The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1911-07-20

offered him in.consecration, saying: Il
have lent him to the Lord; as long as he
liveth he shall be lent unto the Lord"
that praised God for the child in song
of triumph and holy thanksgiving; that
"made him a coat and brought it to him
from year to year when she with her hus-
band came up to offer the yearly sacrifice"
and it was the sacred influence of his mothers
character that made him what he was, for
"her memory remained so dear to- him to the
close of his long life, that even in old age he
still wears "coat like the one she brought
him year by year in his childhood" And then,
as exhibiting the real strength of her heart
and the depth of her devout insight and fore
sight, it is interesting to notice the parallelism
between Hannah's song and the magnificent of
the Virgin Mary, not only in spirit but in form;
also remarkable in that it contains "the first
designation of the Messiah under that name"
Approaching the quality of the parentage,
we have basis of just expectancy touching
the quality of the offspring. This gives US the
spiritual home atmosphere all the more remark
and polygamous family life, yet from which
the religious possibilities of the child caught
their first impulses Of quickening and enlarge
ment. So we learn that almost any family en-
vironment,e ven to that of Jealousy aud friction,
need not deter from the noble infancy and
christian nurture of a child; while it is, of
course, much easier, and to be preferred for
childhood everywhere, to have the normal
family life of our christian ideals. Just as to-
day we find child come to splendor of charac-
ter and usefulness from poor parentage and
unwholeson1e family life, and also child de-
ve'op meanness and mendacity and social
parasite from the best home influences and
parental care, though neither ofithese are the
rule, normal, and grow increasingly rare.
And if mothers would have the quiet. orderly
development of Samuel duplicated in their
child, then they must be careful to duplicate
Hannah in the warmth and vigor of maternal
faith. The pre-eminent demand of the child
is to be well born and have good mother.
AS to Samuel himself 1t was while Samuel
twas yet child,'' that, lying asleep in the
Tabernacle "ere the lamp of God went out"
the Lord called him and he answered, "Here
am l, and running to Eli the priest, who was
sleeping hard by, said: Here am l. for thou
callest me- etc. q Samuel ga to 2D. There
is great deal of interest lying just under
meath the story like form of this narrative.
1t seems like kind of day -dawn in dewy,
young soul Rather a pleasing coincidence
that this twilight in the lads life should have
transpired just at the twilight hour of the
morning. The very season, indeed, plays
pleasant accompaniment to the event. God
and nature and the obedient human spirit al
ways cooperate.
Of course we do not know how many times
before, influences which he did not understand
may have fallen upon Samuel, and voice
so unded within him. Perhaps impressions as
dist net as this, imply earlier ones of less dis
tinctness leading up to this The outer, nat
ural day, is some time in dawning; it would
be natural that the inner, spiritual day, should
be. But the full day was not yet fully come.
Samuel heard the voice, or felt it at least, but
f cit it as Ellis. He sensed the divine impress
81 on and with nimble p. emptiness responded to
it, yet did not know it as divine impression,
and said to Eli: Thou calledst me-" The
story goes on to say: Samuel did not yet
know the Lord | think this shows that re-
ligion may be IN child, stirring him into
TRANCE disquiet, waking in him thoughts and
impressions that all ordinary or natural causes
cannot account for, before even the child COM
prehends the influence under which he has
passed or is passing, or knows how to distinct
ly think about it or accurately to name it. l
know this is somewhat iconoclastic theologi
C ally. Our creeds are extreme insufficient.
Their accepted idea is that each child is little
demon except the elect; the theory of
" original SIM etc., each and all must make
way for the Samuels. And to accept the dem
onstrated facts of truth ought not to be diff
cult, though seemingly contrary to the state
ments of abstract truth. And the new
present day ethics of our Sunday school lead
ers has all too tardily arrived. This incident
exhibits religion one of the earliest facts of
a child's life. That it is in no way dependent
upon, and only in loose way associated with
the SCIeuSlH VI IAt yooHS iIieeheSe VI PiS
cisi on of the young thought Gust as the
woods, rocks and rivers lie out under the
eclipse of the night long after the sky begins
to wear certain marks of the morrow That
religion is not something which comes to the
child at an established stage in its develop
ment, but something which begins to shape it.
self in the child back among its primitive
years, like the formless elements of nature
moving into comeliness under the brooding of
the spirit back in the old creative week. Re-
Ii gion in the child is like buds in April, only
waiting for soft airs and warm showers to
nurse and battle them. The sundial is uncon-
scious of the aurora, but sensitively registers
all it's effects.
Then Samuel is distinguished by the fact
t hat there was no break in his religious life.
He grew up holy man. "And Samuel grew,
and Jehovah was with him and he did not let
any of his words fall to the ground" We dis
GOV er, at any period in his development, no
symptoms of jar CONFUSION or conversion. In
the terms of our technical statements we
should say he never was converted. It evil
IDENTITY was not necessary for him at Is, II, or
10 years of age to have everything undone in
him which up to that time had been done, SO
to have third of his natural life counted out
and erased. He did not spend the last half of
life fighting the first half, trying to wear out