Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1879-05-26
AMODERN SERMON.
The Plan of the Average Pulpit
EsSayiSt.

Il Tic II hlAA VI AAAO @ANNAeN1c - N.-A'~N
EsSayist.
The following exhibits the method
upon which the average parson con-
structs his delecta6le discourses:
"Ercthrru. the words Of my text are:
Old Mother Hubbard she went 10 the cup
board,
But when she got There Ihe VuPOO"'" was
bare,
Aud - the poor dog got none.
"These beautiful words, dear friends,
carry with them a solemn lesson. pro-
pose this evening to analyze their mean
ing. and 10 apply it, lofty as 1t may be,
to our everyday life.
Old Mother Hubbard. she went to the cup
board,
To get her poor dog bone;
"NIother Hubbard, you see, was old;
there being no mention OF others, we
may presume she was alone; a widow
"A friendless, old, solitary widow. Yet,
aid she despair? Did she sit down and
weeD. or read a novel; or wiring her
hands? No, she trent 10 the cupboard
And here observe that she rent To the
cupboard. She did not hop, or skip, or
run. or lump, or use any other perlpa-
tetic artifce; she solely and merely rent
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 are
Yhg cupboard Not 'one OF the cup
boards or the 'right-hand cupboard
ar tho geft-hand cupboard or the one
above. or the one below, or the one un-
der the floor, but Just he cupboard,
the one humble little cupboard the
moor widow possessed. And why did
She 90 to the cupboard? Was it to
bring forth golden goblets, or glItterlng
precious stones, or costly apparel, or
feasts, or any other attributes OF wealth.
Il uas 10 gst her poor dog a 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 cupboard, and
the widow going TO that cupboard-ln
hope. i'm expectation, may be-to open
il. although We are not distinctly told
thatit was not half open or alar-to open
it for that poor dog.
Bu, when she got there the cupboard was
And SO the poor dog had none.
ss.When she got there You see,
dear brethren, what perseverance Is.
You see the beauty OF perseverance IN
doing right. She got there. There
were no turnings and twistings, no
slippings and slidings, no leaning to the
rlght or ialtering 10 the left. With
glorious simplicity we are told she got
there.
and how was her noble effort re-
wardcd?
HThe cupboard was bdren II was
bare! There were to be found neither
oranges, Cheesecakes, nor penny buns,
nor gingerbread, nor crackers, nor nuts,
nor lucifer matches. The cupboard was
bare There was but one, only one soll-
tary cupboard in the whole OF that cot
toga and that one, the sole hope OF the
widow. and the glorious lOadStar OF the
poordog was bare, Had there been a
lee of mutton, loin of lamb, tillet OF
veal even on ice from Gatti's, the
ease would have been different, the IN
cidcut would have been otherwise.
But il was bare, my brethren, bare as a
bald head, bare rs an infant born WIFI
out q CaUl.
"Manv of you will probably say, with
an the pride of worldly sophlstry, the
widow. no doubt, went out and boughta
dor-biscuit.' An, no, Far removed
from these earthly ideas, these mum
dane desires, poor Mother Hubbard,
the widow, who many thoughtlcsS
workings would deSplse, IN that she
owned only one cupboard, perceived
or might even say Saw-at once the
relentless logic of the situation, and
which had enabled her without devla-
ton lo reach the barren cupboard. she
dill not attempt, like the StIu-necked
scuTrrs Of this generation, to war
auaiust the inevitable; she did not try,
ike the so-called men Of science, to ex-
pIain what she did not understand.
She said nothing. The poor dog had
ngurr And then at this point our IN
formation ceases. But DO We know sui
frirnt2 Are we not cOgnlzant OF
enough?
"Who would dare to pierce the veil
that ,hruudS the Interior tate oil old
Mother Hubbard, the poor dog, the cup
hlarl. or the bone that was not there
NuSf we imagine her standing at the
omen cupboard door. depict to ourselves
the dog still dropping his dissappoInt-
mrnt tail upon the floor, the sought-iOr
home still remaining somewhere else?
An, mo-. NV dear brethren, We are not
81, permitted To attempt To read the tu-
mr.. Suffice it for Us oglean from this
beautiful story It's many lessons; suffice
f,r d., tp apply them, 10 study them rs
flr rs i'm as lies, and bearing in mind
the natural irailty OF our nature, to
avoid being widows; To shun the patro-
rvwir az Hubbard; 70 have, ii our
means afford il, more than one cup
L.srI i'm the house; and 10 keep stores
in them ALL And o, dear friends, keep
ip, i'm recollection what We have learn
al This dav. let US avoid keeping dogs
that are fond of bones. But brethren,
II We do. il Fate has ordained that We
should do anv Of these things, let US
thqnro as Mother Hubbard did, straight
without curvrting or pranclng, to our
cupboard, empty though It be-let US,
like her. accept the inevitable with
steadfastnesS: and should we, ike her,
ever be left with a hungry dog and an
empty cupboard, may future chroniclers
/ be- able 10 write also of us IN the beautl-
iul words OF our text, And so the poor
/ dog had none.