The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1883-06-09
rALMAGE's sERMoN.


you thought of no Importance at all
have been of very great 9loment. That
casual conversation, that accidental
meeting. You did not think of it again
for long while. But how it changed
all the phase of your lifel ffgseemed Of
no Importance that Jubal Invented rude
instruments Of music, calling them harp
and organs; but they were The intrOduc-
tiOn of all the worlds niinstfelsyy and
as you hear the vibration of a stringed
instrument, even after the fingers have
been taken away from itsiso all music
now, of lutte, and drum and due0rnet, are
only the long continued stFains of Ju-
balls harp and JubaPs organ.
It seemed to be matter of very little
Importance that Tubal Cain learned the
uses Of copper and iron, but that rude
fOundrylOf ancient days has its echo in
the rattle of Birmingham machinery
and the roar aud bang of factories on
the Merrimac. 1t seemed to be matter
Of no Importance that Luther found a
Bible in a monastery, but as he opened
that Bible and the brass lids fell back
they Jared everything, from the Vatican
to the furtherest convent in Germany,
and the rustling of the wOrmed leaves
WAS the sound Of the wings of the
Angel OF the Reformation. SO the in
Significant events of this world seem
fact that you came up that street or
this street this evening seemed to be of
no importaneeltO you, and the fact that
this day you are inside of some church
may seem to be matter of some very
great insignifieanee to you; but l tell
you that some of you will ind it the
turning-pOint in your history. This
very hour is the pivot on which your
eternity trembles, and this evening 1t
ha m
you whether you will live forever with
God, the blessed, or away from Him.
Again see in my subject an illustra-
tiOn of the beauty of female industry.
Behold Ruth tdiling in the harvest-field
under the hot sun, or cato noon taking
plain bread with the reapers, or eating
the parched corn which BOaz handed to
her. The customs of society, OF course,
have changed,l and with the hardship
and exposure to which Ruth was sub
jected, every Intelligent woman will
find something to do. know there Is a
sickly sentimentality on this subject.
In some families there are persons of no
practical service to the household or
community; and though there are so
many woes a!llabont them in the world,
they spend their time nguishlng over
a new pattern, or bursting into tears at
midnight over some lover who shot him.
self. They wohld not deign to look at
Ruth carrying back the barley on her
way home to hbr mOther-in-law, Naomi.
All this fastidipusness may seem to do
pretty we'll while they are under the
shelter of their fathers house; but when
the sharp winter of misfortune comes,
what of these butterhiesal Persons un-
der indulgent baTentage may get upon
themselves habits of indOlence, but
when they com 70 out into practical life
| ~ mil
chagrin. They willfeel in their hearts
what the poet so severely satirized when
he said: .Ii b4inI...l .I 81.
,.FoIks are so awkward things so impOlite, 40
pley are elegantly phined from morning until night
Through that gate Of Incidence how
many men and women have marched,
useless on earth, tOa destroyed eternityl
Spinola said To Sir Horace yere: '0f
what did your brother die ?" 4"Of having
to do" was the answer. a''Oh," said
Spinoia, "that's enough to kill any Gener-
/ al of us."H Oh, can IL be possible in this
world, where there is so much suffering
| to be alleviated, so much darkness to be
enlightened and so manyburdens to be
| carried, that there is any pers0nin this
| house who can not find anything to do
| Madame de Stael did world of work In
her time, and one day while she was
| seated amid Instruments of music, al
| of which she had mastered, and amid
| manuscript books witch she had writ
ten, some one said to- hrr: How do yOI
find time to attend to all or these
things?" "0h, she replied, these are
| not the things am proud Of. My chic
| boast il in the fact that have seven
/ teen trades, by any one of which eOulC
make a livelihood If necessaTy.R And il
in secular spheres, there ,is sc. much t
be done, in spiritual work how vast, thu
fieldl How many dying all about III
without one word of comfort! We wan
more Abigails, more Hannahs, more Re
beceas, more MaTys, more DebOrahs, con
seerated-bOdH, mind, sOul-tO the Lore
who bought them. % ~ '4rt :. 4
Once more [ learn from my subjec
the value of gleanings. Ruth going IN
to that harvest field might have said
'There is a straw, and there is straw
but what IS a straw l can't get an,
barley for myself and my mother INLAY
out of the separate straws.". Not so sat
beautiful Ruth, She gathered IVY
straWs; she putthe together; and NOR
straws until She got enough to make
sheaf. Putting that down, she wen
and gathered more straws until she ha
another sheaf. and another, and anOth
ar and another, and then she trough
them all together, and She threshe
them out, and she had an ephah OF bar
, ley, nigh buPheI' On, tnat we mlgp
ali be gleanersl 1t is all the straw
that make the harvest. 1t Is the penc
that make the pound and it is all the CT
( portunities OfdOing good that makes
life of usefulness if rightly einplOyel
EHhu BurTit learned many things viii
, tOiling in blacksmith's shop. Abe
J erombie, the WOrld-renOwnedl philO5
pher, was philosopher In Scotland, an
|, ne got his philosophy, OF the ehiet pa
!, of It, while as physician, he was wal
ing for the door of the sick room to Ope
:, Yet how many there are In this day WI
say they are SO busy they have no tin
|, for mental and spiritual iimprovemen
The great duties of life croaso the. le
like strong reRpers, and carry off all tl
hours, and there is only here and the
fragment left--that is not worth glea
!, ing. Ah, my friends, you could go in
:, the busiest day and busiest week of yo
q life and find golden Opportunitie
u which gathered, might at last make
. whole sheaf for the Lords garner. 1t
the stray opportunities and the str
e privileges which, taken up and bOul
a together and beaten out, will at last