The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-12-02

Solomon; it provided the robes OF Q leea
Elizabeth; and in high places and In low
places. by the fire Of the pioneers back log
and under the fash Of the chandelier
everywhere. il has clothed nakedness. 1t hiss
preached the gospel. il has overcome hosts
of penury and want with the war cry of
ssStitch. stitch, stitch The operatives
have found a livelihood by II, aud
through it the mansions OF the
employer have been constructed.
Amidst the greatest triumphs in all
ages and lands, set down the conQuests of
the needle. / admit its crimes; admit its
crueltieS It has had more martyrs than
the fire; il has punctursd the eve: il has
pierced the side; it has struck weakness into
the lungs; it has sent madness into the
brain: it has filed the potter's fed; 1t has
pitched whole armies Of the suffering into
crime and wretchedness and woe. Bat now
that / am talking Of Dorcas and her minis
tries to the poor, shall speak only of the
charities of the needle.
This woman WAS a representative Of all
those women who make garments for the
destitute, who knit socks for the barefoOted,
who prepare bandages for the lacerated,
who fix up boxes of clothing for mission
arieS. who go into the asy!ums 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 g hart, and brings the dead to life
immortal health bounding in tneir pulses.
What a contrast between the practical
benevolence Of this woman and a
great deal of the charity Of
this dayl This woman did not spend
her time idly planning ho| the poor OF
your city of Joppa were 20 be relieved; she
took her needle and relieved them. She
was not like those persons who sympathiz3
with Imaginary sorrows, and 60 ous in the
street and laugh al the boy VINO has upset
his basket # cold yictuals, or like that
charity which makes a rousiug speech Oh
the benevolent platform, and goes out TO
kick the beggar from the step, crying:
Hush your miserable bowling" The SUI
ferers of the world want not so much
theory as practice; not 50 much tears
as dollars: not so much kind
wishes as loaves Of bread; not so
much smiles as shoes; not so much God
bless yousl" IS jackets ana frocks. | will
put one earnest Christian man, hard work
ing, against five thousand mere theorists on
the subject Of charity. Tnere are a great
many who have fine ideas about church
architecture who never in their life helped
10 build a church. There are men who can
give you the history Of Buddhism and no
hanmedanism wEo never sent farthing
for their evangelization There are women
who talk beautifully about the suffering Of
the world, who never had the courage, like
Z.
/ am glad that there Is not page Of the
worlds history which ls not a record of
female bsnevolence. God says 10 all lands
and people, Come now and hear the widows
mite rattle down into the poor box. The
Princess Of Cont sold al her Jewels that
she might help the famine stricken. Queen
Blanche, the wife of Louis VIII. of France,
bearing that there were some persons
uDjustly incarcerated in the prisons,
out fJzr he I'd
a 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
L, went down amidst the poor and washed
their sores, and administered to them cor
dials. Mrs. Retson at Matagorda appeared
on the battlefield while the missiles of death |
were flying around, and cared for the |
wounded Is there a man or woman |
who has ever heard Of the civil war in |
America who has not heard of the |
women Of the sanitary aud christian COM
missions, or the fact that, before tue smoke |
had gone up from Gettysburg and South |
Mountain, the women of the north met the |
women Of the south on the battlefield, for |
getting all their animosities while they |
bound up the wounded, and closed the eyes
of the slain! Dorcas the benefactress
/ come now 70 speak of Dorcas the la
mented. When death struck down that
good woman. oh, how much sorrow there
was in this town Of Joppal suppose there
were women here with larger fortunes: wo-
men, perhaps, with handsomer faces: but
there was no grief a. their departure like
this at the death OF Dorcas. There was not
more turmoil and upturniag in the Medi-
terranean sea, dsshing against the vharves
OF this seaport, than there were
surgings TO and fro of grief because
Dorcas was dead. There are
great many who go out Of life aud are
unmissed. There may be very large
funeral; there may be great many car
rIages endla plumed .nearse; there may be
high-so1nding elogiums; the bell may toll
at the cemetery gate; there may be a very
fine marble shaft reared over the resting
place; but TIE whole thing may be false
hood and sham. The church of God has
lost nothing, the world has lost nothing. IL
Is only q nuisance abated; il is only
q grumbler ceasing to find fault; it is
only an idler stopped yawning; it is
only dissipated fashionable parted
fro n his cellar: while on the other
hand. no useful christian leaves this 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 W ica the
departed had made. Orphans are lifted up
70 look into the calm face of the sleeping
DeHeihckress. flscidine1 yaRrdncY 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 ten thousand of the
poor Of France who followed her coffin,
weeping and wailing until the air rang
again, because, when they lost Joseph
inc, they lost their last earthly friend.
o, who would not rather have such
obsequies than all the tears that were
ever poured in the lachrymais that have
been exhumed from ancient cities. There
may be no mass for the dead; there may be
no costly sarcophagus there may be no
elaborate mausoleun; but in the damp Gel
lars Of the city, and through the lonely huts
of 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 labcrs, and
their works do follow themn
speak to you Of Dorcas the resurrected.
The apostle came to where she was aud said:
"Arise; and she sat upw In what short
compass the great writer put that-"She
sat upp Oh, what time there must have
been around this town, when the apostle
brought her ont among har old friandct