Mexico weekly ledger., 1881-03-31


An Intsrssaing discourse Ahass 1AsH and
he cupbsard and ths Bens.
The following hits OF pretty fairly
the way in which some discourses are
constructed. "a
Brethren, the words of my text are
Old Mother Hubbard, she sent to the cupboard,
To get her poor dog bone:
Bus when she got there the cupboard was bare,
And so the poor dog had none.
These beautiful words, dear friends,
carry with them q solemn lesson.
propose this evening to analyze their
meaning and attempt to apply it, LOFTY
as it may be, to our 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 others, We
may presume she was alone; O wid-
ow-a friendless, old, solitary, wid-
ow. Yet did she 6aspair7 Did she sit
down and weep, or read novel, or
wiring her hands? No, she went to
the cupboard. And here observe she
"went" to the cupboard. She did
not hop, or skip, or run, or jump, or
use any other peripatetic artifice she
solely and merely went to the cup
board.
We have seen that she was old and
lonely, and we further see that she
was poor. For, mark, the words are
''the cupboard" Not tone Of the
cupboards" or the "rlght hand cup
board" or the one above or the one
below, or the one under the floor, but
just the cupboard. The one humble
little cupboard the widow possessed.
And why did she GO to the cupboard
Was it to bring forth golden goblets
or glittering precious stones, or costly
apparel, or feasts, or any other attri-
butte of wealth? 1t was to get he,
poor dog a bone! Not only was the
widow poor, but her dog, the SOLE
prop of her age, was poor too. w,
can imagine the scene. The poo
dog creuching in the corner, looking
wistfully at the solitary cupboard
and the widow going to that cup
board in hope, in expectation may-b,
Ito open it, although We are no
distinctly told that it was not hal
open or ajar, to open for that poo
dog: '
But when she got there the cupboard was bars
And so the poor dog got none.
When she got there! You see
dear brethren, what perseverance is
You see the beauty of persistence i,
doing right. She got there. Their,
were no turnings and twistings, n,
slippings and slidings, no leaning t.
the right or falterings to the left
With glorious simplicity we are tol,
she got there.
i, And how was her noble effort re
warded?
!, "The cupboard was barrel" 1t wa
bare. There we're to be found neithe
oranges, nor cheese-cakes, nor penn
buns, nor gingerbread, nor crackers
nor nuts, nor lucifer matches. Th
cupboard was bare! There was bu
one, only one solitary cupboard /
the whole of that cottage, and thu
one the sole hope of the widow, an
the glorious lode-star of the poor dog
was bare. Had there been leg q
, mutton, loin Of lamb, a fillet of veal
even all ice from Gunter's the cas-
would have been different, the Incl
dent would have been otherwise. Bu
. it was bare, my brethen, bare as
bald head.
!, Many of you will probably say
, with all the pride of worldly sophistr
"The widow, no doubt, went out an
bought her dog a biscuit. Ah, no
Far removed from earthly ideas
, these mundane desires, poor Mothe
+ Hubbard, the widow whom though
less worldings would despise, in tn.
q she only owned cupboard, perceived
y or might even sSy saw-at once tt
; relentless logic Of the situation, an
, yielded to it with all the heroism
q that nature which had enabled b,
without deviation to reach the barre
cupboard. She did not attempt, lii
the stiff-necked stoffers of this gene
I alton, to war against the inevitabl.
j. she did not try, like the so-calle
q men Of science, to explain what the
a do not understand. She did nothin,
4 ''1he poor dog had none!" Al
r then at this point our informatl<
q ceases. But do we not know suf
: cient? Are we not cognizant
q enough?
: Who would dare to pierce the v,
y that shrouds the ulterior fate of o
: Mother Hubbard-the poor dog-tI
II cupboard-or the bone that was n
y there? Must we imagine her st
o standing at the cupboard door, d
!, pict to ourselves the dog still droo
.e ing his disappointed tail upon t
/. floor, the sought-for bone still 1
,e naming somewhere else? Ah! q
Is my dear brethren, we are not so D,
IF mitted to attempt to read the futu,
\. Suffice it for US to CLEAN from Il
G. beautiful story its many lessons 81
r. fee 1t for US to apply them, to stu
e them so far as in US lies, and beari
IN mind the natural frailty of our 4
ture, to avoid being widows; to sh
the patronymic of Hubbard !; to ha,
K if our means afford 1t, more than O
g. cupboard in the house, and to he
at stores IN them all. And, OIL d.
~ friends, keeping IN recollection wi
a we have learned this day, let us Nv,
d, keeping dogs that are fond of bon
5. But, brethren, If we do, if fate
ut ordained that We should DO any
It these things, let Us then go, as Mo
,g er Hubbard did, straight, with,
~ curveting or prancing, to our c,
OF beard, empty though it be-let
~ like her, accept the inevitable "
ne calm steadfastness and should ,
ou like her, ever be left With q huns
Y. dog and an empty cupboard, n
it future chroniclers be able to vi
n also of US, IN the beautiful wsrds
n our text:
en- And 50 the poor dog had none.
10. The Friend In Need.
no On the Wabash train last nj,
th there was . group of drummers 70