The Shasta courier., 1863-04-11
Ruth, the Sfoabitess.

1t is pleasant thing in an age like this
Srhen one must keep one mind strung up to
be full tension of all the railroad literature,
fnu Of excitemenss, and speculations, and
lev isms, and progress, and invention, and
~ that makes old mind and heart it is a
s1easansthing, we say, to wander afar back,
! "a by the written history which has come
Gown to us, learn sorqsyhat of how they lived
in the days when the judge ruled in Beth
lahem- Judah,' over three thousand years
ago. OF all the beautiful pictures of life Of
t-ese days there is none which seems so full
II to appeal to the heart of our day-none
which so thoroughly carries us back to the
Very times which it depicts-none which SO
moves the finest and tenderest portion of our
n ture--as that which is drawn of the fair
Eoabitess from whom was descended the long
lsie of Kings of Israel.
The writings and poetry of this age seem
WAX when we compare them with the simple
gs-ndenr and beautiful simplicity which
characterized the works of those who chroni-
C, I'd the events of that far off time. However
uch the world may have progressed in sci.
erce and invention, and art; however much
nm may have learned in turning to account
TIE forces and power of the eternal elements
We cannot but feel that in the pQetical, affec.
tfvnal and devotional portion of the being,
We are not whit in advance of the DAYS Of
Ruth and much we question whether we
are not retrograding instead of developing.
He will venture the assertion-althoug the
Holy Book sooner or later becomes the com
psnion of every true thinking man, whether
he be what the world may term a Chris
tian,' or not-that not one in ten who may
read our idle essay upon the fair woman
whose ashes three thousand years ago resolv-
ed themselves into their original elements,
knows anything about the subject. or has
read ths short but beautiful book of Ruth.
The story is a simple one, but is one Of the
most touching in the link Of chronicles Of
which it is part.
There being famine in Bethlehem Judah,
Eiimelech, with his wife Naomi and their
two sons, Mahlon and Chiffon, removed to
the more fruitful country of Moab Here
Eimelech is called away upon that journey
whence none return, and Naomi and her two
sens are left desolate. After time the sons
take to them selves wives g of the .yoraan Of
NsAsl y : The name Of one was 0rpah and
the narae of the other was Ruth"
They seem to have dwelt there in great
harmony, Naomi with her two brave sons
and their wives, for several years, hut It
length the family circle was again broken,
and the widow finds herself childless, and
two more Widowed hearts are all that are
left to comfort her.
Then it is that Naomi determines to return
into her own land, leaving behind her the
graves of her husband and her two sons Her
daughters in-law, Orpah and Ruth, set out
on the journey with her, and then wend their
way into the land of Judah" As they
approach the confines of the Moabitsh terri
tory, the wise Naomi, between whom and her
daughters in-l law there existed a rare affection
rare az between women so situated of any
thinking perhaps what night b. in store
for her and with true womanly tenderness,
wishing to guide their steps in fairer paths,
overcomes the yearnings of her beraved heart,
and urges them to turn back again unto their
kindgsd. ''''
How beautiful is this told:
" And Naomi said unto her two daughters
in-law-GO, return each to her mothers S
house: the Lord deal kindly with you as you
have dealt with the dead, and with mel
. Then she kissed them and they lifted
up their voice and wept. And they said sure
ly we will return with thee to thy people,"
Still Naomi urges them to turn back again
unto their people, and pleads to them by eve
ry argument most potent with the women of
that day. At length Orpah ''kissed her
mother-in- law" and with bowed down head
and many tears and sobs-oft looking back
until out of sight-she makes her way once
more toward her mothers house; but Ruth
remains. She eleareth unto Naomi. who still
urges her to follow her her sisters footsteps
She says: g Behold thy sister in law is gone
back unto her people, and unto her gods !;
return thou after thy sister in law"
But Ruth steadfast in her more than flial
love--and guided perhaps " the destiny
which was to make her mother of new line
Of kings, still clings to her, and urges her de-
votion in words which, for intensity and ten
derness, stand forth unarivalled in the great
Book of Books, and give US the finest indica-
ton of the force and beauty of her character
of which we have any record. She says
- Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return
after following after thee for whittier thou
will lodge: thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God Where thou diest
will die, and there will be buried: The
Lord do so to me, and more also, if faught but
death part thee and me.'
determined to accompany her, took her to
her heart, and the two journeyed on togeth-
er toward Bethlehem, and were never parted
more.
In those days many of the avocations of
husbandry. as cleaning" and ''winnow.
ing" and often 8 sowing" and s. reaping," !"
were performed by women. and Ruth is al
ways associated in cur mind with the sheaves
of wheat and tho rravju3 aorp
Boaz, kinsman of Elimeleci, the hus-
band whom Naomi had left sleeping atar off
in the land of Moab, had near unto Bethle-
hem goodly estate, and here in the harvest
time Ruth comes to CLEAN. We do not Won
der that the rich Boaz, riding home from the
city, is smitten with charm which he can
never overcome, as he sees the fair Moabitess
cleaning in his fields. We do not wonder as
be watched her following after the reapers.
and bending with an easy grace her lovely
form as she gathered the ears of corn, that he
thought her beautiful as woman. We do
not wonder as ne watched her "a winnowing," +"
in the fashion of the olden time, while the
Ia - IL h.