Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1902-03-06

Business men, after a lifetime strug-
Cling with the uncertainties of money
markets and the change of tariffs and
the underselling OF men who because
Of their dishonesties can afford to I'M
dersell. and years Of disappointment
and struggle, at last under wings
where nothing can perturb them any
more than can a bird of prey which is
ten miles of disturb chick at mid
night brooded in barnyard.
My text has its strongest application
for people who were porn in the coun-
try, wherever you may now live, and
that is the majority Of you. You can
not hear my text without having all
the rustic scenes Of the old farmhouse
come back to you. Good old days they
were. You knew nothing Eiuch of the
world, for you had not seen the world.
By law of association you cannot re-
call the breeding hen ana her chick
ems without seeing also the barn and
the haymow and the wagon shed and
the house and the room where you
played and the fireside with the pig
backlog before which you sat and the
neighbors and the burial and the we'd
ding and the deep snowbanks and hear
the village bell that called you to
worship and seeing the horses which,
after pullin- you to the church, stood
around the old clapboard meeting
house, and those who sat at either end
of the church pew and, indeed, all the
scenes of your first fourteen years, and
you think Oh what you were then, and
of what you are now, and all these
thoughts are aroused by the sight Of
the old hencoop. Some Of you had
better go back and start again. In
thought return to that place and hear
the cluck and see the outspread
feathers and come under the wing and
make the Lord your portion and shell
ter and warmth, preparing for every
thing that may come and so avoid be-
ing classed among those described by
the closing words of my text, "as a
hen gathereth he chickens under Ter
wings. and we would not" All. that
throws the responsibility upon us. "Ye
would not" AL; :. for the would
nots!" II the wandering broods Of
the farm heed not their mothers call
and risk the hawk and dare the fresh
ct and expose themselves to the frost
and storm. surely their calamities are
not the mothers fault. "Ye would
mott" God would. but how many
would not?
When a good man asked a young
woman who had abandoned her home
and who was deploring her wretched-
ness why she did not return, the reply
was: Il dare not go home. My father
is ID provoked he would not receive
me home" Then" said me Christian
man, 81 will : st this" And so he
wrote to the father. and the reply
came back, and In letter marked
outside Immediate" and inside say
ing, Let her come at once; all is for
given" So Gods invitation for you
Is marked Immediate" on the outside,
and inside is written, He will abund-
antly pardon" Oh, ye wanderers
from God, and happiness and home
and heaven, come under the sheltering
wing. A vessel In the Bristol channel
was nearing tire rocks called the Steep
Holmes. Under the tempest the yes
sci was manageable. ard the only
hope was that the tide would change
before she struck the rocks and went
down, and SO the captain stood on the
deck, watch In hand. Captain and
CT and passengers were pallid with
terror. Taking another look at his
watch and another look at the sea. he
shouted: Thank God. we are saved!
The tide has turned! One minute
more and we would have struck the
rocks!" Some Of you who have been a
long while drifting in the tempest of
sin and sorrow and have been making
for the breakers. Thank God, the tide
has turned. Do you not feel the lift OF
the billow? The grace OF God that
bringeth salvation has appeared to
your soul, and, in the words of Boaz
to Ruth, commend you to "the Lord
God Of Israel. under whose wings thou
hast come to trust"