Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1893-09-01

Won is that YOU ought not TO inventory tha
juxuries of life as among the indlspens3bies.
and YOU ought not to depreciate this woman
of the text, VINO. when offered kinSiy prefer
uent. responded Il dwell among my own
people
Yes. this woman of the text was great in
her piety. faith in God, and she was not
ashamed to talk about it before idolaters. An,
woman will never appreciate what she owes
to Christianity until she knows and sees the
degradation of her sex under paganism and
Mahommedanism. Her very birth considered
a misfortune Sold like cattle in the sham
bles. Slave of all work. and at last her body
fuel for the funeral pyre of her husband.
Above the shrek of the fire worshlpers In
India and above the rumbling Of the jugger-
nauts I hear the million voiced groan OF
yronged, insulted, broken hearted. down
trodden woman. Her tears have fallen In the
Nile and Tigris and the La Plata and on the
steppes of Tartary. She has been dlShon-
ored in Turkish garden and Persian palace
and Spanish Aihambra. Her little ones have
been sacrificed in the Gauges. There IS not
a groan or a dungeon, or an island, or
mountain or a river, or sea but could tell
a story of the outrages neaped upon her.
But, thanks to God, this glorious Chris
tianity comes forth, and all the chains OF
this vassalage are snapped. and she rises up
from ignominy to exalted sphere and be-
comes the affectionate daughter, the gentle
wife, the honored mother, the useful Chris
tian. Oh, If Christianity has done so much
for woman, surely woman viii become Its
most ardent advocate and its sublmest
exemplifcationI
When I come to speak of womanly inf1u-
ence. my mind always wanders off to one
model-the aged one who, "a years ago, we
put away for the resurrection. About 81
wears ago. and Just before their marriage
day. my father and mother stood up In the
old meeting house at Somerville. n. J., and
took upon them the VOWS Of the Christian.
Through long life Of vicissitude she lived
harmlessly and usefully and came to her end
in peace. No child of want ever came to her
door and was turned empty away. No one
in sorrow came to her but was comforted.
No one asked her the way to be saved but she
pointed him to the cross. When the angel
of life came to a neighbours dwelling, she
was there to rejoice at the starting of an
other Immortal spirit. When the angel of
death came to a neighbours dwelling, she
was there to robe the departed for the burial
We had often heard her, when leading
family prayers in the absence of my father,
say. SO Lord, l ask not for my children
wealth or honor but do ask that they all
may hethe sub ects Of Thy comforting grace !"
Her II children brought into the kingdom of
God she had but one more wish. and that
was that she might see her long absent mis-
slOnary son, and when the ship from China
anchored in New York harbor and the long
absent one passed over the threshold of his
ptttcIhdI uOuIo SIo Sdlu, NOW, AOIu. loCIeSL
Thou Thy servant depart in peace. for mine
eyes have seen the salvation" The prayer
was soon answered.
It was an autumnal day when we gathered
from afar and found only the house from
which the soul had fed forever. She looked
very natural, the hands very much as when
they were employed in kindness for her
cnIIOren. Whatever else we forget, we never
forget the look Of mothers hands. AS we
stood there by the casket we could not help
but say. Don't she look beautifully 1t was
cloudless day when. with heavy hearts,
we carried her out to the last resting
place. The wthered leaves crumbled under
hoof and wheel as we passed, and the sun
5hOne on the Raritan River until it looked
like fire; but more calm and beautiful and
radiant was the setting sun of that aged pill
grim's life. No more toll, no more tears, no
more sickness. no more death. Dear mother
Beautiful mother!
Sweet is the slumber beneath the sod
While the pure spirit rests with God
[ need not go back and show you Zenobia
or Semiramis or Isabella or even the woman
of the text as wonders of womanly excellence
or greatness when in this moment point to
your own picture gallery of memory, and
snow you the one face that you remember so
we'll, and arouse all your holy "reminiscences,
and start you in new conservation to God by
the pronunciation of that tender. beautiful.
glorious word, ''Mother, mother p