The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-06-17


the sphere; and the needle is just as respect
able in his sight as the scepter. l 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 were out of it. / really think
that one-half of the world may be divided
into two quarters-those who have not
found their sphere, and those who. having
found il, are not willing to stay there How
many are struggling for a 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 watch. which beautl-
fully went treading its golden path
way, wants to be the balance wheel,
and the sparrow, with chagrin, drops into
the brook, because it cannot like the eagle,
cut circle under the sun. In the LORDS
army we all want TO be prigadier generals
The sloop says: "More mast; more tonnage;
more canvas. o, that l were a topsail
schooner, or a full rugged brig, or Cunard
steamer" And so the world is filled with
cries of discomfort, because we are not will
ing TO stay in the place where God put US
and intended us to be. My friends, be not
too proud to do anything God tells you to
do. For the lack of a right disposition in
this respect the world is strewn with wander
ing Hagars and Ishmaels God has given
each one of us a work to do You carry a
scuttle of coal up that dark alley. You
distribute that christian tract You give
ten thousand dollars to the missionary
cause. You, for fifteen years. sit with
chronic rheumatism, displaying the beauty
of christian submission. 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 it be to preach on Pente-
Or fall Wan6Arar of the
street Of the mercy of the Christ of
Mary Magdalene; whether it be TO weave a
garland for a laughing child on spring
morning, and call her a May queen, or to
comb out the tangled locks Of waif of the
street and cut up one of your old dresses to
TT her out for the sanctuary--do It and do
it right away. Whether it be a crown or a
yoke, do not fidget. Everlasting honors
'ppon 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 des-
,plation, and wilderness, for discontented
Hagar and Ishmael.
Again: find in this Oriental scene a les
icon of sympathy with woman when she
igoes forth trudging in the desert. What a
iEreat change it was for this Hagar. There
was the tent and all tine surroundings of
Abraham's house; beautiful and luxurious,
tlo ANVW ohC "a 6OALb OOO AAbO tho
bot sands of the desert. o, what change
IL 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 everything possible to
administer to her happiness. Plenty
TAT 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
-. he Tptc oil A.
lights of that home circle. Harsh words
wear out her spirits. The high hope that
Ishone out over the marriage altar while the
Iring was being set and the vows given and
the benediction pronounced, have all faded
with the orange blossoms, and there 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 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
children fill the hou.e 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. Pulses fiutter. Eyes close.
And the foot whose well known steps on the
door sill brought the whole household out at
'eventide, crying, Fathers coming" will
skl6N6I SOuuu On Tie uOOT hgdln. "A long,
deep grief plowed through all that lightness
of domestic life. Paradise LOST Widowhoodl
Hagar in the wildernessi
How often it is we see the weak arm of
woman conscripted for this bsttle 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
cut with the slumbers of last night, TRACE
tiies of suffering written all over her face.
her lusterless eyes looking far ahead as
though for the coming of some other
broublea Her parents called her Mary.
or Bertha, or Agnes on the day
when they held her up to the font, and the
christian minister sprinkled on the infants
lace the washings of holy baptism. Her
name is changed now. / hear it in the
1huffie of the worn out shoes. see it in the
figure of the faded calico. I find il in the
Iineaments of the woe begone countenance.
Not Mary, nor Bertha, nor Agnes, but
Hagar in the wilderness. May God have
mercy upon woman in her tolls, her strug-
giles, her hardships, her desolatior, and may
the great heart OF divine sympathy inclose
her forever.
Again: / find in this Oriental scene the
TACT that every mother leads forth tremen-
dous destinies. You say: THAT isn't an un-
usual scene, mother leading her child by
the hand" Who is it that she is leading!
.Lshmael, you say. Who is Ishmael! A great
nation is to be founded i nation so strong
shat it is to stand for thousands of wears
against all the armies of the world Egypt
and Assyria thunder against it, but in vain
Saulus brings up his army; and his army
Is smitten. Alexander decides upon cam
paign, brings up his hosts and dies. For
q long while that nation monopolizes
the learning of the world. 1t is the
nation Of the Arabs. Who founded it I?
Ishmael, the lad that Hagar led into the
wilderness. She had no idea she was lead
ing 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, Eng
land, 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 struck That wound in the
foot decides that he be sedentary in his life.
decides that he be student That 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 wanders over your
face may yet be lifted to hurl thunderbolts
OF war, or drop benedictions. That little
voice may blaspheme God in the grog shop.
or cry: Forward" to the Lords hosts as
they go out for their last victory. NV
vain rI s. Inwr 4.