Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1894-10-08

OF parents, If they are still alive. Bnt
now much greater the bereavement
when 1t comes in early life, before the
character is self reliant, and when nat.
urally the heart is unsophistioated and
easily tempted!
And yet behold what nobility of
disposition Hadassah exhibitedl Thonob
father and mother were gone, grace had
triumphed over all disadvantages. Her
Willingness to self sacrifice, her control
over the king, her humility, her faith
iul worship of God, show her to have
been one of the best of the worlds
Christians
An Unhappy Childhood.
There are those who did not enjoy
remarkable early privileges. Perhaps,
Ike the beautiful captive of the text
you were an orphan. You had huge sor-
rows in your little heart. You some
times wept in the night when you knew
not what was the matter You felt sad
sometimes even ON the playground.
Your father or mother did not stand in
the door to welcome you when you
came home from long journey. You
still feel the effect of early disadvan-
tages, aud you have sometimes offered
them as a reason for your not being as
thoroughly religious as you would like
to be. But these excuses are not suffi-
cient. Gods grace will triumph if you
seek it. He knows what obstacles you
have fought against, and the more trial
the more help. After all, there are no
orphans in the world, for the great God
is the Father of us all.
Again, our subject is an illustration
of what religion may be under the pres.
sure of poverty. The captivity and
crushed condition of this orphan girl
and of the kind man who adopted her
suggest condition of poverty. Yet from
the very first acquaintance we had with
Hadassah we find her the same happy
and contented Christian. 1t was only
by compulsion she was afterward taken
into a sphere of honor and aflluence. In
the humble home of Mordecai, her
adopted father, she was light that IL
lumined every privation. In some period
in almost every mans life there comes
season of straitened circumstances,
when the severest calculation and most
scraping economy are necessary in order
to subsistence and respectability. At
the commencement of business, at the
entrance upon a profession, when
friends are few and the world is afraid
Of you because there is a possibility of
failure, many Of the noblest hearts have
struggled against poverty and are now
struggling.
The Wear of Anxiety.
To such l bear a message of good
cheer. You say it is hard thing for
you to be a Christian. This constant
anxiety, this unresting calculation, wear
out the buoyancy Of your spirit, and al
though you have told perhaps no one
about it cannot l tell that this is the
very trouble which keeps you from be-
ing what you ought to be? You have no
time to think about laying up treasures
in heaven when it is matter of great
doubt whether you will be enabled to
pay your next quarters rent. You can
not think of striving after a robe of
righteousness until you can get means
enough to buy an overooat to keep out
the cold. You want the bread of life,
but you think you must get along with
out that until you can buy another bar
rel of -four for your wife and children.
Sometimes you sit down discouraged
and almost wish you were doad.
Christians in satin slippers, with their
feet on damask ottoman, may scout at
such class of temptations, but those
who themselves have been in the strug-
gle and grip of hard misfortune can ap-
preciate the power of these evils to dis
snade the soul away from religious
duties. We admit the strength Of the
temptation, but then we point to Ha-
dassah, her poverty equaled by her
piety. Courage down there in the bat
tlel Hurl away your disappointment
Men of half your heart have, through
Christ been more than conquerors. In
the name of God, como out Of thatl
The religion Of Christ is just what you
want out there among the empty flour
barrels and beside the cold hearths. You
have never told any one OF what hard
time you have had, but God knows II
as well as you know it. Your easy times
will come after awhile Donot let your
spirits break down midlife. What II
your coat Is thinl Run fast enough 10
keep warm. What II sou have no lux
uries on your tablef High expectations
will mako your blood tingle better ihag
the best Madeira II you cannot aiiord
30 smoke, you can AFFORD % whistle
But merely animal spirits are not sun
oient The power Of the gospel-ihat j.
what you want 70 wrench despair out ol
the soul aud put you forward into the
front of the hosts inoasod IN impenetra
bio armor
Bssuiy sad Its FsTils,
Again, our subject illustrates whal
religion may be undor tho temptation W
personal atuaoiiYoness Tho inspired
record says n tho heroine ~ my ieAi
hho was fair aud beautiful " Hw feig
uame siRniaed ~ myrtle " fei lha ad
miratluu apd praise and nRllnY ~ go
world did NOT blight hu humility Ihf
simplicity " hm mannris hila hhafl.l
equaled hef extraordinary aiilaeilnlis y
IA ihn Same dlYluf Rpplunh Nhlih pHif