Milford chronicle., 1889-06-21

his silent heart; but as the boy begins TO
claw his tongue in agony Of thirst and strug-
| gle in distortion, and beg his mother to slay
him, she cannot endure tho spectacle She
puts him under shrub and goes of bow
shot, and begins to weep until all the desert
seems sobbing, and her cry strikes clear
| through the heavens; and an angel of God
comes out on a cloud and looks down upon
the appalling grief aud cries: "Hagar, what
aileth theeP She looks up, and she sees the
angel pointing to a well Of water, where she
/ fills the bottle for the lad Thank Godl
Thank Godl
WE MUST KNOW OUR PLACES.
learn from this Oriental scene, in the
| first place, what a sad thing it is when people
do not know their place, and get too proud
/ for their business Hagar was an assistant
In that household, but she wanted to rule
there She ridiculed and jeered until her
son, Ishmael, got the same tricks. She dashed
out her own happiness and threw Sarah into
a great fret; and if she had stayed much
longer in that household she would have up
set calm Abraham's equilibrium My friends,
one-half Of the trouble in the world today
comes from the fact that people do not know
their place, or, finding their place, will not
stay in it. When we come into the world
there is always a place ready for US. A
place for Abraham A place for Sarah
| A place for Hagar A place for Ish-
maeL place for you and place for
me. Our first duty is to find our sphere; our
second is to keep it. We may be born in a
sphere far OF from the one for which God final
" intends US Sextus v was born on the low
ground. and was a swineherd, God called him
up to wave a scepter Ferguson spent his
early days in looking after the sheep; God
called him up to look after stars and be
shepherd watching the focks of light on the
bill sides of heaven. Hogarth began by en-
craving pewter pots; God raised him to stand
in the enchanted realm of a painter. The
shoenlakers bench held Bloomfield for a little
while, but God called him to sit in the chair
Of a philosopher and Christian scholar. The
soap boiler Of London could not keep his sou
in that business, for God had decided that
Hawley was to be one of the greatest astron-
omers of England On the other hand, we
/ NAV be born in a sphere little higher than
| that for which God intends us. We may be
born in a castle, and play in a costly conserv-
atory, and feed high bred pointers, and angle
for gold fish in artificial ponds, and DO ia
miliar with princes, yet God may have
fitted US for carpenters shop, or dentists
forceps or a weaver's shuttle, or a black
smiths forge. The great thing is to find just
the sphere for which God intended us, and
then to occupy that sphere and occupy 1t
forever Here is a man God fashioned to
make a pillow. There is a man God fashioned
to make a constitution The man who makes
the plow is lust as honorable as the man who
makes the constitution, provided he makes
the pillow as well as the other man makes the
constitution. There is a woman who was
made to fashion a rohe, and yonder is one in
tended to be a queen and wear it. 1t seems
to me that in the one case as in the other,
God appoints tina sphere; and the needle is
just as respectable in his sight as the Sccpter.
do not know but that the world would
long ago have been saved, If some of the
men out of the ministry were in it, and some
of those who are in it we're out df it. re-
ally think that one-half of the world may be
divided into two quarters-those who have
not found their sphere and those who, hav-
ing found it, are not willing to stay there
How many are struggling for position
little higher than that for which God intended
them. The bondswOman wants to be mis-
tress. Hagar keeps crowding Sarah The
small wheel of a watch, which beautifully
went treading its golden pathway wants to
be the balance Wheel and the sparrow with
chagrin drops into the brook because it can
not, like the eagle, cut circle under the sun.
In the Lords army we all want to be briga-
der generals The slOop says; "More mast;
more tonnage; more canvas o that ! were
a topsail schooner, or a full rugged brig, or
Cunard steamer And so the world is filed
with cries of discomfort, because we are not
willing to stay in the place where God put
us and intended lis to be. Ny friends, be not
too proud to do anything God tells you to do.
For the lack of right disposition in this re-
IL efv- xuarToriucr
Hagars and Ishmaels. God has given each
one Of us a work to do You carry scuttle
of coal up that dark alley. You distribute
that Christian tract You give ten thousand
dollars to the missionary cause. You for iif-
teen years sit with chronic rheumatism, dis
playing tho beauty Of Christian submission
Whatever God calls you 10, whether it win
kissing or huzza; whether to walk under
triumphal arch or lift the sOt out
of the ditch; whether it be to preach
on Pentecost, or tell some wanderer of
the street of the mercy of the Christ Of Mary
Magdalene; whether it be to weave a garland
for a laughing child on a spring morning and
call her a May queen, or to comb out the
tangled locks of a waif Of the street, and cut
up one of your old dresses to fit her out for
the sanctuary--do it, and do it right away.
Whether it be a crown or yoke, do not id-
get. Everlasting honors upon those who do
their work, and do their whole work, and
are contented in the sphere in which God has
put them; while there is only wandering, and
exile, and desolation, and wilderness for dis
contented Hagar and Ishmael
SYMPATHY WITH WOMAN.
Again. find in this Oriental scene lesson
Of sympathy with woman when she goes
forth trudging in the desert What great
change it was for this Hagar. There was the
tent, and all the surroundings Of Abrahams
house, beautiful and luxurious no doubt. Now
she is going out into the hot sands of the
desert. D what a change it was. And in
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 every
thing possible to administer to her happiness
Plenty at the table Music in the drawing
room. Welcome at the door. She is led
forth into life by some one who cannot
appreciate her. A dissipated soul comes and
takes her out in the desert. Iniquities blot
out all the lights Of that home circle Harsh
words wear out her spirits. The high hope
that shone out over the marriage altar while
the ring was being set and the VOWS given
and tho benediction pronounced, have all
faded with tho orange blossoms, and there
she is today, broken hearted, thinking of past
Joy ana DIN1eub u1oDldlAJA tAAA4 l1lAAAAa ou-
guish. Hagar in the wilderness
Here is a beautiful home. You cannot
think Of anything that can be added to it.
For years there has not been the suggestion
of a single trouble Bright and happy chill
dren ill the house with laughter and song.
Books to read pictures to look at, lounges to
rest on. Cup of domestic joy full and run
ming over Dark night drops. Pillow hot
pulses futter, eyes close. and the foot whose
well known steps on the door sill brought the
whole household out at eventide, crying;
"Father's comingw will never sound on the
door sill again. A long, deep grief plowed
through all that lightness Of domestic life.
Paradise lostl Widowhoodl Hagar in the
wildernessl
How often It 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