The southern argus., 1891-08-06
again. | learn from my subject +h..

: +L any Cnlng more unimportan
= .nan the coming of poor woman fror
moao to Judea? Can you imagine ~,
: .n.ng more trivial than the fact ~ =
TINS Ruth just happened to alioht@a,
: tney say-just happened to aligh+ =,
1ila' neld OF Boaz? Yet all ages, al
generations, have an interest IN ~,
, TACT that she was to become an anoar
tress of the Lord Jesus Christ and -
nations and kingdoms must look a
That one little incident with a thrill ~
unspeakable and eternal satisfaction
30 1t is IN your history and in mine
Events that you thought of no impor.
lance at all have been of very great mo.
ment. That casual conversation. that
accidental meeting-you did not think
OF 1t again for a long while; but how II
changed all the current of your life.
1t seemed to be of no Importance III a.
Jubal invented rude instruments of
music calling them harp and organ;
out they were the introduction of all
the worlds minstrelsy; and as you hear
Inc vibration of a stringed instrument,
even after the fingers have been taken
away from it, SO all music now of Lutte
and drum and cornet is only the long
continued strains of Jubals harp and
Jubal's organ. It seemed to be a mat
ter of very little Importance that Tubal
Cain learned the uses of copper ard
iron, but that rude foundry of ancient
days has its echo in the rattle of Bir-
mlngham machinery, and the roar and
bang OF factories on the Merrimac.
Again, | see in my subject an illustra-
ton OF the beauty of female industry,
Behold Ruth toiling in the harvest field
under the hot sun, or at noon taking
plaln bread with the reapers, or eating
the parched corn which Boaz handed
TO her. The customs of society. of
course, have changed, and without the
hardshlps and exposure to which Ruth
was subjected, every intelligent woman
VIII md something to do. l know
there is a siclly sentimentality on this
subject In some families there are per-
sons of no practical service to the house
nod or community; and though there
are SO many woes all around about them
IN the world, they spend their time Ian
gushing over new pattern, or bursting
into tears at midnight over the story of |
some lover who shot himself! Thew |
would not begin to look at Ruth carrv- |
ing back the barley on her wav home |
to her mother-in-law, Naomi All this
fast1dlousness may seem to do verv
Wen while they are under the shelter
OF their fathers house; but when the
sharp winter of misfortune comes.
what OF these butterflies? Persons I'M
Ger lndulgent parentage may get upon
themselves habits of Incidence: but
when they come out into practical life
their soul will recon with disgust and
chagrin. They will feel in their hearts
what the poet SO severely satirized
when he said:
Folks are 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 eternity?
Splnola said to Sir Horace We're: "Of
what did your brother die? "Of hav.
ng nothing to do" was the answer.
'Ah" said Spinola, that's enough to {
Kill any general of u.s." O! can it be g
possible in this world, where there is :
70 much suffering to be alleviated, so /
much darkness to be enlightened and J
% many burdens to be carried that : :
here is any person who cannot find
nything to do?
Madame de Stael did world of work I
her time; and one day while she was
eated amid instruments of music, all
I which she had mastered, and amid n
Manuscript books which she had writ, 4
en-, some one said to her: GLOW do YOU II
nd time to attend to all these things?" V
U, she replied, 'these are not the &
Kings am proud of. My chief boast =
the fact that have seventeen trades. y
y any one of which l could make
velihood If necessary" And if in sec.
lar spheres there is so much to be {
one, in spiritual work how vast the
eldI How many dying all around q
bout US without one word of comfort ~
re want more Abigails, more Hannahs, II
lore Rebeccas, more Marys, more De.
orahs consecrated-body mind, soul
} the Lord who bought them. \
Once more / learn from my subject
lie value of cleaning. Ruth going into
lat harvest field might have said. 81
There is a straw, and there is a straw, ~
1T what is a straw? | can't get any 81
lrley for myself or my mother-in-law
It of these separate straws" Not So
id beautiful Ruth. She gathered two y
raws and she put them together, and
ore straws, until she got enough to .
AXE sheaf, and another, and another, OF
ID then she brought them all together, -
d she thrashed them out, and she had =
ephah of barley, nigh bushel. o, u
at we might all be cleaners!
Elfhu Burritt learned many things
lille toiling in blacksmith's shop.
'ercrombie, the world renowned
ilosopher, was a physician in Scot
Id and he got his philosophy, or the
ief part of it, while, as physician,
was waiting for the door of the sick
om to open. Yet how many there ,r
: in this day who say they are so -
sy they have no time for mental or DC
ritual Improvement The great duties III
life cross the field like strong reap WI
and carry off all the hours ST.
q there is ONLY here and there a frar- tit