The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1880-08-26
A MODERN SERMON.
Illustrating the Method by Which
the Average Parson Con-
structs His Discourses.


Brethren, the words of our text
are:
Old mother Hubbard, she weut to the
cupboard,
To get her poor dog bone,
And when she got there the cupboard
was bare,
And so the poor dog had none.
"These beautiful words, my dear
friends, carry with them a solemn
lesson. / propose this evening to
analyze their meaning, and TO at
tempt to apply it, lofty as it may be,
to every day life.
Old Mother Hubbard, she went to the
cupboard,
To get her poor dog bone.
"Mother Hubbard, you see, was
old; there being no mention of 9th
ers, we may presume she was alone,
widow friendless, old, solitary
widow. Yet did she dispair? Did
she sit down and weep, or read a
novel, or wiring her hands? No!
She went to the cupboard! She
did not hop, or skip, or run, or
jump, or use any other peripatetic
astilice, she solely and merely sceRt
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 above or the
one under the stair, but just tie
cupboard. The one little hum
ble-'cupboard the poor widow pos
sessed. And why did she go to the
cupboard? Was 1t 20 bring forth
golden goblets, or glittering pre-
cious stones, or costly apparel, or
feasts, or any other attribute of
wealth? 1t was TO get her poor
dog bone! Not only was the wild
ow poor, but her dog, the sole prop
of her age. was poor, too. We can
imagine the scene. The poor dog
crouched in the corner, looking
wistfully at the solitary cupboard,
and the widow gong to that cup
board--in hope, in expectation,
may be--to open it, although we are
Lot distinctly told that it was not
open or ajar, to open it for that
poor old 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 doing
right. She got there. There was no
turnings and twistings, no slippings
and slidings, no leaning to the
right or taltering to the left. With
glorious simplicity we are told that
she got there.
"And how were her noble efforts
rewarded?
The cupboard was bare: 1t was
barel There were to be found nei-
ther oranges, ncr cheesecakes, mol
penny buns, nor gingerbread, mol
nuts; nor lucifer matches. The
cupboard was barel There was but
one, only one solitary cupboard in
that whole cottage, and that one
the sole hope of that widow and the
glorious loadstar of the poor dog
was bare! Had there been a leg oi
mutton, a loin of lamb, filleJ OF
veal, even an ice from Gunter's, the
case would have been different, the
incident would have been otherwise.
But il was bare, my brethren, bare
as a bald head, bare as an infant
born without q caul.
"Many of you will probably say,
with all the pride of worldly sophis-
try, The widow, no doubt, went out
and bought a dog biscuit Alb, no
Far removed from these worldly
ideas, these mundane desires, poor
Mother Hubbard-the widow whom
many thoughtless worldllngs would
despise, in that she only owned one
cupboard-perceived, or l might
say saw, at once the relentless logic
OF the situation, and yielded to II
with all the heroism of that nature
which had enabled her without de-
Walton to reach the cupboard. She
did not attempt, like the stiff
necked scofers of this generation,
to war against the inevitable; she
did not try, like the so called men
of science, to explSln what she did
not understand. She did nothing.
The poor dog had none And
then at this point our information
ceases. But do we not know sufli-
cient? Are we not cognizaht OF
enoughs
"Who would dare TO pierce thC
veil that shrouds the ulterior fate
of Old Mother Hubbard, the poor
dog, the cupboard, or the bone that
was not there2 Must we imagine
her still standing at the open cup
board door-depict to ourselves
the dog still dropping his disap
pointed tail upon the floor, Tho
sought-for bone still remaining
somewhere else2 Ahl no, my dear
brethren, we arc not permitted tc
attempt to read the future. Sui
fee it for us TO gleal from thii
beautiful story its many lessons
suffice it for us TO apply them, tC
study them as far as in Us lies, anC
bearing in mind the natural frailtj
of our nature, % avoid being wild
! ows; TO shun the patronymic o
: Hubbard; to have. il our means af
I ford 1t, more than one cupboard il
the house, and TO keep stores II
, them all.
"Aud OH dear friende, keeping
in recollection what we have learn
ed tais day, let 40 avoid keeping
dogs that are fond OF bones. But
brethren, If we do-ii fate has or
dained that we should do any o
these things-let US then go, a.
y Mother Hubbard did, straight, with
: out curyeting or prancing, 70 ou
: cupboard. empty though it be-le
e US, like her, accept the iEevitabl
s with calm steadfastness, and shoul'
: we, like her, ever be lett with
hungry dog and an empty cup
4 board, may future chronlclers b
: able TO write also Of US, in the beau
: tiful words of our text
: And so the poor dog had none."
a Few Snake Stories.
r Brooklyn, N. Y, Eagle.