The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-12-11

4
| gospel, it mas overcome hosts OF penury
and want with the war-cry Of stitch,
| stitch, stitch" The operatives have found
a livelihood by it, and through 1.-THE man
sions of the employer have been con-
| structed. Amid the greatest triumphs OF
| all ages and lands l set down the con-
/ quests of the needle. l admit its crimes;
/ L admit its cruelties. 1t has had more
martyrs than the fire, 1t has punctured the
/ eye, 1t has pierced the side, it has struck
weakness into the lungs, it has sent mad
ness into the brain, it has filled the potter's
/ field, it has pitched whole armies of the
suffering into crime and wretchedness
/ and woe. But now that l am talking OF
| Dorcas and her ministries to the poor, |
/ shall speak only Of the charities OF the
needle.
! This woman was representative of all
| those women who make garments for the
| destitute, who knit socks for the bare
| footed, who prepare bandages for the
/ lacerated, who fix up boxes of clothing for
/ missionaries, who go into the asylums OF
| the suffering and destitute bearing that
! gospel which is sight for the blind and
hearing for the deaf and which makes the
| lame man leap like a hart and brings the
| dead 10 life, immortal health Astounding
| in their pulses. What contrast
between the practical benevolence
of this woman and a great deal
of the charity of this day! This
woman did not spend her time idly
planning how the poor of your city of
JOppa were to be relieved; she took her
needle and relieved them. She was not
like those persons who sympathize with
imaginary sorrows and 90 out in the street
and laugh ut the boy who has upset his
basket OF cold victuals, or like that charity
which makes a rOusing speech on the
benevolent platform, and goes out to kick
the beggar from the step. crying: Hush
your miserable howlingp The sufferers
of the world want not so much theory
as practice; not so much kind wishes as
loayes of bread; not so much smiles as
shoes; not so much "God bless yous !" as
jackets and frocks. l will put one earnest
Christian man, hard working, against 5000
mere theorists on the subject of charity.
There are a great many who have fine
ideas about church architecture whonever
in their life helped to build q church.
There are men who can give you the his
tory of Buddhism and Northumberland
who never sent a farthing for their evan
geization- There are women who talk
beautifully about the suffering of the
world who never had the courage, like
Dorcas to take the needle and assault it.
am glad that there is not page OF the
worlds history which is not a record of fe-
male benevOlence. God says to all lands
and peOple, Come now and hear the
widows mite rattle down into the poor
box. The princess of COtti sold all her
Jewels that she might help the famine
stricken Queen Blanche, the wife OF
Louis VII Of France, hearing that there
We're some persons unjustly incarcerated
in the prisons. went ont amidst the rab
BILE and took stick and struck the door
as a signal that they might all strike
it. and down went the prison door
and out came the prisoners. Queen Maud,
the wife of Henry /, went down amidst
the poor aud washed their sores and adj
ministered 10 them cOrdials. Mrs. Retson,
at MatagOrda, appeared on the battlefield
while the missiles OF death were flying
around, and cared for the wounded. Is
there man or woman who has ever heard
OF the civil war in America who has not
heard of the women of the sanitary and
| Christian commissions, or the fact that,
before the smoke had gone up from Get
tysburg and South Mountain, the women
OF the North met the women of the South
on the battlefield, forgetting all their ami
mosities, while they bound up the wound
ed and closed the eyes of the slain? Dor
cas- the benefactress.
come now to speak of Dorcas the la
mented. When death struck down that
good woman, oh, how much sorrow there
was IN this town OF JOppai | suppose
there were women here with larger
fortunes; women, perhaps, with hand
sOmer faces; but there was no grief at
their departure Ike this at the death OF
Dorcas. There was not more turmoil and
/ upturning in the Mediterranean sea, dash
/ ing against the whaTves of this seaport,
\ than there we're surging to and fro of grief
/ because Dorcas was dead. There are
+ great many who 90 out of life and are un-
missed. There may be very large funeral;
I there may be a great many carriages and a
4 plumed hearse: there may be high-sOund-
+ ing eulogiums; the bell may toll at the
cemetery gate there may be a very fine
marble shaft reared over the resting
place; but the whole thing may be false
hood and sham. The church of God has
lost nothing, the world has lost nothing. 1t
1 is only a nuisance abated it is only a
grumb;er ceasing to find fault; it is only
an idler stopped yawning; it is only dis
sipated fashionable parted from his wine
cellar; while, on the other hand, no use
fui Christian leaves tins world without
being missed The church of God cries
out like the prophet: Howl, fir tree, for
the cedar has fallen" Widowhood comes
and shows the garments which the depart
ment had made. Orphans are lifted up
to look into the calm face of the sleeping
beneiactress. Reclaimed vagrancy comes
and kisses the cold brow of her who
charmed it away from sin, and all through
the streets of Joppa there is mourning
mourning because Dorcas is dead.
When Josephine of France was carried
out TO her grave there were a great many
men and women OF pomp and pride and
position that went out after her; but / am
most affected by the story of history that
on that day there were 10000 of the poor
OF France who followed her coffin, weep
ing and wailing until the air rang again,
because when they lost Josephine they
lost their last earthly friend. Oh, who
would not rather have such obsequies
than ali the tears that were ever poured
in the lachrymals that have been exhumed
from ancient cities? There may be nc
mass for the dead; there may be no costly
sarcophagus; there may be no elaborate
mausoleum; but in the damp cellars oil
the city and through the lonely nuts o.
the mountain glen there will be mourn
ing, mourning, mourning, because Dorcas
is dead. blessed are the dead who die in
the Lord; they rest from their labors ano
their works do follow them.
l speak TO you OF Dorcas the resurrected
The apostle came to where she was and
said: "Arise; and she sat upw In what q
~ Al.