The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1896-02-01
"REMEMBER LOTS WIFE"
The Modern Theological View of the
Lady'S Plight.

Inc Kew. DR.. ID. I'll. Squlres spoke on
Lots Wife" at First Universalist Church,
saying:
perhaps you wonder why we should
remember Lots wife, Certainly there is
not anything very noteworthy about her to
remember. There are great many women
whom it is more pleasant and profitable to
remember. She had done nothing very
great. In fact, there is very little account
of her, and that is not very credible.
But perhaps, that is because women in
those days were not thought to be Of much
account. anyhow. And the records we
have were written by men. So women re-
ceived but little attention while living or
little mention when dead In this case
they have mentioned Lots wife, You
will notice they have not even given the
name of Mrs Lot. She is only Lots
WIFE But the historian has done her the
honor to mention that she became pillar
of salt Probably if she had become a
living saint there would have been no men
ton of it. Bible reporters were not so
very much unlike modern newspaper re-
porters. A salt woman who looks back
gets more notice than the thousand mod
cat, sanity women who 20 straight for
ward with their life work.
sin this story of Lots wife we are
obliged to read between the lines and re
construct the missing links by the aid of a
reasonable imagination The Lot family
were residents of Sodom, city which, ac-
cordng to tradition, was located on the
low plain on the eastern border OF the
Dead Sea. They were warned to flee from
the city because of signs of an impending
calamity which threatened its destruction
Lot, who was Il nephew OF Abraham, APP
and righteous than most OF the people
there. And it seems that Abr ham, who
i,veIt in the high lands on the other side
nE the Jordan, had forCsrcu the danger, and
hid sent two messengers to warn Lot, Lis
nephew. to leave the city and escape to the
mountains hy their persuasion, Lot
gathers his family and household effects in
the night and hastily leaves the city, llecing
first to Ioar, little town near the hills,
and afterward up into the mountain
''But in the hasty flight fron the city it
seems ot $ wife was left behind. Whether
she did not want to 20, and did not think
there was any danger, or whether SIZE
waited to pack Il trunk, or whether the rest
OF them ran away from her and left her to
carry the things. we do not know For
some reason she turned back and was lost
The city was on fire. Smoke and ashes and
sulphurous fumes filled all the air of the
valley, suifocated every living thing,
covered, petriled and buried in bituminous
ashes ever creature. When they after
ward went back and found Lots wife,
they found her dead body Il pillar OF salt.
CHOW, let us pause little and try to
determine the real character of this event.
| can believe almost every word of this az
Cbull tNttpb tilc dSStlulp llOu vi Ilt Suptl
natural in it which it seems to me is not
at all necessary to account for the whole
affair.
In the first place. Sodom and Gomorrah
are not the only cities that have been over
thrown and destroyed bv commissions of
nature. Hercuelaneum and Pompei were
buried under rain of burning lava. sui
phur and ashes from the eruption Of
Vesuvius in the year 10 A. u. Many
other cities in other parts of the world have
been overthrown, destroyed or buried in
the same way.
Lisbon was overthrown and partly
swallowed up by an earthquake in the
year 1865. In 1868 large cities in Ecuador
were swallowed up. africa and Arepuipa,
in Peru, were destroyed, and the sea re
treated from the harbor of africa and re-
turned in tidal wave which submerged
the whole coast and carried United States
earthquake has been described by Prof.
Fod Aochstetter, of Arequipa. He says:
1T was August 18th, 1868, at five minutes
past five, an earthquake shock was ex-
perienced Half minute later terrible
noise was heard beneath the earth. A
second shock was felt, more violent than
the first, and then began "A swayng motion,
gradually inc' easing in intensity. In the
course of the first minute this motion had
become so violent that the inhabitants ran
in terror out Of their houses into the streets
aud squares In the next two minutes the
swayiug had 80 increased that the more
lightly built houses were cast to the
ground, and the flying people could
scarcely keep their feet
"'And now there followed during two or
three minutes a terrific scene. The sway
ing motion changed into a fierce vertical
uphcaval The subterranean roaring in
creased to n deafening thunder. Then
were heard the heart. piercing shrieks of the
u,ntohed nennlr thp hurstinp of walls the