Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1893-12-09
Oh these recalias and diadems Of

Oh, these regalias and diadems Of
beauty flung out of heavenl Kings and
queens on celebrative days have come
riding through the streets throwing
handfuls Of silver and gold among the
people, but the queen of the winter
morning is the only queen rich enough
to throw pearls,-and the king of frost
the only king rich enough to throw opals
and sapphires and diamonds. Homer
describes necklace of amber given to
Penelope, but the frost necklaces con-
tinent. The carcanet of precious stones
given to Harmonic had pinions of orange
jasper and white moonstone and Indian
agate, but it was misfortune to any
one who owned or inherited it, and its
history, generation after generation, was
history of disaster But the regalia Of
frost is the good fortune of every morn
ing that owns it.
The imperial household of Louis XVI
could not afford the diamond necklace
which had been ordered for Queen Marie
Antoinette, and it was stolen and taken
apart and lost, but the necklace that the
frost puts on the wintry morning,
though made Of as many brilliants as the
withered grass blades, is easily afforded
by divine opulence and is never lost,
but after its use in the coronation OF the
fields is taken back to heaven. 0 men
and women, accustomed to go into
ecstasy when in foreign travel you come
upon the historical gems of nations,
whether the jewel be called the Noun
tain of Glory, or the Sea of Light, or the
Crown of the Moon, or the Eye Of Allah,
or the Star of Sarawak, or the Kohl
moor, I implead you study the jewels
strewn all round your wintry home and
realize that "by the breath of God frost
is given!''
But 1 go step farther and speak of
the frost as an evangelist, and text Of
Scripture is not of much use to me I'M
less I can find the gospel in it. The Is
raelites in the wilderness breakfasted on
something that looked like frozen dew.
The mama fell on the dew, and the dew
evaporated and left a pulverized me-
terial, white and looking like frost,
but it was mama, and of that they ate.
So now this morning. mixed with the
frozen dew of my text, there is mamma
on which we may breakfast our souls.
You say the frost kills. Yes, it kills
some things, butw have already seen
that it gives health and life to others.
This gospel is the SAVIOR of life unto life
or of death unto death.
As the frost is mighty, the gospel is
mighty. AS the frost descends from
heaven, the gospel descends from heav-
en-. By the breath of God frost is given.
BY the breath of God the gospel is given.
AS the frost purifes, SO the grace of God
purifes. As the frost bestars the earth,
SO grace bejewels the soul AS the frost
prepares for food many things that 9th
erwise would be inedible, so the frost of
trial ripens and prepares food for the
soul. In-the tight grip of the frost the
hard shells of walnut and chestnut and
hickory open, and the luxuries Of the
woods come into our laps or upon our
tables; so the frost of trial takes many
hard and prickly she'll and brushes it un-
til that which stung the soul now
feeds 1t.
There are passages of Scripture that
once were enigmas, puzzles, riddles and
impossible for you to understand, but
the fosts of trouble after awhile exposed
the full meaning to your soul. You said,
III do not see why David keeps rolling
over in his Psalms the story of how he
was pursued and prosecuted" He de-
scribes himself as surrounded by bees.
He says, ''They. comprised me about
like bees; yea, they comprised me about
like bees" You think what an exag-.
gerating thing for him to e1claim, "Out
of the depths of he'll have | cried unto
thee, o Lord!"
And there is so much of that style Of
lamentation in his writings you think
he oyerdoes it, but after awhile frost
comes upon you In the shape OF persecu-
ton, and you are stuck with this cen
sure, and stuck with that defamation,
and stuck with some falsehood, and lies
In swarms are buzzing, buzziDg about
your ears, and at last you understand
what David meant when he said,
"They comprised me about like bees;
yea, they comprised me about like bees"
and you go down under nervous prostra-
ton and feel that you are as far down
as David when he cried, "Out of the
depths of hellr'
What opened all those chapters that
hitherto had no appropriateness? Frosts!
For a long while the Bible seemed lop-
sided and disproportionate amount of
it given up to the consolatory. Why
page after page and chapter after chapter
and book after book in the Bible taken
up with alleviations, with PUBLICATIONS,
with condolences? The book seems like
an apothecary store with one-half of the
shelves occupied with balsams. Why
such superfuity of balsams? But after
awhile the membranous Group carries off
your child, or your health gives way IN
der the grip, or your property is swept
off by a bad investment, or perhaps all
three troubles come at once-bankruptcy,
sickness and bereavement. Now the con-
solatory parts OF the Bible do not seem
to be disproportionate. You want some
thing off almost all the shelves of that
sacred dispensary. What has uncovered
and exposed to you the usefulness of SO
much of the Bible that was before hid
den? The frosts have been fulfilling their
mission. -
Put down all the promises of the Bible
on table for study, and put-on one side
the table a man who has never had any
trouble, or very little of it, but pile upon
the table beside him all encyclopedias,
and all dictionaries land all archaologies,
and all commentaries, and on the other
side ofsthe table put man who has had
trial upon trial, disaster upon disaster,