Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-22

| tnat DO0k.
CT preach two kinds of sermons, - weni
on; ''the one on the faith of the Gospel, the
other on the morality of the Gospel-anc
the one is just as important as the other, fol
you know that in this land to-day there arr
hundreds of men hiding behind the com.
munion tables and in churches who have
no business to be there as professors of re.
ligion. They expect to be all right with
God, although they are all wrong with man
and 1 tell my congregations that by the
deeds of the law no flesh living can be just.
fed, and a mere honest lite cannot enter US
into heaven. want you as plainly to un.
derstand that unless the life is right the
heart is not right"
"Chat is meant for me-" HawsIey good.
humoredly said; land it is true, Pardee-it
is true Twill treat nv wife from my heart
NOT from my head. Now, you, Joshua, -
and he turned to the gardener, "why don't
you do just right by your dead wife? Give
Martins money to Mary, as he wished, and
as his mother would have done if she had
lived
'sI was mentioning Bible instances of
loyal friendship" resumed, ''of cases in
which friend-surely you and Martin
were friends-did his duty conscientiessly
by that friend. Naomi had such a true
| friend in Ruth, and took the first appro-
1 "
my eye; "and it was Ruth who cried out:
fEntrest me not to leave thee, or to return
| from following after thee; for whittier thou
goest, will go; and where thou lodgest, I
will lodge; thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God; where thou diest I
will die, and there will 1 be buried; the
Lord do so to me, and more also, If aught
but death part thee and me-"
Josiah was livid with rage, as he broke
out: 81 won't have any texts from the Bible,
tell you've had one too many from it
already"
The book seemed to be an object of terror
to him, and he retreated from it as from
something deadly, quitting the room in a
strange state of excitement.
We discussed him after his departure,
and Hawsley told all he knew of him,
beyond what had already learned.
when / married Louise" my friend
said, ''she brought me as her dowry this
small estate, where we decided to live, as it
was within a convenient distance of the
city's center and of my professional head
quarters. You were pleased yesterday to
admire our garden, with its hedges. and its
winter remnants of last summers beauty.
But am sorry now that I did not take you
beyond into the homely but useful vegeta-
BILE garden, for probably you have never
seen a haunted house, and there I could
have shown you one. There is nothing
sinister in its appearance, though some of
the more ignorant folks claim that it is
largely the rendezvous of the unquiet dead.
1t is small one-story cottage, almost hid
den in summer under honeysuckles and
jasmines. The windows have lost their
glass, while within, the fireplace is full of
rubbish and broken plaster, the walls
show their lsths, and the woodwork
is crumbling away in the dampness
was abandoned by Josiah Burnham after
his wife's death, and serves now
only as a storehouse for his flower pots and
gardening tools. When we first came here
the house was tenanted by the gardener and
his wife, both of whom worked at his trade.
They kept our grounds in order, and culti-
waited flowers to sell to the city florists, as well
as some garden truck for the markets. Josiah
had tried several times, it seems. to rise
above his state of toll but his undertakings
had always failed, and he made many bitter
complaints.
"'Still, ] shall get rich,' he would add;
I don't know how or when, but it will
come
'He was harsh with men and with ami
mails, and often beat his dog immoderately
and unreasonably, not in anger, but with
cool deliberation, as if for personal gratifca-
tion. Twice when thieves were caught in
the garden he sent them off with broken
heads. The servants of the neighborhood
detested him; and some of them believed
that he bewitched the cattle-that even
human beings were powerless under his evil
eye.
"Josiah married late in life widow with
a grown son-Martin Jeffries-who was lost
at sea, as have told YOU. The woman in
L. koI - Ao~L L,,a6 o..
ill-repute, because the idle gossips thought
her the victim of her husbands fancied oc-
cult powers. She trembled before him like
bird fascinated by snake. Moreover,
she often fell into state of lethargy, and
would remain for days in strange sleep
so like death that during the first attack she
came near being buried alive. The doctor
said it was epilepsy, but the ignorant
thought it supernatural. Such were the
husband and wife. But, having no personal
grievance against Josiah, who seemed in
dustrious and honest, we did not think of
dismissing him, and attached no import
ance to the vague and absurd reports con-
cerning him.
Egyptian trip, and my sad report of the
death of Martin, his mother died
before transferring his money to his
afianced wife. She was found stretched out
on her bed, pale and rigid, with her eyes
wide open and the pupils dilated
Another of her attacks said Josiah,
without apparent emotion. They proposed
20 send for the doctor, but he protested
loudly: No indeed, l haven't any money
to waste. She will wake up soon of her
own accord, as she always does
sit was not until three days later, when
unmistakable signs of death were manifest,
that the doctor came. He could only GER
tiiy to the demise, at which no one thought
of being surprised, considering the i'll
health of the poor woman. That is ALL"
This account of JosIah's disregard of his
wife, and his wrongful Withholding of Mar
tins money from Mary, led me to devote
my ensuing Christmas sermon to the sub
ject of Christian loyalty to those with whom |
we are associated. My text was, ''Do unto |
others as We would that they should do unto !
you" that great humanitarian dictum of |
Christmas originator. 1 dwelt upon mans |
duty to women especially; and when spoke |
of woman's sell-defenselessness Josiah |
gazed from pew half angriIy, half cring- |
ingly, while Arthur Hawsley slightly |
nodded assent, as 1 said: ''The daughter of |
a regiment in any army is all surrounded |
by baYonets of defense, and, in the battle, |
whoever tails, she is kept safe. And you |
are the daughter of the regiment COM
manded by the Lord of Hosts. After all, |
you are not fighting the battle of life alone. |
All heaven is on your side.
CHAPTER ".
IN WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS.