The Penn's Grove record., 1903-06-19
SERMON FOR SUNDAY
A DISCOURSE FOR GIRLS DELIVERED
BY REV. DR.. w. r. HUNTINGTON,

BY REV. DR.. w. R. HUNTINGTON,
The Preacher Describes Epder What Con-
ditions 1t is Possible FE q Woman to
Become, in Very Deed and Truth, a
Lady Forever-Be Gentle and Dignifsl
NEW YORK CITY.-The Rev. DIR. Will
lam T.. Huntington, rector of Grace
Church, preached recently a sermon to a
fashionable school for girls which has
attracted much attention, and by request
it is here given. The text was chosen from
Isaiah Xvii: Z: "Thou saidst, | shall be
a lady forever" DIR. Huntington said:
I quote our prophet in this fragmentary
way for tie sake of vividless. The briefer
the text, the more likely it is to be re-
~membered. But if, under present circum-
stances, we would do justice to the man
and to his thought, some heed must be
given to what has gone before and to what
follows. Taken by themselves the words
sound as if they must have been, in the
first instance, addressed to a woman, but
they were not. The a~spirant after an
everlasting ladyship was no woman at all,
but a clty--an ancient city, a city o~pulent,
and superb, Babylon the great.
Emboldened like ancient. Rome by its
military ~conquests, intoxicated like medi-
eval Venice by its commercial prosperity.
confident like modern London in the nos
session of resources which seemed measure
less, this queen city of Chaldea had come
to think of itself as invincible and indes-
tructible. blouse of Eternity was the
name it gave to one Of its temples. "Foun-
dation stone of heaven and earth" ran the
vain-glorious appellation of another. Gar
dens and parks, the city had in abundance.
A mighty bridge which crossed and a tun-
mel which underran the river Euphrates
were among its engineering triumphs. The
circuit of the walls, lofty and broad al
most beyond belief, was between fifty and
sixty miles.
But there was a man in Jerusalem whom
none of these things greatly moved in the
sense of supplying or alarming him. The
mans name was Isaiah and hi. fathers
name was Amor. When people came to
him with their panic talk about the big
ness of Babylon and the littleness of Jerus-
alem, he betrayed no apprehensions on the
contrary, he spoke up and harangued
Babylon with much plainness of speech.
"Sit thou SILENT he cried, and get thee
into darkness, 0 daughter of the Chal-
deans, for thou shalt no more be called
the lady Of kingdoms. Thou saidst |
shall be a lady forever-therefore hear
thou, thou that art given to pleasures,
that dwellest carelessly-these two things
shall come to thee in a moment, in one
day, the loss of children and widowhood.
They shall come upon thee in their perfec-
ton for the multitude of thy sorceries
and for the great abundance Of thine en-
chantments.'
Thus sternly, almost fercely, Isaiah, son
Of Amor, addresses mighty Babylon. He
speaks of her as to a woman of rank whose
| pride and indocility are presently to prove
her overthrow and to transform her pleas
ant palaces into uinou heaps. She leans
upon her advantage of high station all un-
aware that the staff is too brittle for the
weight. Forgetful of the duties which con-
dition privilege, she fancies that old time
prerogative and the accumulated prestige
Of many generations will be her safety.
Gods prophet determines to shake her
out of this illusion, to compel her to open
her eyes to the hard fact and be does it,
as we lave seen.
With the text thus well in hand. we
proceed. Under what conditions is it pos
sible, either for a city or for a woman, to
become. in very deed and truth, a lady
forever?
! This is the question to which l shall ask
you to bend your thought tonight, and
whether we have respect to the week
which ended yesterday or to the week
which has been entered upon to-day
cannot but account the topic a timely one
1t may seem to be comparing small things
with great to name the commencement
week of a school for girls in the same
breath with the commemorative week of q
city which has lived through the fourth
part of a thousand years, but, perhaps
before we are done, my boldness in ven
turing thus to couple the two may be for
given me.
Of the sorts of ladyship of which I have
made mention, that to which communities
and that to which individuals may attain
we will look at civic ladyship first. With
civic ladyship we associate those qualities
which win for cities an admiring love
Physical strength, riches, commercial en-,
terprise will give a city lordship. That is
one thing; but ladyship is quite another
For the compelling of respect lordshir
may suffice a city, for the winning of at
lection something of lae-ship is essential
How about the Lady of the Hudson? Has
she any better ground for counting upon
the perpetuity of her ladyship than had
the Lady Of the Euphrates? Can we trust
her any more implicitly than Isaiah trust
ed Babylon when she says confidently y
shall be a lady forever That depends
upon the relative measure of importance
sign to the treasures of the market al
compared with the treasures of the soul.
! ] am using the word "sour' in a large
n comprehensive sense. Religion ane
~religisus interests are Of course foremost
in my thought, since, without a due re
gard to these no city can permanently
live; but when ! speak of the treasures o.
the soul as essential to the city that woule
adventure ladyship have in mind all Of
the idealistic as contrasted with the ma
terialistic side of human life-Righteous
ness? Yes. Worship? Yes; but beside
these, poetry, letters and whatever else
there may be that ministers beauty to the
eye of harmony and melody to the ear,
These last are what make the treasures Of
the soul. These, mingled in due proper
ton, give to a municipality what silver
and gold and negotiable securities of them
selves can never give-that lndescrlbable
quality which l have ventured to call CIVIC
ladyship.
The prevailing note during the past
week has been the note of self-congratula-
ton. Whatever flags and flowers could dc
to convince people through the eye, OF
speech and song to persuade them through
the ear has been attempted. 1t has beer
lubilate throughout, as was proper enough
IN connection with birthday festivities
and yet there is another side to it all. The
statistics Of the city's trade are marvel
spiritual possessions and the roster of Its
great men? How many poets and how
many seers, how many composers and how
many artists, how many scholars and dl-
vines. how many philosophers and states
men has this community produced in the
course of its two hundred and fifty years
OF organized existence? Nay, of those
whom we recall as having come under one
or another of these heads, how many have
been of first rank, how many even OF sec.
ond rank, when the complete census OF
the great of old" is taken into account!
These, perhaps, are humbling reflections,
but they are wholesome. 1t is by count
OF heroes, not by count of heads, that a
city's place in the final list of honors is to
be determined. Whether this city of mag
nificent opportunities is destined to accom-
plish ladyship remains to be seen. The
balance trembles.
| pass abruptly from the week Of COM
memoration to the week of anticipation,
Rom thoughts suggested by the prospect
from your windows to thoughts suggested
by the faces into which / look.
In what sense it IS open to you girl
graduates of this passing year, dreaming
your early dreams of what success IN llfe
may signify, in what sense is it possible
for you to attain ladyship forever! Before
attempting to answer the question, let us