The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1897-05-06
she was to become Ar ancestre,, Of IN.

49,
incident with a thrill Of u~nspeakable
and eternal satisfaction. SO II is in
your history and in mine; events that
you thought Of no Importance at all
have been of very great moment. That
casual conversation. that accidental
meeting you did not think of it again
for a long while; but how 1t changed
oil the phases OF your life.
1t seemed to be of no Importance thai,
Jubal invented rude instruments Of
music. calling them harp and organ;
but they were the introduction OF all
the worlds minstrelsy; and MS you hear
the vibration of n stringed instrument,
even after the fingers have been taken
away from it; SO all music, now of the
lutte and drum and cornet, Is only
the long-continued strains of Jubal's
harp and Jubals organ. II seemed to
be a matter of very little Importance
that Tubal Cain learned the uses Of
copper and iron; but that rude foundry
OF ancient days has its echo in the rat
tie of Birmingham machinery and tho
roar and bang of factories ON the Mer,
rimac.
Ii seemed to be a matter OF no i'm.
p%ortance that Luther found a Bible in
n monastery; but as he opened that
Bible, aud the brass.bound lids fell
back, they Jared everything, and the
rustling of the wormcd leaves was the
sound of the wings of the angel OF the
Reformation, 1t seemed to be a matter
of no importance that u woman. whose
name has been forgotten, dropped a
tract in the way of a very bad
man by the name of Richard
Baxter. He picked up the tract
and read it, and it was the means OF
his salvation. In after days that
man wrote a book called ''The Call TO
the Unconvertcd' that was the means
of bringing u multitude to God, among
others Philip Doddridge. Philip bod
bridge wrote Il book called 'lhc Rise
and Progress of Religion" which has
brought thousands and tens of thou
sands into the kingdom of God, and
among others the great Wilberforec.
Wllherforee wrote Il book called
"A Practical View of Christian
ity," which was the means of
bringing u great multitude to
Christ, among others Leigh Richmond.
Leigh Richmond wrote a tract called
THE Dnirvman's Daughter which
has been the means Of the salvation of
u%nconverted m%ultitudes. And that
tide of influence started from the fact
that n Christian woman dropped n
Christian tract in the way of Richard
Baxter, the tide Of influence rolling on
through Richard Baxter, through
Philip Doddridgc, through the great
Wilberforce, through Leigh Richmond,
on, N, on. forever, forever. So the in
significant events of this world seem.
after all, to be most momentous.
Again, l see In my subject an Illus
tration Of the beauty of female indus
try.
Behold Ruth toiling in the harvest
field under the hot sun, or at noon taxi
ing plain bread with the reapers, OF
eating the parched corn which Boaz
handed to her. The customs Of society.
of course, have changed, and without
the hardships and exposure to which
Ruth was subjected, every intelligent
woman will find something to do.
| know there Is a sickly sentimental
ity on this subject. In some families
there are persons of no practical service
to the household or community; and
though there are so many woes all
around about them In the world, they
spend their time languishing over n
new pattern, or bursting into tears at
midnight over the story Of some lover
who shot himself! They would not
dcign to look at Ruth carrying back
the barley on her way home to her
motber-in-law, Naomi. All this fas-
tidiousncss may seem to do very
well while they are under the
shelter Of their fathers house; but
when the sharp winter OF misfortune
comes, what OF these butterflies? Per
sons under indulgent parcntage may
get upon themselves habits of indo.
lence; but when they come out INTO
practical life, their soul will recoil with
disgust and c~hargrin. They will feel
~ tiith Chibn ~ tlIG DCGt bp CC NCIC- |
ly satirized when he said:
are SO awkward, things 80 impolite,
They're elegantly painted from morning until
night.
Through that gate of Incidence how
many men and women have marched,
useless on earth, to u destroyed eter-
nifty! Spinola said to Sir Horace We're:
''Of what did your brother dep "Oi
nothing to do vas the answer.
"Ahw said S~pinola." chats enough to
kill any general of u.s." ooh! can it be
in this world. where there is
so much suffering to be allie waited, so
much darkness TO be enlightened, and
SO many burdens to be carried, that
Is any person who can not find
anything to do!
Nine. de Stae | did a world Of good IN
her time. and one day, while she was
amid instruments OF music, all
Of which she had mastered, and amid
manuscript books which she had writ
ten, some one said to her: 'Iiow do
you find time TO attend to all these
things?" oh" she replied, s'thcse are
not the things ! am proud Of. My
boast is in the fact that | have II
by any n of which | could
make a livelihood il necessary" AID
II in secular spheres there Is so much
to be done, in spiritual work how vast
the field! How many dying all arouad
about us without one word Of comfort!
We want more Abigails, more HIN