The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-08-02

hls children were born
 The home is the foundation stone of the temple of patriotism It has been well said by a great writer "The surest way to destroy anarchy is to bring about so- cial condition where every man can own a home" When a man sits upon his own doorstep he truly feels he Is an American citizen. He will then. If necessary be more willing to die for that country of which his home Is a part. And one of the greatest curses blasting our large cities today is not that their people are bad, but that they are becoming q people with out homes. They are living for the most part In boarding houses and in rented rooms. from which they can move out at a couple of weeks notice. Oh. women of America, whom God is calling to the service of a domestic, l plead and beg of you 10 take up your noble work. l plead and beg of you in the name of Christ that you help save the homes the Christian l homes. No throne of usefulness. l care not how high 1t may be, can eyer overtop that which makes it possible for the little 1 children to gather around their own fire side
 The royal domestic Is a queen. The kitchen and the nursery are places where l God expects a woman naturally to serve. l l have no use for those masculine cynics who would debar women from the differ l ent vacations of life Some men. no mat l ter what the genius of a woman may be, would slam the door of all useful means l of earning an honest livelihood in their sisters faces. They say "a woman should not be a lawyer, a doctor a minister. merchant, an artist writer or anything else but wife and a mother" But this Is what l do affirm; All things being equal, a woman ought to seek those vacations which are naturally hers and let the men fill those positions which naturally belong to them It Is not natural for woman to be a soldier a fireman. a policeman. It Is not natural for her to dig in the gutter or work as day laborer in the fields. as she is compelled to do in foreign lands It Is not natural for her to slave in the factory or to fill many of the clerical posi- tions she is filling today. While on the other hand, 1t is natural for her to be a nurse, dressmaker, a cook, a chamber maid, waitress, a school teacher and lady's companion, and hundreds of other positions we might easily mention
 Now, when woman deserts the posi- tions for which God has specially equipped her, what is the inevitable result? Her work Is not only left undone. but she be- comes a competitor against her father and brothers for theirs. What is again the in- eNtable result? By the law of supply and demand she not only underbids her broth CT for his position. but by that bidding the whole system of wages goes down. She Is the sufferer. He is the sufferer. The mischief Is far reaching It Is the re- suit of her turning aside from her natural employment in which there Is pressing need of her service and in which she could find constant occupation at remuneratlve wages. She leaves a place unified and forces herself into a walk of life already overcrowded and in which her competi- tion is injurious to other workers.
 "Oh, some one says to me that is the old argument of jealous man. You do not like to feel that your sister Is just smart as you are and perhaps a little smarter and can take away your job and do 1t better for less money" No, my friend l can conscientiously gay I have not one jealous hair in my head The more other people succeed the more I glory in their success and to me there is no more beautiful sight than to see young girl whose father and brothers are dead go forth and seek a position which her talent gives her right to fill and bring money home and throw 1t in the lap of her widowed mother. But this is the social position against which I do pro- test: l protest against our daughters and sisters pushing their fathers and brothers out of work, so that the girls have to sup port the male members of the family while the fathers and brothers are idle be- cause their places have been taken by women. I have known scores and hundreds of men over fifty years of age who were physically able to do work, but could not get work merely because their daughters who at that time should have been at school, were filling the positions which their fathers and brothers ought to have filed
 The Christian Domestic.
 Now. women of America whom God has called to be consecrated domestlcs plead with you to enter the kitchen and the nursery and the home because that is one of your natural spheres. That Is a place where God wants you to work. The Christian domestic should be honored both on earth and in heaven because she Is not only able to do her own work but also to impress her consecrated life indelibly upon others Did she not do 1t with the emperor of all the Russias? When the old nurse of Emperor Alexander died did he not, as well as all his brothers who were grand dukes. follow that sacred body to the family tomb? They not only fol- lowed 1t afoot, but walked for three long miles through a binding Russian snow storm. Did not humble Christian nurse start forth Lord Shaftesbury upon his great mission of life? When the famous English phlanthropist's hair had been sil- vered by the ravages of many winters he testified In public meeting "All that I have been able to do for Christ and my fellow men Is due to the gospel teachings of my old Christian nurse" As the little Jewish maiden, who was a servant girl. sent the warrior Naaman down to the river Jordan to be cured of leprosy, has there'not been in our past lives some con secrated domestic who was able to help send ns to the waters of life to be cured of our leprosy of sin? Oh, my sister, never underestimate the opportunities of use- fulness of the honorable position of a mo- ble Christian girl serving Christ as q do- mestic in some humble home.
 Thus in closing I would speak an earn est word to those women who are about to consecrate their lives to this line of ser vice. God has opened for you mighty DOS abilities for good Fit yourself for that work as the Lord Jesus Christ would have you Make the Bible the chief textbook or your life. Pray, and unceasingly pray. that the Holy Spirit will inspire you to speak the right word in the right way Above all, whatsoever your station In life may be- let me urge you to enter the service of Jesus Christ Not even the subject of your life's occupation can com pare in importance with the crucial oues- ton whether you are servant of o,,r Lord Make that your first. your cbiof business. that you are accepted of hin, ana that you are obeying his commands Look not for your rewards from man hnt so i've that in the great day of Judgment you may hear the best of all encomiums. Af