The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-03-22

, children 40 well "a for the greatest VINO
was Manson? He had father named
/ Aminadab and a son, Salmon. That Is all
we know of his direct connections. lhey
were evidently as humble as himself
| There was certainly nothing exuaorolhs-
ry about this man History makes no
mention of Naasson leading great army.
Among all the leaders of the Bible there
is - recorded speech spoken by his lips.
Whether he was In physique tall or SNORT
| whether he had light hair or dark blue
eyes or black a broad or narrow ehess,
must be all left to conjecture. But TINS
fact is eertain-whether he was the NUM-
best individual that ever lived or no,
| God took care of him, God FED hin' COO
clothed him, God saw him grow up TO 1un
manhood Then when his work, however
small, was done, God took him to himself.
In other words, Naasson was like the
most of us, who are without any particu-
| lar talent or power of leadership. Yet
| God is caring and feeding and clothing
and housing us, just as he feeds the birds
! of the air and clothes the lily of the field.
o obscure man, In the humble walks OF
| life, do you not realize that in spite. OF
! yourself you are preaching wherever you
| go the protecting care of the love OF God1
| 1t Is not surprising that a wizard OF in
| ventions like Thomas A. Edison can earn
| his daily bread 1t Is not surprising that
| a gigantic intellect like that of Andrew
| Carnegie can accumulate a fortune when
| he can crowd the Monongahela and Allie
| gheny rivers with his works, the long fun
nel5 everywhere at night shooting out
| their flames until 1t makes the surround
| ing regions of Pttsburg look as Rev.
| DR.. John Hall once expressed it, las the
internal regions with the lid off," It is not
, surprising that a lawyer like SearGent 8.
| chr laxr 1arr inn TbnF4
| by his eloquence he could charm not only
| the masses. but also such leaders of this
| country as Rufus Choate, who turned to
| Daniel Webster at the conclusion of one
of his orations and said, Did you ever
hear a speech more eloquent than that?"
| Never" answered Webster, except
| from Seargent S. Prentiss himself" But
that a man of ordinary intellect and ev-
ery-day abilities can at all times earn
! livelihood for himself and wife and
children is surely to be explained by a
revelation of the divine goodness. Why,
some people have hardly enough brains
| to tell their right hand from their left,
! yet God cares for them, God feeds them
and clothes them, just as he cares for
that poor widow who is left financially
stranded with large number of children
strapped to her back. He feeds and
clothes them just as he cared for Mas
son or as he has been caring for us
Where Plain Lives Lead.
But find another very suggestive fact
about Naasson's genealogical history. 1t
led to mighter names. AS Joseph Parker
once graphically and tersely expressed
1t: You should remember that a long,
fiat road may be leading up to a great
mountain. There are some very plain
and uninteresting miles out of Geneva,
k,.t,,f
to Mont Blanc. So you do not know TO
what high hill your life may be quietly
! leading up. Even If you yourself are no.
| body. your son may be man of renown
| or his son may be a valiant and mighty
man. Methuseah was the father of
I.amech, and Lamech was the father of
Noah" Yes, yes, that is the thought to
Ghich l point. Naasson may have been
a seeming nobody His son. Salmon, was
a seeming nobody. But Salmon was the
father of the mighty Boaz, who was the
| husband Of beautiful Ruth, who was the
| grandmother of the mighty David who
was the ancestor of Jesus Christ. So, .
| humble woman, you may think your do
nestle life does not amount to much. You
may say 1t consists mostly in sewing
| dresses for the babies and cooking meals
| and pettng the little ones when they are
| hurt and reading the Bible to the children
| before they go to bed. But l want to tell
| you that In the light of this history of
| Naasson you have a mighty a tremen-
| dous work upon your hands. You may be
the mother of the grandmother of a boy
who will yet proclaim the gospel of Jesus
| to the furthermost parts of the world.
! You may be rocking in your daughters
| cradle a future Frances &c. Willard,
| Florence Nightingale or a Frances Rid
| ley Havergal
Am l going beyond my right in too
| much emphasizing the infinite influence
| of humble home2 Were not nearly all
| our great men born in a cottage instead
| of a palace? Have not nearly all of our
| great men laid at their humble mothers
feet the credit for all their success? What
| said Thomas II. Benton, the great Mis-
| souri, senator when he was delivering a
| speech in New York city? my mother
| asked me never to use tobacco, and have
never touched it from that day to this
She asked me never to gamble, and
never learned to gamble. When | was
years of age she asked me never to
drink. 1 made a resolution of total abb
! stinence. That resolution | have never
broken. And now, whatever honor ! may
! have gained | owe it all to my mother"
| What says John Adams? "All that | am
l owe to my mother" What says James
A. Garfield? He says nothing, but his
actions speak louder than words. We see
that his first act after taking the oath of
! office as President of the United States
was to lean over and with smiling lips
under loving eyes, kiss the withered lips
! of his old mother. When Carrot A. Ho-
bart was about to take the oath of office
as presdent-elect In the senate chamber,
] saw President McKinleys eyes wander
up to the gallery wherein sat the one
! who gave him birth, and he bowed his