The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-12-13
HOSPITALITY.
Too Often Found Wanting in
Modern Churches.
The Great River of Sorrow Made up o.
Tears and BIOOd-Dirges Sounded
on the Broken Heart
SUBJECT: "a GREAT WOMAN"

TEXT-II. Kings, iV., 8: "And it fell on
a day that Elisha passed to Shunem,
| where was great woman"
The hotel Of our time had no counter
part in any entertainment of Olden time.
The vast majority of travellers must be
entertained at private abode. Here
comes Elisha, a servant of the Lord, on
a divine mission, and he must find
| shelter. A balcony overlooking the
| Valley of EsdrelOn is offered him in a
private house, and it is especially fur
nished for his Occupancy-a chair to sit
on, table from which to eat, a candle
stick by which to read, and bed on
which to slumber, the whole establish
ment belonging to a great and good wO-
man. Her husband, it seems, was
| gOdly man, but he was entirely over
| shadOwed by his wife's exeellencies;
| just as now you sometimes find house
| hold, the wife, the center of dignity and
| influence and power, not by any arrO-
gance or presumption, but by superior
intellect and force of moral nature,
welding domestic affairs, and at the
same time supervising all financial and
business affairs. The wife's hand on
the shuttle or the clearinghouse or the
worldly business. You see hundreds of
men who are successful. If a man
marry good, honest soul, he makes his
fortune. If he marry fool, the Lord
help himl The wife may be the silent
partner in the firm. There may be only
masculine voices down on Change, but
there Oftentimes comes from the home
circle a potential and elevating influ-
ence. This woman of my text was the
superior of her husband. He, as far as
can understand, was what we often
see in our day-a man of large fortune
and only mOdicum of brain, intensely
quiet, sitting long while in the same
vIo mill -.
you say yes" responding yes" If you
say mo-" responding mo-" inane, eyes
half shut, mouth wide open, maintain
ing his position in society only because
he has large patrimOny. But his wife,
my text says, was great woman. Her
name has not come down to us. She be-
lOnged to that collection of people who
need no name to distinguish them.
What would title Of Duchess or Princess
or Queen-what would escutcheOn or
cleaning diadem-be to this woman of
my text, who by her intelligence and
her behavior challenges the admiration
of all ages! Long after the brilliant
women of the court of Louis XIV. have
been forgotten, and the brilliant women
of the court of Spain have been forgot
ten, and the brilliant women who sat on
the throne of Russia have been forgot
ten, some grandfather will put on his
spectacles, and, holding the book on the
other side of the light, read to his grand
children the story of this great woman
of Shunem, who was so kind and cOuTte-
GUS and Christian to the good prophet
Elisha. Yes, she was great woman.
In the first place, she was great in her
hOspitalities. UnciYilized and barbarOus
nations have this virtue. Jupiter had
the surname of The HOspitable, and he
was said especially to avenge the wrongs
of strangers. Homer eXtOlled it in his
verse. The Arabs are punctiliOus on
| this subject, and among some of their
tribes it is until the ninth day of tarry-
| ing that the occupant has a right to ask
his guest, Who and whence art thOuP"
| If this virtue is so hOnored among bar
barians, how ought it to be hOnOred
among those of us who believe in the
Bible, which commands US to use hOspi
| tality, one toward another, without
grudging? OF course do not mean un-
| der this cover to give any idea that ap-
prove of that Vagrant class who go
| around from place TO place, ranging
| their whole lifetime, perhaps under the
auspices of some benevolent or philan-
| thrOpic society, quarter1ng themselves
on Christ an families, with a great pile
of trunks in the hall and caTpet-bag pOr-
| tentOus OF tarrying. There is many
| country parsonage that looks out week
/ by week upon the OminOuS arrival of
wagon with creaking wheel and lank
| horse and dilapidated driver, come un
der the auspices of some charitable in
/ stitutiOn to spend few weeks and can
| vass the neighbOThOOd. Let no such re-
ligiOus tramps take advantage of this
beautiful virtue of Christian hOspitali-
/ ty. Not so much tho sumptuOusness of
| your diet and the regularity of your
abode will impress the friend or the
stranger that steps across your threshold
as the warmth of your greeting, the in
fOrmality of your reception, the reitera-
tiOn by grasp and by looks, and by a
| thousand attentions, insignificant at
tentiOns, of your earnestness of well
come, though you have nothing but the
| brazen candleStick and the plain chair
to offer Elisha when he comes to Shu-
nem. Most beautiful is this grace of
hospitality when shown in the house of
God. am thankful that / am pastor of
churc! where strangers are always
welcome, AID there is not State of the
Union in which l have not heard the
affability of the ushers of this church
cOmplimented. But L have entered
churches where there was no hOspitali-
ty. A stranger would stand in the Vesti.
bule for awhile, and then make pill
grimagel up the long aisle. No doors
opened to receive him until, flushed and
excited and embarrassed, he started
| OdOh dSdlnB anu OOmAhB W oOlnt nan
filled pew. with apOlOgetic air entered
it, while the occupant glared on him
with look which seemed to say, "Well,
if must, L must" Away with such
accursed indecency from the house of
God. Let every church that would main
tain large Christian influence in the
community culture, Sabbath by Sabbath,
this beautiful grace of Christian hOspi-
tality. good man travelling in the far
west, in the wilderness, was Oyertaken
by night and storm and he put in at a
cabin. He saw firearms along the
beams of the cabin, and he felt alarmed.
He did not know but that he had fallen
into den of thieves. He sat there
greatly pertuTb Tbed. After awhile the
man of the house came home with gun
on his shoulder and set it down in a
corner. The stranger was still more
alarmed. After awhile the man of the
house whispered with his wife, and the
stranger thought his destruction was
being planned. Then the man of the
| hnusa came forward and said to the