The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-02-23
SERMON OF THE DAY.
y,u Is,,sb,r SHcLw,,rds.

Ey B,,absr SiicLwsrds. /
Jack and Jni went up the hill To fetch a pail of
water: Jack fell down AMI broke his crown, and
Jill came tumbling after.
Before inuuiring into the and
lessons with which our text is frau0ht, let
ms first, dear brethren, seek tn obtain u
clear and comprehensive knowledge of
the character of the two historical per-
sonagcs whose acts we ars, about tn inves-
tigate; for thus We. shall Inc enabled better
tn ascertain thc motives which animated
them. to understand the peculiar longinRs
and desires and passions which surgcd
within their bosonns, and finally tn deter
mine and comprehend the real signifi-
canoe of the misfortune and its accom-
panying grief which oar text indicates
overlook them ere they had succeeded i'm
bringing the enterprise in which they
were engaged to- a successful cuimina-
ton.
First of all. then, who and what WAS
Jack? Observe, brcthien. that he was
the leading spirit i'm the undertaking. Jill
figures simply as "a companion, an attend-
mt, an accessory. Jill seems always to
have kept "a trifie i'm the rear. In u
word, Jill appears i'm the SUI
borSlinatc capacity al sui,c. Jack
was the originator, the mostcr~spirit,
the pushcr. He not only i'm the fccundity
OF his intellect first conceived the striking
project, but he was the first to secure n
move upon him. The predominant char
acteristic of Jack, therefore, was boldness
AthbH h'sss 'sS
TO Jill, we discover that me was also gem
crous. solnpanionablc. wholc-soulcd. And
here il may he remarked that his quality
of ioviality and rollicking good fellowship
| seems To characterize all tho Jacks of
! history. lack the Giant Killer was a most
| engaging gentleman as we'll as II bold, de-
tcrmincd knight. Jack the Ripper might
bc cited as an exception To his rule. hut
remember, dear brethren. that this Jack
is "a crazy and irresponsible Jack. Jacks,
l repeat, are II hearty. brave, chivalrous
race. There have been occasions, l am
told, when four Jacks have gone north
and efrectualIy overcome so powerful n
combination as three kings and two
queens. But with all his joviality, our
Jack u himself from certain
other jovial fellows. He Was free from
the reckless dare-dcviltry of Tom, tho dis
sipation and coarse dcpravity of Dick and
the rascality and innate cusscdness OF
Harry. Jack. indeed. was "a gentleman
whom all may admire and emulate.
We come now To Jill and right here We
must free our minds of a popular error.
For generations il has been falsely as
suned that Jill was either the sister or the
sweetheart of Jack. But read tho words
of our text carefully. dear brethren. and
you will discover not The slightest ground
for such belief. Going back To the origi-
nal Greek, we lind conclusive evidence
that King James translators made a
grcvious mistake. Probably, however,
they had on hand an imperfect and corrupt
\ m;tnttSsftDt. Ill WHICH SOME lSuor1tilt
scholiast had altered the original alpha to
iota. But the translators themselves
are clearly tn blame for turning the origi-
nal aspirate into u ~" n letter for which
there is no equivalent i'm Greek. While
the. lanhhas were preserved, Tho original
ala" became converted into ''Ji'' I'm the
manner we nave indicated. We are
pleased to note that the error is properly
corrected in thercviscd version, wherein
the words stand as they should be written
tInpk mud Hall wont mn tho hi1-N All
this may he Greek to you, dear brethren,
hut we assure You we are giving you
straight stuff from way back.
Let Ms next seek to solve the problem
why these two individuals assembled tho
activity to procure n pail of water. Al
the outset we are met by the skcptic who
assures Us that il is contrary to all ma
turr, reason and philosophy to assume
the presence of water at the summit al
the hill. If there was no water down i'm
the valley. what right had Jack To predi-
cate it's existence upon the adjacent cnli
hence" But herein. brethren. we discover
the very essence of Jacks character. i
is true there was no water in the valley
|, II il true the probabilities were against hi
; finding any up above. But Jack wa,
| nothing daunted. The needs OF the houi
: were pressing. Water must he got ant
got quickly. Docs Jack despair: Doc
he sit down i'm the middle of the road. an
= tear his hair. and rend his clothes. an
bcsecch the stage coach to run over him
Z No. brethren! Jack rises, and summon
his companion. and ~sallics forth in ques
of that which hc is after, and cndeavor
with all speed to get there! Al
brcthrcn, let us pattern after Jack. Nil
T. fortunes may ovcrtakc MS. Our ~neighboi
may scoop mp all the water i'm the vale!
We may bc beaten in orr business. w
a. may bc knocked ont utterly at the poll
q Our enemies may sit upon us with the
a might. But. like dear brother Jack, Let 4
arise and invent some new scheme: let I
, climb. let us press orward. let us motII
: up, let MS ascend, let ls get there specslil
~ If we cannot procure that which We al
Is after by one way, by all means let ms pr
e cure il 10y another way. Above all thing
le dear brethren. let us not get left.
Now observe tho inner meaning
those precious words "a pail of water
n We are aware that IL has been contends
10y certain profound scholars that il wi
IN not "A pail of water FOR which Jack and d
nj companion went i'm search, Int rather
It's pail of beer. And il is argued with seer
a. ing force that the eataStrpphe which nye