Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1879-07-25

From the Birmingham Dart.]


The following hits of pretty fairly
the way in which some discourses are
constructed:
Old mother Hubbard, she weo, to the cup
board,
To get Der poor dog bcne;
But when she goi there the cupboard was
bare,
And so the poor dog had none.
These beautiful words. dear friends.
carry with them a solemn lesson.
propose this evening to apaIyze their
meaning and aiten pit TO apply it, lofty
as !. may be, TO our every day life:
Old Mother Hubbard, she wen, to the cup
board.
To get her poor dog bone.
Mother Hubbard. you see. was old;
there being 10 mention Of others. We
may presume she was alone; widow,
a friendle.s, old. solitary widow. Yet
did she despair! Did she sit down aud
weep, or read q novel or wiring her
hands? No. she went TO the cupboard
And here observe that she went TO the
cupboard. She did no, hop. or skip.
or run. Or jump. or use any peripstetic
ar,ifics; she solely and merely went to
the cupboard.
We have seen that she was old and
lonely, and we further see that she was
poor. For, mark, tn, words are the
cupboard h Not one Of tn, cupboards
or the fight-hand cupboard or the one
above or the one below or the one IN.
der the floor. but just the cupboard.
The ooe humble little cupboard the
poor widow possessed. And why did
she 90 to the cupboard? Was il to ring
forth z ,lden goblets or glittering pre-.
ci"us stones or costly apparel or feas,s
or any other attribute or wealth. II
was to get the poor dog bone. No,
only wss tho widow poor, bu, her dog,
the sole prop Of her age. was poor, too.
We can imagine the scene. The poor
dog crouching in the corner hooking
wistfullv ut the solitary cupboard, and
the widow going to that cupboard in
hore. in expectation may bc. TO open it.
although We are not distinctly told that
it was not half open or ajar to open il
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 sec, dear
brethren, what perseverance is. You
see the beauty Of persistence in doing
right. She got there. There we're M
turnings OF. twis,ings, no slippings and
slidings, no leaning TO right or filter
ings to the left With glorious sim
plicity We are tod she got there.
And how was her noble effort re.
warded?
The cupboard was bare. II was bare
There were t. be found neither oranges
nor cheese. cakes nor penny buns, nor
gingerbread nor crackers, mn nnts nor
luciier masches. The cupboard was
bare. There was bnt one. only one
solitary cupboard IL the whole Of tina,
cottage. and that one the sole hope Of
the widow and the glorious load star 81
the poor dog. was bare. Had there
been n leg If mutton, a loin of lamb, a
fil'et Of veal. even an ice from Gunter'
the case would have been different. the
incident would have heen otherwise
but Il was bare, my irethren, bare as q
bald head, bare as au infant born with
out a cnul.
Many Of you will probably say, with
all the pride Of worldly sophis'ry: The
widow. no doubt. went out and bought
biscuit. All, no. Far removed from
earthly ideas, these mundane desires
poor Mother Hubbard, the widow ;, hon
though,lcss world inrs would despise
10 that shc onl7 owned u cupboard
perceived, or | might even say saw, thu
RELENTLESS logic Of the situation, and
yielded to it with all the hernism al
J that nature which had ennhled her with
ont deviation to reach the barren cup.
board. Shc did not attenp., like thu
s,if.necked scosfars of this generation
to war against the inevitable; she die
not try, like the so.ralled men Of scienc.
10 explain what she did not uuders and
She did nothing. The rocr dog hat
none. And then Al this point our in
formation ceases. Bnt do We not know
suf6cien? Are we not coguisan
ennughg
Who would dare to pierce the vel
that shrouds the Interior fate of oil
Mother Hubbard, the poor dog, tn,
cupboard or the hone that was 90
there? Must we imagine her still stan /,
ing at the open cupboard door depic
to ourselves the dog still drooring hi
disappointed tail upon the door, III
sought for hone still remaining some
where elsey Alb, no, my brethren; ",
are not so permitted to attempt to reat
the future. Suffice it tor US to glea,
from the beautiful story its many les
sons; suffice it for us 10 apply them, I,
study them Us far as 10 us lies and bear
ing in mind the natural frailty Of ou
nature to avid being widows; TO shu,
the pa'rcoymie Of Hubbard; to have i
our means afford it more than one cup
hoard in thu bausa ooJ A. L.. 49,.