Milford chronicle., 1901-03-22
VOL. XIV. NO. IL WHOLE NUMBER, 1899

WASHINGTON, March lin a new
way and from peculiar text DIR. Tai
mage discourses Of good influences
brought 10 bear for the worlds improve
ment. The text is Ezekiel tx, ,, And
nne man among them was clothed with
linen. with writer's inkhOrn by his
side"
The poem from which my text is taken
is epic. lyric dramatic, weird and over
towering. 1t is more than HOmeric or
Dantesque. No one ever had such divine
dreams as Ezekiel. In a vision this
prophet had seen wrathful angels, de-
stroying angels, each with a sword. but
in my text he sees merciful angel with
M inkhorn. The receptacle for the ink
in 0lden time was made out of the horn
Of COW or ram or rOebuck, as now
it is made out of metal or glass, and
therefore was called the inkhOrn, 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 influence, but today I
speak of the power for good or evil in
the inkstand. II is upon your tables.
holding black or blue or red liquid. 1t
is fortress, an arinOry, Il gateway,
ransom or Il demolition. You mistake"
says some one: lit is the pen that has the
power" No, my friend. What is the
influence Of dry pen? Pass it up and
down IA sheet Of paper, and it leaves Il,
mark. II expresses no opinion. 1t gives
no warning. II spreads no intelligence.
1t is the liquid which the pen dips out of
the inkstand that does the work Here
and there celebrated pen. with which
a Declaration Of Independence or a Mag
I - ola utftfI hos
been kept in literary museum or ma
tiOnal archives, hut for the most part the
pens, whether. as Of old. made ont of
reed or later of wing Of bird or still later
Of metallic substance, have disappeared
while the liquid which the pens took
from the inkstand remains in scrolls
which. II put together, would be large
enough to eawrap the round world. For
practical. for moral. 70" religious. for
eternal purposes, ] speak Of the mission
Of the writer's inkhOrn."
First. | mention that which is purel"
domestic. The inkstand is in every
household. Ii awaits the opportunity ia
express affection or coincidence or advice.
Father uses il; mother uses it; the sons
and daughters use It, 1t tells the home
news: il announces the marriage. the
birth. the departure, the accident. the
last sickness, the death. That home ink
stand. what mission it has already cX
rcuted. and what ether missions will il
vet fulfill! May it stand off from all in
sincerity and all querulOusness. Let i
tell only that which ii would be well Il
i I'D after the hand that wrote il and thu
hand that received it cqp write no more
Dip out Of that inkstand only that which
is paternal, maternal. filal. sisterly
brotherly. Sacred let it be not to wha
are sometimes called the "hOusehOlI
gods" but to the one and the only Coz
who "setteth the solitary in families.
Dip out of it solace for parents on tn
descending grade of years and encOuT
agement for those who are climbing tn
sleeps.
The carvcrs and glass blowers are eve
busy making more ornate and skillfr
bowls for the ink, but not one of theI
will be so sacred as the old fashiOne
Q inkstand ont of which was dipped tn
= liquid for the making of the family REL
:, ord on the blank leaves in the Bible b,
i tween the Old and the New Testament
s not so many leaves now blank as befOl
p recent years made birthday or mortuaI
,y insertions. From that home inkStand Ii
es child dips out material for those larl
u and awkward letters that one alwa!
makes when learning to write, and fro
il are taken the trembling letters TIL
show the wrnkled hand is gradually 70
getting its cunning.
writing to Old Folks at Home.
o We who have with recent years S
g, up homes of your own, out of the ne
d. home inkstand write often to the O
| ft.-;v I,fe
means more to them than to us. who u
amid the activities of life and to who
:. postal correspondence is more than \
ID, can manage. They await the coming
the letter Undertake no great thing
life without their advice Old people {
counsel; young people for action Ev
SA though through decadcnce they may
Incompetent to give valuable opinions
important affairs. compliment them
asking their counsel Ii will do tn,
good. 1t will make their last days
hilarant. Make that home inkstand
source of rejuvenescence to those W
are near the terminus of the eartl
journey. Domestic correspondence is
= attended to as once. The npwspap
joining with the telegraph, bears the I
ings of oil the neighborhood. but swift
I
and quickest flash along the elect
wires can never do the sympathetic W,
ers, of the home inkstand. As the merci
angel of my text appeared before
brazen altar with the inkhOrn at his $
,ers. in EzekicI's vision. so let the angel
I M fial kindness appear at the affairs of
am. old homestead.
pm. Furthermore. the inkstand of the b
ness man has its mission Between I
,ht. and the hour of your demise, o conn
Dove cial man. 0 professional man. there
iday not be day when you cannot dip Fl
the inkhOrn message that will intiue
temporal and eternal destiny Their
:. m a rash young man running into wild $
ulatiOn, and with as much ink as you
hila. put on the p9p nj one time you may 5
him from the Niagara rapids of Il rui
life. On the next street there is va
90 man started in business who. thro
SO lack of patronage or mistake in purcl
of goods or want of adaptation. is on
In, brink of collapse. One line of ink f
your pen will save him from being an
derling all his life and start him on d
- reer that will win him fortune W
will enable him to become an end,
of libraries, an opener of art galleries
builder of churches.
The Authors Responsibilities
Furthermore. great are the resp
bilities of the authors inkhOrn. All
people. or nearly all the people. read.
. that which they read decides their
Rls or minerals, their prosperity or
. ure, their faith or their unbelief,
purity or corruption, their heaven or
Show me any mans library, great or $
and after examining the books, fiji
those with leaves uncut, but displNye
sake of the binding and those worn
frequent perusal, and without ever $
the man or knowing his name, | wi
you his likes and his dislikes; his m
G good or bad or Indifferent; his qua
- ton for business or artistic or p
sional or mechanical life. The be
DEL' dex to any mans character is the
he prefers above all others. Oh, the
er of a book for good or evil!
Abraham Lincoln in early life
1870 Paine's age of Reason" and it
4. !. !. ] !. !. !. ].
@ fuenced him that he wrote an
against Christianity, but afterward
Christian books came into his hanC
q gloriously changed his mind and
4 him a most ardent friend Of the
l1S and a man of prayer. A letter
Lincoln's own handwriting is in my
o get the letter in response to some resO
ESi6Na ,,ossod NV a Methodist conference