Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1893-02-25

the Me ovGThowcd It's banks, a1u Tlen
the waters retreated tortoises were left
by the million on all fhe lands, and these
tortoises died, and soon nothing was left
but the cartridges and gristle Of these
creatures. which frightened under tho
heat into musical strings that when
touched by the wind or foot Of man VI
brated. making sweet sounds. and so the
world took the hint and fashioned the
harp. and am not right in trying to
make music out of tbs shells and lifting
them as harp, from which to thrum
the jubilant praises Of the Lord and the
pathetic strains OF human coincidence?
THE rEARl. OF GREAT PRICE.
But find the climax Of this conchol-
ogy Of the Lible In the pearl, which has
this distinction above all other genls-
that 1t requires no human hand to bring
out its beauties. Job speaks Of It, and
its sheen is In Christ's sermon, and the
Bible, which opens with the onycha of
my text, closes with the pearl OF such
value is this crustaceous product do
not wonder that for the exclusive right
of fishing for it on the shores Of Ceylon
a man paid to the English government
5000, 900 for one season.
So exquisite is the pearl / do not won
der that Pliny thought 1t was made out
of drop Of dew, the creature rising to
the surface to take it and the chemistry
of nature turning the liquid into solid
You will see why the Bible makes so
much of the pearl in its similitudes Il
you know how much it costs to get it.
Boats with divers sail out from the island
of Ceylon, 10 divers to each boat. Thu
teen men guide and manage the boat
Down into the dangerous depths, amid
sharks that swirl around them, plunge
the divers. while go, 900 people andously
gaze on. After three or four minutes
absence from the air the diver ascends,
nine-tenths strangulated and blood rush
ing from ears and nostrils, and hinging
his pearly treasure on the sand falls into
unconsciousness.
Oh. it is eli awful exposure and strain
and peril t. fish for pearls, and yet they
do so, and is 1t not wonder that to get
that which the Bible calls the pearl Of
great price, worth more than all other
peurls put together, there should be 50
little anxiety. so little struggle, 30 little
enthusiasm: Would God that we were
all as wise as the merchantmen Christ
commended, who, when he had found
one pearl Of great price, went and sold
all that be had and bought 1t"
But what thrills me with suggestive
ness is the material out OF which Z
pearls are made. They are fashioned
from the wound Of the shellhsh. The
emulation from that wound Is fixed and
hardened and enlarged into pearl. The
ruptured vessels Of the water animal
fashioned the gem that now adorns finger
OF earring or sword htlt or kings crown.
So out OF the wounds Of earth will
come the pearls of heaven. Out Of the
wound Of conviction the pearl Of pardon.
Out Of the wound of bereavement the
pearl Of solace. Out of the wound Of loss
the pearl Of gain. Out Of the deep wound
Of tho grave the pearl Of resurrection
10y. Out Of the wounds Of a Saviours
life and q Saviour's death the rich, the
radiant, tho everlasting pearl Of heaven
slygladn u. s:
"And the 70 gates were IL pearls.
Take the consolation, al ye who have
been hurt, whether hurt in body, or hurt
in mind, OF hurt in soul. Get your trou-
bles sanctifed. If you suffer with Christ
on earth, you will reign with him in
glory. The tears Of earth are the crys-
tails of heaven. Every several gate Yves
Of one pearl