Smyrna times., 1882-06-14
A Modern Sermon,

1t is such good hit, that it will beal
rereading very well:
Brethren the words of my text are
odd Woman Hubbard, she went to the cupboard
~. 10 get her poor dog bone:
but Wnen she got there the cupboard was bare
And so the poor dog had none"
These beautiful words, dear friends
carry with them a solemn lesson.
Ipropose this evening to analyze their
meaning, and to attempt to apply If.
lofty as it may be. to our EVERYDAY
life. ''S
odd Mother Hubbard she went IN the e,,pboord
10 get her poor dog bOne'
Mother Hubbard, you see. was old .
there being no mention of others. we
may presume she was alone: a widow
"a friendless, old, solitary widow
ct, 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 ~e@t to the cupboard. She did not
mop, or skip, or run, or jump, or use
any other peripatetic artifice; she solely
and merely went to the cupboard.
we nave seen that she was old and
lonely, and we now further see that
she was poor. For, mark, the words
are the cupboard"
Not lone of the cupboards." or the
rlght-hand cupboard" or the cleft
mana cupboard" " or the one above. or
the one below, or the one under the
stair, but just the cupboard. The one
lttie humble cupboard the poor widow
possessed. And why did she go to the
cupboard? Was it to bring forth goI-
den gOblets, or glittering precious
stones, or costly apparel, or feasts. or
any other attributes of wealth IT
was to get her poor dog a bone! Not
only was the widow poor, but her doc
the sole prop of her age, was poor too
we can imagine the scene. The
poor dog crouching in the corner. look
ing wIstfully at the solitary cupboad.
and the widow going to that cupboard
In hope, in expectation may be-to
opti IL, althOuSn we are not distinctly
told that it was not half open or aiar
to open it for that poor dog.
But when she got there the cupboard was horo
And so the poor dog had none"
When she got therer' You see
qeaf brethren what perseverance is.
ou see the beauty of persistence in
doing right. She got there.
There are no turnings and twistings.
no slippings and slidings, no leaning
to the right, or faltering to the left.
with glorious simplicity we are told |
She got there. ~
And how was her noble effort re-
warded?
The cupboard was barer' If was
)are There were to be found neither
oranges, nor cheesecakes. nor pennv
1uhS, nor gingerbread, nor crackers.
lor nuts, nor lucifer matches.
The cupboard was bare
There was but one. only one. solitary
cupboard in the whole of that COTTAGE.
lRd that one the sole hone of the widow
md the glorious loadstar of the moor
loog' was bare Had there been a leg
u nation, loin of lamb, a flllet Of
zeal, even an ice from Gunter's. the
ase would have been different, the
Incident would have been otherwise
Many of you will probably saw. with
II the pride of worldly sophistry.
The widow, no doubt, went out, and
ought dog biscuit
All, no! Far removed from these
arthly ideas, these mundane desires
oor Mother Hubbard, the widow
'h0m many thoughtless wordlings
iould despise, in that she only owned
ne cupboard, perceiVed-or / might
ven say-at once the relentless logic
I the situation, and yielded to it with I
IL the her0ism of that nature which {
ad enabled her without deviation to .
each the barren cupboard. !
She dld moi! attempt, like the stiff.
ecKed scofeFs Of thig generation, 10
iar a9allst the inevitable; she did not !
y, like the sQ-oalled men of science to I
xnlain what she did not understand l
She did nothing. "The poor doc
ad none = And then, at this point, /
nr information ceases.
But do we not know sufficient? Are {
e not cOgnizant of enough? t
Who would dare to pierce the veil c
lat shrOuds the ulterior fate of old t
IOther Hubbard, the poor dog, the '
lpboard, or the b9ne that was not c
iere. WI -
Must we imagine her still standing q
the open cupboard door-denict tS
lrselyes the dog still dropping his |
saPPolRted tail upon the floor-the I
,Iught for bone still remaining some q
here else? T
All no. my dear brethren. we are a
't SO permitted to attempt to read j
le ntnre. autfioe 1t for us to glean t
ON this beautiful story its MANY les
MS suffice it for us to apply them. to
udy them as far aSin MS lies