The Globe-republican., 1899-01-19
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
"A GREAT WOMAN" LAST SUM-.
DAYS SUBJECT.
From the Text. "Ellaha Passed to
Shaasm. Where Was \ Great Woman"
Il Kings. Chapter w., Verse Number

The hotel of our time had no coun-
terpart in any entertainment of olden
time. The vast majority Of travellers
must then be entertained at private
abode. Here comes Elisha, a servant
of the Lord. on divine mission, and
he must find shelter A balcony over
looking the valley of Esdraelon is Of
Tered him, in private house, and it
Is especially furnished for his occu-
pancy-a chair to sit on, a table from
which to eat, candlestick, by which
TO read, and bed on which to slum-
Der, the whole establishment belong
Ing to a great and good woman. Her
husband. it seems, was a gOOdly man.
but he was entirely overshadowed by
sometimes fiEd in household the wife
the center Of dignity and influence and
power, not by any arrogance or pre-
sumption, but by superior intellect and
force of moral nature welding dOmes-
tic affairs and at the same time SUI
pervising ala financial and business
affairs. The wife's hand on the shut
tie, or the clearinghouse, or the
worldly business. You see hundreds
of men who are successful only be-
cause there is a reason at home why
they are successful. II a man marry q
good. honest soul. he makes his for
tune. If he marry fool. the Lord
help him! The wife may be the silent
partner in the firm, there may be only
masculine voices down on exchange.
but there oftentime comes from the
home circle potential and eievating
influence. This woman of my text was
the superior of her husband. He. as
far as can understand, was what we
often see in our day. man Of large
fortune and only modicum Of brain.
intensely quiet, sitting long while In
the same place without moving hand
or foot, if you say YES" responding
Yes" if you say NO" responding
"No'-inane, eyes half-shut. mouth
wide open, maintaining his position
In society only because he has large
patrimony. But his wife, my text says.
was a great woman. Her name has
not come down to us. She belonged to
that collection of people who need no
name to distinguish them. What
would title of duchess. or princess. or
Queen-what would escutcheon or
cleaning diadem be to this woman of
my text, who, by her intelligence and
her behavior, challenges the admira-
ton OF all ages?. Long after the bril-
liant women of the court of Louis XIV.
have been forgotten, and the brilliant
women who sat on the throne of Rus
STA have been forgotten, some grand
father will put on his spectacles, and
holding the book the other side the
light, read to his grandchildren the
story of this great woman of Shunem
who was SO kind and courteous and
Christian to the good prophet Elisha.
Yes, she was a great woman.
In the first place, she was great in
her Inequalities. Uncivilized and bar
barous nations have this virtue. JuDi-
ter had the surname of the Hospitable,
and he was said especially to avenge
the wrongs of strangers. Homer ex-
tolled it in his verse. The Arabs are
punctilious on this subject, and among
some of their tribes it is not until the
ninth day of tarrying that the occu-
pant has right to ask his guest who
and whence art thOu?" If this virtue
is so honored among barbarians. how
ought it to be hOnored among those of
us who believe in the Bible, which
commands us to use hospitality one to-
ward another without grudging?
OF course do not mean under this
cover to give any idea that 1 approve
of that vagrant class who 60 around
from place to place. ranging their whole
lifetime. perhaps under the auspices
of some benevolent or philanthropic
society, Quartering themselves on
Christian families with great pile of
trunks in the hall and carpet-bag por-
tentous of tarrying. There is many
a country parsonage that looks out
week by week upon the ominous ar
rival of wagon with creaking wheel
and lank horse and dilapidated driver,
come under the auspices of some char
liable institution to spend few weeks
and canvass the neighborhood. Let
NO such religious tramps take advan-,
tage of this beautiful virtue of Chris
tian hospitality. Not so much the
sumptuousness of your diet and the
regality of your abode will impress
the friend or the stranger that steps
across your threshold as the warmth
Of your reception. the reiteration by
grasp and by look and by a thousand
Insignificant attentions,
of your earnestness Of welcome There
will be high appreciation of your well
come, though you have nothing but
the brazen candlestick and the plain
chair to offer Elisha when he comes
to Shunem. Most beautiful is. this
grace of hospitality when shown in
the house of God. / am thankful that
I have always been pastor of churches
where strangers are welcome. But I
have entered churches where there
was no hospitality. A stranger would
stand in the vestibule for a while and
then make a pilgrimage up the long
aisle. No door opened to him uatil,