The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-07-27

Sa1dCA III 0CAASO W last lfNOl OdhCU
on h garment for h poor the needle
has wrought wonders of kindness, gen.
crosby and b~enefaction. 1t adorned
the girdle of the high priest, II fash
toned the curtains in the ancient tab
ernacle, it cushioned the chariots OF
King Solomon, it provided the robes
Of Queen Elizabeth, and in high places
and in low places by fire of the
pioneers backlog and under the fash
of the chandelier, everywhere, it has
clothed n~akedness, IT has preached the
gospel. 1T a overcome hosts OF pen
ury and van with the warcry of
Stitch, stitch, stitchi" The operatives
have found a livelihood by II, and
through it the mansions of the en-
ployer are constructed.
Amid b greatest triumphs in all
ages and lands, l set down the con
quests of the needle l admit its crime;
/ admit its cruelties. 1t has had more
martyrs than the fire; it has p~unctured
the BYE; it has pierced the side; IL has
struck into the lungs; il has
sem madness into the brain; il has
filled the potter's field; 1t has pitched
whole armies of h suffering into
crime and Indebtedness n Woe But
now that / am talking of Dorcas and
her ministries TO h Dor I shall speak
only of the charities of the needle.
This woman was a representative OF
all those who make garments Tor the
destitute, who knit socks for n pare
footed, who prepare bandages for the
lacerated, who fix up boxes OF clothing
for missionaries, who go into the asy-
lums of the suffering and destitute,
bearing that gospel which is sight for
the blind and hearing for the DEAF,
and which makes the lame man leap
like a hart and brings the dead to life,
immortal health bounding in their
pulses. What a contrast between the
practical benevolence of this woman
and a great deal of the charity of this
day, This woman did not spend her
time idly planning how the poor OF the
city of Joppa were to be relieved; she
took her needle and relieved them.
she was not like those persons who
sympathiZe with imaginary sorrows,
and go out in the street and laugh at
the boy who has upset his basket OF
cold v~ictuals, or like that charity
which makes a rousing speech on the
benevolent platform and goes ou to
kick the beggar from the step, crying,
Hush your miserable hOwling!" Suf-
ferers of the world want not so much
theory as practice; not so much tears
as dollars; not so much kind wishes
as lOaVeS of bread; not so much smiles
as shoes; not so much God bless
yous!" as jackets and frocks. L will
put one earnest Christian man, hard
working, against five thousand mere
theorists on the subject of charity.
There are a great many who have n
ideas about church architecture who
never in their life helped to build a
church. There are men who can Civ
you the history of Buddhism and Mo-
hammedanism who never sent a farth-
ing for evangelization. There are wo-
men who talk beautifully about the
suffering of the world, who never had
courage, like Dorcas, ito take h needle
and assault it.
WOMAN'S BENEVOUENCE.
1 am glad thai there is not a age
of the worlds history which is not a
record of female benevoIence. God
says to all lands and people, come
now and near the widows mite rattle
down into the poor box. The Princess
of Cont sold all her jewels that she
help the famine stricken. Queen
Blanche, the wife of Louis VIII of
France, hearing that there We're some
u~njustly incarcerated in the
prisons, went out amid the rabble and
took a stick and struck the door as a
that they might all strike it, and
down went the prison door, n out
came the prisoners. Queen Maud, the
wife of Henry 1, went down amid the
pOOT dLu NdSlGu lltlT SUITS dllu du-
to them cordialS. Mrs. Ret
son, at Matagorda, appeared on the
battlefield while the missiles of death
were flying around and cared for the
wounded. Is there a man or woman
who has ever heard of the civil war in
America who has not heard of the wo-
men of the sanitary n Christian
commissions or the fact that before
smoke had gone up from Gettys-
hIrU onH Snnfh Mountain thn women
Of the north met the women of the
south on the battlefield, forgetting all
their animosities while they bound UP
the wounded n closed the eyes of the
slain? Dorcas, the benefactress.
1 come now to speak of Dorcas, the
lamented. When death struck down
that good woman, oh, how much sor-
there was in the town of Joppa.
[ suppose there were women there with
fortunes, women, perhaps, with
handsomer faces, but there was no
grief at their departure like this at h
1eath of DorcaS. There was not more
and upturning in the Mediter-
ranean sea, dashing against the wharfs
at that seaport, than there were surg
.ngS to and fro of grief because Dor
cas was dead. There are a great many
h go out of life and are unmissed.
There may be a YER large funeral,
nay be a great many carriages
md a plumed hearse, there may be
high sounding eulogiums, the bell may
oil at the cemetery gate, there may
a very fine marble shaft reared over |
he resting place, but the whole thing |
nay be a falsehood and a sham. The
of God has lost nothing, the
world has lost nothing. 1t is only a
nuisance abated. 1t is only a grum- |
bier ceasing to find fault. 1t is only |
IN idler stopped yawning. 1t is only
d~issipated fashionable parted from
lis wine cellar, while on the other
land no useful Christian leaves this
world without being missed.
The church of God cries out like the
prophet, Howl, fir tree, for the cedar
fallen!" Widowhood comes and |
'hows the garments which the depart
d had made. Orphans are lifted up
o look into the calm face of the sleep
benefactreSs. Reclaimed vagrancy
n kisses the cold brow of her
Who charmed it ava from sin, and
through the streets of Joppa there
S Notwithstanding because Dor
is dead. When Josephine of France
vas carried out to her grave, there
we're a great many men and wcmen