The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1896-07-30
|7ALAMGE ,9 SERMON.


NoIeoVer Ills mother made him little
coat and brought it to him from year to
year, when she came up with her husband
to offer the yearly sacrifice. ~. Samuel,
H., 10
The stories Of Deborah and Abigail
are very apt to discourage a woman's
soul. She says within herself It is
impossible that / ever achieve any
such grandeur of character, and I do
NOT mean to try" ais though child
should refuse to play the eight notes
because he cannot execute q civilian
Tell :" This Hannah Of the text diff
,fers from the persons / just named.
She was an ordinary woman, with or
binary intellectual capacity, placed in
ordinary circumstances, and vet, by
extraordinary piety, standing out be-
'Shristian mother. Hannah was the
fSife of Elkanah, who was person
VERY much like herself
and plain, never having fought bat
tie or been the subject of a marvellous
escape. Neither Of them would have
been called a genius. Just what you
and | might be, that was Elkanah and
Hannah. The brightest time in all the
history of that family was the birth of
Samuel. Although no star ran along
the heavens pointing down to his
birthplace, I think the angels Of God
stopped at the coming of so wonderful
a prophet. AS Samuel had been given
In answer to prayer, Elkanah and all
mis- family, save Hannah, started up to
Shiloh to offer sacrifices of thanks
giving. The cradle where the child
slept was altar enough for Hannah's
grateful heart; but when the boy was
old enough she took him to Shiloh and
took three bullocks and an ephah Of
Mour and bottle Of wine and made
offering of sacrifice unto the Lord, and
there, according to a previous VOW,
she left him for there he was to stay
,aall the days Of his life, and minister
An the sanctuary. Years rolled on, and
seYeTy year Hannah made with her
foWn hand a garment for Samuel and
took it over to him. The lad would
thave got along well without the gar
tnafnt, for | suppose he was we'll clad
10Y the ministry Of the temple; but
Atan 'ah c)uld not be contented unless
'She was all the time dong something
Eaor her darling boy. Moreover his
another made him a little coat, and
Drougnt it to- him from year to year,
10 offer the yearly sacrifice
Hannah stands before you, then. To-
day, in the first place, as an industri-
aous mother. There was no need that
ehe work. Elkanah, her husband. was
Jar from poor He belonged to dis
Ringulshed family; for the Bible tells
f1s that he was the son Of Jeroham, the
Son of El1hu, the son Of Tohu, the son
4f Iuph. who are they?' you say.
" 90 not know; but they were distin-
gulshed people, no doubt, or their
names would not have been mention
ed Hannah might have seated her
$elf IN her family and, with folded
arms, and disheveled hair, read novels
1rom year to year if there had been
any to read; but when see her max
ing that garment and taking it over to
samuel know she is Industrious from
principle as well as from pleasure,
Nod would not have a mother become
q drudge or a slave; He would have
ner employ all the helps possible in
Ehls day in the rearing of her children.
But Hannah ought never to be asham-
cd to be found making a coat for Sam
mel, Most mothers need no counsel in
Ehls direction. The wrinkles on their
proW, the pallor on their cheek, the
fhimble-mark on their finger attest
Ihat they are faithful in their mater
nal duties. The bloom and the bright
ness and the vivacity of girlhood have
given place to the grander dignity and
usefulness and industry of mother
mood. But there is a heathenish idea
getting abroad in some Of the families
or Americans; there are mothers who
Danish themselves from the home cir
Gle For three-fourths Of their mater.
nal duties they prove themselves in
competent. They are ignorant Of what
Inelf children eat, and what their chill
1ren read. They intrust to irresDons
1Dle persons these young immortals
Anu allow them to be under influences
which may cripple their bodies or faint
rthelr purity or spoil their manners or
destroy their souls. From the awk-
ward cut of SamueHs coat YOU know
MS mother Hannah did not make il.
out from under flaming chandeliers.
and off from imported carpets. and
down the granite stairs, there is com
ing a great crowd Of children in this
DAY, unframed, ssucy, incompetent for
all the practical duties of life, ready
TO be caught in the first whirl Of crime
and sensuality. INDECENT and unfaith-
ful mothers will make INDECENT and I'M
faithful children
You cannot expect neatness and or
der in any house where the daughters
see nothing but slatternliness and m
observation-disclosures in their parents
Let Hannah be idle and most Certainly
Samuel will grow up idle. Who are
the Industrious men in all our occ11Da-
tons and professions? Who are they
managing the merchandise Of the
world, building the walls, timing the
roofs, weaving the carpets, making
the laws, governing the nations. max
ing the earth to quake and heaye and
roar and rattle with the tread of gi-
gantic enterprises? Who are they?
For the most part they descend from
industrious mothers, who in the old
homestead, used to spin their own
yarn, weave their own carpets and
plat their own doormats, and flag
their own chairs and do their own
work. The stalWard men and the in
fuentia1 women of this day, ninety
mine out of a hundred Of them, came
from such an Industrious ancestry Of
hard knuckles and homespun. And
who are these people in society, light
as froth; blown every whittier Of
temptatiOn and faShiOn-tha nnddlars