Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1902-03-05

under charge is uncertain. concerning
that scrawny. puny child that lay in the
cradle many years ago, the father dead,
many remarked. What a mercy if the
Lord would take the childr And the
mother really thought so, too. But what
a good thing that God spared that child,
for it became world renowned in Chris
tan literature and one of Gods most
servants-John Todd. Remem-
Der, your children will remain children
only a little while. What you do for
them as chill iren you must do quickly or
never at all. why have you never
written a book?' said some one TO
talented woman She replied: Il 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 father said:
Let us kneel down and thank God. The
children are all saved. Let the rest of
the place 60" My hearers, if we secure
the present and everlasting welfare of
our children, most other things belonging
to us are of but httle comparative impor-
lance. Alexander the Great allowed his
soldiers to take their families with them
to war. and he accounted for he bravery
of his men by the fact that many of them
were born in camp and were used to war
like 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 entert upon
manhood or womanhood what was ahead
of you. would you have dared to under
take life? How much you have been
through! With most life has been a dis
appointment. They tell me so. They
have not attained tnat which they expect
ed 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 except
myself to whom life has been a happy
surprise. l never expected anything. and
so when anything came in the shape of
human favor or comfortable position or
prise. / was told in the theological semi
nary by some of my fellow students that
never would get anybody to hear me
preach unless | changed my style, so that
when l found that some people did come
to hear me it was happy surprise. But
most people, according to their own state
ment, have found life a disappointment
Indeed. we all need shelter from its tenn
pests.
About 8 o'clock on hot August after
noon you have heard rumble that you
first took for a wagon crossing a bridge,
but afterward there was a louder rum
bling. and you said, "Why, that is thun-
der" And, sure enough, the clouds were
being convoked 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 were 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 shell
ter, and the fowl, whether dark Brahma
or Hamburg or Leghorn or Dominick, be-
gan to call to its young, "Cluck, cluck
cluck"' anu 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 it gets, and threaten
ing clouds OF bankruptcy or sickness or
or bereavement gather and
thicken and blackcn, and some run for
shelter, and others run to friendly advis-
ers, and they fail to help, and others fly
nowhere simply because they know not
where to go. and they perish in the blast,
but others hear a divine call saying.
Come, for all things are now ready"
The spirit and the bride say come"
Need of Warmth.
The wings Of my text suggest warmth
and tina is what most folks want. The
fact is that this is cold world whether
you take it literally or figuratiyely. We
have a big fireplace called the sun. and
it has a very hot fire, and the stokers
keep the Goals well stirred up, but much
of the year we cannot get near enough to
this fireplace to get warmed The world
extrenities are cold all the time. Forget
not lat it is colder at the south pole
than at the north pole and that the arctic
is MT so destructive as the antarctic
0uct in a while the arctic will let ex-
plorers come back. but the antarctic
hardly ever When at the south pole a
ship sails in. the door of ice is almost
sure to be shut against its return. So
life to dany millions of people at the
south and many millions Of people at the
north is a prolonged SILVER. But when
say that this is a cold world | chiefly
mean fguratively. If you want to know
what is the meaning of the ordinary
term of receiving the cold shoulder"
get out Of money and try to borrow. The
conversation may have been almost trop-
zeal for luxuriance of thought and speech.
but suggest your necessities and see the
thermometer drop TO 80 degrees below
zero. and in that which till moment be
fore had been warm room. Take what
is an unpopular position on some public
question and see your friends fly as chaff
before a windmill As far as myself IS
concerned. have no word Of complaint,
but | look off day by day and see com
munities freezing out men and women Of
whom the world is not worthy. Now It
takes after one and now after another.
1t becomes popular to depreciate and de-
fame and execrate and lie about some
people. This is the best world | ever
got into but it is the mcancst world that
some people ever got into. The worst
thing that ever happened to them was
their cradle. and the best thing that viii
ever happen to them viii he their grave.
Christ says to those sick and frosted
aud Disguised and frozen Of the world:
Come in out Of the March winds Of the
worlds criticism4 come in out " the s.eet
of the worlds assault. come in out Of a
....-l ~. H.. - -. 1-.1-. Id