Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1902-03-08

WASHINGTON. March IA familiar
illustration from the barnyard is en-
ployed in this discourse by DIR. Tai
mage to show the comfort and protec-
ton that heaven affords to all trusting
souls. The text Is Matthew xiii, 81,
Even as n hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings. and ye would not"
Jerusalem was In sight as Christ
came 10 the crest of Mount Olivet, a
height Of 700 feet. The splendOrs Of
the religious capital Of the whole earth
irradlated the landscape. There is the
temple Yonder is the kings palace.
Spread out before his eyes are the
pOmp, the wealth. the wickedness and
the coming destruction Of Jerusalem,
and he bursts into tears at the thought
of the obduracy of a place that he
would gladly have saved and apostro-
phlzes. saying, 20 Jerusalem, Jeru-
salem, how often would | have gath
cred thy children together. even as a
hen gathereth her chickens under her
wings, and ye would nOt!"
Why did Christ select hen and chick
ems as Il slmile? Next to the Apostle
ness of the comparison, think it was
TO help all public teachers In the mat
ter OF illustration to get down Off their
stills and use comparisons that all can
The plainest bird on earth
is the barnyard fowl. Its only adorn-
ments are the red comb in its head
dress and the wattles under the throat.
1t has no grandeur Of genealogy. All
we know is that its ancestors came
from India. some of them from a
height of 1000 feet on the sides of the
1t has no pretensiOn OF
nest like the eagles eyrie. 1t has no
luster OF plumuge like the goldtinch.
anatomy that allows fight.
yet about the last thing it wants to do
Is to fly. and In retreat uses foot al
most as much as wing. Musicians have
written out In musical scale the song
Df lark aud robin redbreast and night
ngale, yet the hen of my text hath
nothing that could be taken for a song,
but only cluck and cackle. Yet Christ
IN the text uttered while looking upon
doomed Jerusalem declares that what
ne had wished for that city was like
what the hen does for her chickens.
CbrIsf's GImnIe TearhInRH.
Christ was thus simple In his teach
ngs. and yet how hard 1t Is for us who
ire Sunday school instructors and ed
tors and preachers and reformers and
hose who would gain the ears Of audi
snces to attain that heavenly and d.
zine art of simplicity We have to run
/ course OF literary disorders as chill
lren a course OF physical disorders.
We come out OF school and college |
oaded down with Greek mythologies |
md out of the theological seminary |
weighed down with what the learned |
'athcrs said. and we fly with wings of !
eagles and hamlngoes and albatrosses,
md 1t takes good while before we |
AN come down TO Christ's similitudes, |
he candle under the bushel. the salt |
hat has lost It's SAVIOR. the net thrown
nto the sea. the splttle on the eyes Of
he blind man and the hen and chick
ms.
There Is not much poetry about this
winged creature Of God mentioned In
ny text, but she Is more practical and
more motherly and more suggestive Of
.ood things than many that fly higher
nd wear brighter colors. She is not
rma donna of the skies nor strut of
,eauty In the aisle Of the forest. She
oes not cut q circle under the sun like
he Rocky mountain eagle. but stays
t home to look after family affairs.
he does not swoOp like the condor Of
be cordilleras to transport rabbit
rom the valley to the top Of the crags,
ut Just scratches for a living.
am in warm sympathy with the un-
retentious old fashioned hen because,
Ike most Of us. she has to scratch for
living. She knows at the start the
,sson which most people of good sense
re slow to learn-that the gaining Of a
velihOod implies work and that sue
esses do not lie on the surface. but are
} be upturned by positive and contin-
Gus effort. The reason that society
nd the church and the world are so
llI OF failures. so full OF loafers. so
lll of dcadbeats Is because people
re not wise enough to take the lesson
'hch any hen would teach them that
they would find for themselves and
Or those dependent upon them any
ling worth having they much scratch
)r 1t. Solomon said. Go to the ant,
lou sluggard." | say. Go to the hen,
lou sluggard. In the Old Testament
cd compares himself to an eagle STIR
ng up her nest and In the New Testa-
tent the Holy Spirit Is compared to a
ascending dove. but Christ in a SER
ION that began with cutting sarcasm
,r hypocrites and ends with the parox-
SIN of pathos In the text compares
imself to hen.
Hawks of Temptation.
One day in the country we saw sud-
en- CONSERVATION in the behavior OF
d Domlnick. Why the hen should be
} disturbed we could not understand
1e looked about to see If neighbours
Dg were invading the farm. We look
up to see IL stormcloud were hov-
ing. We could see nothing on the
round that could terrorize. and we
,uld see nothing In the air to rufie
le feathers of the hen, but the loud,
lid, affrighted cluck which brought
Il her brood at full run under her
,atbers. made us look again around
nd above US. when we say that high
D and far away there was rapacious
Ird wheeling round and round and
own and down. and. not seeing US as
re stood in the shadow. it came nearer
nd lower until we saw its beak was
uryed from base to tip and 1t had two
ames of fire for eyes and II WIS