The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1905-05-05
DUTY TO PARENTS.
Rev. DR.. Talmage Tells Some
Plain Truths In Plain Terms.
burdsnE the Parents often Bear Are
Too Heavy Fer Their strength.
What They suffer Through
ErrfaR Children.

Copyright 1895. by Louis Klopschl
LOS ANGELES. Cal. March l2.-In
almost every home throughout the land
the topic chosen by the preacher in
this sermon is a more or less familiar
one. The text Is Proverbs Z. l, "A fool.
ish son II the heaviness OF his mother" b"
Death n an enemy. The Bible dis
tinetly declares 1t. l remember some
years ago, when visiting one OF the
New Zealand cities, this thought was
impressed upon me az never before. A
young man, a musical genius. had late
" come from London and captured that
whole city by his organ playing. He
was 10 play that Sunday in the church
where We were worshiping. The night
before, coming home from practicing
upon the keys, he sat down TO eat din
ner with ais wife and two children.
Suddenly he began TO gasp. A hsh-
bone had caught In his throat In
few minutes he was dead. The whole
city was shocked at the awful trag-
edy. The church was drsped Ia black
The organ was covered with Grape.
Among the sobs Of the dead mans
friends his pastor preached a eulogy
upon this young mans life from l Co
rinthians Nv, 10. The last enemy that
shall be destroyed Is death" As the
preacher uttered those solemn words
they sank into his bearers conscienees,
an automatic truth.
Oh. yes. death 10 an enemy. Death
at times seems TO be a cruel and
merciless enemy. II breaks asunder
the marital bands IL lifts the little
baby out OF the crib aud shuts her for
ever from our eyes by the closing OF
the CONN I'D. II strikes down the strong
man who is proclalming Gods word In
the Dulpat. II empties the once OF the
physician who is bending over the pa
tent II sometimes sends the pleading
lawyer to the grave even before the
murderer whom be has defended expi-
ates his crime upon the gallows.
But when listening TO that sermon In
the faroff country Of New Zealand l
sOliloQuiEed thus: THAT widow 10 to-
day having her heart crushed by the
bsarse'a wheels even as the Indian
jugEeFnaut used TO mangle the bodies
Of the HindoO devotses. But a living
sorrow can be more formidable and d
more awful enemy than a sorrow Of
the grave. The flendish acts Of dlsso-
lutte, a dsbsuched. a drunken. a cruel
or an unfaithful husband can weigh
more heavily upon the wife's heart
than the corpse Of a dead husband.
And by the same reasoning the evil
deeds OF an undutlful or unfalthful
son fall upon the parental heart with
more crushing weight than the sod
that falls upon the CONN lid OF a dead
child. Thus today. from a parental
standpoint. would preach upon the
o goniEing sufferings OF father and q
mother when their children 80 astray
and DO wrong. include here the ia
Tiers sunerings. as well AZ the moth
sr's. The full wording OF the verse Of
my text embraces both parents. "A
wise son maketh a glad father" That
sentence, interpreted from the negative
standpoint. means. "a bad boy maksth
sad father, and a foolish BON Ia the
heavinees Of his mother"
Why sadf Why beRYyi First be-
cause the true father and mother can
never separate their joys and sorroWs
from the Joys and sorrows OF their
child. Though a man may live after
his right arm has been amputated. the
hand snG the arm cease TO live as soon
as the surgeons knife has cut the ar
teries and the bones which unite them
10 the shoulder. But here naturs
seems to reverse the conditions Of 1fe.
Though a child may live independent
OF his parent, a true parent can never
live independent Of his children. From
the parental standpoint the parental
life and the child life are not only
bone OF enc bone and nesh Of one
nesh. but their existenees are truly
grated upon each other.
From the standpoint OF q child you
may not believe this. You ask: Ia not
the love between parent and child
mutual lovei Why. then, should not
its separation afect the one equally
with the otheri Oh, mol The law OF
love rs unequal. The one who makes
sacrifices has a stronger affection than
the one for whom the sacrifices are
made. I 10 into the seulptor's studio.
and say: "Therwaldsen, why art
thou bending 70 lovingly over yOnder
piece Of cold msrblei Has the stone
a hearth "0h, No." answers the Dan
ish vculptov. IL 10 not love this stone
because IL has q heart l lSvs II be-
cause / have put my heart into It In
nv EFFORT 70 bring out the beautiful
figures which there see slumbering
or beckonine 10 me from the cold
stone" why does the artist love bis
canvas and the composer his oratcriol
Because their life's work mas gone INTO
the creations Of those masterpieces OF
art or OF music. Why did Christopher
wren's life seem to be anchored to 81.
Psurs cathedral and Isaac Newton's
Hss 20 his laboratoryf Because In
thsse places those men spent most OF
their earthly existence in srder to
work out the problems Of their lives.
Love inspired by sacrifice. That Is
true. Then how can true father and
mother help loving their childrenf
How can they ever separate their sr-
istence from the Joys and sorrcws, the
successes and failures OF their childrsnl
oh. how many sacrifices they have
made Was 1t ten years Of sacrincsl
More than thst-twenty years. thirty