The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1903-06-19
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
A DISCOURSE FOR GIRLS DELIVERED
BY REV. Or. w. 2. HUNTINGTON.
The Preacher Describes Under what Cou-
ditions Ii is Possible For . Woman to
become. in Very Deed and Truth. -
LADY foreyer-BeG Gentle ana Dignif . l

attracted much attention, and by request
~ - here given. The text was chosen irom
isaiah XVII: :: Thou saidst. | shall be
lady forever" DR., Huntington said;
j quote our prophet IN this iragmentary
way Cor the sake of vividness. The breier
the text the more likely u Is 20 be re-
membered. But II. under present clrcum-
stances. we would do justice TO the man
and 10 his thought, some heed must be
given 10 what has gone before and 20 what
follows. Taken 10y themselves the words
sound "a II they must have been, IN the
first instance, addressed to a woman. but
they were not. The asplrant after an
everlasting lacyship was no woman at all,
but a c.ty-an ancient city, city opu!cni,
and superb, Babylon the great.
Emboidened ike ancient Rome by Its
military conquests, intoxicated like medi-
eval Venice by Its commercial prosperity,
confident ike modern London in the pos
session OF resources which seemed measure
less this queen city OF Chaldea had come
10 think OF Itself as invinclble and indes-
tructlble. House Of Eternity was the
name IL gave 10 one OF its temples. "Foun-
dation stone of heaven and earth ran the
Valn-g glorious appellatlon OF another. Car
dens and parks the city had in abundance.
A mighty bridge which crossed and tun-
mel which underran the river Euphrates
were among its engineering triumphs. The
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 stupefying or alarming him. The
mans name was Isaiah and his fathers
name was Amoz. When people came 20
him with their panic talk about the big
ness OF Babylon and the httleness 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, q daughter of the Chal-
deans for thou shalt no more be called
the lady Of kingdoms. Thou saidst /
shall be lady forever-therefore hear
thou, thou that art gwen TO pleasures,
that dwellest carelessly-t two things
shall come 10 thee in a moment. in one
day, the loss OF children and widowhood
They shall come upon thee in their perfec-
tion for the multitude of thy sorceries
and for the great abundance OF thine en-
chantments."
Thus sternlv, almosi fercely, Isaiah, son
OF Amoz, addresses mighty Babylon. He
speaks of her as TO a woman of rank whose
pride and indocihty are presently - prove
her overthrow and 90 transform her pleas
ant palaces into ruinous 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 10 shake her
out of this illusion, 10 compel her 20 open
her eyes 10 the hard fact and he does IL,
as we have seen.
With the text thus well in hand. we
proceed. Under what conditions is 1t pos
sible, either for a city or for a woman, 10
become, in very deed and truth, a lady
forever?
This is the question to which shall ask
you to bend your thought tonight, and
whether we nave respect 10 the week
which ended yesterday or TO the week
which has been entered upon to-day
cannot but account the topic a timely one.
IL may seem 10 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 n
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 / 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 city lordship That is
one thing; but ladyship is quite another.
For the compelling of respect lordship
may suffice city, for the winning of at
fection something of La ship is essential
How about the Lady Of the Hudson: Has
che any better ground for counting upon
the perpetuity OF her ladyshp than had
the Lady of the Euphrates? Can we trust
her any more implicitly than Isaiah trust.
ed Babylon when she says confidently Il
shall be a lady forever" That depends
upon the relative measure OF Importance
which the city, in the long run, shall as
sign 10 the treasures OF the market as
compared with the treasures OF the soul.
i am using the word Soul IN a large
and compre hensive sense. Religion and
religious 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 OF
the soul as essential TO the city that would
adventure ladyship / have IN mind all of
those precious things that go 20 make up
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
eve Of harmony and melody 20 the ear.
These last are what make the treasures OF
lHt SOUL. IHt-tt Hiuk4tu III hut pibpoi-
tion, give 20 a municipality what silver
and gold and negotiable securities OF them
selves can never giye-that Indescribabe
quality which j nave ventured TO call civic
ladyship.
The prevailing note during the past
week has been the note OF selt-congratula-
tion. Whatever flags and flowers could do
20 convince peop.e through the eye, or
speech and song 10 persuade them through
the ear has been attempted. IL has been
jubilate throughout, as was proper enough
in connection with birthday festivities,
and vet there is another side 20 u all. The
statistics OF the cty's trade are marvel
Gus. but what OF the inventory OF It's
spiritual possessions and the roster OF It's
great men! How many poets and how
many seers, how many composers and how
many artists, how many scholars and di-
vines, how many philosophers and states
men has this community produced IN the
course Of its two hundred aud fifty years
Of organized existence Nay, OF those
whom We recall az having come under one
or another OF these heads, how many have
been OF first rank, how msny even OF sec
ond rank. when the complete census OF
"the great oi old u taken into account
These, perhaps, are humbllng reflections,
but they are wholesome IL is by count
OF heroes, not by count Of heads, that a
Hty's place IN the final list OF honOrs u 90
be determined Whether this city OF mag.
nificent opportunities is destined 20 accom-.
plish ladyship remains 70 be seen. The
balance trembies.
! pass abruptly from the week Of com.
memoration 20 the week a anticipation,
from thoughts suggested by the prospect
from your windows % thoughts suggested