West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1889-06-27

| tent and all the SURROUNDINGS OF Abrnhana's
house, beautiful and luxurious no doubt.
NOW she Is going out into the hot sands OF
the desert. q. what a change it vast And I'm
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 pos
| sible TO administer TO her happiness Plenty
a NJ. the table. Music in the drawing room.
Welcome at the door. She is led forth into
nfe by some one who cannot appreciate her
dissiPated soul comes and takes her out I'm
tho desert Iniquities blot out oil
the lights of that homo circle
Harsh words wear out her spirits The high
| hope that shono out over the marriage altar
while the ring was being set and the vows
gwen ana the penediction 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
gulsh Hagar in the wildernessl
Here is a beautiful home You cannot
think OF anything that can be added 10 It.
For years there has not been the suggestion
OF single trouble. Bright md happy chill
dren fill the house with laughter and song.
Books To read Pictures TO look at
Lounges 10 rest on. Cup OF domestic
Joy full and running over. Dark
Ewes close And the foot whose we'll known
steps on the door sill brought the whole
household out at eventide, crying: Fathers
coming" will never sound on the door sill
again. A long, deep grief plowed through
,Ostl Widowhoodl Hagar in the wilderness!
How often IL is we see the weak arm OF
woman conscripted for this battle with the
rough world. Who Is she. going down the
street IN the early light Of the morning. pale
With eShausting work. not half slept out
with the slumbers OF last night tragedies OF
suffering written all over her face her iuster-
less eyes looking far ahead as though for tho
coming OF some other trouble. Her parents
called her Mary, or Berthe, or Agnes on the
day when they held her up 70 tho font
aud tho Christian minister sprinkieh on
The infants face the washings OF a holy
baptism Her name is changed now. hear
C in the shuttle Of the worn out shoes see
I in the figure OF the faded calico. 1 nnd IL
In the Ineaments Of the woe begone
eountenance. Not Mary, nor Bertha, nor
Agnes, but Hagar In the wilderness. May
Sod have mercy upon woman I'm her tolls
her struggles, her hardships her desolation,
and may the great heart OF Divine sympathy
inclose her forever.
Again find in this Oriental scene the fact
that every mother leads forth tremendous
lestinies' You say: That isn't an unusual
scene, mother leading her child by the
band" Who is IL that she is leadingi
lshmael, you say. Who is IshmaelS A great
nation Is to be founded; nation so strong
that 1t is TO stand for thousands of years
against all the armies of the world. Egypt
and Assyria thunder against il, but in
vain. Gaulus brings up his army,
and his army is sInitten. Alex
ander decides upon campaign, brings up his
hosts and dies For a long while that nation
monopolizes the learning Of the world. II Is
the nation OF the Arabs. Who founded il? Ish-
mael, the lad that Hagar led into the wilder
ness. She had no idea she was leading forth
such destinies. Neither does any mother
on pass along the street and see pass bows
and girls who will yet make the earth quake
with their influence. Who is that boy al
Sutton Pool, Plymouth, England,
6Sarssfooted; wwading down into the
comes upon piece Of glass and he lifts it,
bleeding and pain-struckp That wound In
the foot decides that he be sedentary In his
life, decides that he 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, and with his other writ
Ings as well, throwing a light upon the
Word OF God such as has come from no other
man in this century. . mother. mother,
shab httle hand that wanders over your
race may yet be lifted 10 hurl thunderbolts
OF war, or drop benedictions That little
voice may blaspheme God in the grog shop.
or cry; "Porwardr' to the Lords hosts. as
they so out for their last victory Ny mind
today leaps thirty years ahead and i see a
merchant prince of New York One stroke
OF his pen brings ship out of Canton An
other stroke Of his pen brings a ship into
Madras: He is mighty in all the money mar
kets OF the world. Who is hey He Sits to-
day beside you In the Tabernacle. Ny mind
leaps thirty years forward from this
time, and I find myself in a relief as
ISOLATION. great multitude OF Chris
tan women have met together for generous
purpose. There is one woman IN that crowd
who seems 10 have the confidence of all the
others, and they all look up 20 her for her
counsel and for her prayers Who is she ,
Today you viii find her in the Sabbath school,
while the teacher tells her OF that Christ who
clothed the naked and fed the hungry and
healed the sick. Ny mind leaps forward
thirty years from now and / find
myself in an African Jungle; and
there Is q missionary Of the cross adj
dressing the natives, and their dusxv
countenances are irradiated with the glad
tldlngs or great Joy ano salvation Who is
he Did yUu not hear his voice to-day in the
first song Of the services Ny mind leaps for
ward thirty years from now, and / find nv
self looking through the wicSots OF a prison.
see a face SCARED with every crime His
chin ON his open palm, his elbow on his knee
a picture OF despair. As opened the wick
ct he starts, and hear his chain clsnk. TIE
jail keeper tells me that he has been in there
now three times. First for theft. then
for arson, now for murder He
steps upon the trap door, the rope is fastened
TO his neck, the plank falls, his BODY swings
INTO the air, his soul swings of into eternity.
Who is he, and where is nc? Today PLAYING
kite on the city commons. Mother you are
today hosting a throne or forging chain-
You are kindlinC star or digging dungeon
good many years ago Christian mother
sat teschiug Lessons ~ religion % nor child:
and he drank in those Lessons She never
knew that LaInphier would come forth and
establish the Fulton street prayer meeting.
ana by one meeting revolutioniEe the de-
yotions Of the whole earth, and thrill the
eternities with his Christian influence.
Lamphier said It Wss his mother who
brought him TO Jesus Christ
She never had an idea that she was leading
forth such destinies. But O, when i sec :
mother reckless OF her influence rafting ON
toward Destruction, gsrisnd-d for ths sscri.
nee with unscernly nnirth and godls-sness.
gayiy tripping "a down 20 ruin, taking her
children m the sans direction. / osnrot helu
but say: There they 20. there they SO
HaSar and IshmselF tell you there are
wilder deserts than Beersheba In many of ths
domestic circles Of this day Dissi-
patsd parents leading dissipeted children.
Avsricious parents lasding svaricious chill
dren. Proyeriess parents leading praysriss.
children They go through every street. up
every dark alley, into every cellar, along
every highway. Hagsr aud IshmaeIi and
while pyououncs their names. ~ seams Hke
ths moaning Of the death wind-Hagar AID
Ishmael
learn one more lesson from thi,
oriental scene, and that f.. that every