The Opelousas courier., 1890-02-08

| heard of the women of the Sanitary and
| Christian commissioners, OF the fact that, be-
| fore the smoke had gone up from Gettysburg
and South Mountain, the women OF the
| North met the women of the South on the
battlefield, forgetting all their animosities
while they bound up the wounded, and closed
the eyes Of the slain? Dorcas the benefac-
tress.
l come now to speak of Dorcas the
lamented. When death struck down that
good woman, oh, how much sorrow there
| was in this town Of Joppa! [ suppose there
were women here with larger fortunes;
| women. perhaps. with handsomer faces: but
there was no grief at their departure like this
at the death of Dorcas. There was not more
| turmoil and upturning in the Mediterran-
| can Sea, daslling against the wharves of this
| seaport, than there were surgings to and fro
of grief because Dorcas was dead. There
are q great many who go out of life and are
unmissed. There may be a very large
| funeral; there may be q great many carriages
and a plumed hearse; there may be high
sounding eulogiums; the bell may toll at the
cemetery gate; there may be a very line
marble shaft reared over the resting place;
but the whole thing may be a falsehood and
a sham. The church Of God has lost nothing,
the world has lost nothing. 1t is only a
nuisance abated; it is only a grumbler ceas,
ing to find fault; it is only an idler stopped
J yd"illjSt 1T Is OI1J 1t uEcclbhUCN
! parted from his wine cellar; while, on
the other hand, no useful Christian leaves
this world without being missed. The church
of God cries out like the prophet: low,
fir tree, for the cedar has fallen" Widow
hood comes and shows the garments which
the departed had made. Orphans are hfted
up to look into the calm face Of the sleeping
benefactress. Reclaimed vagrancy. comes
and kisses the cold browo of her who charmed
it away from sin, and all through the streets
of Joppa there is mourning-1nournlnS De-
cause Dorcas i dead.
When Josephine of France was carried
out to her grave, there were a great many
men and womenof pomp and PRIDE ana posi-
ton that went out after her; but L AM most
affected by the story of history that on that
day there were ten thousand of the poor OF
Franco who followed her coffin, weeping and
wailing until the air rang again, because,
when they lost Josephine, they lost
their last earthly friend. Oh. who
would not rather have such obse-
quies than all the tears that were
ever poured in the lachrymals that have
been exhumed from ancient cities. There
may be no mass for the dead; there may be
no costly sa%rcophagus; there may be no
elaborate mausoleum; but in the damp. eel
lars of the city, and through the lonely nuts
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 labors, and their
works do follow them"
l speak to you of Dorcas the resurrected.
The apostle came to where she was and said:
"Arise; and she sat up" In what a short
compass the great writer put that-"She sat
upr' Oh, what q time there must have been
around this town, when the apostle brought
her out among her old friendsl How the
tears of JOY must ave startedi What clap
ping of hands there must have been! What
singing! What %laughterl Sound it all
through that lane! Shout it down that dark
alleyl Let all Joppa hear it! Dorcas is res
directed!
You and l have seen the same thing many
a time; not a dead body resuscitated, but
! the deceased coming UP again after death III
} the good accomplished. If d man labors up
to fifty years Of age, serving God, and then
dies, we are apt to think that his earthly
work is done. No. His influence on earth
rendered for Christ never stop. 4 Christian
woman tolls for the upbuilding OF a church
many self denials, with prayers
and tears, and then she dies. 1t is fifteen
years since she went away. Now the spirit
of God descends upon that church; hundreds
of souls stand up and confess the faith of
Christ. Has that Christian women, who
went away fifteen years ago, nothing to do
with these things? l see the Towering out Of
her noble heart. I hear the echo of her foot
steps in all the songs over Sins forgiven, In
all the prosperity of the church. The good
that seemed to be buried has come up again.
Dorcas is resurrected.
After a while all these womanly friends
of Christ will put down their needle forever.
After making garments for others, some one
will make U garment for them; the last robe
we ever wear-the robe for the grave. You
will have heard the last cry of pain. You
will have witnessed the last orphanage. You
will have come in worn out from your last
round of mercy. l do not know where you
will sleep, nor what you epitaph will be;
but there will be a lamp burning at that tomb
and an angel of God guarding it, and through
all the long night no rude foot will disturb
the dust. Sleep on, sleep onl Soft bed,
pleasant shadows, undistnrbed repose! Sleep
onl
Asleep in 1esusi Blessed sleepi
From which none ever wake TO weep.
not SO much tears as dollars; not 80 much
kind wishes as Ioaves Of bread; not 50
much smiles as shoes; not 50 much
God bless yousf' as jackets and frocks.
| will put one earnest Christian man, hard
working, against five thousand mere theorists
on the subject of charity. There are a great
many who have fine ideas about church archi-
lecture who never in their life helped to
build a church. There are men who can
go into the'asylums of the suffering and des-
titute bearing hat Gospel which is sight for
the blind, and hearing for the deaf,
and which makes the lame maj leap like a
hart, and brings the dead to life, IMMORTAL
health bounding in their pulses. What a
contrast between the practical benevolence
of this woman and a great deal of the char
ity of this day! This woman did not spend
her time idly planning how the poor
of your, city, OF Joppa were to be re-
lieved; she took her needle and relieved them.
| Ghn " rnt 1i-a ffrca norcn7s yyhp cUro,.
pathize with imaginary sorrows, and go out
in the street and laugh at the boy who has
upset his basket of cold v~ictuals, or like that
charity which makes a rousing speech on the
benevolent platform, and goes out to kick the
beggar from the step, crying: Hush your
miserable howlingE The sufferers Of the
world want not SO much theory as practice:
Then one day there will be a sky rending
and a whirl of wheels, n the flash OF {
pageant; armies marching. chains clanking
banners waving, thunders booming, and tina
Christian woman will arise from the dust
and she will be suddenly s~urrounded-snr
roundedb by the wanderers of the street whom
she reclaimed, surrounded by the WOUNDED
souls to whom she administered Daughtel
of God, so strangely surrounded, what mean
this? It means that reward has come, tina
the victory is won, that the crown is ready
that the banquet is spread. Shout it through
all the crumbling earth. Sing 1t through
all the flying heavens. Dorcasi is resurrected
In 1855, when some Of the soldiers ca1n'
back from the Crimean war to London, tn
Queen of England distributed among then
beautiful medals, called Crimean medals
Galleries were erected for the two houses o
Parliament and the royal family to sit ir
There was a great audience to witness tn
distribution of the medals. A Colonel VIII
had lost both feet in the battle of Inkermal
was pulled in on a wheel chair; others cam
in limping on their crutches. Then the Quee
arose before them in the name of he