Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1903-06-25
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
A DISCOURSE FOR GIRLS DELIVERED
BY REV. DR.. w. r. HUNTINGTON,

0tE1OnS 1t lS HOSS1O1e For y w oman To |
Become. in Very Deed and Truth. +.
Lady Forever-Be Gentle ana Disnifed |
New YORK CITY.-The Rev. Dr. Will |
lam r. 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" DR.. Huntington said:
[ quote. our prophet in this fragmentary
way for the sake of vividness. 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 it they must have been. in the
first instance, addressed to woman. but
they were not. The aspirant after an
everlasting ladyship was no woman at all,
but clty-an ancient city, city opulent,
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 pos
session OF resources which seemed measure
less, this queen city Of Chaldea had come
to think of itself as invincible and indes-
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
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 w Isaiah and his fafhor'c
name was Amoz. When people came to
him with their panic talk about the big
ness of Babylon and the ittleness of Jerus-
alem, he betrayed no apprehensions on the
contrary, ne 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 I
shall be. lady forever-therefore hear
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 Amoz, 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 transfofaa 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-
dltlon privilege. she fancies that old time
prerogatiye 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 it,
as we have seen.
With the text thus we'll in hand we
proceed. Under what conditions is it pos
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 a 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 boldress in ven
turing thus to couple the two may be for
given me.
Of the sorts of ladyship of which have
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-
one thing; but ladyshiip is quite another:
For the compelling Of respect lordship
may suffice a city, for the winning of at
fection something of lad--ship is essential.
How about the Lady of the Hudson? Has
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 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.
l am using the word "souP' in large
and comprehensive sense. Religion and
religious interests are of course foremost
in my thought, since, without a due re-
i've; but when I speak OF the treasures OF
; the soul as essential to the city that would
adventure ladyship I have in mind ali of
those precious things that go to make up
terialistic side Of human 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 car,
, These last are what make the treasures OF
| LUc SOUL 1EcSS, iHiilS1tN LII oeiC pAOPOi
ton. give to a municipality what silver
and gold and negotiable securities Of them
selves can never give-that indescri5abis
quality which l have ventured to call clvls
,, ladyship.
The prevailing note during the past
} week has been the note Of self-congratu'a
. ton. Whatever flags and flowers could dc
to convince people through the eye. OF
speech and song to persuade them througi
r the ear has been attempted. 1t has beer
: jubi,ate throughout, as was proper enough
in connection with birthday festivities
> and yet there is another side to it all Th.
e statistics of the city's trade are marvel
. Gus, but what Of the inventory OF 1t
+, spiritual possessions and the roster or 1t
great men? How many poets and hoV
many seers, how many composers and hoy
many artists, how many scholars and dl
vines how many philosophers and states
!. men has this community produced in th
= course of It's two hundred and fifty year
| of organized existence: Nay, of thos
e whom we recall as having come under cs
q or another Of these heads, how many ha:'
. | been of first rank. how many even of sec
ond rank when the complete census o
4 y '.the Great OF oll:' is taken into account
l. These, perhaps. are huabiing reflections
!, hut they are wholesome. 1t Is by coun
- ~ he-,eS no.. hys coI,0t of heads. that