The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1879-08-22
A MODERN SERMON.

MODERN SERMON.
The following exhibits the method upon
which the average parson constructs his de-
lectable discourses /:
'Bretheren, the words of the text are /:
Old Mother Hubbard, she went to the cup
board,
To get her poor dog bone:
But when she got there the cupboard was
bare,
And so the poor dog got none.'
These beautiful words, dear friends, car.
ry with them solemn lesson. propose
this evening to analyze their meaning and
to apply it, lofty as it may be to our every.
day life.
Old mother Hubbard, she went TO the cup
board,
To get her poor dog bone.
Mother Hubbard, you see, was old
there being no mention of others, we may
presume she was alone widow, friend
less, old solitary widow. Yet did she
despair Did she sit down and weep, or
read novel, or wiring her hands? No
she ,oent to the cupboard. And here observe
that she ,cent to the cupboard. She did not
hop, or skip or run, or jump, or use any
other peripatetic artifice she solely and
merely went to the cupboard.
we have seen that she was old and lone
ly, and we now further see that she was
poor. For, mark, the words are The cup
board Not 'one of the cupboards, or the
'right.hand cupboard or the one above or
the one below, or the one under the floor,
but just the cupboard,-th one humble
little cupboard the widow possessed. And
why did she 90 to the cupboard Was it
to bring forth golden goblets, or glittering
precious stones or costly apparel, or feasts,
or any other attributes of wealth ? II was
to get her poor dog bone Not only was
the widow poor, but her dog, the sole prop
Of her age, was poor too. We can imagine
the scene. The poor dog crouching in the
corner, looking wistfully at the solitary cup
board and the widow going to that cupboard
in hope, in expectation, maybe-to open
it, although we are not distinctly told that
it was not half open or ajar-to open 1t for
that poor dog.
But when she got there the cupboard was
bare,
And so the poor dog had none.
When she got there / You see, dear
brethren, what perseverance is. You see
the beauty of perseverance, in doing right,
she got there. There was no turnings and
twistings, no slippings and sliding, no lean.
ing to the right or faltering to the left.
With glorious simplicity we are told she got
there
And how was her noble effort reward
edr
The cupboard was bare ? 1t was bare
There were to be found neither oranges,
cheesecakes, nor penny buns, nor ginger.
break, nor crackers, nor nuts nor lucifer
matches. The cupboard was bare There
was but one. only one solitary cupboard in
the whole of that cottage, and that one, the
sole hope of the widow, and the glorious
loadstar of the poor dog, was bare Had
there been leg of mutton, a loin of lamb, a
fillet of veal, even an ice, from Gutti's, the
case would have been different, the incident
would have been otherwise. But it was
bsre, my bretheren, bare as bald head
bare as an infant born without caul.
Many of you will probably say, with all
the pride of worldly sophistry. The widow
no doubt, went out and bought the dog 6
biscuit 'Ah, no Far removed from thest
earthly ideas, these mundane desires, pool
Mother Hubbard, the widow, who many
thoughtless worldings would despise, in thai
she had only one cupboard, perceived-or
might even say-at once the relentless logi,
of the situation, and which had enabled he
without deviation to reach the barren cup
board. She did not attempt, like the stiff
necked scoffers of this generation, to wa
against the inevitable she did not try lik
the so-called man ofscience, to explain wha
she did not understand. She said nothing
The poor dog had none = And then at thi
point our information ceases. But do W
know sufficient? Are we not cognizant O
enough
who would dare to pierce the veil ths
shrouds the ulterior fate of Old Mothe
!. Hubbard, the poor dog, the cupboard, O
the bone that was not there Must we i'm
agine her standing at the open cupboar
door, depict to ourselves the dog still drop
ping his disappointed tail upon the fool
, the sought for bone still remaining some
where else All no, my dear brethren
, we are not 80 permitted to attempt to rea
the future. Suffice it for us to CLEAN fror
this beautiful story its many lessons suffic
} it for us to apply them, to study them as ia
/ as in US lies, and, bearing in mind the ma,
ural fraility of our nature, to avoid bein
t widows /; to shun the patronymic of Hui
: bard to have, if our means afford it, mol
! than one cupboard in the house and
+ keep stores in them all. And, O.! des
. friends, keeping in recollection what "
3 have learned this day, let US avoid keepin
t dogs that are fond of bones. But brethre
s if we do,if Fate has ordained that we shoul
f do any of these things, let us then go
. Mother Hubbard did, straight, without Gu
l. veting or prancing, to our cupboard, emp
s though it be--let us, like her, accept the il
. evitable, with stesdfastness and should W
e like her, ever be left with hungry dog, ar
e an empty cupboard, may future chronicle
n be able to write also of US in the beautif
Q words of our text, And 50 the poor dog &
It none.'-Er.
h