The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-03-21

be queen and wear 1t. 1t seems to me
that in the ono case as In the other God
appoints tho sphere, and the needle Is just
as respectable in his sight as the scepter.
I do not know but that tho world would
long ago have been saved II some OF the
men out of the ministry were In 1t and
come of those who are in 1t were out Of 1t.
/ really think that one.balf the world may
be divided into two quarters-those who
havo not found their sphere and those who,
having found 1t, arc not willing to stay
there. How many are struggling for
position a little higher than that which
God intended theml The bondswoman
wants to be mistress. Hagar keeps crowd
ing Sarah. The small wheel of watch
which beautifully went treading Its golden
pathway wants to be the balance wheel,
and the sparrow with chagrin drops into
the brook because 1t cannot, like the eagle,
cut circle under the sun.
Joy of Contentment.
In the Lords army we all want to be
brieadier generals! The sloop says" More
mast, more tonnage, moro canvas. Oh,
that were topsail schooner, or full
rigged brig, or a Cunard steamer!" And
po UHC WUTu lh lllleu WIFI CIlcb VI ulpCUu-
tent because we are not willing to stay in
the place where God put us and intended
us to be. My friends, be not too proud to
do anything God tells you to do; for the
lack of right disposition in this respect
the world is strewn with wandering Ha-
gars and Ishmaels God has given each
one of us work to do. You carry a sout-
tie Of GOAL up that dark alley. You dis
tribute that Christian tract. You give
$4,000 to the missionary cause. You for
15 years sit with chronic rheumatism dis
playing the beauty Of Christian sabhis-
sion. Whatever God calls you to, whether
1t win Kissing or huzza; whether to'waIk
under triuInphal arch or lift the sot out Of
the ditch; whether 1t be to preach on
Pentecost or tell some wanderer of the
street of the mercy Of the Christ of Mary
Magdelene; whether. 1t be to weave gar.
land for a laughing child on spring morn
ing and call her a May queen, or to comb
out the tangled locks of waif of the
street and cut up one of your old dresses
to fit her out for the sanctuary-do 1t; and
do 1t right away. Whether it be crown
ors upon those who do their work, and do
their whole work, and are contented in the
sphere In which God has put them, while
there Is wandering and exile and desola-
tion and wilderness for discontinued Ha-
gar and Ishmael.
Again, I find in this oriental scene
lesson of sympathy with woman when she
goes forth trudging in the desert. What
great change it was for this Hagar! There
was the tent, and all the surroundings of
Abraham's house, beautiful and luxuri.
GUS, no doubt Now she Is going out
into the hot sands Of tho desort. Oh, what
change it was! And in our day We often
sec the wheel of fortune turn. Here is
some one who lived in the very bright
homo of her father. She had everything
possible to administer to her happiness
plenty at tho table, music in the drawing
room, welcome at the door. She il led
forth into life by some one who cannot ap.
preciate her. A dissipated soul comes and
takes her out in the desert. Cruelties blot
out all tho lights of that home circle.
Harsh words wear out her spirits. The
high hope that shone out over the mar
riage altar while the ring was being set,
and the VOWS given, and the benediction
pronounced, have all faded with the orange
blossoms, and there she is today broken
hearted, thinking Of past joys and present
desolation and coming anguish. Hagar
in tho wilderness!
Woinan's Responsibilities.
Here is beautiful home. You cannot
think Of anything that can be added to it,
For years there has not been the sugges-
tion of a single trouble Bright and happy
children fill the house with laughter and
song. Books to read Pictures to look at.
full and running over. Dark night drops
Pillow hot. Pulses flutter. Eyes Close
And the foot whose well known steps ON
the doorsill brought the whole household
out at eyentide crying, "Fathers com.
ingp' will never sound on the doorsiI
again. A long, deep grief plowed through
all that brightness of domestic life. Para
disc lost. Widowhood. Hagar in the will.
derncss!
How often is 1t We see the weak arm of
woman conscripted for this battle with
the rough world. Who is SHE going down
the street in the early light Of the morn
ing, pale with exhausting work, not half
slept out with the slumbers Of last night,
tragedies of suffering written all over her
face, her lusterless eyes looking far ahead,
as though for the coming of some other
troubleY Her parents called her Mary or
Bertha OF Agnes on tho day when they
held her up to the font and the Christian
minister sprinkled OH the infants face the
washings of holy baptism. Her name is
changed now. hear it In the shuttle Of
the wornout shoes. SEQ 1t in tho figure
of the faded calico. find it in the Inca.
montsof the woe begone countenance. Not
Mary nor Bertha nor Agnes but Hagar In
the wilderness. May God have mercy upon
woman in her tolls her struggles, her
hardships, her dosolation, and may the
grent heart of divine sympathy inolose her
foreycrl
Again, find in this oriental scene the
fact that every mother leads forth tremen-
dous dest!nies.
You say, "That ism an unusual scene.
a mother leading her child by the hand"
Who is it that she is leadingp Ishmael,
you say. Who is IshmaelS A great nation
Is to be founded-a nation SO strong that
1t Is to stand for thousands of yenrs against
all the armies of the world. Egypt and
Assyria thunder against it, but in vain.
Gau1us brings up his army, and his army
Is smitten. Alexander decides upon a
brings up his hosts and dies.
For long while that nation monopolizes
tho learning of the world. 1t is the ma
tion Of the Arabs. Who founded it9 Isk-
mael, the lad that HagRr led into the viii
derness. Sho had no idea she was leading
forth such destinies. Neither does any
mother You pass along the street ant
400 and paSS hoyS and pirIs WIN will ynh