The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1879-07-23

eAhlDits the meChOd upon Which tho aver
age parson constructs his delectable dis
course: ,aat aee~gtg;@tA Aas .}ta5 he.
Brethren, the words of my text are:
old Mother Hubbard, she went to the cup
= TO get her poor dog, a bone;. faa
But when she got there the cupboard was
j. And SO the poor dog had noune.' 10
These beautiful words, my dear friends.
AIRY with them soleln n lesson. pro
ose this evening to ana lyze their mean.
g, and attempt to app ly it, lofty as it
aysb,, to our ever y-day life: ''%#'" 81.
old Mother Hubbard, she went to the cup.
=. @ To get her poor dog a bone ''5... ri
Mother Hubbard, you see, was old;
there being no mention of others, we
may presume that she was alone; wild
ow-a friendless, old, solitary widow.
Yet did she despair? Did she sit down
and weep, or read a novel, or wiring her
hands? No! she went to the cupboard.
And here observe that she went to the
cupboard. She did not hop. or skip OF
run, or jump, or use any peripatetic arti-
ice; she solely and merely went to the
cupboard "7 ''." .''@ ''..' 80 ! T..
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:
board. The one humble little cupboard
the poor woman possessed. And why
did she 60 to the cupboard? Was it to
bring forth golden goblets, or Offering
precious stones, or costly apparel, o.
feasts, or any other attributes Of wealthi
1t 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 emaglne the scene. The poor
dog crouching in the corner, looking visit.
fully at the solitary cupboard hope
and expectation, maybe-to open it, al
though we are not distinctly told that il
was not half open or ajar-to open it fol
the poor dog.
But when she got there the cupboard was
Il And SO the poor dog had none;
W "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 OF slidings
no leaning to the right or faltering to the
left. With glorious simplicity we are
'ttoldshe gotfthere. .,-,a. -. =, a.
{ "And how was her noble effort reward
ed? s~.., III .,.... f...~
''The cupboard was bare" It was bare
There was to be found neither apples
nor oranges, nor cheese-cakes, nor penny
buns, nor ginger bread, nor crackers, no.
nuts, nor lucifer matches. The cupboard
was bare! There was but one, only one
solitary cupboard in the Whole of thai
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, fillet Of
veal, even an ice from Gunter's the CASE
would have been different, the inciden,
would have been otherwise. But it wa:
bare, my brethren, 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 brought
a dog biscuit All, no! Far removed
from these mundane desires, poor Mother
Hubbard, the widow, whom man,
thoughtless worldlings would despise, il
that she only owned one cupboard, per
ceived- I might even say: saw-a1
once the relentless logic of the situation
and yielded to it with all the heroism O.
that nature which had enabled her with
out deviation to reach the barren CUP
board. She did not attempt, like IL
stiff-necked scofers of this generation, .t<
war against the inevitable; she did moi
try, like the so-called men of this science
to explain what she did not understand
She did nothing. The poor DOG hal
none! And then, at this point our in
formation ceases. But do we not know
sufficient2 Are we not cognizant o.
enough? d W.. ''5-'''' D.. ..''." 49,,
Who will dare to pierce the veil tina,
shrouds the Interior tate of old Mothe,
Hubbard, her poor dog, the cupboard, o,
the bone that was not there? Must we
imagine her still standing at the oper
cupboard door? depict to ourselves the
dog still dropping his disappointed tai
upon the floor? the sought for bone still
remaining somewhere else?, All, no, my
dear brethren; we sarc not permitted, t
attempt to read the future. Suffice it fo1
US to CLEAN from this beautiful story it:
many lessons; suffice it for us to apply
them, to. study them as far as in us lies
and bearing in mind the natural frailt,
Of our nature, to avoid being widows; t.
sh hur the patronymic, Of Hubbard; t.
have, # our means afford it, more thar
one cupboard in the house and to keel
stores in them all. And, Q, dear friends
Keeping in recollection what we have
l,' y y &c this day, let US avoid keeping
dogs that are fond of bones. But, breth
rem, if we :do-if fate has ordained an,
OF these things, let us then 90, as Mother
DID, straight, without curvetlng or pranc
1n1g' to our cupboard, empty thought be
let us, like her, accept the inevitable
with calm steadfastness, and should we
Ii! her, ever be left a hungry dog, anc
an empty cupboard, may. future chroni
clers be able to write also of us, in the
beautiful words of our text: 'ts,.s ..,.
And SO the poor dog had none" ~,
,.F4,. .rrr sam =rruB -.=