Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-06-01
CALEB'S DAUGHTER
She Is Offered as a Valuable
Prize.
OthnieI Captures h City of Debir,
the Boston OF Antiquity, and
Gets Caleb's Daughter
for n Wife.

me also springs OF water. And he CAV,
her the upper springs, and the nethe
springs, "-Joshua XIV, 10.
The city of Debir was the Boston o
antiquity great place for brain ant
books. Caleb wanted it, and he Offered
his daughter Achsah as u prize TO any
one who would capture that city. 1t WA
a strange thing for Caleb to do; and ye'
the man who could take the city would
have, at any rate, two elements Of man
hood-bravery and patriotism. With
Caleb's daughter as q prize TO fight for,
General Daniel rode into the battle.
The gates Of Debir were Numbered into
the dust, and the CITY Of books lay at the
feet OF the cobquerors. The work lone,
Othniel comes back TO claim his bride.
Having conquered lbe city, ii is no great
job for him 10 conquer me girls heart;
for however faint hearted q woman her.
self may be. she always love courage in a
man, | never saw an exception to that.
The wedding festiVIty having gone by,
Cthniel and AchsAh are about to go to
their new home. However loudly the
cymbAls may clash aud the laughter ring,
parents are al~Ays sad when a fondiy
cherished daughter goes OF to stay; and
Achsah, the daughter OF Caleb, knows
that now Is the time 10 ask almost any
thing she wsnts Of her father. 1t seems
that Caleb. the good Did man. had given
AS a wedding present to his daughter q
piece Of land that was mount linous, and
sloping for ward toward the deserts OF
Arabia, swept with some very hot winds.
1t was called "a south land" But Ach-
sab wants an addition of property; she
wants n piece of land that is well watered
and fertile. Now it is no wonder that
Caleb standing amidst 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 NE alsosprings of water.
And he gave her the upper springs, and
the neither springs"
What a suggestive passage! The fact
is, that as Caleb, the father, gave Ach-
sab, the daughter, q south land. so God
gives to us his word. | am very thank
ful he has given it TO us. But | am like
Achsah in the fact hat | 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 a portion has no portion at all.
IL is a mountainous land, sioping off to-
ward the desert Of sDrroW. swept by fiery
siroccos; it is a south land" a poor
portion for any man that tries % put bis
trust in it. WHAT has been your expe-
rience? What has been the experience
of every man, of every woman that has
tried this world for a pOrtlon2 Queen
Elizabeth, amidst the surroundings of
pomp, is unhappy bee tuse the painter
sketches too miuutcly TIE wrinkles of
her face, and she Indignantly cries out:
You mus strike of my likeness with
out any shadows iiOgarth, al the
very height of his aftisnc triumph, is
stung almost 10 death with chagrin be
cause the painting be had Dedicated TO
the king does nor seem 20 be acceptable;
for George II cries out; who is this
Hogarth2 Take bis trumpery out Of my
presence" Brinsley Shec'd4n thrilled
the earth with his ~clOquencr, but had for
his last worOs, am abs ,lutely un-
done" Walter Scott, fuobling around
the inkstand, trying 10 write says to his
daughter: "Oh. take me back TO my
room: there is no rest for Sir Walter but
in the grave" Stephen Girard, the
wealthiest man in his day. OF, at any
rate, only second in wealth, says: 81
live the life Of a 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, ap-
plauded Of Ill the world, in the very
midst Of his literary triumph says: DO
you remember, Bridget, when we used
to laugh from the shilling gallery at the
playy There are now no good plays TO
laugh at from the boxes" But why go
so far ~ that? | ustd TO go no further
than your street to find an illustration of
what am saying.
Pick me out ten successful worldlincs
without any religion, and you know
what | mean by successful worldlings-
pick me out ten successful worl6lings
and you cannot find more than n that
looks happy; care drags him across the
bridge; care drags him back. Take your
stand at 2 o'clock at the corner of Nassau
and Wall streets, or at the corner of Canal
street and Broadway and see the ago
nized physiogdomics. Your bankers, your
insurance meu, your importers, your
wholesalers and your retailers as a class
AS a class, are they happyr No. Care
dogs their steps; and, making no appeal
to God for help or comfort, they are
tossed eyerywither. How has it been
with yov. my hearer, Are you more
contented in the house of fourteen rooms
thar you were in the two rooms you had
in the house when you first started
Have YOU not had more care and worri-
ment since you o that $50, 600 thar
YOU did before2 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, u
the gbastliess OF all embari assments is
that Of the man who has large estates.
The men who commit suicide because of
monetary losses are those who cannot
bear the burden any more because they
Lave only 800 900 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, eighty
three years have passed without any
practical result, ave fatigue Of body and
fatigue of miad, great encouragement
for the future and great disgust for The
past" Oh, my friends, this is a south
land" and it slopes toward deserts OF
sorrows; and the prayer which Achsah
made to her father { a|eb, We make this
day to our Father God: Thou hast
1;yop mn a oouth land GIVE me also