Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1886-10-01

! exile and desolation and wildernssses for dis
contented Hagar and lshmael.
Again, find in this Oriental scene lesson
OF sympathy with woman when she goes forth
trudging in the desert. What q eat change
1t was for this Hagar. There wa the .ent
and all the surroundings Of Ab.aham's house,
beautiful and luxurious, no doubt. Now she
is going out into the hot sands of the desert
Oh, what change it was! And in our day
we often see the wheel of fortune turn. Here
is some one who lived in the very bright
home of her father She had everything
possible to administer to her happiness.
Plenty at the table Music in the drawing
room. Welcome at the door. She is leo
forth into life by some one who cannot ap-
preciate her, A disSipate1 soul comes and
takes her out in the desert Cruelties blot
out all the lights of that home circle Harsh
words wear out her spirits. The high hope
that shone out over the marriage altar while
the ring was being set and the vows given
and the benediction pronounced, have all
faded with the orange blossoms, and there
she is to-day broken hearted, thinking of past
joy and present desolation and coming an
gdish. Hagar in the wilderness
Here is beautiful home. You cannot
think of anything that can be added to it,
For years there has not been the suggestion
of single trouble. Bright and happy chill
dren fill the house with laughter and song
Books to read. Pictures to look at Lounges
to rest on. Cup of domesti: Joy full and
running over. Dark night drops. Pillow
hot. Pulses fiutter. Eyes close And tie
loot whose well knC wn steps on the door.sll
brought the whole household out at eyentide
crying: Fathers coming" will never sound
on the door sill again. A long, deep, grief
plolghed through all that lightness OF do
me5tic life Paradise LIST! Widowhoodl
Hagar in the wilderness!
How often is it We sce the weak arm of
pnnSpriDtn1 fnr fbiy Io+E |, 81
rough world. Who is she, going down the
street in early light Of the morning, pale
with exhaust ng work, not half slept out
with the slumbers of last night, TRACE les of
suffering written all over her face, her lus-
treless eyes looking far ahead as though for
the coming of some other trouble2 Her par
ents called her Mary, or Bertha OF Agnes on
the day when they hell her up to the font
and the Christian minister sprinkled on the
infants face the waSbings of holy baptism,
Her name is changed now. hear it in the
shuttle Of the worn out shoes. | seq it in the
figure OF the faded calico. | find it in the
woe-begone countsnance. Not Mary, nor
Bertha, nor Agnes but Hagar III the wilder
ness May God have mercy upon woman in
her tois, her struggles, her hardships, her
desolation, and may the great heart of divine
sympathy in2lose her forever.
Again find in this Oriental scene the fact
that every mother leads forth tremendous
deStines. You say: "That isn't an unusual
scene, u mother leading her child by the
hand" Who is it that she is leading! Ish-
mael, you say. Who is Ishmael9 A great
nation is to bo founded. nation So strong
that it 1s to stand for thousands Of years
against all the armies of the world. Egypt
and Assyria thunder against it but in vain
Gaulus brings up his army and his army is
smitten. Alexander de 9ides upon q cam
paign, brings up his hosts and dies For
long while that nation monopolizes the learn
ing of the world 1t is the nation Of the
Arabs. Who founded it? Ishmael the lad
that Hagar led into the wilderness. She had
no idea that she was lealing forth such des
tlnles Neither does any mother. You pass
along the street and see boys and girls who
will yet make the earth quake with their in
fiuence. Who is the boy at Sutton Pool, Ply
mouth, England, bare-footed, wading down
into the slush and slime until his bare foot
comes upon piece of glass and he lifts it,
bleeding and pain-struck. That wound iu
the foot decides that he be sedentary in
his life, decides that hs be a student.
That wound by the glass in the foot
decides that he shall be John Kitto,
who shall provide the best religious
encyclopedia the world has ever had provided,
anu with his other writings as well, throw
ing light upon the Word of God such as
has come from no other man in this century.
Oh, mother, mother, that little hand that
Wanders over your face may yet be lifted to
hurl thunderbolts of war or drop benedic-
tions. That little hand may blaspheme God
in the grog-shop or cry "ForwardIn to the
Lords hosts as they go out for their last
victory.
My mind this morning leaps thirty years
ahead! and l see merchant prince Of New
York. One stroke of his pen brings ship
out of Canton. Another stroke of his pen
brings ship into Madras. He is mighty in
all the money markets of the world. VINO is
hel He sits this morning beside you in the
tabernacle. My mind leaps thirty years
forward from this time and | find myself in
a relief association. great multitude Of
Christian women have met together for a
generous purpose. There is one woman in
that crowd who seems to have the confidence
of all the others, and they all look up to her
for her counsel and for her prayers WHO'S
she' This afternoon you will find her in tho
Sabbath-school, while the teacher tells her of
thai Christ who clothed the naked and fed
the hungry and healed the sick. My mind
leaps forward thirty years from now and |
find myself in an African jungle; and there
is missionary Of the cross addressing the
natives and their dusky countenances are
irrGdiated with the glad t!dings of great Joy
and salvation. Who is he Did you not
hear his voice this morning in the first song
Of service3
My mind leaps forward thirty years from
now and find myself looking through the
wicketS of a prison l see a face Scared
with every crime His chin on his open
palm, his elbow on his knee-a picture of
despair As open the wicket he starts and
| | hear his chain clank. The jail-keeper tells
me that he has been in there now three times
First for theft, then for arson, now for
murder. He steps upen the trap door, the
rope is fastened to his neck, the plank falls,
his body swings into the air, his soul swings
into eternity. Who is he and where is he9
This afternoon playing kite on the city COM
mons Mother, you are this morning hoist
ing a throne or forging a chain-you are
kindling star or digging dungeon.
good many years ago Christian mother
sat teaching lessons of religion to her child;
and he drank in those lsssons She never
knew that Lanphier would come forth and
establish the Fulton street prayer meeting,
| and by one meeting revolutiont2e the devo-
tions of the whole earth and thrill the eter-
mites with his Christian influence. Lam
| phier said it was his mother who brought him
to Jesus Christ. She never had an idea that
she was leading forth such destlnles. But
oh, when see q mother reckless Of her in
fluence, rattling on toward destruction, gar.
landed for the SO orifice with unseemly mirth
and godlessness, dancing on down to perdi-
tion, taking her children in the same direc-
ton, preparing them for life of frivolity, q
death of shame and an eternity of disaster,
cannot help but say: There they go-there
they co. Hagar and Ishmaeln | tell you
there are wilder deserts than Beer -Sheeba in
many of the fashionable circles Of this day.
Dissipated parents lea1ing dissipated chill,
dren. Avaricious parents leading avaric:ous
children. Prayerless parentSleading prayer
less children. They go through every street
up every dark alley, into every cellar, along
every highway. Hagar and Ishmael and
while pronounce their names it seems like
the moaning Of the death wind: Hagar and
Ishmaell
! learn one more lesson from this Oriental
8 enc, and that is that every wilderness has q
well in it, Hagar AMI Ishmael gave up to
| die Haoaris heart SINK within bar ne she