The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1899-12-01
GOD SENT THE WHEEL
The Theme for Dr.. Talmage's
Thank giving Sermon
b wheel as . sy Of Prosperity
some Reasons for National
Gra titude-Eenef of In
Sentive Genius.
copyright, 1899. by Louis Klopsch.1
Washington.

non of preparation for the national
observance Of this week and in an un-
usual way calls for the gratitude of the
people; the text, Ezekiah 1913: AS
for the wheels, it was cried unto them
10 my hearing, 0 wheel"
Next Thursday will, by proclamation
Of president and governors. be OBJ
served in Thanksgiving for temporal
mercies. With what spirit shall we en-
ter upon it,? For nearly a year and a
half this nation has been celebrating
the triumph OF sword and gun and bat
terry. We have sung martial airs and
cheered returning heroes and sounded
the requiem for the slain in battle. Me-
thinks it will be a healthful change If
this Thanksgiving week, in church and
homestead, we celebrate the victories
Of peace, for nothing was done at San
tiago or Manila that was of more inn
portance than that which in the last
year has been done in farmers field
and mechanics shop and authors
study by those who never wore an epau-
let or shot a Spaniard or went a hun
dred miles from their own doorsill. And
now | call your attention to the wheel
OF the text
Man, a small speck in the universe.
was set down in "A big world, high
mountains rising before him, deep seas
arresting his pathway and wild beasts
capable of his destruction, yet he was
to conquer. 1t could not be by physical
force, for compare his arm with the
oS's horn and the elephants tuSk, and
how weak he is! 1t could not be by
physical speed, for compare him TO the
antelope's foot and ptarmigan's wing,
and how slow he is, 1t could not be
by physical capacity to soar or plunge,
for the condor beats him in one direc-
ton and the porpoise in the other. Yet
he was to conquer the world. Two ewes.
two hands, and two feet were INSULT
cicnt. He must be reinforced, so God
sent the wheel.
Twenty-Five times is the wheel men
toned in the Bible, sometimes, as in
Ezekiel, Illustrating providential move
ment; sometimes, as in the Psalms,
crushing the bad; sometimes. as in
Judges, representing Gods charioted
progress. The wheel that started in
Exodus rolls on through Proverbs,
through Isaiah, through Jeremiah,
through Daniel, through Nahum,
through the centuries, all the time
gathering momentum and splendor,
until. seeing what it has done for the
worlds progress and happiness. we
clap our hands in Thanksgiving and en-
ploy the apostrophe of the text crying:
80, wheel"
| call on you in this Thanksgiving
to praise God for the triumphs
of machinery, which have revolution
lied the world and multiplied its at
fractions. Even Paradise. though very
picturesque, must have been compare
lively dull, hardly anything going on,
agriculture needed, for the harvest
was spontaneous; no architecture re-
for they slept under the trees;
manufacturers loom necessary for
the weaving Of apparel, for the fashions
were exceedingly simple. TO dress the
would not have required ten
minutes a day.
Having nothing to do, they got into
mischief and ruined themselves and the
race. 1t was a sad thing to be turned
out of Paradise. but. once turned out. a
beneficent thing to be compelled to
work. To help man up and on God sent
the wheel. 1t turned ahead, the race
advances: if turned back, the race re-
To arouse your gratitude and
exalt your praise ! would show you
the wheel has done for the domes-
tic world, for the agricultural world,
for the travelling world, for the literary
world. "As for the wheels, it was cried
unto them in my hearing: WHEEL"
In domestic life the wheel has wrought
revolution. Behold the sewing ma
1t has shattered the house
bondage and prolonged woman's
and added unreasonable advan-
The needle for ages had pune
tured the eyes and pierced the side and
made terrible massacre. To prepare the
garments Of a whole household in the
for summer and in the autumn
for winter was an eXhausting process.
stitch. stitch. stitch!" Thomas Hood
set it to poetry, but millions of persons
have found it agonizing prose.
Slain by the sword, we buried the
hero with Dead March" in "Saui" and
at half mast. Slain by the needle,
no one knew it but the household that
watched her health giving way. The
after that the children were
and cold and hungry or in the
a%lmshouse. The hand that welded the
needle had forgotten its cunning. Soul
and body had parted at the seam. The
Ihimble had dropped from the palsied
The thread of life had snapped
md let a suffering human drop into
the grave. The spool was all unwound.
Her sepulcher was digged not with SEX
.on's spade, but with a sharper and
implement-a needle. Federal
md confederate dead have ornamented
at Arlington Heights and Rich
and Gettysburg, thousands by
thousands, but II will take the arch
trumpet TO find the million
graves Of the vaster army Of women
slain.
Besides all the sewing done for the
household at home, there are hundreds
II thousands OF sewing women. The
OF the needle is the tragedy
If hunger and cold and insult aud home.
sickness and suicide-fve acts.
But / hear the rush Of a wheel. Wom-
in puts on the band and adjusts the
instrument. puts her foot on the treadle
md Begins. Before the whir and rattle
pleurisies, consumptions, headaches,
,arIuchos hnoryuchav oro ~cvtaA The |