The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-12-12

on oruvunssj the longest journey you nave
made for many weeks being from bed 10
sofa and from sofa TO looking glass, where
you are sfiocked at the pallor Of your own
cheek and the pinohedness Of your fea-
lures; then back again from mirror to
sofa and sofa to bed, with long sigh say
to my old place on the piilowf' Rsmem-
Dor who IL Is that appointed the day when
for the first time in many years you could
not go to business andWho has kept a REQ
ord of all the weary days and all the sleep.
less nights of your exile from the world.
o weary mani o feeble woman, 1t was
the Lord who shut you mi Do you re-
member that some Of the noblest and best
Of men have been prisoners? Ezekiel q
prisoner, Jeremiah a prisoner, Paul pris-
onsr. st. john prisoner, John Bunyan q
prisoner. Though human hate seemed to
have all to do with them, really the Lord
shut them In.
The Women In the Ark.
No doubt, while ON that voyage, Noah
and his three sons and all the four ladies'
Of the antediluvian world often Thought of
the bright hillsides and the green. fields
where they had walked and Of the homes
where they had lived. They had had
many years of experiences. Noah was 600
years old at the time Of this convulsion of
nature. Hs had seen 900 springtimes, 600
summers, 600 autumns, 900 winters. We
are not told how old his wife was at. this
wreck of earth and sky. The Bible tells
the age of great many men, but only
once gives woman's age. At one time
1t gives Adams age az 1870 years, and
Jared's ago as 1863 years, and Bnooh' age
as 385 years, and all up and down the
Bible 1t gives the age Of men, but does
not give the age OF women. Whys Be-
cause suppose, woman's age Ia none
Of our business. But all the men and
women that tossed In that oriental craft
had lived long enough to remember a
great many Of the mercies and kindnesses
Of God, and they could not blot out, and I
think they had no disposition to blot out
the memory OF those brightnessss, though
now they wers shut In. Neither should
the shut In 81 our time forget the bless
ings Of the past Have you been blind for
ton yesrsf Thank God for the time when
you saw as clearly as any Of US can see,
and let the pageant Of all the radiant land
scapes and illumined skies which you ever
looked upon kindle your rapturous grati-
tude. l do not see Raphael's "Madonna
di San Sisto" in the picture gallery Of
Dresden, nor Rubens' Descent From the
Cross" at Antwerp, nor Michael Angeles
last Judgment" on the ceiling of the
Vatican, nor Saint Sophia at Constan-
tinople, nor the Parthenon on the Aero
polls, nor the Tai Mahal of India. But
shall not thank God that I have seen
themf Is It possible that such midnight
darkness shall ever blast my vision that I
cannot call them up againP Perhaps you
are 90 deaf that you cannot hear the chirp
Of bird or solo Of cAntatrioe, or even organ
in full diapason, though you feel the foun-
dations tremble under It's majestic roll, or
even the thunderstorm that makes Mount
Washington echo. But arc you not CRATE.
full that once you could hear trill and chant
and carol doIologyp l cannot this hour
hear Jenny Lind sing "Comin Through
the Rye" or Ole Bulls enchanted viol, or
Parepa Rosa's triumphant voice over
many thousands Of voices and many thou
sands Of instruments In the national peace
jubilee Of 33 years ago, all these sounds
accompanied by the ringing Of bells and
the guns on Boston Common. But can I
ever have my ears so silenced that will
not remember that did hear thom9 Are
you chained to your room now. your pow
ers of locomotion all gone, or, If coming
to the house Of God, every step is a tor
ture2
Do you forget when in childhood you
danced and skipped because you were SO
full of life you had not patience to walk,
and In after years you climbed the noun
tains, Of Switzerland, putting your alpen-
stock high up on glaciers which few others
ever dared and jumped long reaches in
competition, and after walk of ten miles
you came In jocund as the morning2 Oh,
you shut insl Thank God for vivid
memory of the times when you were free
as the channels on the rocks, as tho eagle
going straight for the sun. When the rain
pounded the roof of the ark, the eight voy-
ayers OIL that craft did not forget the time
when 1t gayly battered In summer show.
or, and whom the door of the ark shut to
keep out the tempest they did not forget
the time when the door of their home in
Armenia was closed to keep out the spring
rains which came to fiji the cups Of lily
and honeysuckle and make all the trees Of
the wood clap their hands.
Shut on From Temptation.
Again, notice that during that 40 days
Of storm which rocked that ship on that
universal ocean Of Noah's time the door
which shut the captain of the ship inside
the craft kept him from many outside per-
lis. How those wrathful seas would like
to have got their wet hands on Noah and
pulled him out and sunk him And do all
of you OF the great army of the shut in
realize, though you have special temp
tations where you arc now, how much Of
tho outside style of temptation you escape?
Do you, the merchant incarcerated in the
sickroom, realize that every hour of the
day you spend looking out Of the window
or gazing at the particular figure on the
wall paper or listening to the clock 8 ticks
men are being wrecked by the allurements
and uncertainties of business life? How
many forgeries are committed, how many
trust funds are swamped, how many pub
10 moneys are being misappropristed,
how many bankruptcies sufferedp 1t may
be, 1t Is, very uncomfortable for Noah In.
side the ark, for the apartment is crowded
and the air ID vitiated with the breathing
Of so much human and animal life, but 1t
Ia net half as bad for him as though he
were outside the ark There Is not an OK,
or a camel, or an antelope, or sheep In
side the ark as badly off as the proudest
king outside. While you are on the pillow
or lounge you wilrmake no bad bargains,
you will rush into no rash investments,
you will avoid the mistakes which thou
sands Of men as good as you are every day
Notice also that there was limit to the
shut in experience Of those ancient mari
ners. suppose the 40 days of the de-
and uprising floods and tho 100
days before the passengers could go ashore
must have seemed to those u hit people in
tho big boat like small eternity. Rain,
rain, rainl" said the wife of Noah. "Will
II never stopp" For 40 mornings they
looked out and saw not one patch Of blue
sky. Floating around amid tho peaks Of
Shcm and Ham and Japheth
bad to hush the fears of their wives lest
hey should dash against the projecting
locks. But after awhile 1t cleared of.
Sunshine, glorious sunshine! The ascend
ng mists were folded up into clouds,
which instead Of darkcning the sky only
it. As they looked out Of the
windows these worn passengers clapped /
heir hands and rejoiced that the storm
vas over, and think II God could stop
such a storm as that he could stop any
t., l,o