The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1879-07-17
A MODERN SERMON,
From an Old Text and Illustrating
Present Style.

Brethren, the words of my tex
are:
'"old Mother Hubbard, che went to tn
cupboard,
To get her poor dog bone;
But when she got there the cupboard wa
bare,
And SO the poor dog had none.'
"These beautiful words, deal
friends, carry with them a solemn
lesson. propose this evening tt
analyze their meaning, and to apply
it, lofty as it may be, to our every
day life.
'"old Mother Hubbard, she went to tn
cupboard,
To get her poor dog bone.'
"Mother Hubbard, you see, wa
old; there being no mention
of others, we may presume she wa
alone; a widow-a friendless, old
solitary widow. Yet did she de
spair? Did she sit down and weep
or read a novel,or wiring her hands,
No! she sOent to tie cupboard. AND
here observe that she aOent to tho
cupboard. She did not hop, oil
skip, or run, or jump, or use any
other peripatetic artifice; she solely
and merely aOen to the cupboard.
eve have seen that she was old
and lonely, and we now further see
that she was poor. For, mark the
words The cupboard Not 'one OF
the cupboards,' or the right hand
Cupboard or the left-hand cup
board or the one above or the one
below, or the one under the floor,
but just the cupboard-the one
humble little cupboard the poor
widow possessed. And why did
she go to the cupboard? Was it to
bring fourth golden goblets, or gilt
tering precious stones, or costly ap
parel, or feasts, or any other attri
butes of wealth. u a0aS TO get her
poor dog 6oner Not only was the
widow poor, but her dog, the sole
prop of her old age, was poor too.
We can imagine the scene. The
poor dog crouching in the corner
looking wistfully at the solitary
cupboard, and the widow going to
that cupboard-in hope, in expecta.
ton, may be-to oDen it, although
we are not distinctly told that il
was not half open or ajar-to open
it for the poor dog.
'"But when she got there the cupboard
was bare.
And so the poor dog had none.'
"'When she got therep You see
dear brethren, what perseverance,
is. You see the beauty of persist
ence in doing right. She got there
There were no turnings and twist.
ings, no slippings, aud slidings, nc
leaning to the right or falterlng u
the left. With glorious simplicity
we are told she got there.
"And how was her noble effort
rewarded2
"'The cupboard was barrel il
was barrel There were to be found
neither oranges, nor cheesecakes
nor penny buns, nor gingerbread
nor crackers, nor nuts, nor lucifer
matches. The cupboard was bare
There was but one, only one solita.
~ cupboard in the whole of the
cottage, and that one, the sole hope
of the widow, and She glorious
loadstar of the poor dog, was bare
Had there been a leg of mutton, a
loin of lamb, a fillet of veal, even
an ice from Gatti's, the cause would
have been different, the incident
would have been otherwise. But 1t
was bare, my brethren, bare as a
bald head, bare as an infant born
without caul.
"Many of you would probably
say, with all the pride OF worldly
The widow no doubt,
went out and bought dog biscuit
All, no! Far removed from those
earthly ideas, these mundane de-
sires, poor Mother Hubbard, the
widow, whom many thoughtless
workings would despise, in that
she owned only one cupboard, per
might even say saw-at
once the relentless logic of the sit
and yielded to it with all
the heroism of that nature which
had enabled her without deviation
to reach the barren cupboard. She
did not attempt, like the stiff neck
ed scoffers of this generation, to
war against the inevitable; she did
not try, like the so-called men Of
science, to explain what she did not
She said nothing.
The poor dog had noneF And
then at this point our information
ceases. But do we not know suffi-
cient? Are we not cognizant OF
enough?
e1Who would dare to pierce the
veil that shrouds the Interior fate
of Old Mother Hubbard, the poor
dog, the cupboard, or the bone that
was not there? Must we imagine
her still standing at the open cup
board door, depict to ourselves the
dog still dropping his disappointed
tail upon the floor, the sought-for
bone still remaining somewhere
else? All? no, my dear brethren,
we are not so permitted TO attempt
TO read the future. Suffice it for us
TO CLEAN from the beautiful story
it's many lessons; suffice it for US TO
apply them, to study them as far
as Ia us lies, and, bearing in mind |
The natural frailty Of our nature, TO
avoid being widows; to shun the
of Hubbard; TO have, If |
our means afford it, more than one
cupboard in the house; and to keep |
stores in them all. And, oh, dear
friends, keeping in recollection
what we have learned this day, let
us avoid keeping dogs that are fond |
Of bones. But, brethren, II we do;
II fate has ordained that we should |
10 any of these things, let us then
20 as Mother Hubbard did, straight,
curveting or prancing, TO
our cupboard, empty though IL be
let us, like her, accept the Inevita
bic with steadfastness; and should
we, like her, ever be left with a
hungry dog and an empty cupboard
nav future chroniclers be able to
write also Of us in the beautiful
words of our text, And so the poor
log had none.'"
Defeat Does Not Settle.