St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1902-01-25

It was child that Christ set il TIL
midst of the squabbling disciples t.
teach the lesson of humility. A chill
decided Waterloo, showing the army o
Butcher how they could take shor
cut through the fields when if the oil
road had been followed the Prussial
general would have come up too lat
to save the destinies of Europe. 1t wa
a child that decided Gettysburg, h
having overheard two confederate gen
erals in conversation in which they
decided to march for Gettysburg in
stead of Harrisburg, and, this reported
to Gov. Curtin, the federal forcel
started to meet their opponents at Get
tysburg. And to-day the child is tt
decide all the great battles, make al
the laws. settle all the destinies ant
usher in the worlds salvation or de-
struction. Men, women, nations, al
earth and all Heaven, behold the
child!
Notice also that in this Bible night
scene God honored science. Who are
the three wise men kneeling before the
Divine Infant? Not boor, not igno.
ramuses, but Caspar, Balthaser and
Melchoir, men who knew all that was
to be known. They were the Isaac
lNewtons and Herschels and Faradayl
of their time. Their alchemy was the
forerunner of our sublime chemistry,
their astrology the mother of our mag
nificent astronomy. And when see
these scientists bowling before the
beautiful Babe I see the prophecy OF
the time when all the telescopes and
microscopes and all the Leyden jars
and all the electric batteries and all
the observatories and all the UNIVERSE
ties shall bow to Jesus. It is much tina
way already. Where is the college that
does not have morning prayers, thus
bowling at the manger? Who have
been the greatest physicians? Omit
ting the names Of the living lest we
should be invidious, have we not had
among them Christian men like James
Y. Simpson and Rush and Valentine
Mott and Abercrombie and Aber-
nethy? Who have been our greatest
scientists? Joseph Henry, who lived
and died in the faith of the Gospels,
and Agassiz, who, standing with his
students among the hills, took off his
hat and said: sYoung gentlemen, be-
fore we study these rocks let us pray
| for wisdom to the God who made the
rocks All geology will yet bow be-
fore the Rock of Ages. All botany will
yet worship the Rose of Sharon. All
astronomy will yet recognize the Star
of Bethlehem.
Behold also in that first Christmas
night that God honored the fields.
Come in, shepherd boys, to Bethlehem
and see the Child. 'No," they say;
1--WE are not dressed good enough to
come in. - eyes, you are. Come in"
Sure enough, the storms and the night
dew and the brambles have made rough
work with their apparel, but none has
better right to come in. They were
the first to hear the music of that
Christmas night. The first announce
ment of Saviour's birth was made to
those men in the fields. There were
wiseacres that night in Bethlehem and
Jerusalem snoring in deed sleep, and
there were salaried officers of govern
ment who, hearing of it afterward,
may have thought that they ought to
have had the first news of such a great
event, some one dismounting from a
swift camel at their door and knock
ing till at some sentinel's question:
''Who comes there?" the great ones of
the palace might have been told Of the
Celestial arrival. No; the shepherds
heard the first two bars of the music,
the first in the major key and the last
in the subdued minor: "Glory to God
in the highest and on earth peace, good
will to men," All, yes, the fields were
honored.
The old shepherds, with plaid and
crook, have for the most part vanished,
but we have grazing on our United
States pasture fields and prairie about
100000 sheep, and all their keepers
ought to follow the shepherds of my
text and all those who toll in fields
all vine dressers, all orchidists, all hus-
bandmen. Not only that Christmas
night, but all up and down the worlds
history, God has been honoring the
fields. Nearly all the messiahs of re-
form and literature and eloquence and
law and benevolence have come from
the fields. Washington from the fields,
Jefferson from the fields. The presi-
Dental martyrs, Garfield and Lincoln
and Mckinley, from the fields. Henry
Clay from the fields. Daniel Webster
from the fields. Martin Luther from
the fields. Before this world is right
the overfowing populations of our
crowded cities will have to take to the
fields. Instead of ten merchants in
rivalry as to who shall sell that one ap-
pie we want at least eight of them to
go out and raise apples. Instead of ten
merchants desiring to sell that one
bushel of wheat, we want at least eight
of them to go out and raise wheat.
The world wants now more hard hands.
more bronzed cheeks, more muscular
arms. To the fields! God honored
them when he woke up the shepherds
by the midnight anthem. and He will
while the world lasts continue to honor |
the fields. When the shepherds crook
was that famous night stood against |
the wall of the Bethlehem khan, it was
a prophesy of the time when thrasher's |
fail and farmers pillow and woodman's
ak and ox's yoke and sheaf binders |
rake shall surrender to the God who |
made the country as man made the |
town.
Behold also that on that Christmas |
night God honored motherhood. Two /
angels on their wings might have
brought an infant Saviour to Bethle-
hem without Mary's being there at all.