The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1899-01-27

with stationery upon 1T, booksheives
built, long ranges OF new volumes, far
beyond the reach OF the means OF tho
young pastor, many OF these voldmes.
The young pastor went up stairs and
found all the sleeping apartments furn-
ished, came down stairs and entered
the pantry, and there were the spices,
and the coifees. and the sugars and the
groceries for six months. He went dow,
into the cellar. aud there was the coal
for all the coming winter. He went into
the dining hail, and there WAS the table
already set-the glass and the silver
there were all the culinary implements
and great stove. Tue young pastor
lifted one lid OF the stove, and he fouud
the fuel ell ready for ignition. Pnttiug
back the cover OF the stove, he saw in an
other part of it lucifer match, aud all
that young man had to do in starting to
keep house was to strike the match. Hou
tell me that is apocryphal On, no, that
was my own experience. Oh, the kind
ness; oh, the enlarged sympathies some
the gospel ministry! suppose the man OF
Shunem had to pay the bills, but It was
the large-hearteG Christian sympathies of
the woman OF Shunem that looked after
the Lords messenger.
Where are the feet that have not been
bllstered on the hot sands OF this great
Sahara2 Where are the soldiers that have
not bent under the burden OF grief? Where
Is the ship sailing over CLASSY sea that has
not after awhile been caught In a cyclone?
Where is the garden Of earthly comfort.
but trouble hath hitched ,up its fiery and
painting team and gone through 1t with
burning plowshares Of disaster? Under
the peltiDg Of ages OF suffering the great
heart Of the world has burst with woe.
Navigators tell US about the rivers, and
the Amazon, ard the Danube, and the
Mississippi have been explored, but who
can tell the depth or the length OF the
great river of sorrow, made up of tears
and blood rolling through ali lands and
all ages. bearing the wreck OF families,
and of communities, and Of empires fonm-
ing, wrlthing, boiling with tho agonieS OF
5000. years. Etna, CotopaNi aud Nesuvlus
have been described, but who has ever
sketched the volcano OF suffering retching
up from Its depths the lava and scoria, and
pouring them down tie sides to whem the
nations? Oh, II could gather ali the heart
strings, the broken heartstrings, into a
was never sounded. Mythologists tell
us OF gorgon and centaur ana Titan,
and geologlsts tell us of extinct species
OF monsters, but greater than So-Son or
megatherium, and not belonging to the
realm of fable, ana not OF an extinct
species, II monster with an iron jaw and Il
hundred iron hoofs has walked across tho
nations, and history and poetry and sculp-
ture, in their attempt to sketch it and de-
scribe 1t, have seemed To sweat great drops
who can conquer as this woman OF the text
conquered, and say: 1t is WE'LL Though
my properly be gone, though my children
be gone, though my home be broken up,
though my health be sacrificed, it is we'll; it
Is Well" There is no storm on the sea but
Christ iS ready to rise in the hinder part OF
the ship and hush it, There is no darkness
but the constellation OF Gods eternal love
can illnmine. and, though tae inter comes
out OF the Northern sky, you have some
fbut thAr. SL.,- nll ~.
with aurOras which seem to say Come up
this way. Up this way are thrones of light
and seas of sapphire and the splendor OF
an eternal heaven. Come UP this way"
Again, this woman OF my text was great
in her application to domestic duties.
Every picture is a home picture, whether
she is entertaining an Elisha or whether
she is giving careful attention to her sick
boy or whether she is appealing for tho
restoration Of her property. Every picture
in her case is one OF domestici;y. Thosa are
not disciples of this Shuuemitr wom1n who,
going out to attend to outside charities
neglect the duty Of home-tbe duty OF
wife, OF mother, OF daughter. No faith
iulness in public benoiaction can ever
atone for domestic negligence. There
has been many n mother who by inGe-
fatigaSle toll has reared n large family
OF children, equiprinS them for the du-
ties OF life with good manners and large
intelligence and Christian principle.
for the world than many II woman
whose name has sounded through all
the lands and through the centuries.
remember when Kossuth was in this
honorable regulations by presenting
him very gracefully with bouquets of
flowers on public occasions, but what
was all that compared with the plain
Hungarian mother who gave TO truth
and civilization and the cause of uni
versal liberty a Kossuth? Yes, this wom-
an OF my text was great in her SIM
plicity. When this prophet wanted to re-
ward her for her hospitality by asking some
preferment from the king, what did she
among my own people," smuch rs to say.
81 am satisfied with my lot; all want Is my
family and my friends around me; l dwell
among my own people"
Ob,s ,swhat q rebuke to the strife for pre-
cedence in all ages! How many there are
who want to get great architecture and
homes furnished with all art, all painting,
all statuary, who have not enough taste to
distinguish between Gothic and Byzantine,
and who could not tell figure in plaster Of
would not know u boys penciling from
Bierstadt's yosemite" Men who buy
large libraries by the square foot, buy
Ing these libraries when they have scarcely
enough education to pick out the day Of
the month in the almanacl oh, how many
there are striving to have things rs we'll as
their neighbors or better than their neigh
bors, and in the struggle vast fortunes are
exhausted and business firms thrown into
bankruptcy and men Of reputed honesty
rush into astounding forgeries!
But what want to impress upon you,
my hearers, is that you ought not to In
ventory the luxuries Of life among the in
dispensables, and you ought not to depre-
ciate this woman Of the text, who, when
offered kingly preferment, responded, II
dwell among my own people" Yes,
this woman CT the text was great
In her piety. Just read the chap
ter after you go home. Faith In
God. and she was not ashamed to tilk
about 1t before idolaters. Alb. woman will
never appreciate what she owes to