Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-05-20
A GRAND BRIDAL GIFT
Caleb's Generous Wedding Present to
His Fair Daughter Achsah.
VICTORIOUS GENERALS PRIZE.
He First COnquers City and Then Con-
querS Girls Heart.
A WOMARs LOVE OF COURAGE In MAN
ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DISPATCH.

BROOKLYN, May 19.-The Rev. T.
De Witt Talmage, D. D., preached to-day
on ''New Springs of JOY" The text was:
''Thou hast given me south land; give me
also springs of water. And he gave her
the upper springs, and the neither springs. |"
Joshua XIV, 10.
The city of Debir was the Boston of antiqui-
ty-a great place for brain and books. Caleb
wanted it, and he offered his daughter Achsah
as prize to any one who would capture that
city. 1t was a strange thing for Caleb to do;
and yet the man who could take the city would
have, at any rate, two elements of manhood
bravery and patriotism. With CaleD's daugh-
ter as a prize to fight for, General Othniel rode
into the battle. The gates of Debir were thun-
dered into the dust, and the city of books lay
at the feet of the conquerors. The work done,
Othniel comes back to claim his bride Having
conquered the city, it is no great job for him to
conquer the girls heart; for however faint
hearted woman herself may be, she always
loves courage in a man. never saw an ex-
ception to that. The wedding festivities hav-
ing gone by, Othniel and Achsah are about to
go Co their new home. However loudly the
cymbals may clash and the laughter ring.
parents are always sad when fondly cherished
daughter goes OFF to stay: and Achsah, the
daughter of Caleb, knows that now is
THE TIME TO ASK
almost anything she wants of her father It
seemed that Caleb, the good old man, had given
as a wedding present to his daughter piece of
land that was mountainous, and sloping south
ward toward the deserts of Arabia, swept with
some very hot winds. 1t was called "a south
land" But Achsah wants an addition of prop
erty; she wants a piece of land that is well wa
tered and fertile. Now it is no wonder that
Caleb, standing amid the bridal party his eyes
SO full of tears because she was going away
that he could hardly see her at all, gives her
more than she asks. She said to him: Thou
hast given me a south land give me also springs
of water" And he gave her the upper springs
and the neither springs.
What suggestive passage! The fact is, that
as Caleb. the father, gave Achsah, the daughter,
q south land, so God gives to US His world. I
am very thankful He has given it to us. But
am like Achsah in the fact that want a larger
portion. Trees, and flowers, and grass, and
blue skies are very well in their places; but he
who has nothing but this world for portion
has no portion at all. 1t is amountainous land,
slOping off toward the desert of sorrow, swept
by fiery siroccos; it is "a south land, F" poor
portion for any man that tries to put his trust
in it, What has been your experience? What
has been the experience of every man, of every
woman that has tried this world tor portion?
Queen Elizabeth, amid the surroundings of
pomp, is unhappy because the painter sketches |
too minutely the wrinkles on her face, and she |
indignantly cries out: You must strike off my
likeness without any shadowsp' Hogarth, at |
the very height of his artistic triumph is,
STUNG ALMOST TO DEATH
with chagrin because the painting he had dedi- |
Gated to the King does not seem to be accepta- |
BILE; for George IL cries out: who is this Ho- |
garth? Take his trumpery out of my pres
ence" Brinsley Sheridan thrilled the earth |
with his eloquence, but had for his last words, |
sI am absolutely undone." Walter Scott fun |
bling around the inkstand. trying to write, says |
to his daughter: ''Oh, take me back TO my |
room; there is no rest for Sir Walter but in the |
grave" Stephen Glrard, the wealthiest man |
in his day, or. at any rate. only second in |
wealth, says: Il live the life of galley slave; |
when arise in the morning my one effort is to |
work so hard that can sleep when it gets to |
be night" Charles Lamb, applauded of all the |
world, in the very midst of his literary tri- |
we used to laugh from the shilling gallery at |
the play? There are now good plays to |
Hugh at from the boxes" But why 60 so far |
as that? need 20 go' no further than your /
street to find an illustration of what am say
ing.
Pick me out ter successful worldIings-with-
out any religioH, and you know what mean by
successful worldlings-pick me out ten success
full worlhlings, and you cannot find more than
one that looks happy Care drags him across
the bridge; care drags him back. Take your
stand 1t o'clock at the corner of Nassau and
WaY streets, or at the corner of Canal street
and Broadway, and see the agonized physiog-
Monies. Your bankers, your insurance men
your importers, your wholesalers, and your re-
ta1ers, as class-as a class,
ARE THEY HAPPY?
No. Care dogs their steps; and, making no
appeal to God for help OF comfort, they ara
tossed everywhither. How has it been with you,
my hearer? Are you more contented in the
house of Il rooms than you were in the two
rooms you had in house when you started?
Have you not had more care and worrimenJ
since you won that $50, 600 than you did before?
Some of the poorest men have ever known
have been those of great fortune. A man of
small means may be put IN great business
straits but the ghastlieSt of all embarrass-
ments is that of the man who has large estates
The men who commit suicide because of none
tary losses are those who cannot bear the bur-
den any more, because they have only $4,000
left.
On Bowling Green, New York, there is a
house where Talleyrand used to go. He was a
favorite man. All the world knew him. and he
had wealth almost unlimited; yet at the close
Of his life he says: Behold, So years have
passed without any practical result, save fa-
tigue of body and fatigue of mind, great dis
for the future and great disgust
for the past" Oh, my friends, this is south
land" and it slopes off toward deserts of sor
rows; and the prayer which Achsah made to
her father Caleb, we make this day to our
Father God: Thou hast given me a south
land; give me also springs of water. And he
gave them the upper springs, and the neither
Blessed be Godl We have more advantages
given Us than we can really appreciate We
have spiritual blessings offered US in this
/
glories in the world TO come which shall call
THE UPPER SPRINGS.
Where shall find words enough threaded
With light to set forth the pleasure of religion?
David, unable to describe it in words, played it
IN harp. Mrs Hemans, not finding enough
,ower in prose- sings that praise in a canto.
Christopher Wren, unable to describe it in Ian
-uage, sprung it into the arches of st. Paul's
Iohn Bunyan. unable to present it in ordinary !
takes all the fascination OF ale :
,ory. Handel, with ordinary music unable to
each the height of the theme, rouses it up in ,
N oratorio. Oh, there is no life on earth so
lappy as really Christian life. 1 do not mean
sham Christian life, but real Christian life :
w here there is a thorn, there is a whole gar !
and of roses. Where there is one groan there
Ire three doxolOgies Where there is one day
II cloud there is whole season of sunshine.
Take the humblest Christian man that YOU
of God canopy him with their
White wings; the lightnings of heaven are his .
rmed allies; the Lord is his shepherd picking
ut for him green pastures by still waters; If he
walk forth, heaven is his body guard: if he lie !
lown to sleep. ladders of light angel blossom .
ng, let into his dreams; if he be thirsty the
of heaven are his cupbearers:i il he
it down 10 food his plain table blooms into the
.ine's banquet. Men say: Look at that old
elbow with the worn out coat;" the angels of
iod cry: Lift up your heads, We everlasting
.ates and let him come in 81 Fastidious peo-
lie cry: Get of my front steps;' the door
-eepers of heaven cry: Come, you blessed of
ny Father, inherit the kingdom" When he
omes to die, though, be may be carried out in
pine box to the potter's field, to that porter's
eld the chariots Of Christ will come down, and
he cavalcade will crowd all
THE BoULEvARDs OF HEAVEN.
bless Christ for the present satisfaction of
eligion. 1t makes man all right with refer
a. |