Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1903-06-18
"A LADY FOREVER"
Brilliant Sermon By Rev. DR.. W. X
Huntington.
Describes Under What Conditions II Is Pos
slble for Woman 10 Become
Lady Forever.

NEW YORK CITY. The Rev. DIR. Will
lam r. Huntington, rector OF Grace
Church, preached recently a sermon to
attracted much attention, and by request
it is here given. The text was chosen from
isaiah Xvii 7: Thou So dist, [ shall be
lady forever" Dr. Huntington said:
| quote our prophet in this iragmentary
way for the sac of vividGess. The hreier
the text, the more likely it is to he re-
membcred 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 il they must have been, in the
first instance, addressed to 4 woman. but
they were not The aspirant after an
everlasting ladyship was 10 woman at al,
but cty-~an ancient city, city opulcnt,
and superb, Babylon the great =,
Emboldened like ancient Rome by rs
eval Venice by its commercial prosperity,
confident like modern London IN the pos
session of resources which seemed measure
less, this queen city of Cha!dca had come
to think Of itself as invincih'c and lndcS'
tructiblc. "House of Eternity was the
name it gave to one of its temples. "Foun'
daton 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 luphrates
were among its engineering triumphs. The
circuit OF the walls, lofty and broad a..
most beyond belief. was between fifty and
sixty miles.
But there was a man in .]erusa lem whom
none of these things greatly moved in the
sense of Supplying or farming him. The
mans name was Isaiah and his fathers
name was Ainoz. When people came to
ness of Babylon and the littleness of jerls
alem, he betrayed no apprehenslons on the
contrary, he spoke up and harangucd
Babylon with much ,laia0ess of speech
"Sit thou silent" he cried, and get thee
into darkness, O daughter of The ChaI
deans, for thou shalt no more be- called
the lady OF kingdoms. Thou saidst |
shall be a lady forever therefore heal
thou, thou that art given to pleasures
that dwelcst carclessy these two thing
shall come TO thee III moment, III one
day. the loss of children and widoWhood
They shall come upon thee in their perfcc
ton for the multitude Of thy sorcerics
and for the great abundance OF thine en-
chantments.'
Thus sternlv. almos' Govcciv, Isaiah, son
Of Amo2 addresses mighty Babylon. lie
speaks OF nef as 10 i woman OF RANK NIh'SC
pride and ndociIity arc presently 10 prove
her overthrow and to transform her peas
ant palaces into rnnous heaps. She cans
upon her advantage of high station All un
aware that the staff is too brittle for the
weight. Forgctful Of the 'luties which con
dition privilege. she iances that Old tmc
prerogatiye and the accumulated prestige
of many generations will h" her safety
Gods prophet determines TO shake her
E ,,glI ,,,.
her eyes to the hard fact aud he does it
as we have seen.
With the text thus well in hand. We
proceed Under what conditions Is it pos.
sibIc, either for city or Tor "A woman, to
become, in very deed and truth, lady
forever?
This is the question to which I 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 timely one
1t may seem to be comparing small things
with great to name the commencement
week Of scnool for girls III the same
breath with the commemorative week OF
city which has lived through the fourth
part of a thousand years, but, perhaps.
before we are done, my botdness in ven
turing thus to couple the two may be for
given me.
OF the sorts of ladyship of which ! have
made mention, that to which communities
and that to which individuals may attain
we will look at civic ladvship first. With
civic ladyshlp we associate those qualities
which win for cities N admlrlng love
Physical strength, riches, commercial en-
terpr!se will give a city lordsalp. That Is
one thing; but ladyship is quite another
For the compelling OF respect lordshlp
,,,u, For ha ~ n a u.
lection something of la,.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 Enphratcs? Can we trust
her any more implicitly than Isaiah trust,
ed Babylo when she says confidently y
shall be a lady forever That depends
upon the re.ative measure OF importance
which the city, in the long run, shall as.
sign to the treasures Of the market as
compared with the treasures OF the soul.
am using the word 'soul' IN large
and comprehensive sense. Religion aHd
religious interests are OF course foremost
in my thought, since, without due ~
gard to these mo city can permanently
live; but wh"n speak OF the treasures OF
the soul as essential to the city that WoA'd
adventure !adyship | have in mind all oi
those precious things that 80 to- make Nj
the ideaistic as contrasted with the ma
tera,istic side Of human life Righteous.
ness Yes Worship! Yes; but beside
these. poetry, letters and whatever els"
there may be that ministers beauty to In"
eve OF harmony and melody to the car,
These last are what make the trca suHc< OF
the soul. These, mingled IN due pToNof-
ton. give to i municipality what tlNcr
and god and negotiable secuiiic1 OF them
selves can never givc-that lndoa"nhabo
,yhirh | have uIpI tn plIi