The Brookhaven leader., 1888-02-02
gathering, u ther Be ~omsn. 70 chatter

score Whom society mas let drop very
hard in return for their base traffic IN
human hearts. As to such men, they
walk around in their celibacy after their
hair Is streaked with gray, and pretend.
ing they are naturally short-sighted
when their eyes are so old in sin that
they need the spectacles Of o septuagen-
arian, an eyeglass about No. 8, and think
they are bewitohing in their stride and
overpowering in their glnHces, although
they are simply laughiug-stock' for all
mankind. And IL thess base dealers in
human hearts be femacs they are left
after awhile severely alone, striving in q
very desperation of agony Of cosmetics
to get back to the attractivsneSs they
had when they used to brag how
many masculine affections they had
slaughtered. Forsnk jn OF God and honest
men and good women, are sure to be all
such masculine and female tr fers with
human and yet immortal affections. o
man, o woman, having plighted your
troth, stick to it.
And here nv idea widens and have to
say not only to those who have made
mistake in sole mn promise Of marriage,
but to those WHO have already at the
altar been pronounced one when they are
two, or in diversity of tastes and likes
and dislikes, are neither one nor two, but
dozen, make the best you can Of an ow-
full mistake. And here let me answer let
ters that come from every state of the
American Union, aud from acrcIs the sea,
and are coming year after year from men
and women who are terrifcally allianced
and tied togethsS in hard Knot,
very hard 0knot. The LETT
tiers run something like this: what
ought to do; my husband is drunkard"
"My wife Is a gad-about and will not stay
at home" "My companion is ignorant
and hates books and revel in them" II
like music, and q piano sets my husband
crazy" al am fond of social life and my
companion is a recluse." al am trying to
be good and my lifelong associate is very
bad. What shall do" Ny answer Is,
there are certain good reasons for divorce
ment. The Bible recognizes them. Good
society recognizes them. But ii must be
the very last resort, and only after all
reasonable attempts at reclamation and
adjustment have proved dead failure.
When such attempts fail 1t is generally
because Of meddlesome outsiders, and
women tell the wrOnged wife how she
ought to stand on her rights, and men tell
the wronged husband how he ought to
stand on his ri hts. And let husband ana
wife in an unhappy marriage relation
stand punctilously on their rights and
there will be no readjustment, and only
one thing will be sure to them and that IS
a hell on earth.
II you are unhappily married. in most
cases advise YOU, make the best you eau
of an awfully bad bargain. Do not pro-
ject Y our peculiarities more than is neces-
h far nj a
of your own which the other party in the
marital alliance may has 8 to suffer. You
are in the sams yoke. If YOU pull aside
the yoke will only twist your neck. Better
pun ahead. Tie world is full of people
who made mistakes about many things,
and. among other things. about betrothal
and marriage, and vet have been toler-
ably happy and very useful in the
strength Of God. and by the grace prom
ised in every time of need IL those who
seek it conquer the disadvantageous cir
cumstances. am acquainted with lovely
women married to contemplate
men and genial men yoked with
termagants inspired with the devil. And
vet under these disadvantages my friends
are useful and happy. God helps people in
other kinds of martyrdom and to sing in
the fame, and he will help you In your
lifelong misfortune
Remember the patience of Job. What a
wife he had! At time when no was one
great blotch of eruptions, and bis prop
ertv was DESTROYED by tornado, and.
more than all, bereavement had come aud
the poor man needed all-wise counsel,
she advises him to go to cursng and
swearing. She wanted him to poultice
his hoils with blasphemv. But he lived
right on through his MARTA! disadyant-
ages, recovered his health and his fort
une and raised splendid family, and
the closing paragraph of the book of JOB
has such a jubjlance that wonder people
do not oftener read it:
SO the Lord blessed the latter end OF job
more than lns beginning for he had 1900
sheep and 6, 200 camels, and 1907 yoke OF oxen,
and 1000 she asses. He b I'D also seven sons
and three daughters. And he called the name
OF the first, Jemima; and the name OF the sec
ond Kezia; and the name Of the third, keren-
happuch And in all The Land were no women
found SO fair as the daughters OF JOB; and their
father gave them inheritance among their
brethren. After this lived JoD 40 years and
saw his sons and his sons sons, even four gen
erations So Job died, being old and full OF
days.
Now, nv badly-married friend Of either
sex, IL Job could stand it by the help of
God. then YOU can stand it bv the same
divine reinforcement. You have
other rel atoms, o, woman, beside the
wifely relation. If YOU are mother,
train up your children for God and
Heaven. If you are a member of
church, help move on its enterprises.
You can get so much of the grace OF God
in your heart that all your home trials
will seem insignificant. How little differ
ence does it make what your unrighteous
husband calls you, if God calls You his
child and you are an heiress OF whole
kingdoms beyond the sky!
Immerse yourself in some kind of out
side usefulness, something that will enlist
your prayers, your sympathles, your
hand, your needle, your voice. Get your
heart on fire with love to God and the dis
enthrallment of the human race, and the
| troubles of your home will be hlotted out
| in the glory of your c0nsecrated life.
CRY out to you, o woman, as Paul exc aims
| in his letter to the Corinthians: What
! knowest thou, o wife, whether thou
shalt save thy husband? And if you can
not save him you can help in the gran Ter,
mlghtier enterprise of helping save the
world Out of the awful mistake of our
marriage rise into the sublimest life of
selfsacrifice for God and suffering hui
manity. Instead of settling down to
nope over your domestic woes, enlist
your energies for the worlds redemp-
ton.
In that effort you will forget OF be
helped to bear your own trials, and in a
| little while God will take you ~ out of
vour disturbed and harro wing con juc al