The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-03-15

The subject of DR.. Loekwood's ser
mon at Tiff NJ. E. church last evening
was Ruth: or a Lesson in Fidelity
AS usual, a large congregation wa
present.
For his text DR.. Lockwood took tn
words And Ruth said, Entreat M
not to leave thee or to return from
following after thee: for whittier tho'
goest L will go; and where thou lodges
1 will lodge; thy people shall be my
people, and thy God my God; where
thou diest will 1 die, and there VIII
be buried: the Lord do so to me, ano
more also, if aught but death part
thee and me-" Ruth /, 1911.
You may search literature in vain te
find narrative more replete with
grace and beauty, and the simple
charm of life than this story of Ruth
Upon one occasion Benjamin Franklin,
without indicating its source, read TINS
touching little idyi to a company OF
French atheists. They were delighted
with it beyond measure, pronounclnS
it the most exquisite narrative OF the
kind that they had ever heard; they
wondered how they had failed to dis
cover it sooner, and were astonlshed
when they were told that it was taken
from the Bible. Goethe, who was, per
haps, as capable as any living being
of his age to discuss the merits of liter
AZURE calls the story of Ruth the
loveliest specimen of epic and 1dylllc
poetry which we possess" Voltaire, a
man of rare literary taste, thought that
Ruth's answer to Naomi surpassed In
beauty anything in Homer or Herod-
otus.
We propose tonight to draw from this
incident a lesson of fidelity. And what
is implied in the term "ffdelity?"
Three things. ] think: First, something
that is worthy of ones allegiance;
secondly, personal sacrifice in behalf
of the object that ELECTS our love and
esteem; and, thirdly, reward.
Ruth's fidelity was manifested to-
ward an individual-her mother-in-law.
Her attachment to this noble woman
led her to forsake the home of her
childhood. the land of her nativity and
the gods Of her fathers. From time out
of mind there have been instances
where passionate devotion 10 a parent,
a friend. or a lover has led to the re-
nunciation of all that the human heart
held dearest, and to which the fragile
tendrils of memory chung with the ten
derest insistence. And we glory in
these examples of undying love and
faithfulness. The heart CLOVIS and
burns with new faith hope and courage
when we read of the Trojan prince,
who, when permitted by the Greeks to
escape from Troy with his life and
whatever of his wealth he could carry
upon his back, left his silver and gold
and bore Anchises, his aged father,
with him through the gates of the city;
of the friendship Of Jonathan for Da-
Vid, which surpassed in tenderness the
love of woman, and which knit the
.ssN,.s-
together so closely that neither pateF
nal invectiVes, nor kingly authority,
nor face to face combat in opposing
armies-no, not even death itself. could
intervene to shake their confidence in
one another or chill the warm food of
affection that surged between soul and
soul; of Penelopes noble and undying
love for Ulysses-exhibited by her
faithfulness TO him during his absence
of 20 years, notwithstanding the fact
that his fate was unknown to her and
that she was constantly beSet by nu-
nerous and eager suitors; and, finally.
CT Pythias. who unavoidably delayed
in his return to receive the death pen
atty at the hands of the tyrant Do
nysius, made almost superhuman at |
tempts to keep his pledge to his friend !
Damon (whc had voluntarily offered to |
forfeit his own life if his friend failed /
to appear at the appointed tire), and |
who returned just in time to save Da- |
mon from death.
But 1t is not always a person that /
commands our fidelity-it may be a
trust, principle, or a purpose. Sew
enteen hundred years after the de- !
struction of Pompeii excavations were
made that revealed the precise activ-
tiles of the citizens upon that fateful
day when the city was destroyed. Near
the massive pillars that formed one of
the city gates ives found the erect
figure Of a Roman sentinel. He might
have been one of the first to escape
from that devoted city, but there he
remained at his post of duty, and
after i centuries had flown, there he
stood as a monument of fidelity to a
sacred trust.
Sometimes the trumpet peal of prin-
ciple arOuses US to loyalty and self
with tones as persuasive
as the voice of a lover or as decisive
as those of a stern father. When duty
calls, when Truth is on the rack, when
the proud banner of ones country has
been trailed in the dust or when Honor
has had a dagger planted in her breast,
none save a craven or a miscreant will
hesitate to respond with his life blood
How the heart leaps, and how the
blood courses warm through every vein
and artery as we read Patrick Henry's
I 4
lemen wish? What would they have?
S life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to
De purchased at the price of chains and
slavery? Forbid it Almighty Godi [
know not what course others may take,
)ut, as for me, give me liberty or, give ,
ne deathr'
Again, it may be a splendid purpose
hat fascinates the mind and controls '
he will. Fidelity to such a purpose
las been the means of transforming
many an obscure life into a scholar, a
zero or a philanthropist Some boy {
axes it into his mind that he will Sc |
ure an education. He has neither
money nor friends, but that matters [
lot. He fights his way with indomit-
BILE will through poverty and obscur-
~. He batters money in some mys-
erious way from the hard earth, and I
rom the harder clutch of those who
Ove il better than life; he makes
and faithful ones-no-
ody knows how; and at last he
mergeS from the shadows that have
ung heavily about his young life, and
lands proudly in the broad sunlight
f renOwn, a scholar whose utterances
one dare question.
1t was q sublime purpose that neryed
tanley for that marvellous march into
ne heart of Africa There came a time
hen no white man would follow him
arther into the frightful shadows of
nat dark continent. But nothing could
make his iron purpose, so he proceeded
n his way with only a handful of saw
ge followers. But he accomplished
is object, and when he came out he
as crowned one of the greatest heroes