Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1902-03-08


matter. All. now see; there are hawks
OF temptation In the air, there are vul
lures wheeling for their prey, there ar,
beaks of death ready to plunge, there
are claws of allurement ready t.
clutch. Now see the peril. Now
understand the urgency. Now / Sc,
the only safety. Would that Chris
might this day take our sons anC
daughters into his shelter las a her
gathereth her chickens under hel
wing"
The fact Is that the most Of then
will never mind the shelter unles:
while they are chickens. 1t is q simple
matter Of lneXorable statistics that
most OF those who do not come tc
Christ In youth never come at all
What chance Is there for the young
without divine protection? There are
the grogshops. there are the gambling
hells. there are the infldelities and i'm.
moralities OF splritualism. there are
! the bad books, there are the Impurities
there are the business rascalltles, and
so numerous are these assalants that
1t Is wonder that honesty and virtue
are not lost arts. The birds Of prey,
dlurnal and nocturnal. Of the natural
world are ever on the alert They are
the assasslns of the sky; they have va
rleties of taste. The eagle prefers the
flesh of the living animal; the vulture
prefers the carcass; the falcon kills
with one stroke. while other styles Of
beak give prOlongatlon of torture. And
so the temptations Of this life are va
rious.
Protect the Young.
Fathers. mothers, older brothers and
sisters and Sabbath school teachers, be
quick and earnest and prayerful and
importunate and yet the chickens un-
der wing. May the Sabbath schools Of
America and Great Britain within the
next three months sweep all their
scholars into the kingdom. Whom
they have now under charge is uncer-
tain. Concerning that scrawny, puny
child that lay in the cradle many years
ago. the father dead. many remarked,
"What a mercy II the Lord would take
the childr' And the mother really
thought so too. But what a good thing
that God spared that child, for 1t be-
came world renowned in Christian lit
erature and one OF Gods most illustri-
Gus servants-John Todd. Remember,
your children will remain children only
a little while. What you do for them
as children you must do quickly or
never do at all. "Why have you never
written a book?" said some one to
talented woman. She replied: II am
writing two and have been engaged on
one work ten years and on the other
FIVE years-my two children. They are
my life work" When the house Of
John Wesley's father burned and they
got the eight children out, John Wesley
the last before the roof fell In, the IA
ther said: Let us kneel down and
thank God. The children are all saved.
Let the rest of the place CO." Myshear-
ers, If we secure the present and ever
lasting welfare Of our children, most
other things belonging to US are Of but
little comparative Importance. Alexan-
der the Great allowed his soldiers to
take their families with them to war,
and he accounted for the bravery Of his
men by the fact that many Of them
were born in camp and were used to
warlike scenes from the start. Would
God that all the children Of our day
might be born into the army Of the
Lord!
The Mercy of God.
But we all need the protecting wing.
If you had known when you entered
upon manhood or womanhood what
was ahead Of you. would you have
dared to undertake lfef How much
you have been through! With most
life has been disappointment They
tell me so. They have not attained
that which they expected TO attain.
They have not had the physical and
mental vigor they expected or they
have met with rebuffs which they did !
not anticipate. You are not at forty or
fifty or sixty or seventy or eighty |
years Of age where you thought you
would be. | do not know any one ex-
cept myself to whom life has been q |
happy surprise. never expected any
thing, and so when anything came In
the shape OF human favor or comforta- |
BILE position or widening field OF work 1t
was to me n surprise. | was told in
the theological seminary by some Of
my fellow students that | never would |
get anybody to hear me preach unless
l changed my style. so that when
found that some people did come to
hear me It was a happy surprise. But
most people. according to their own
have found life a disap-
pointment Indeed. we all need shelter
from Its tempests.
About 3 o'clock on hot August att
you have heard rumble that
you first took for a wagon crossing a
bridge. but afterward there was loud
er rumbling, and you said, "Why, that
Is thunderr And. sure enough. the
clouds were being conyoked. for full
diapason. A whole park of artillery
went rolling down the heavens, and
the blinds of the windows In the sky
were closed. But the sounds above
we're not more certain than the sounds
beneath. The cattle came to the bars
and moaned for them to be let down
that they might come home to shelter,
and the fowl. whether dark Brahma
or Hamburg or Leghorn or Dominick,
began to call to its young, "Cluck,
cluck, clucb" and take them under
the wagon house or shed and had them
all hid UNDER the soft feathers by the
time that the first plash Of rain struck
the roof SO there are sudden tempests
for our souls, and. oh. how dark 1t
gets, and threatening clouds of bank
ruptcy or sickness or persecution or be-