River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1879-07-24
A MODERN SERMON.

A MODERN SERMON.
On Text Not Selected From the Scriptures
aThe following, says an English paper
exhibits the method upon which the aver
age parson constructs his delectablo dis
course:
Brethren, the words of MY text are:
Old Mother Hubbard, she went 10 the cup
board,
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, my dear friends
AIRY with them solem lesson. pro
osc this evening to ana lyze their mean.
z ald attempt to app ly it, lofty as il
~ b., to our everyday 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, W,
may presume that she was alone; a wild
ow-a friendless, old, solitary widow
Yet did she despair2 Did she sit down
and weep, or read a novel, or wiring hen
handsl No! she went TO the cupboard
And here observe that sne went to the
cupboard. She did not hop, or skip OF
run, or jump, or use any peripatetic arti-
flee; she solely and merely went to the
cupboard.
We have seen that she was old and
lonely; and we now further see that she
was poor. For, mark, the words are "the
cupboard Not 'one of the cupboards,
or 'the right-hand cupboard, or "the left
hand cupboard, or the one below, or the
one under the floor, but just the cup.
boa ID. The one humble little cupboard
the poor woman possessed. And why
did she 90 to the cupboard! Was it to
bring forth golden goblets, or Offering
precious stones, or costly apparel, OF
feasts, or any other attributes of wealth:
1t was to get her poor dog Il bone! Not
only was the widow poor, but her dog,
the sole prop of her age, was poor, too.
We can emagne the scene. The poor
dog crouching in the corner, looking wist-
fully at the solitary cupboard-in hope
and expectation, maybe-to open it, al
though we are not distinctly told that it
was not half open or aiar--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 there!" You see dear
brethren, what perseverance is. You see
the beauty of persistence in doing right,
She got there. There were no turnings,
and twistings, no slippings or slidings,
no leaning to the right or faltering to the
left With glorious simplicity we are
told she got there.
"And how was her noble effort reward
ed?
"The cupboard was bare i was bare.
There was to be found neither apples,
nor oranges, nor cheese-Cakes, nor penny
buns, nor ginger bread, nor crackers, nor
nuts, nor lucifer matches. The cupboard
was bare! There was but one, only one,
solitary cupb, ard in the whole of that
cottage, and that one the sole hope of the
widow, and the glorious loadstar Of the
poor dog, was barc2 Had there been a
leg Of mutton, loin Of lamb, fillet of
veal, even an ice from Gunter's the case
would have been different, the incident
would have been otherwise But it was
bare, my brethren, bare as n bald head
bare as an infant born without cauI.
Many of you will probably say, with
all the pride Of worldly sophistry 1.-THE
widow, no doubt, went out and brought
dog biscuit All, no! Far removed
from these mundane desires, poor Mother
Hubbard, the widow, whom many
thoughtless worldlings would despise, in
that she only owned one cupboard, per
ccivcd--or / might even say saw-at
once the relentless logic Of the situation
and yielded to it with all the heroism of
that nature which had enabled her with
out deviation to reach the barren cup
board She did not attempt, like the
stiff-necked scoffers Of this generation, to
war against the inevitablc; she did not
try, like the so-caIed men of this science,
to explain what she did not understand.
She did nothing. The poor dog had
monet And then, at this point our in
formation ceases But do We not know
sufficient Are we not cognizant of
enough7
Who will dare to pierce the vef that
shrouds the Interior tate of old Mother
Hubbard, her poor dog, the cupboard, or
the bone that was not there? Must we
luid8iut UtI Stlii StaUuiuR at INT ODtB
cupboard door, depict to ourselves the
dog still dropping his disappointed tail
upon the hoorl the sought for bone still
remaining somewhere elsel All, no, my
dear brethren We fare not permitted to
attempt to read the future. Suffice it for
us to CLEAN from tbs beautiful story its
many lessons; suffice it for us to apply
them, to study them as far as in us lies,
and bearing in mind the natural frailty
Of our nature, to avoid being widows; TO
shun the patronymic of Hubbard; to
have, if our means afford it, more than
one cupboard in the house and to keep
stores in them all And, 0, dear friends.
keeping in recollection what We have
learned this day, let us avoid keeping
dogs that are fond Of bones. But, breth-
rem, if we do-if fate has ordained any
of these things, let US then go, as Mother
did, straight, without curvetlna or pranc-
ing, to our cupboard, empty though it be /;
let us, like her, accept the inevitable
with calm steadfastHess, and should we,
like her, ever be left hungry dog, and
an empty cupboard, may future ehroni-
clers be able to write also of us, In the
beautiful words of our text.
And 80 the NOR doc lad none -