The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-01-27
NOBLE WOMANHOOD
DIR. TALMAGE TELLS OF THE VAL
UE OF GOOD WIVES
Hundreds OF Men Are Successful Only
Because of Wise Helpmates-GreatIn
Pfety, Kindness and Hospitality.

$4,000
is not given becomes the subject of
DR.. Talmage's sermon in which he here
sets forth the qualities of good and no.
BILE womanhood; text II Kings iv, S,
elisha passed to Shnem, where was a
great woman"
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 a divine mission, and he
must find shelter. A balcony overlook
ing the valley of Esdraelon is offered
him in a private house, and it is espe-
cially furnished for his o~ccupancy-a
chair to sit on, a table from which to
eat, a candlestick by which TO read and
a bed on which to slumber, the whole
establishment belonging to a great and
good woman. Her husband, it seems,
was a godly man, but he was entirely
OVershadowed by his wife's excellences;
just as now you sometimes find in a
household the wife the center of dignity
and influence and power, not by su-
perior intellect and force Of moral ma
ture, welding domestic affairs and at
the same time supervising all financial
and business affairs-the Wife's hand
on the shuttle or the banking house or
the worldly business.
You see hundreds Of men who are
successful Only because there is a rea-
son at home why they are successful.
If a man marry a good, honest soul, he
makes his fortune. If he marry a fool
the Lord help him. The wife may be
the silent partner in the firm, there
may be Only masculine voices dow on
h-,+ -,n
from the home circle a potential and
elevating influence. This woman Of my
text was the superior of her husband.
He, as far as l can understand, was
what we often see in our day, a man of
large fortune and only a modicum of
brain, intensely quiet, sitting a long
while in the same place without NOV
ing hand or foot, if you say Yes" re-
spending Yes" if you say NO" re-
spending "NO'-insane, eyes half shut,
mouth wide open, maintaining his po-
SitiOn in society only because he has a
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 n
her behavior challenges the admiration
of all ages? Long after the brilliant
women of the court of Louis XIV have
been forgotten and the brilliant wo-
men of the court Of Spain have been
forgotten and the brilliant women who
sat on the throne of Russia have been
forgotten some grandfather 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 kline
md - ~ ~ n-l 49,
good prophet Elisha. Yes, she was a
great woman.
PRACTICE HOSPITALITY.
In the first place she was great in
her hospitalities. Uncivilized and bar.
barous nations I'VE his virtue. Jupi-
ter had the of the H~ospitable
n 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 amone
some of their tribes it is not until the
ninth day of tarrying that the occu-
pant has a right to ask his guest, WHO
n whence art thOu?" If this virtue il
sc. honored among barbarians, how
ought 1t 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 l do nst mean under hi;
cover to give any idea that / approve
VI IldI NdSldHl CLASS WHO 20 dTOunC
from place to place, ranging their whole
lifetime, perhaps under the auspices O.
some benevolent or philanthropic sOci
ETY., quartering themselves on Chris
tian families with a great pile of trunk.
in he hall and c~arpetbag portentou;
of tarrying. There is many a countr,
parsonage that looks out week by weel
upon the ominous arrival of WACO
with creaking wheel and lank hors
and dilapidated driver, come under tn
auspices of some charitable institution
to spend a few weeks and canvass tn
neighborbood. Let no such religion
tramps tax advantage of this beauti
full virtue of Christian hospitality. No
so much the S-umptuouSneSs of you
diet and the regality of your abode vii
impress the friend or the stranger tha
steps across your threshold as tn
warmth of your greeting, the informal
lty or your reception, the reiteration b
grasp, and by look, and by a thousan
attentions, insignificant attentions, O
your earnestness of welcome. Their
Will be high appreciation of your wei
come, though you AVE nothing but tn
brazen candlestick n the plain chat
to offer Elisha when he comes to Shu
mem. Most beautiful is this grace c
hospitality when shown in the hous
of o 1 am thankful that 1 have al
ways been pastor of churches wher
strangers are welcome. But l have en-
lClSu IiS "ItIe there WAS III
hospitality. A stranger would stan
in the vestibule for awhile and the
make a pilgrimage up the long aisl
No o opened to him until, fiushe
and excited and embarrassed he star,
ed back again and, coming to som
half filled pew with apologetic air Ell
tered it, while the occupant glared o
hin with a look which seemed to sa.
well, if l must, l must" Away wit
such accursed indecency from the hou:
of God. Let every church that woul
maintain large Christian influence
community culture Sabbath by Sal
bath this beautiful grace of Chri!
tian hospitality
A good man travelling in the fl
west, in the Wilderness, was overtake
by night and storm, and he put in at
cabin. He saw firearms along the bean
of the cabin, and he felt alarmed. +
did not know out that he had fafle
into a den of thieves. He sat the,
greatly perturbed. After awhile IL
man of the house came home with
gun IN his shoulder and set it dow
in a corner. After awhile the man
the house whispered with his wife, al
the strange thought his deStructit