The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-09-15

and that night the earth was saturaIeu
You say, "Tlat just happened So" Well
if you want to worship the blind god
Fate, as he sits mumbling alb ut things
that have to be, his hands impotent to
help, you may worship him. But think
the vast majority of the people Of the
United States prefer to worship the God
of Hezekiah, of Elijah, the God of earth
and heaven, sympathetic as he is omnip'
otent, Father as we'll as King. But
yOu say, suppose through sudden turn
of the Presidents case he should die, at
is possible, then your prayers would be
dead failure" No, no! What do We
mean when we pray for the Presidenti
We mean his welfare and the welfare oi
the nation. If God should take him
him away it would be because 1t was best
for him to go, and in some inscrutable
way, best for the national welfare. You
and could not understand it, and there
is where Christian faith would come in,
On two things you may depend; God is
always good and God is always right
Agassiz says the American continent was
the first created, the Yosemite older
than the Alps. Lake Erie older than the
Lake of Geneva. If that be great geo.
logical fact, that this country was first in
Divine creation, let it be first in acknowl-
edgment of God, first in prayer, first in
devotion to all that is good and holy and
Christian.
The first great practical use Of this ca
lamity has been that it has driven the
nation to prayer, Whstshall the count
ry do next2 Go right on in this work,
doing as now. Queen Elizabeth said to
Walter Raleigh: Raleigh, when will you
leave off begging2" He answered: When
Your Majesty leaves off givingI" The
time for this nation to cease supplication
for merCiful deliverance is when Gods
ear has become deaf, and his heart hard,
and his open hand of mercy ls Clenched
in eternal denial. Just as skeptiCs had,
as they thought, succeeded in persuading
the great mass of America that prayer is
an absurdity, by the sudden improving
of our Chief Magistrate millions of peo-
pie begin to cry unto God for help.
What a scene it was when the Roman
army was surrounded, and no water was
accessible, and the Twelfth Legion, made
up of Christians, fell upon their knees
and cried for rescue. Soon the rain de.
scended in torrents, and the soldiers
caught it in their helmets with one hand,
and drank while they fought with the
other. So let this nation look up for the
rain of Divine supply while it moves
right on in its Conquests Of peace, and
order and righteousness.
Another use Of this great calamity is
the revelation it has made of woman's
courage, womsn's faith, Woman's endur-
ance. The domestic side of this tribu.
lation is what has most deeply stirred
the country. A more difficult position
never opened before any woman, than
the White House last 4th OF March pre-
sented to Mrs. Garfield. Tne place for
four years had been occupied by very
Queen of womsnly character and attrac.
acknowledged model to all
the nation of simplicity, and good sense,
and Christian character. By her pres
enCe in the capital of the nation she had
rebuked the hollowness of fashion, and
The womanly extravaganza which more
han once have, directly or indirectly,
plunged the nation into bankruptcy. 1t
was no easy thing to be the successor Of
Mrs. President Hayes. But this recent
calamity has made dark background
'or the picture of heroism and devotion
and Christian courage that has moved
;he admiration ofall Christendom. These
,wo queens of American society will go
lown side by side through history. But
what l want to impress upon you ID the
jense of grand womanly behavior. In
he capital the last few weeks are only
revelation of what is in woman's nature,
md that there are tens of thousands of
women with just as much faith in God,
ust as much self sacrifice, and just as
nuCh endurance. Of course there aie
ailures among them as in our own sex;
)ut you know many a wife who could
watch for months every night without
by the bedside of a sick hus-
1and, giving all the medicine, and at just
he right moment, with her needle at
he same time earning bread for the
household, coughing her life away with
Jlow consumption, dying at last a martyr
n the loving service. Do not talk as
,hougk the womanly courage and devo-
ion of the White House is exceptional.
Greenwood is full of them; Laurel Hill
s full of them; every graveyard and Gem.
etery Of the land is full of them; women
who loved and suffered and toiled and
sacrificed and died for others. I have
Ieen in ell my parishes women who be.
ieved their companions would recover
after all the doctors gave up, and every.
body gave up, after death had actually
came and the spirit departed. l have
seen them violently resist everything
that death implied, saying; "He will
,ome 10; know he will come to; he is
no more dead than you are" After Be-
we're surgery, Rev. DR.. Burchard Of New
York, one of the most eminent and use.
ful Clergymen Of this century, was pro-
nounced dead by all the surgeons. One
- ~ avo vyaa Jnn1koJ - An A. ,usEo 4.