The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-07-01
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
A DISCOURSE FOR GIRLS DELIVERED
BY REV. DR.. w. R. HUNTINGTON.

The Preacher Describes Under What Con-
ditions 1t is Possible For . Woman to
Become. in Very Deed and Truth, q
Lady Forever-Be Gentle and Dignifs
New YORK C1TY-The Rev. DR.. Will.
lam R. Huntington, rector OF Grace
Church, preached recently sermon to
fashionable school for girls which has
attracted much attention, and by request
Is Isaiah XVII: 7: "Thou saidst. [ shall be
a lady forever" DR.. Huntington said:
I quote our prophet in this fragmentary
way for tie sake of vividness. The briefer
the text, the more likely it is to be re-
membered. But if. under present .clrcum-
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
they were not. The aspirant after an
everlasting ladyship was no woman at all,
but city-an ancient city. city opulent,
and superb, Babylon the great. .,
Emboldened like ancient Rome by ITS
military conquests, intoxicated like medl-
eval Venice by it's commercial prosperity,
confident like modern London in the pos
session of resources which seemed measure
less, this queen city OF Chaldea had come
to think OF itself as invincible and lndes'
tructible. "House of Eternity" was the
name it gave to one Of it's temples. "Foun-
dation stone of heaven and earth" ran the
dens and parks, the city had in abundance.
A mighty bridge which crossed and a tun-
mel which underran the river Euphrates
were among it's engineering triumphs. The
circuit of the walls, lofty and broad al.
most beyond belief, was between fifty and
sixty miles.
But there was man in Jerusalem whom
none of these things greatly moved In the
sense of Supplying or alarming him. The
mans name was Isaiah and his fathers 2
name was Amoz. When, people came; to
him with their panic, talk about the olg'
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, o daughter of the Chal;
deans, for thou shalt no more be called
the lady of kingdoms. Thou saidst l
shall be q lady forever-therefore hear
thou, thou that art given to pleasures,
that dwellest carelessly-these two things
shall come to thee in 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 Amoz. addresses mighty Babylon. de
speaks of her as to q woman Of rank whose
pride and indocility are presently to prove
her overthrow and to 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 to shake her
out of this illusion, to compel her to open
her eyes to the hard fact and he does 1t,
as we have seen.
With the text thus we'll in hand. we
proceed. Under what conditions is it pos
sible, either for city, or for 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 l
cannot but account the topic timely one.
It may seem to be comparing small things
with great to name the commencement
week of scnool for girls in the. same
breath with the commemorative week OF a
city which has lived through the fourth
part of thousand years, but, perhaps,
before we are done, my boldness in ven
turing thus to couple the two may be Tor
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 al admlrlng love.
Physical strength, riches, commercial en-
tepprise will give city lordship. That is
one thing; but lndyship is quite another.
For the compelling of respect lordship
may suffice city, for the winning OF at
lection something of la,:.'ship is essential.
How about the Lady of the Hudson! Has
she any better ground for counting upon
the Lady of the Euphrates? Can. We trust
her any more implicitly than Isaiah trust.
ed Babylon when she says confidently Il
shall be lady forever" That depends
upon the relative 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
I am using the word "soul" in large
and comprehensive sense. Religion and
religious interests are Of course foremost
in my thought, since, without due re-
live; but when / speak of the treasures Of
the soul as essential to the city that would
adventure ladyship I have in mind all OF
those precious things that go to make up
the ideaGstic as contrasted with the ma
terialistic side of human life-Righ hteous-
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
and gold and negotiable securities of them
selves can never give-that indescrlbabl bic
quality which I have ventured to call civic
ladyship.
The prevailing note during the past
week has been the note of self-congatula-
ton. Whatever flags and flowers could do
to convince people through the eye, or
speech and song to persuade them through
the ear has been attempted. 1t has been
jubilate throughout, as was proper enough
in connection with birthday festivities,
and yet there is another side to it I'll. The
statistics Of the city's trade are marvel
Gus, but what of the inventory of its
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 di-
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
OF 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
&ty,s Mace in the final list of honors is to