Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1897-1902, 1899-09-22


know how to tie on that new pair OF
shoes? Man sometimes gives his char
ity in a rough way, and it falls like
the fruit Of tree in the East, which
fruit comes down so heavily that it
breaks the skull of the man who Is
trying to gather it. But woman glides
so softly into the house of restitution.
and finds out all the sorrows of the
place. and puts so quietly the donation
on the table. that all the family come
out on the front steps as she departs,
expecting that from under her shawl
she will thrust out two wings and go
right UP toward heaven, from whence
she seems to have come down.
o, Christian young woman. II you
would make yourself happy, and win
the blessing of Christ, go out among
the destitute. A loaf of bread or a
bundle of socks may make homely
load to carry, but the angels of God
will come out TO watch, and the Lord
Almighty will give his messenger hosts
a charge. saying. Look after that
woman; canopy her with your wings.
and shelter her from all harm;" and
while you are seated in the house OF
restitution and suffering. the little
ones around the room will whisper,
''Who is she?" Amt she beautiful"
and if you will listen right sharply, you
will hear dripping down through the
leaky roof, and rolling over the rotten
stairs, the angel chant that shook
\ L.,
highest, and on earth peace, good
to men"
Again, | have to tell you that ii is a
womans specific right to comfort I'M
der the stress of dire disaster She is
called the weaker vessel; but ali pro-
fame as well as sacred history attests
that when the crisis comes she is bet
Ter prepared than man to meet the
emergency. How often have you seen
a woman who seemed to be a disciple
OF frivolity and Incidence, who, UT
der one stroke of calamity, changed 10
heroine? Oh, what a great mistake
those business men make who never
tell their business troubles to their
wives, There comes some great loss
TO their store, or their companions in
business play them a sad trick, and
they carry the burden all alone. He is
asked in the household again ana
again: What is the natter" But
he believes it sort of Christian duty
to keep all that trouble within his
own soul. Oh. sir, your first duty was
| to tell your wife all about it, She. per-
haps, might not have disentangled your
| finances. or extended your credit, but
she would have helped you to bear
misfortune. You have no right to
carry on one shoulder that which is
| intended for two. Business men
| know what l mean. There came a
| crisis in your affairs. You struggled
bravely and long; but after a while
| there came a day when you said:
Here ] shall have to STOP" and you
called in your partners. and you called
| in the most prominent men in your
employ. and you said: I'VE have got
| 70 stop" You left the store suddenly.
You could hardly make up your mind
to pass through the street and over
on the ferry boat. You felt everybody
would be looking at you, and blaming
| you, and denouncing you. You hast
ened home. You told your wife all
| about the affair. What did she say :?
| Did she play the butterfly? Did she
talk about the silks and the ribbons
and the fashions? No. She came up
to the emergency. She quailed not
under the stroke. She offered to go
out OF the comfortable house into a
smaller one. and wear the old cloak
another winter. She was the one who
understood your affairs without blam-
| ing you. You looked upon what you
thought was a thin, weak woman's
arm holding you up; but while you
| looked at that arm there came into
the feeble muscles of it the strength
of the eternal God. No Gliding; no
fretting; no telling you about the
beautiful house of her father, from
which you brought her ten, twenty,
or thirty years ago. You said: We'll.
this is the happiest day of my life.
am glad l have got from under my
burden. My wife don't care-I don't
care" At the moment you were ex-
| hausted God sent you a Deborah to
meet the host of Amalektes and scat
ter them like chaff over the plain.
There are sometimes women who sit
reading sentimental novels. and who
wish that they had some grand field
in which to display their Christian
powers. What grand and glorious
things they could do il they only had
an opportunity! My sister, you need
not wait for any such time. crisis
will come in your affairs. There will
be a Thermopylae in your own house
hold where God will tell you to stand
There are scores and hundreds OF
| households today where as much brav-
cry and courage are demanded of WON
en- as was exhibited by Grace Darling
or Marie Antoinette. or Joan of Arc.
Again, | remark it is woman's right
to bring to us the kingdom of heaven.
1. is easier for a woman to be a Chris
tian than for man. Why? You say
she is weaker. No. Her heart is more
responsive to the pleadings of divine
love. She is in vast majority. The
fact that she can more easily become
q Christian | prove by the statement
that three-fourths Of the members oil
churches in all Christendom are WON
en-. So God appoints them to be the
chief agents for bringing this world
back to God. may stand here and