The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-12-21

struck the husbands estate. Before
he had time to reef sail and make
things snug the ship capsized and
went down. Enemies cheered at the
misfortune and wondered what would
become of the butterfly. Good men
pitied and said she would die of a
broken heart She will not work, say
they, land she is too proud to beg"
But the prophecies have failed. Disas-
ter has transformed the shining slug
gard into Il practical worker. Happy as
a princess, though compelled to hush
her own child to sleep and spread her
own table and answer the ringing of
her own door bell. Her arms had been
muscled for the conflict az ainst misfor-
tune. Hunger and poverty and want
and all the other jackals Rizpah scares
from the rock.
saw one in a desolate home Her
merciless companion had pawned even
the children's shoes for rum From
honorable ancestry she had come down
| to this The cruise of oil was empty
and the last candle gone out Her faded
frock was patched with fragments OF
antique silk that she had worn on the
bright marriage day. Confident in God
she had strong heart to which her
children ran when they trembled at the
staggering step and quailed under IA
fathers curse. Though the heavens
were filled with fierce wings and the
thickets CRASHED with rage, Rizpah
watched faithfully day after day and
year after year, and wolf and cormorant
by her God-strengthened arm were
hurled down the rock.
You pass day by day along streets
where there are heroines greater than
Joan of Are. Upon that cellar floor
| there are conflicts as fierce as Sedan,
and Heaven and hell mingle in the
| fight. Lifted in that garnet there are
tribunals where more fcrtitude is de-
manded than was exhibited by Lady
Jane Grey or Mary, Queen of Scots.
Now | ask if mere natural courage
can do SO much, what may we not ex-
pect of women who have gazed on the
Great Sacrifice, and who are urged for
ward by all the voices of grace that
sound from the Bible, and all the notes
of victory that speak from the sky.
Many years ago the Forfarshire steamer
started from Hull bound for Dundee.
After the vessel had been out little
while, the winds began to rave and bill
lows rise until a tempest was upon
them. The vessel leaked and the fires
went out, and though the sails were
hoisted fore and aft, she went speeding
toward the breakers She struck with
her bows foremost on the rock. The
vessel parted Amid the whirlwind and
the darkness all were lost but nine.
These chung to the wreck on the beach.
Sleeping that night in Longstone light
house was girl of gentle spirit and
comely appearance AS the morning
dawns, / see that girl standing amid tho
spray and tumult of contending elements
looking through glass upon the wreck
and the nine wretched sufferers. She
proposes to her father to take boat anG
them. The father says: ut canno
be done just look at the tumblinl
surfr' But she persisted and with hei
father bounds into the boat. Though
never accustomed to plying the oar she
takes one now and her father the other
Steady now! Pull away! Pull away
The sea tossed up the boat as though i
were bubble, but amid the foam an(
, the wrath of the sea the wreck wa
reached, the exhausted people picket
up and saved Humane societies ten
, dered their thanks. Wealth poured
into the lap of the poor girl. Visitor
, from all lands came to look on he
, sweet face and when soon after sh
| launched forth on dark sea and Dealt
was the oarsman, dukes and duchesse
= and mighty men sat down in tears il
r Alnwick castle to think they neve
5 again might see the face of Grace Dan
ling.
No such deeds of daring will prob7
, bly, be asked of you, but hear you no
the howl of that awful storm of trou
: bic and sir that hath tossed ten thou
: sand shivered hulks into the breakers
. Know you not that the whole earth
strewn with the shipwreck ed? Tha
, there are wounds to be healed an
. broken hearts to be bound and drown
ing souls to be rescued? Some hav
= gone down and you come too late, bu
$ others are clinging to the wreck, or
{ shivering with the cold, are stranglin
in the wave, are crying to you fo- d.
( liverance. Will you not, oar in han(
put out to-day from the lighthouse
r When the last ships timber shall hay
f been rent, and the last Longston
: beacon shall have been thundere
/ tempest shall have folded its wing
i. and the sea itself shall have bee
/, licked up by the tongue of all-consun
:. ing fire, the crowns of etc rnal reTar
4 shall be kindling into brigh ter glory Q
9 the brow of the faithful. And Chris
d pointing to the inebriate that you r
/. formed, and the dying sinner whom yo
# taught to pray, and pointed to God fl
shelter, will say: You did il to then
q You did it to mel!
# Again, the scene of the text impress,
Il upon us the strength of maternal a
# tachment Not many men would ha'
G had courage or endurance for the awf
n mission of Rizpah. To dare the rage
If wild beasts, and sit from May to Oct
q Der unsheltered, and to watch IL
o. corpses of unburied children was
t work that nothing but the matern
! al.