Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1880-05-22
AspECumEN OF MODERN ExEGEsl
Printed for the Benefit of the Young


Printed for the Benefit of the Younger
Clergy.
Birmingham Dart.
The following hits off pretty fairly the
way in which diScOurSes are construct
ed:-
Brethren, the words of my 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 had none.
"These beautiful words, dear friends,
carry with them solemn lesson. IprO-
pose this evening to analyze their mean
ing and to attempt 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; a
friendless, old, solitary widow. Yet did
she despair? Did she sit down and weep,
or read a dime 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, or
run, or jump, or usesany other peripatet-
lie artitice; she solely and merely went
to the cupboard.
We have seen that she was old and
lonely, and we surther see that she was
poor. For, mark, the words are the cup
board Not 'One of the cupbOards, or
the one above, or the one below, or the
one under the floor, but just the cup
board. The one humble little cupboard
the widow possessed. And why did she go
to the cupboard? Was it to bring forth
gOblets, or glittering precious stones, or
costly apparel, or feasts, or any other at
tribute of wealth? 1t was to get her
poor dog a bone! Not only was the
widow poor, but her dog the sold prop
of her age, was poor too. We can i'm
agine the scene. The poor dog crouch
ing in the corner, looking wistfully at
the solitary cupbOard-in hope, in ex-
pectatiOn, may be, to open it. although
we are not distinctly told that it was
not half open or ajar. to open it for that
poor dog
But when she got there the cupboard was bare.
And so the poor dog had none.
When she got therel You see, dear
brethren, what perseverance is. You
see the beauty of persistence in doing
right. She got there. There was no
turnings and twistings, no slippings
and slidings, 40 leaning to the right or
faltering to the left. With glorious sim
plicity we are told she got there.
And how was her noble effort reward
ed? The cupboard was barrel 1t was
bare! There were to be found neither or
anges, nor cheesecakes, nor penny buns,
nor gingerbread, nor crackers, nor nuts,
nor lucifer matches. The cupboard was
bare! There was but one. only one soil
tary cupboard i'm the whole of that cot
tage, and that one the sole hope of the
widow, and the glorious lode star of the
poor dog was barrel Had there been a
leg of mutton, a lion 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 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 a
dog biscuit All, no! Far removed from
earthly ideas, these mundane desires,
poor Mother Hubbard, the widow whom
thoughtless worldlings would despise,
in that she only owned cupboard, per-
ceived, 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 without