The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-10-04

ciety may call such a one by nick
name. God calls her daughter, and heav-
en- calls her saint, and call her domes-
tic martyr. half-dozen ordinary wo-
men have not as much nobility as could
be found in the smallest joint of the lit
tie finger of her left hand. Although the
world has stood six thousand years. this
is the first apotheosis of maidenhood, al
though in the long line of those who have
declined marriage that they might be
qualified for some especial mission are
the names Of Anna Ross, and Margaret
Breckinridge, and Mary Shelton, and Anna
Etheridge, and Georgiana Willetts, the
angels of the battlefield Of Fair Oaks, and
Lookout Mountain. and Charlottesville,
and Cooper Shop Hospital and though
single life has been honored by the fact
that the three grandest men of the Bible
John and Paul and Christ-were celibates.
Let the ungrateful world sheer at the
maiden aunt, but God has a throne burn
ished for her arrival, and on one side of
that throne in heaven there Is vase con-
tanning two jewels, the one brighter than
the kohinoOr of London Tower, and the
other larger than any diamond ever
found in the districts of Golconda-the
one jewel by the lapidary of the palace
cut with the words 'Inasmuch as we
did it to father" the other jewel by the
lapidary of the palace cut with the words:
'Inasmuch as We did it to mother" cover
tie ballad of VIII Carleton, who found an
old woman who had been turned off by
her prospered sons; but 1 thank God
may find in my text, "Over the hills to
the palace"
AS if to disgust us with unfilial conduct,
the Bible presents us with the story of
Micah. who stole the eleven hundred
shekels from his mother, and the story of
Absalom, who tried to dethrone his father
But all history Is beautiful with stories of
filial fidelity. Epaminondas, the warrior,
found his chief delight in reciting to his
parents his victories. There goes Aeneas
from burning Troy, on his shoulders An
chses, his father. The Athenians punish
ed with death any unfiial conduct There
goes beautiful Ruth escorting venerable
Naomi across the desert amid the bowling
of the wolves and the barking of the jack
ais. John Lawrence, burned at the stake
in Colchester, was cheered in the flames
by his children, who said: 20 God,
strengthen thy servant and keep thy
promise!" And Christ in the hour of ex-
cruciation provided for his old mother.
Jacob kept his resolution, II willEgo and
see him before l die" and a little while
after we find them walking the tesselated
floor of the palace. Jacob and Joseph. the
prime minister proud of the shepherd.
l may say in regard to the most of you
that your parents have probably visited
you for the last time, or will soon pay you
such a visit, and have wondered If they
will ever visit you in the kings palace,
oh you say, II am In the pit Of SIM"
Joseph was in the pit. oh" you say, II
am In the prison of NINE iniquity" Joseph
was once in prison. oh" you say, II
didn't have a fair chance; 1 was denied
maternal klndnessr Joseph was denied
maternal attendance. oh" you say, Il
am far away from the land of my nativi-
ty!" Joseph was far from home. oh"
you say II have been betrayed and exas-
perated!' Did not Joseph's brethren sell
him to a passing Ishmaelitish caravan?
Yet God brought him to that emblazoned
residence; and If you will trust his grace
in Jesus Christ, you, too, Will be empal-
aced. Oh, what day that will be when
the old folks come from an adjoining
mansion in heaven, and find you amid the
alabaster pillars of the throne room and
living with the king! They are coming
up the steps now, and the epauletted
guard of the palace rushes in and says:
Your fathers coming, your mothers
comlngr And when under the arches of
precious stones and on the pavement of
porphyry you greet each other, the scene
will eclipse the meeting on the Goshen
highway, when Joseph and Jacob fell on
each others neck and wept a good while.
But oh, how changed the old folks will
bel Their cheeks smoothed into the flesh
of a little child. Their stopped posture
lifted into immortal symmetry. Their foot
now so feeble, then with the sprightliness
of a bounding roe, as they shall say to
you: "a spirit passed this way from earth
and told us that you were Maynard and
dissipated after we left the world; but you
have repented, our prayer has been an
swered and you are here; and as we used
to visit you on earth before we died, now
we visit you in your new home after our
ascension" And father will say, Mother,
don't you see Joseph is yet alive?" and
mother will say, Yes, father Joseph is
yet alive" And then they will talk over
their earthly anxieties in regard to you,
and the midnight supplications in your
behalf and they will recite to each other
the old Scripture passage with which they
used TO cheer their staggering faith: II
will be a God to thee and thy seed after
thee" Oh, the palace, the palace, the
palace! That is what Richard Baxter
called 1.-The Saints Everlasting Rest"
That is what John Bunyan called the
Celestial City" That is Young's Might
Thoughts turned into morning exuta-
tons. That is Grays "Elegy in a
Churchyard' turned to resurrection spec
tacle. That is the "Cotter's Saturday
Night" exchanged for the Cotter's Sab
bath morning. That is the shepherd of
Salisbury Plains. amid the hocks on the
hills of heaven. That is the famne-struck
Padah-aram turned into the rich pasture
field of Goshen. That is Jacob visiting
Joseph at the emerald castle