The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-07-24

HagarS and 1SEUaelS. God has given each
one Of US work to do. You carry a
scuttle Of coal up that dark alley. You dis
tribute that Christian tract. You give
$4,000 to the missionary cause. You for
fifteen years sit with chronic rheumatism,
displaying the beauty Of Christian submis-
sion. Whatever God calls you to, whether
it win Kissing or huzza; whether to walk
under triumphal arch, or lift the sot out
Of the ditch; whether 1t be to preach on a
Peutecosr or tell some wanderer Of the street
Of the mercy Of Christ to Mary Masda-
lene; whether it be to weave a garland for
laughing child on a spring morning and
call her May queen, or to comb out the
tangled locks of 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 crown or a
yoke, do not fdget Everlasting honors
upon those who dc 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 discontented Hagar and
Ishmael.
Again: I find in this Oriental scene les
son Of sympathy with women when she
goes forth trudging in the desert. What a
great change it was for this Hagar. There
was the tent and all the surroundings Of
Abraham's house, beautiful and luxurious,
no doubt Now she is going out into the hot
sands of the desert O, what a change it
wasl 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 happi-
ness. Plenty at the table. Music in the
drawing-room Welcome at the door, She
is led forth into life by some one who can
not appreciate her. A dissipated soul comes
and takes her out in the desert 1niQuities
blot out all the lights Of that home circle.
Harsh words wear out her spirit. The high
hope that shone out over the marriage altar
while the ring was being set and the VOWS
given and the benediction pronounced,
have all faded With the orange bios.
SONS, and thsre she is to-day, broken
hearted, thinking Of past JOY and present
desolation and coming anguish. Hagar in
the wilderness.
Here is beautiful home. You can not
think OF any thing that can be added to 1t
For years there has not been the suggestion
Of single trouble Bright and happy chill
dren fill the house with laughter and song.
Books to read Pictures to look at. Lounges
to rest on. Cup OF domestic Joy full and
running over Dark night drops. Pillow
hot. Pulse futter. Eyes close. And the
foot whose well known step on the door sill
brought the whole household out at even
tide, cryin &: Fathers coming" will never
sound on the door sill again. A long, deep
grief plowed through all the Lghtness OF
domestic life Paradise lost! Widowhood!
Eacar In the wilderness.
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
with exhausting work not half slept out
with the slumbers Of last night tragedies OF
suffering written all over her face, her lus
terless eyes looking far ahead as though fo1
the coming Of some other trouble? Her
parents called her Mary, or Bertha, or Agnes
on the day when they held her up to the
font, and the Christian minister sprink!ed
on the infants face the washings OF holy
baptism. Her name is changed now. hear
It in the shuttle of the worn-out shoes. l
sae it in the figure Of the faded calico.
find it - the lineaments OF the woe-Geg0ne
countenance Not Mary, nor Bertha, nor
Agnes, but Regar in the wilderness. May
God have mercy upon woman IL her tolls,
her struggles, her hardships, her desolation,
and may the great heart Of Divine sympathy
irclose her forever.
Again: I find IN this Oriental scene the
fact that every mother leads forth tremend-
GUS destinies. You say: THAT isn't an un.
usual scene, mother leading her child by
the hand.n Who Is 1t that she Is leading?
Ishmael, you say Who is Ishmaela A great
nation is to be founded; nation so strong
that it is to stand for thousands of years
against all the armies of the world. Egypt
and Assyria thunder against it; but
in vain. Gaulus brings up his army; and
his army Is smitten. Alexander decides
upon campaign, brings up his hosts
and dies For a long while that nation
monopolizes the learning Of the world.
1t is the nation Of the Arabs. Who founded
it, Ishmael, the lad that Hagar led
into the wilderness. She had no idea she
was leading forth such destinies. Neither
does any mother. You pass along the street.
and see pass boys and girls who will yet
make the earth quake with their influence.
Who is that boy at Sutton Pool, Plymouth,
England, barefooted, wading down into the
slush and slime, until his bare foot comes
upon piece of glass and he lifts it. bleed.
ing, and pain -struckl That wound in the
foot decides that he be sedentary in his
life, decides that he be a student. The
wound BY the glass In the foot decides
that he shall be John Kitto, who shall
provide the best religious encyclopedia the
world has ever had provided, and, with
his other writings as well, throwing light
upon the word Of God such as has come
from no other man in this century. O,
mother, mother, that little hand that wan
ders over your face may yet be lifted to
hurl thunderoolts Of war, or drop benedic-
tions. That little voice may blaspheme God
in the Grog shop, or cry: Forward" to
the Lords hosts, as they 80 out for their
last victory. My mind to-day leaps thirty
years ahead, and see merchant prince OF
New York. One stroke Of his pen brings
a ship out of Canton Another stroke Of
his pen brings ship into Madras. he is
mighty in all the money markets OF the
world. Who is hes He sits to-day beside
you in the Tabernacle. My mind leaps
thirty years forward from this time, and
find myself in a relief association. A great
multitude Of Christian women have met to-
gether for generous purpose. There is one
woman in the crowd that seems to have the
confidence Of all the others, and they look up
to her for her prayers. Who is she! To day
YOU will find her inthe Sabbath-school, while
the teacher tells her Of that Christ who
clothed the naked and fed the hungry and
healed the sick My mind leaps forward
thirty years from now, and find myself in
an African jungle; and there is missionary
of the cross addressing the natives, and theiI
6usky conntenauces are irradiated with the
glad tidings Of great Joy and salvation. Who
is hel Did yoa not hear his voice to-day in
the first song CT the servicea Ny mind leaps
forward thirty years from aow, and md
myself looking through the wickets OF q
prison. see face SCARED with every
crime. His chin on his open palm, his elbow
on his knee-a picture Of despair. AS !
open the wicket he starts, and l hear hls
chain clank The Jail keeper tells me that
he has been in there now three times. Flrsf
for theft, then for arson, now for murder