Daily Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1882-1893, 1888-12-16
JACOB GONG on A JOURNEY.

JACDB GOING On A JOURNEY.
One day the wagons are brought up,
for Jacob, the old father, is about 10
go TO see Joseph in the Egyptian
palace. You know it is not a very
easy thing TO transplant an old tree,
and Jacob has hard work TO get away
from the place where he has lived SO
long. He bids good-by to the old
place, and leaves his blessin. with the
neighvors, and then his sons steady
him, while he, determined to help
himself, gets into the wagon, stiff,
old and decrepit Yonder they 90,
Jacob and his sons, and their wives,
and their children, eighty-two in all,
followed by herds and flocks, which
the herdsmen drive along. They are
going out from famine to luxuriance;
they are going from a plain country
home TO the finest palace under the
sun. Joseph, the prime minister, gets
in his chariot, and drives down to
meet the old man. Josephs chariot
eer holds up the horses on the one
side-the dust covered wagons Of the
emigrants stop on the other, Joseph,
instead of waiting for his father to
come, leaps out of the chariot ard
jumps into the emigrants' wagon,
throws his arms around the old man,
and weeps aloud for past memories
and present JOY. The father, Jacob,
can hardly think il is his boy. Why.
the smooth brow of childhood has be
come a wrinkled brow, wrinkled with
the cares of state, and the garb Of the
shepherd boy has become robe royalty
bedizenedl But as the old man finds
out it is actually Joseph, / see the thin
lip quiver against the toothless gum
as he cries out: Now let me die, since
/ have seen thy face; behold Joseph
is yet alivel" The wagons roll up in
front of the palace. Help out the
grandchildren, and take them in out
of the hot Egyptian sun. Help old
Jacob out Of the wagon. Send word
to Pharaoh that the old shepherd has
come. Inc the royal apartment Pha-
raoh and Jacob meet-dignity and
rusticity, the gracefulness of the court
and the plain manners of the fed.
The king, wanting to make the old
countryInan at ease, and seeing how
white his beard is, and how feeble his
step, looks Familiarity into his face,
and says TO the aged man: How old
art thoul" Give the old man seat.
Unload the wagons; drive out the
cattle toward the pastures of Goshen.
Let the slaves in scarlet kneel and
wash the feet of the newly arrived,
wiping them on the finest linen of the
palace. From vases of perfume let the
newly arrived be sprinkled and re-
freshed; let minstrels come in with
sandals Of crimson, and thrum the
harps, and clapthe cymbals, and jingle
the tambourines, while we sit down.
at this great distance of time and
space, and learn the lesson of the
kings wagons.
Ny friends, we are in a world by sin
famine struck; but the King is in con-
slant communication with us, his
wagons coming and going perpetu-
ally; and in the rest of my discourse |
will show you what the wagons bring
and what they take back.
In the first place, like those that
came from the Egyptian palace, the
Kings wagons now bring us corn and
meat and many changes Of rliment
We arc apt 10 think of the fields and
the orchards as feeding US: but who
makes the flax grow for the linen. and
the wheat for the bread, aud the wool
on tho sleeps back. Oh, | wish we
could see through every grain field,
by every sheep fold, under the trees
of every orchard. the Kings wagons.
They drive up three times day
morning, noon and night. They bring
furs from the arctic, they bring fruits
from the tropic, they bring bread from
the temperate zone. The King looks
out, and he says: There are twelve
hundred millions of people 10 he fed
and clothed So many pounds OF
meat, so many barrels Of -four, so
many yards of cloth and linen and
flannel, so many hats, so many socks,
so many shoes" enough for all, save
that we who are greedy get more shoes
than belong TO us, and others 90 bare.
footed. None but God could feed and
clothe the world. None but a kings
corn crib could appease the world /
famine. None but king could tell
how many wagons TO send, and how
heavily To load them, and when they
are to start. They are coming over the
frozen ground today. Do you NOT
hear their rumblingl They will stop
at noon at your table. Oh, if for a
little while they should cease, hunger
would come into the nations, rs to
Utica when Hamilcar beSicged II, and
as i'm Jerusalem when NcspaSian sur
rounded il. and the nations would be
hollow eyed and fall upon each other
in universal cannibalism; and skeleton
would drop upon skeleton; and there
would be no one 10 bury the dead; and
the earth would b. a field Of bleached
skeletons: and the birds of prey would
fall dead, flock after flock, without
any carcaSses 10 devour; and the earth
in silence would wheel around, one
great black hearsel All life stopped
because the Kings wagons are stopped.
oh, thank God for bread-for bread
JACOB HEARS GOOD NEWS.
Iremark again, that like those that
came from the Egyptian palace, 'hC
Kings wagons bring us good news
Jacob had not heard from his boy fol
a great many years. He never thought
Of him but with heart ache. Their
was in Jacobs heart a room where lay