The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-03-29

way an0 IE0E. q pecILar text III. Lar
mage discourses of good influences
brought te bear for the worlds improve
ment. The text is Ezekiel TX, 2, And
one man among them. was clothed with
linen, with "a writer's I5nkhorn by his
side"
The poem from WHICH NY text is taken
is epic, lyric, dramatic, weird and over
towering. L is more than Homeric or
Dantesque. No one ever. had such divine
dreams as Ezekiel. In 80 vision this
prophet had seen wrathful angels, de-
stroying angels, each with & sword, but
in my text he sees a mereifsl angel with
an inkhorn. The receptacle for the ink
In olden time was made out az the horn
Of q COW or a raM or a roebnek, as now
il is made out Of metal or glass, and
therefore was called the inkhoEn, as now
we say inkstand. We have all spoken of
the power of the sword, Of the power of
wealth, Of the power of Office. of the
power Of social i~nfueLce, but today L
speak Of the power for good. or evil in
the inkstand. 1t is upon your tables,
holding g black or blue. Or red lGui1. Il
is a fortress, an armory, a gateway, Il
ransom or q demolition. you mistake"
says some one; 1T is the Per that has the
power" No, my friend. What is the
influence of a dry pen? Pass it up and
down a sheet of papes,, and L. leaves 80
mark. It expresses no opinion. 1t gives
no warning. 1t spreads no intelligence.
1t is the liquid which the pen dips out .Gf
the inkstand that does tie worx. Here
and there a celebrated Pen, with which
a Declaration of Independence, ora Mag
ma Charta or a treaty wss signed has
been kept in literary museum or ma
tional archives, but for the most part the
pens, whether, as OF cid, made .ort Of
reed or later of wing OF bird OF still later
OF metallic substance, have disa ppeaned,
while the liquid which the Eens :toek
from the ipkstand remains in Scrolls
which. if put together, would be large
enough to enwrap the round world. For
practical, for moral, for religious. for
eternal purposes, | speak of the mission
of 1.-THE writer's Hkhorn."
First, l mention that which is purely
domestic. The iEkstand is in every
household. 1t awaits the opportunity 10
express affection or coincidence or advice.
Father uses it; mother uses it; the sons
and daughters use il. It tells the home
news; 1t announces the marriage. the
birth, the departure, the accident, the
last sickness, the death. That home ink
SIduu, "udI IL mISSitH IL ISS dlIGOuN GA-
ecuted, and what other missions will it
yet fulfill May il stand off from all in
sincerity and all querulousness. Let it
tell only that which it would he well to
read after the hand that wrote it and the
hand that received it can write nc more.
Dip out of that inkstand only that which
is paternal, maternal, flial, sisterly.
brotherly. Sacred let it be not to what
are sometimes called the Household
gods" but to the one and the only God
who "setteth the solitary in families"
Dip out of it solace for parents on the
descending grade Of years and encour-
agement for those who are climbing the
sleeps.
q The carvers and glass blowers are ever
busy making more ornat and skillful
bowls for the ink, but not one of them
will be so sacred as the old fashioned
inkstand out of which was dipped the
liquid for the making Of the family rec
ord on the blank leaves in the Bible be-
tween the Old and the New Testaments,
not so many leaves now blank as before
recent years made birthday or mortuary
insertions. From that home inkstand the
child dips out material for those large
and awkward letters that one always
makes when learning to write, and from
It are taken the trembling letters that
show the wrinkled hand is gradually for
getting its cunning.
! Writing to Old Folks mt Home.
o We who have with recent years set
up homes Of your own, out of the new
home inkstand write often to the old
folks, If they be still living! A letter
means more to them than to US. who are
[vStJ %ha onfiritioc nf Hfo 0n2 fn whom
postal correspondence is more han we
can manage. They await the coming Of
the letter. Undertake no great thing in
life without their advice. Old people for
counsel; young people for action. Even
though through decadence they may be
Incompetent to give valuable opinions on
important affairs, compliment them by
asking their counsel. 1t will do them
good. 1t will make their last days ex-
hilarant. Make that home inkstand a
source of rejuvenescence to those who
are near the terminus of the earthly
journey. Domestic correspondence is not
attended to as once The newspaper,
Joining with the telegraph, bears the It'd
ings of ell the neighborhood, but swiftest
revolving wheel Of modern printing press
and quickest flash along the electric
wires can never do the sympathetic work
OF the home inkstand. As the merciful
angel Of my text appeared before the
brazen altar with the inkhorn at his side
In Ezekiel's vision, so let the angel OF
6lial kindness appear at the affairs of the
Old homestead.
Furthermore, the inkstand of the bust
ness man has its mission. Between now
and the hour OF our demise, o CONNER
cial man, o professional man, there will
not be a day when you cannot dip from
the inkhorn q message that will influence
temporal and eternal destiny. There is
a rash young man running into wild spec
ulation, and with as much ink as you can
put on the pen st one time you may save
him from the Niagara rapids OF q ruined
life. On the next street there is a young
man started in business who, through
lack Of patronage or mistake in purchase
Of goods or want Of adaptation. is on the
brink OF collapse. One line of ink from
your pen will save him from being an IN.
derling all his life and start him on q ca,
reer that will win him u fortune which