Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1884-04-18
Religious Reading.

Religious Reading.
STONE THE WOMAN-LET TIE
NAN 60 FREE. r.
The noontide rests upon Jerusalem;
The air is golden. and an nxure sky
Bends DER the love y.land; the trees beyond
Make Whispering music with soft, clashing
And b!eud their low tones with the voice Of
The Sigh Of Winds the call of mating biraA
The distant laughter in the reapers ne.is,
And gentle footballs, ~ the cameis pass.
The streets are silent. for the Idle drones
But swarm at corners and ut open doors,
Eager Tor anything 10 stimulate
The dull monotony or Idle hours.
Have sought the temple where the Saviour
To CO mly criticise His mode of speech,
And hear IL He, an obscure Nazarene,
Can fashion It with such strange suLl ieness
As thrills, men say, the coolest listening heart
Bot now the dreamy silentuess Is DER;
group of scribes and Phsrisees appear,
And in their midst a wrci ched woman moves,
A blot upon the beauty OF the day.
Her hands are clasped upon ner beating
And burning tears are falling down the
cheeks
Where conscious sin has sent tho rushing
blood.
Shame clothes her as garment, while her
Shudders within Its desec-ated shrine,
Stained and unutterably disionorcd, s:
So sad a sight, so loathsomeiy dcforInoi,
That angels weep and trcinbie MS they gaze.
Her brow is hidden; for ah! never moro
Can she lift up ncr youthful woman's faco,
That once was beautiful with innocence,
And raise her visaon 20 the holy skies
with eyes rehestlng their blue purify.
Oh. nevermore, through the long waste of
Can she walk upright in the ways of men.
And look the wide word Draw ely in the face,
Strcng In the nni ouched whltcness of her HE;
Nor taste again the simple Joys or home,
The tender sweetness OF modest ways,
A husbands love. the touch OF infant lips,
Ine trust OF friends, the happy hre-lit hearth.
The little tendril joys that softly cling,
AND give their perfume TO q clean, sweet life.
It might have been, Il never more shall he |
Sins dark SIMEON has broken &. er her heart
And left It waste anu barren. Not for her
The scented bio SONS that the guileless-pluck,
The lilies waiting Tor the true and pure.
She wronged the better instincts or her soul
Chose the black passion-now'rs of SIN aud
deah.
And stands accursed before God and man.
They hurry onward through the sun-lit
With piriIess, coarse tests and mockinr words
She 10 not ft To walk the fruitful earth;
She must be stoned, the law must he fulfilled.
But first they'll lead her to tn Nazarene,
Whose doctrines are suspicious, Strangely new,
Unpalatable always TO a Scribe
Or honest Phariscc VINO loves the law.
Let Him pass Judgment and award her doom;
They'll snare II IN into breaking jewish codes,
And be revengcd for al his suOtlct.eS.
They reached the temple; in a moment
more
The sinner stands before the saviour's face.
How wonderful thai lace. the burning tongue
cRrnnhttn WOIli6 n
Divineiy sweet. unfathomabiy calm,
Unutterab.y tender: IN the eyes
Patience SO godtike and compassionate,
look of Mary rVund the sacred lips
That wear a sign of WEAKNESS repressed,
As though pain slept q little farther back.
How young He seems. and yea He seems not
But grave and gentle, as IL many cares
Pressed on an infinitely loving heart.
The trembling woman kneels before her
judge
And clasps her hands upon her guilty face.
Never be- ore seemed purify 81 pure;
Never before was s.n so horrible.
She did not plead. she knelt there clothed in
shame,
An outcast and degraded-weepInR kneit.
stoned"
The crowd draws near to hear what Jesus
And silence steals upon the mult itude;
The sunlight talis uthwart the temple door;
through open doorway signs the fragrant
The lite children pattcr with soft steps
Ia quiet corners, knowing not rs yet
Lies tragedy, intense and PASSIONATE.
but Jesus speaks; the temple grows more
hushed.
And watching angels thrill with endless love.
Let him. He says. who knows that he Is
Cast first the stone at her," The men look I'D
Startled little; then they dang their heads,
And bushes gather on the brows unused
10 show such color. Slow y, one by one,
without n word, they stink abashcd away.
iii Jesus and tie woman stand apart
20 SIN no more" He says. And forth she
To mend the ruined beauty OF her life.
To wash her soul in penitentiai tears
And eN or after with undying love
10 follow Christ, lamenung.
But where Is he, the sharer in her guilt7
The man whom God appointed as the head,
Ine shield OF woman la her weaknesses-
whom she should ok upon as less than G cd,
But noble, lovable and worthy trust,
Incapable of wrongIng that weak heart
That seeks ITS strength In meekly loving him.
Is he not, too. In deepest grief and shame,
fliled to o eriowing with an agony
That can not. like the womau's, md relief
In tears that scorch and dry upon the cheek7
Is ne not, TOO, surrounded by group
Ihat look on him with loathing, holding I'D
His shamed manhood, his insulted God,
The ruin wrought upon another soul,
hehping upon him singing words OF scoru
Thar, burning in his ears, awake the sense
OF utter degradation
A sumptuous feast is spread upon his board,
Ana joyous guests are pledging hi u in wine;
He's clothed In purple, and the flashing light
vi diamonds spa kle on his breast ana hands:
Odorous scents are stealing from his robes.
And VA, ching slaves are hanging on his locks:
Inc ncfng girls are waiting in the ha Is
with Tyre ana sis;rum to begui.e the hour
And touch the senses into soft delight:
And half pleased SMILES arc playing round his
And conscious laughter ripples on tic air,
As pleasant banter lightly tells the tale,
And friendship merrily accuses him
| having n
Yes. stone the woman--let the man go free
Draw back your skirts lest they perchance
Her garments as she passes; but to him
Put 70 tn willing hand to cln p with his
That led her TO destruction aud disgrace.
Shut up from her he sacred ways of toll
That she no more may win an honest meal.
But ope to him all honorable paths.
where he may win distinction. Give TO him
Fair preseed-do measures of lifes sweetest
Pass her. q maiden. with pure, proud face
Il she puts out q poor, polluted palm;
And swea- TO cling TO him with wifcly love
| And tender reverence. Trust to him who leo
a sister woman to fearful fate.
Yes, stone the woman. let the man 20 free!
Let one soul suffer for the gu II of two
| II 10 the doctrine OF n hurried world
Too out of breath for holding balance,
here rice distinctions and injusuceS
Are calmly weighed. But ah, how will It be
| When men shall wither with q mystic fear
And al shall stand beio e the one true Judge
sha,i sex make then difference in sin?
| Shall he. the st archer OF tie hidden heart
In His eternal and divine decree
Condemn the woman and forgive the man7
! IRISH .ionthlp.
IngerSVlls Hope.
Colonel Bob Ingersoll is a good dea
like circus in some respects. He al
ways draws a crowd. lie makes tn,
people laugh very much as the tricl
mule does. He gives q certain kind o
a ''show" which passes with many fol
magnificent oratory, and he takes goot
care that the man af fha door che N h 10.