Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1893-09-01
REV. DIR. TALMAGH.
The Eminent Brooklyn Divine's Sun.
day Sermon.
Subject: ga Great Woman"

TEXT "And IL fell on a day that Elisha
possed 10 Shunen,, Dhere 1ds great 100
man. III Kings w.. s.
The hotel Of our time had no counterpart
IN any entertainment Of olden time. The
vast majority of travellers must then be en-
tertained at private abode. Here comes
Elisha. a servant of the Lord, on divine
mission, and he must find shelter. A ball
cony overlooking the valley Esdraelon Is Of
f, fered him in a private house, and it Is es-
pecially furnished for his occupancy-a chair
| to sit on, table from which 10 eat, candle
stick by which to read and bed on which to
| slumber-the whole establishment belonging
! to great and good woman.
Her husband. 1t seems was godly man,
! but he was entirely cvershadowed by his
| wifes excellencies. Just as now you some
times find in a household the wife the centre
| Of dignity and influence and power, not by
any arrogance or presumption, but by
superior intellect and force Of moral nature
welding domestic affairs and at the same
| time supervising all financial and business
affairs, the wife's hand on the shuttle. on the
banking house, on the worldly business.
| You see hundreds of men who are successful
only because there is a reason at home why
| they are successful.
II man marry good, honest soul, he
makes his fortune II he marry fool the
Lord holp him The wife may be the silent
| partner in the firm, there may be only
masculine voices down on exchange, but
| there oitentime comes from the home circle
potential and elevating influence.
This woman of my text was the superior OF
her husband. He, as lar as I can UNDER
stand. was what we often see id our day--a
| man OF large fortune and only modicum Of
in Inf pcalx mi ,,
| the same place without moving hand or foot
! If you say ''yes." responding Eyes !" if
| you say "no." responding "no"--inane, eyes
| half shut, mouth wide open, maintaining bis
position In society only because he has d
large patrimony. But his wife, my text says,
| was great woman.
Her name has not come down to us. She
belonged to that collection of people who
need no name to distinguish them. What
would title Of duchess OF princess Or queen-A
what would escutcheon or cleaning diadem
~-be to this woman of my text who, by her
intelligence and her behavior, challenges the
admiration Of all ages? Long after the bril-
liant women of the court OF Louis XIV have
been forgotten, and the brilliant women OF
the court of Spain have been forgotten, and
the brilliant women who sat on mighty thrones
have been forgotten, some grandfather will
put on his spectacles, and holding the book
the other side the light read to his grandchil-
dren the story OF this great woman Of Shu.
mem who was 30 kind and courteous and
Christian to the good prophet Elisha. Yes.
| she was q great woman.
In the first place, she was great in her
Inequalities. Uncivilized and barbarious
nations honor this virtue. Jupiter had the
surname of the hospitable, and he was said
especially to avenge the wrongs Of strang.
ers. Homer exalted it in his verse.
The Arabs are pnnctilious upon this subject,
| and among some OF their tribes it Is not until
the ninth day Of tarrying that the occupant
has a right to ask his guest, "Who and
whence art thou?" If this virtue is so hon.
ored even among barbarlans, how ought it to
be honored among those Of us who believe
! in the Bible, which commands us TO use hos
pitality one toward another without grudg-
ing2
OF course 1 do not mean under this cover
to give any idea that l approve of that va
! grant class who 20 around from place to
! place ranging their whole lifetime perhaps
under the auspices OF some benevolent or
philanthropic society, quartering themselves
on Christian families, with great pile OF
trunks in the hall and carpetbag portentous OF
tarrying. There is many a country parson-
age that looks out week by week upon the
ominous arrival of wagon with creaking
wheel and lank horse and dilapidated driver
come under the auspices of some charitable
institution to spend few weeks and canvass
the neighborhood. Let no such religious
tramps take advantage of this beautiful viz
tue of Christian hospitality.
| Not so much the sumptuousnes OF your
| diet and the regality OF your abode will i'm
press the friend or the stranger that steps
across your threshold as the warmth of your
greeting, the informality of your reception,
the reiteration by grasp and by look and by a
thousand attentions, insignificant attentions,
of your earnestness of welcome. There will
De high appreciation of your welcome,
although you have nothing but the brazen
eandlestick and the plain chair to offer Elisha
71en he comes to Shunem.
Most beautiful is this grace OF hospitality
when shown in the house Of God. | am
thankful that am pastor of church where
strangers are always welcome, and there is
not q State in the Union in which | have not
heard the affability Of the ushers of our
church complimented. But have entered
churches were there was no hospitality.
stranger would stand in the vestibule for
awhile and then make pilgrimage up the
long aisle. No door opened to him until,
flushed and excited and embarrassed, he
started back again, and coming tosome half
filled pew with apologize air entered it,
Willie the occupants SidIOu Ou hin Win q
look which seemed to say, "Well, if / must,
/ must" Away with such accursed in
decency from the house Of God Let every
church that would maintain large Christie
influence In community culture Sabbath by
Sabbath this beautiful grace OF Christian hos
pitality.
good man travelling in the far west in
the wilderness, was overtaken by night and
storm, and he put in at cabin. He saw fire.
arms along the beams of the cabin and he
felt alarmed. He did not know but that he
had fallen into den of thieves. He sat
there greatly perturbed. After awhile the
man Of the house came home with gun on
his shoulder and set it down in a corner.
The stranger was still more alarmed. After
awhile the man OF the house whispered with
his wife, and the stranger thought his de-
struction was being planned
Then the man OF the house came forward
and said to the stranger stranger. we are
a rough and rude people out here, and we
work hard for living. We make our living
by hunting. and when we come to the night
fall we are tired, and we are apt to go TO be
early, and before retiring we are always In
the habit OF reading chapter from the WORD
OF God and making prayer. Ii you don
like such things, If you will just step outside
the door until we get through I'll be greatly
obliged TO YOU" OF course the stranger tar
ried in the room, and tho old hunter took
hold of the horns OF the altar and brought
down the blessing OF Go1 upon his house
hold and upon the stranger within tnelr
gates Rude but glorious Christian hospi-
tality
Again, this woman in my text was great in
her Kindness toward Gods messenger. Elisha
may have been stranger in that HOUSEHOLD,
but as she found out he had come on divine
I'll. IL n hnt