Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1894-05-05

passers6y knew not that within those
four walls were displays of courage
more admirable that that Of Hannibal
crossing the Alps, or the pass Of Their
mopyle or Balaklava, where Unto the
Jaws of death rode the six hundred. y
These heroes had the whole world to
cheer them on, but there were none to
applaud the struggle in tho humble
home. She fought for bread, for cloth
ing, for fire, for shelter, with aching
Head, and weak side, and exhausted
strength, through the long night by the
brook Jabbok. Could it be that none
Would give her help? Had God forgot
ton to be gracious? No. contending soull
The midnight air is full Of wings conf
Ing to the-rescue. She hears it now in
the sough of the night wind, in the rip
pie OF the brook Jabbok-the promise
made so long ago ringing down the sky,
ssThy fatherless children, will preserve
them alive, and let thy widows trust in
mep'
Some one said to very poor woman,
Show is it that in such distress you
keep oheerful?' She said: II do it by
what 1 call cross prayers. When I had
my rent to pay and nothing to pay it
with, and bread to buy and nothing to
buy it with, 1 used to sit down and cry.
But now do not get discouraged. II l
go along the street, when / come to a
corner Of tho street say, The Lord
help me. I then go on until I come to
another crossing Of the street, and again
Tsay, The Lord help mel And so l
utter a prayer at every crossing, and
since I have got into the habit of say
ing these cross prayers 1 have been
able to keep up my courage. "
Purified by Fire.
Learn again from this subject that
people sometimes are surprised to find
out that what they have been strug-
Cling with in the darkness is really an
CANCEL of blessing" Jacob found in the
morning that this strange parsonage was
not an enemy, but God dispatched
messenger to promise prosperity for him
and for his children. And so many
man, at the close Of his trial. has found
ont that he has been trying to throw
down his own blessing If you are a
Christian man, 1 will go back in your
history and find that the grandest things
that have ever happened to you have
been your trials. Nothing short OF
scourging, Imprisonment and ship
wreck could have made Paul what he
was
When David was fleeing through the
wilderness pursued by his own son, he
was being prepared to become the sweet
singer Of Israel. The pit and the dun
geon were the best schools at which
Joseph ever graduated. The hurricane
that upset the tent and killed Jobs chill
dren prepared the man of w to write
the magnificent poem that has astound-
ed the ages. There is no way to get the
wheat out of the straw but to thrash it.
There is no way to purify the gold but
to barn it Look at the people who have
always had it their own way. They are
proud, discontented, useless and unhap-
py., If you want to find cheerful folks, go
among those who have been purified by
the fire. After Rossini had rendered
civilian Tell'' the five hundredth time
. Snpany of musicians. came under his
& Sc in 1Paris and aserenaded. him.
They put upon his brow golden crown
Of laurel leaves But amid all the ap-
plause and enthusiasm Rossini turned to
a friend and said, II would give all this
brilliant scene for few days of youth
and love-" Contrast the melancholy feel
ing of Rossini, who had everything this
world could give him, to the joyful ex-
perience of Isaac Watts, whose misfor-
tunes were ipnumerable, when he says:
The hill of Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets
Before we reach the heavenly fields
Or walk the golden streets.
Then let our songs abound
And every tear be dry
We are marching through ImmanueTs
ground
To fairer worlds on high.
Marks of the Combat.
It is prosperity that kills and trouble
that saves While the Israelites were
on the march, amid great privations
and hardships, they behaved we'll. After
awhile they prayed for meat and the
sky darkened with great flock Of
auails, and these quails fell in large
multitudes all about them, and the Is
raelites ate and ate and stuffed them
selves until they died Oh, my friends,
it is not hardship or trial or starvation
that Injuries the soul, bnt abundant sup
ply. 1t is not the vulture Of trouble
that eats up the Christians life; it is
the uuails, it is the quailsl You will
yet find out that your midnight wrestle
by the brook Jabbok is with an angel
Of God, come down to bless and save.
Learn again that while our wrestling
with trouble may be triumphant we
must expect that it will leave its mark
upon us. Jacob prevailed, but the angel
touched him, and his thigh bone sprang
from its socket, and the good man went
, , limping on his way. We must carry
through this world the mark Of the
combat. What plowed those premature
wrinkles in your face? What whitened
your hair before it was time for frost?
What silenced forever so much Of the
hilarity of your household? All, it is be-
cause the angel Of trouble hath touched
you that you go limping on your way.
You need not be surprised that those
who have passed through the fire do
not feel as gay as once they did.
Do not be out of patience with those
who come not out of their dependency.
They may triumph over their loss, and
| yet their gait shall tell you that they
have been trouble touched. Are we
stoics that we can, unmoved, see our
cradle rifed of the bright eyes and the
SWEEP lips? Can we stand unmoved and
see our gardens Of earthly delight up
rooted? Will Jesus who wept himself,