
l H.. han ov,x Sc oh
ment. You and know very good men
their Christian character beyond dis.
pute, and yet they are pronounced BY
all as penurious, and they know il
themselves and pray against it. We
all have our bad habits, and yet expect
to get to Heaven, and this skinfiint has
his mighty temptation. The passion
of avarice well illustrated its strength
when in one of the houses of eShumed
Pompeii was found the skeleton OF q
man who was trying to escape with 81
coins and silver saucepan. For those
valuables he dared the ashes and
scoria of Vesuvius which overwhelmed
him, and many a good man has beer
held nightly by avarice.
But that brings me to the Other
thought of my text, that there arc
those who will. when they leave thi.
life, bound into Heaven amid saluta
tions infinite. "For so an entranc'
shall be administered unto you abun
dantly." Such exultant admission viii
await those who enter Heaven after
on earth living a life for others ant
without reference to conspicuity. Or
| the banks of the Ohio or the Tuscalooss
or the Androscoggin is large family
all of whom have been carefully ant
religiously reared. In the earlier
stages of that family there were man!
privations. The mother of the house
hold never had any amusements. Per
haps once in a year poor theatrica
play was enacted in the neighborins
schoolhouse or squawking concert il
the town hall. and that was all the di
version afforded for the winter season
I asked the manager of an insane asy
lum in Kentucky: From what class o
persons do you get most of your pa
tients?" and he said: From farmers
wives" I asked the same question o
the manager of an insane asylum il
Pennsylvania. and the same question
Of the. manager of an insane asylum il
Massachusetts,. and got the same reply
I've have on our rolls for treatmen
more farmers wives than person
coming from any other class" Tha
answer will be a surprise to some; !
was no surprise to me-. The simple rea
son il, farmers wives as a genera
thing have no diversion. 1t is. break
fast, dinner and supper, sewing, scour
ing. scrubbing. knitting, mendins
!, year in and year out. That mother j
the milliner. the mantua maker. tn
nurse. the doctor. the accountant Q
Il the whole family. She plans the ward
robe of spring, of summer, of autumn
of winter, cutting, fitting, competing
garments. out of which the childre
soon grow and must have somethin
else. The newspaper does not come. o1
il coming. there is no time to read Il
No selection Of good books. The neigh
hors calling in are full of tn. sam