Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1891-08-03

taken away from it, so all music now of
lutte and drum and cornet is only the long
continued strains of Jubals harp and
,JubaTs organ. 1t seemed to be a mat
ter of very little Importance that Tubal
Cain learned the uses of copper and
iron. but that rude foundry of ancient
DAYS has it's echo III the rattle of Biz
mingham machinery and the roar and
bang of factories on the Merrimac.
Again, see in my subject an illus
tration of the beauty of female indus
try. Behold Ruth toiling in the har-
vest field under the hot sum- or at noon
taking plain bread with the reapers or
eating the parched corn which Boaz
handed to her The customs of so
ciety, of course, have changed, and
without the hardships and exposure to
which Ruth was subjected every intel
ligent woman will find something to do
7 know there is a sickly sentimentality
on this subject. In some families there
are persons of no practical service to
household or community; and though
there are SO many woes all around
about them in the world they spend
their time languishing over a new pat
tern or bursting into tears at midnight
over the story of some lover who shot
himself! They would not deign to
look at Ruth carrying back the barley
on her way home to her mOther-in-law,
Naomi
All this fastidiOusness may seem to
do very well while they are under the
shelter of their fathers house; but
when the sharp winter of misfortune
comes, what of these butterflies? Per
sons under indulgent parentage may
get upon themselves habits Ofindolence;
but when they come out into practical
life their soul will recoil with disgust
and chagrin They will feel in their
hearts what the poet SO severely satir-
lied when he said:
Folks arc so awkward, things SO impolite.
They're elegantly panied from morn till night.
Through that gate of Incidence how
many men and women have marched,
useless on earth, to destroyed eterni-
ty! Spinola said to Sir Horace We're,
"Of what did your brother die?" "Of
having nothing to do, was the answer.
"Ah, " said Spinola, that's enough to
kill any general of US" Oh, can it be
possible III this world, where there is so
much suffering to be alleviated, SO
much darkness to be enlightened, and
so many burdens to be carried, that
there is any person who caa2ot find
anything to do?
Madame de Stael did a world of
work in her time, and one day, while
she was seated amid instruments of
music, all of which she had mastered,
and amid manuscript books which she
had written, some one said to her,
Chow do you find time to attend to all
these things?" cob" she replied,
''these are not the things [ am proud
of My chief boast is in the fact that
l have seventeen trades by any one of
which | could make a livelihood if
necessary. And if in secular spheres
there is so much to be done, in spiritual
work how vast the field How many
dying all around about us without one
word of comfort! We want more Abb
gals, more Hannahs, more Rebeccas,
more Marys, more DebOrahs cOnse-
crated-body, mind, soul-to the Lord
who bought them.
Once more I learn from my subject
the value of cleaning. Ruth going
into that harvest field might have said:
''There is a straw, and there is q straw,
but what is a straw? | can't get any
barley for myself or my mother-in-law
out of these separate straws." Not so
said beautiful Ruth. She gathered two
straws and she put them together and
more straws, until she got enough to
make a sheaf Putting that down she
went and gathered more straws, until
she had another sheaf, and another, and
another, and another and then she
brought them all together, and she
threshed them out, and she had an
ephah of barley, nigh a bushel Oh.
that we might all be gleaners
WE ARE ALL CLEANERS.
Elihu Burritt learned many things
while toiling in n blacksmith's shop.
Abercrombie, the world renowned phil
osopher, was a physician in Scotland,
and he got his philOsOpy, or the chief
part Oft, while as a physician, he was
waiting for the door of the sickroom
to open. Yet how many there are in
this day who say they are so busy they
have no time formental or spiritual i'm
prOvement; the great duties of life
cross the field like strong reapers and
carry off all the hours, and there is
only here and there a fragment left
that is not worth cleaning. All, my
friends, you could go into the busiest
day and busiest week of your life and
find golden opportunities, which gath
cred might at last make a whole sheaf
for the Lords garner. 1t is the stray
opportunities and the stray privileges
which, taken up and bound together
and beaten out. will at last fill you
with much joy.
There are few moments left worth
the cleaning. Now, Ruth, to the field !!
May each one have a measure full and
running over! Oh, you cleaners, to
the field And if there be in your
household an aged one or a sick rela-
tive that is not strong enough to come
forth and toll in this field, then let
Ruth take home to feeble Naomi this
sheaf of cleaning, He that goeth forth
and weepeth, bearing precious seed,
shall doubtless come again with rejoic-
ing, bringing his sheaves with him. .
May the Lord God of Ruth and Naomi
be our portion forever!
A DUTY for Every Youne. Mother
A most serious fault with many