The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1905-11-16

me tell you a beautiful romance that
ended in a tragedy.
why She Did Not Marry.
Do you see that sad faced young wo-
man with the gray hairs just appear
ing amid her brown locks? Who Is she2
miss So-and-so," you answer. why
did she not marry?" "Oh, guess be-
cause she did not wish to marry" you
answer. oh, yes, she did want to mar
ry. She does not want to marry now
because her heart is broken. Many
years ago a young man met her and
laid siege to her heart. She gave to
him the warm affections of her youth.
You think she has sweet face now.
Aye, she was beautiful then. Her
cheeks were as red as the roses Her
eyes were as blue as the sky. Her
laugh was as the merry chimes of the
village bells. The young man wanted
the wedding set at once. Her father
was taken sick. He could not find en-
ployment. This young girl said: mo, l
cannot marry now. / must stay home
and help to keep the home for my par
ents and the children" He pleaded,
but she firmly COMPRISED her lips and
said: Not now. Wait for me few
years and l am yours" He would not
wait. Within two years he stood at the
marriage altar, but not with her. Mrs.
Grundy" talked for few days about
a broken engagement, but she said
nothing. No one saw her weep. She
never complained-that is as far as
opv ono oIco hoe kuoun Whothor che
wept in her room at night behind the
closed door we know not. She broke
her alabaster box of ointment of spike
nard very precious upon her IA
theirs and mothers heads. She sacri-
feed her own life for her parents lives.
Fathers and mothers, have not our
daughters always been willing to sacri-
flee themselves for you? Ills true per-
haps they have not had to sacrifice the
love of some young man, as the heroine
Of this story have told you had to do.
But in every way have not your sweet
faced daughters been willing to sacri-
fee for you? Why, for years their
lives have been spent in trying to
please you. Let us beware that as we
grow older we do not, as some parents,
become more and more selfish. When
our girls want to go with young folks
do not shut them up as in a nunnery,
and when the time comes for them to
mate, if that time does come, in Gods
good way let us be willing to let an
other step in and share that love, as
the mothers of our wives were willing
that their daughters should give us
their love. All, yes, we have had good
mothers, good wives, good sisters and,
thank God, good daughters!
But l cannot close without mention
ing one other bearer of the alabaster
box who has come into your life. She
may have been an aunt or grand
mother or, as it was with me, a dear,
affeetionate Christian woman about
sixty years of age. In all probability
she came to you in crisis. You may
have gone to her for sympathy; you
may have gone to her for spiritual or
material help, and she never failed YOU
Cannot you see her now? l can. /
can remember just how she looked
when / first met her She was the
saint of my Chicago church. She was
one who always lived to do good
When sickness came into our home she
was always there. Our babies were
her babies, our troubles were her trou-
bles, our joys were her joys. 1t was a
dark, stormy day, the Good Friday be-
fore Easter of 1902, that l last saw
her. 1 had been east visiting my sick
father. She came down to welcome me
home. She was always thinking OF
others, never about herself 1t was
biting, tempestuous day, and she
caught cold Pneumonia stabbed her
lungs. In one week she was dead, and
in two weeks my father was dead. 1t
seemed as though the sorrow of our
home was too great to bear. And yet
today, as the memories of those patient
loving Christian women arise before
us. where do they lead us? Where are
they pleading for us to go? They have
given to us the best they have. Have
they not done all this to lead us to that
place where we may at last meet and
where we shall never part again?
Son, husband, brother father, friend,
thy loved ones are breaking their ala
baster boxes of ointment of spikenard
very precious over you in the presence
of Jesus, their King. Will you not look
up and greet their Saviour as your
master? Heaven will never be per-
feet heaven to them unless they shall
meet you there Will you let their sac
rifices lead you to Christ, that in his
presence you may dwell with them for
ever? Aye, their alabaster boxes OF
ointment of spikenard very precious
would not be too costly if by that sac
rifce they could win your immortal
| souls for eternal companionship IN
heaven. Truly they have done for us
all they could to bring about that glo-
rious contamination.
copyright. 1905, by Louis Klopsch1