The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1905-12-01

look like Samuel Il. Talmage, who died
before was born, why could he not
have looked like his grandfather or
great grandfather; II | inherit my
physical traits from my grandfather
and he IN turn from his grandfather,
why, IN the same way. cannot l trace
back my spiritual nature and those
higher yearnings after the better and
nobler life aud my holier desires trace
them back generation after generation
10 some remote progenitOrf Why can
not | hear that faron voice pleading
with me 10 be good aud truef Jack
Londsn's noble ST Bernard dog heard
"The Call Of the Wild" pleading with
him to become u wolfsh king, TO lead
OH his hungry pack to destroy the elk
or Me moose caught in the northern
SHOWS. My friends, we, too, may hear
the strange ancestral voices within us.
We know that the voices Of our Chris
tan fOrefathers and foremOthers, per
haps a hundred years dead. are now
calling to us to live the Christ life and
TO walk with God. Voices myrads OF
yolces-are about Us, voices celestial.
voices demoniacni, ancestral voices
which call Us up as well as evil voices
which call us down.
As we place the palms Of our hands
as sounding boards back Of our ears
we may hear other strange voices call
ing Us to the higher life. At first We
cannot make out what these voices
are. We are in doubt whether we are
listening 10 silence Itself or 70 voices
crying from a long distance. We are
In doubt whether we hear any real
sound. just as We used TO be when, as
boys, we would place our ears close
to the railroad track TO hear the rum
bling Of the oncoming train. At first
we would hear faint murmur the
hum Of the rail, but the train would
come nearer and the rumbling would
grow louder and louder. SO, when we
place our ears close 10 the side Of the
cradle, We seem to hear the voices Of
childhood days, the parental voices Of
the old homestead. These in chorus
are sounding "The Call OF the Good"
How long, how very long ago, in child
hood days, those voices first sounded!
How many years back can you re-
member those voices Of childhOOdf
"Oh," you answer. 81 can remember
back twenty, thirty, forty years ago
can remember clear back TO the time
when | was five years OF age. l re-
member when my father sold his farm
and went to town and became a store
keeper We had big yellow cat on
that farm, which was my playmate.
| wanted to take that cat along TO
town. but mother would not let me.
When all the children. OF whom / was
the youngest, were piled into the wag-
on to leave the old house, l cried so
hard that mother at last relented and
said | could take the cat. remember
how | held that cat in my arms and
carried her TO our city house." What
cannot you remember farther back
than thatfsOh, yes, you can, my broth
er. / think today you can hear strange
"Voices OF the Good" calling you TO the
better life, which were whispered in
prayer over your cradle. Perhaps To-
day you can hear parental voices,
pleading with you for the better life,
which were whispered over you on the
day after you were born.
Many years ago when the Massachu-
sets hills were covered with forests
and IN the dark recesses Of the woods
the smoke from the Indian wlgwams
was seen by the pilgrim colonlsts three
little white children were stolen away.
party after searching party
went forth, but the lost could not be
found. Many years after there came a
rumor to the coast that three young
maidens were living with an Indian
tribe in the interior Of tho state. The
father and mother OF one OF these sto-
len children went to this tribe, but
when they arrived there they could not
tell their own daughter from the other
white maldens. Their daughter was
stolen when baby; now she was
grown girl. Finally the mother sat
down under a tree and began 10 sing
the old lullaby with which she used TO
Groom her darling to sleep. No sooner
did the mother begin to sing that lula
by than one Of the young girls stopped
In her work TO listen. Then she crept
up nearer and nearer TO the singing
woman. Then with q bound she ran
and placed her head in the white won
ans lap and'in the Indian dialect sob
bed. Mother! My mother My lost
and found motherw All, yes, IL was the
voice Of the cradle that called her 10
her mothers side. And so today you
and hear strange voices that are
THE Call OF the Good" They
are the voices Of prayer, OF love, Of
tenderness with which our mothers and
our fathers gave us to God when we
were very little children. Friends. can
not you hear these voices? Just put
your hand 10 the back Of your ear and
10 Gods name listen. Yes. those voices
those loving voices, those voices Of pa
rental prayer, Of early childhood, ut
erred perhaps over our cradles, are now
calling us TO the higher life.
Rut we do not have to listen TO "1he
Call Of the Good" in echoes alone. We
10 not have TO hear this call 70 the
better life simply In the voices Of dead
ancestors and in parental pleadlngs
and the woolngs OF childhood hours
We can hear II also in the good deeds
II the consecrated men and women
whs are conspicuous everywhere
around us. All. bow many We can
hear II we are only willing 10 open
our ears and listen to them!
Nobillties and sacrifices OF human
lfe fer the good OF their fellow men
IRE everywhere sounding. enter the