Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1893-08-31
4 POWERFUL INFLUENCE.
ron GOOD rs ExERTED ny THE
GOOD WOMAN, SAYS TALMAGE.
Her Application to domestic Duties
and Her Christian Faith Have an
Jnnuence That IL Both EleNatins
md Potential.

4 and Her Christian Faith Have nm
Influence That IL Both E~leNauns
and Potential.
Brooklyn. n. Y, SpeciaL-Rev. DIR.
Talmage chose for his subject one OF
special interest to the gentler sex, the
announced topic being. "A Great
Woman" and the text III. Kings. w.,
8, "And it fell on a day that Elisha
passed to Shunem, where was a great
woman"
The hotel Of our time had no coun-
terpart i'm any entertainment Of olden
time. The vast majority of travellers
must then be entertained at private
abode. Here comes Elisha, a servant
Of the Lord, on a divine mission, and
he must find shelter. A balcony over
looking the Valley of Esdraelon is Of
fered him in a private house, and II Is
especially furnished for his occupancy
IA chair to sit on, "A table from which
to eat, a candlestick by which
W Iedus anu ~ Dtu oh "hiN
Der, the whole establishment belonging
to a great and good m
Her husband, it seems, was n cody
man, but he was entirely oyershadowed
by his wife's excellencies; just as now
you sometimes you find in a household
the wife the center of dignity and infiu-
ence and power, not by any arrogance
or presumption, but by superior intel
| lect 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 sec hundreds of men
who are successful only because there
Is reason at home why they are sue
cessful.
If a man marry a good, honest soul,
he makes his fortune. If he marry Il
fool, the Lord help him! The wife may
be the silent partner in the firm, there
may be only masculine voices down on
Exchange, but there oftentime comes
from the home circle a potential and
%elevating influence.
This woman of my text was the su-
perior of her husband. He, as far as
l can understand, was what we often
see in our day, a man of large fortune
and only a modicum Of brain, intensely
quiet, sitting a long while in the SAME
place without moving hand or foot-n
you say 'yes," responding "no"-inane,
eyes half shut, mouth wide open, main
tanning his position In society only be-
cause he has a large patrimony. But
his wife, my text says, was a great
woman.
Her name has not come down to us.
She belonged to that collection of peo-
pie who need no name to distinguish
them. What would title Of duchess, or
princess, or queen-what would es-
cutcheon or cleaning diadem be to this
woman of my text, who by her intelli-
gence and her behavior challenges the
admiration Of all ages? Long after the
brilliant women of the court Of Louis
XIV. have been forgotten, and the brill
liant women of the court of Spain have
been forgotten, and the brilliant
women who sat on the mighty thrones
have been forgotten, some grandfather
will put on his spectacles, and, holding
the book the other side the light, read
to his grandchildren the story of this
great woman of Shunem who was SO
kllu dlIu COuIttOuS anu OlIiStldh W
the good prophet Elisha. Yes, she was
a great woman.
Again, this woman in my text was
great in her kindness towards Gods
messenger. Elisha may have been a
stranger In that household, but as she
found out he had come on a divine mis-
sion, he was cordially welcomed. We
have a great many books in our day
about the h~ardships of minister's and the
trials of Christian ministers. l wish
somebody would write d book about
the joys of the Christian minister,
about the ~kindnesses, about the genial
considerations of him. Does sorrow
come to our home, and is there a
shadow ON the cradle? There are hun
dreds of hands to help. and many who
weary not through the long night
watching, and hundreds Of prayers
going up that God would restore the
sick. Is there a burning. brinimig cup
of calamity placed on the pastors ta-
BILE. are there not many to help him
drink of that cup and who will not be
comforted because he Is stricken. Oh.
for somebody to write a book about
the rewards Of the Christian ministry
about his surroundings of Christian
sympathy.
This woman of the text was only a
type of thousands of men and women
who Come down from the mansion and
from the cot to do kindness 10 the
Lords servants. / suppose the men of
Shuncm had to pay the bills. but it
was the la~ree-hearted Christian SYM
pathics Of the women Of Shunem that
looked after the Lords messenger.
Again. this woman In the text was
great in her behavior under trouble.
Her only son had died on her lap.
A very bright light went out i'm that
household. The sacred writer puts Ii
very terscly when he says: HE sat
on her knees until noon. and then he
died" Yet the writer goes on to say
that she exclaimed: 1T is wcl.'
Great in prosperity, this woman was
great in trouble.
Whore are the feet that have not
been blistercd on the hot sands of this
great Sahara: Where are the shout
ders that have not been bent under the
burden of grief? Where is the shin
sailing over CLASSY sea that has NOT
after Il while been caught in a cyclone?
Where is the garden Of earthly comfort
but trouble hath hitched up its fiery