Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1888-02-29

/ uOS uCIc cOCidl pOoiblOu VIII ACNOi CIV
happiness to woman's soul. l have hat
wide and continuous observation, and tel
the young women that they who build Oh
mere social position their souls immorta
happiness are building on the sand.
Suppose that young woman expends tn,
brightness of her early life in this unsaT
isfactory struggle and omits the present i
opportunity of usefulness in the home
| circle; what a mistake!
So surely as the years roll around tina
home in which you now dwell will becom,
extinct. The parents will be gone, the prop
erty will 90 into other possession, yor
yourself will be in other relationships, anl
that home which, only year ago, was full
of congratulation, will be extinguished
When that period comes you will look bach
to see what you did or what you neglected
to do in the way of making home happy
1t will be too late to correct mistakes
If you did not smooth the patti
Of your parents toward the tomb; if you'll i
! did not make their last days bright and
happy; if you allowed your younger brother
| to go out into the world, uphallowed by
Christian and sistsrly Influences; If you al
| lowed the younger sisters of your family to
come up without feeling that there had
been Christian example set them on your
part there will be nothing but bitterness OF
! lamentatioD. That bitterness will beE
increased by all the surroundings OIL
that home; by every chair, by every
| picture, by the old time mantel ornaments,
by everything yon can think of as connect
ed with that home. All these things will
rouse up agonising memories. Young wo-
men, have you anything to do in the way
or making your fathers home happy? Now
il the time to attend to it, or leave it forever
undone. Time is flying very quickly away.
| suppose you notice the wrinkles are gath
ering and accumulating on those kindly
faces that have so long looked upon you;
there is frost in the locks; the foot is not as
firm in its step as it used to be; and they
will soon be gone. The heaviest clod that
ever falls on a parents cofdn-lid is the
memory of an ungrateful daughter. o,
make their last days bright and beautiful
Do not act as though they were in the way.
Ask their counsel, seek their prayers, and
after long years have passed, and you go
out to see the grave where they sleep, you
will find growing all over the mound some
thing lovelier than cypress, somethinG
sweeter than the rose, something chasterO
than the lily-the bright and beautiful
memories of flial kindness performed ere
the dying hand dropped on you benedic
tlen, and you closed the lids over the weary
eyes of the worn out pilgrim. Better that,
in the hour of your birth, you had been
struck with orphanage, and that you had
been handed over into the cold arms of the
world, rather than you should have been
brought up under q fathers care and a
mothers tenderness, at last to scott at their
example aud deride their influence; and on
81, do ri, f,1I in
procession to the tomb, to find that
You are followed by still larger prn
cession of uufilial deeds done and wrongO
words uttered The ons procession will
leave its burden in the tomb and disband;
but that longer procession of ghastly men,
ories will forever march and forever wall.
o, it is good time for young woman
when she is in her fathers house. How
carefal they are of her welfare. How
watchful those parents of all her interests.
Seated at the morning repast father at one
end the table, children on either side and
between, but the years will roll on, and
great changes will be effected, and one will
be missed from one end the table, and an
other will be missed from the other end the
table. God pity that young woman s
soul who, in that dark hour, has nN
thing but regretful recollections. goO
further, and advise you not to depend
for enjoyment upon mere personal attrac-
tions. 1t would be sheer hypocrisy, because
we may not have it ourselves to despise, or
affect to despise, beauty in others. When
God gives it, He gives it as blessing aud
as a means of usefulness. David and his
army were coming down from the noun
tains to destroy Nabal and his focks and
vineyards. The beautiful Abigail, thu wife
of Nabal, went out to arrest him when he
came down from the mountains, and she
succeeded. Coming to the foot of the hill,
she knelt. David with his army of sworn
men came down over the cliffs, and when he
saw her kneeling at the foot of the hill he
cried: "Halt!" to his men, anD
the caves echoed it: tHaltl haltp' ~
That one beautiful woman kneeling at
the foot of the cliff had arrested all those
armed troops. A dew drop dashed back
Niagara. The Bible sets before us the por-
traits of Sarah and Rebecca, aud Abishag.
Absalom's sister, and Jobs daughters, and
says: "They were fair to look upon" By
outdoor exercise, and by skilful arrange.
ment of apparel, let women make them
selves attractive. The sloven has only one
| mission. and that to excite our loathing
and disgust. But alas! for those w
no depend upon personal charms for w
| their happiness. Beauty is such sub
tie thing, it does not seem to depend upon
facial proportions, or upon the sparkle OF
the eye, or upon the flush of the cheek.
You sometimes fnd it among irregular fea-
lures. 1t is the soul shiniDg through the
face that makes one beautiful. But, alas!
for those who depend upon mere personal
charms. They will come to disappointment
fn frat INV
| different opinions about what are personal
charms; and then sickness, and trouble, and
age, do make such ravages. The poorest
| god that woman ever worships is her face.
The saddest sight in all The world is aw0
man who has built everything on good "
! looks, when the charms begin to vanish
| o, how they try to cover the wrinkles and
hide the ravages of timel When Time,
with iron shod feet, steps on face, the
hoof.maiks remain, and you cannot hide
them. 1t ia silly to try to hide them.
| think the most repulsive fool in all the
world is an old fool!
Why, my friends, should you be ashamed
| to be getting old? 1t is sight is prin,d
facie evidence that you have behaved tole ID
ably we'll or you would not have lved1l
to this time The grandest thing think,
is eternity, and that is made up of count
| less years When the Biblefwould set forth
the attractiyeness of Jesus Christ, it says
| 'His hair was white as snow" But when
the color goes from the cheek, and the lus
tire from the eye, and the spring from the
step, and the gracefulness from the gait,
alas for those who have built their time
and their eternity upon good looks. But
all the passage of years cannot take out Of
ones face benignity, and kindness, and
compassion, and faith. Culture your heart
and you culture your face. The brightest
glory that ever beamed from woman's
face is the religion of Jesus Christ. In the
last war two hundred wounded soldiers
came to Philadelphia one night, and came
unheralded, and they had to extemporise a
hospital for thsm, and the Christian wo
men of my church, and of other churches
went out that night to take care of the pool
| wounded fellows. That night l saw q
Christian woman go through the wards Of
the hospital, her sleeves roll
ed up, ready for hard work, her hairI
dishevelled in the excitement Of the honr
Her face was plain, very plain; but aftel
the wounds were washed and the new band
ages were put round the splintered limbs
and the exhausted boy fell off into his frs
pleasant sleep, she put her hand on hi
brow, and he started in his dream, apc
said: so, 1 thought an angel touched meP
There may have been no classic eleganct
in the features of Mrs Harris, who came in
| 70 tho bocDitoI flor tha ssSavan Davov r