Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-03-09

and kneit to thank God that her dis
grace had been avenged. So with
Ruth. She never forgot those who had
been true TO her. Naomi might be de-
spised by the world, but Naomi had
been her friend. And because Naomi
had been true TO her Ruth would never
leave her side.
Crisis I'm Ruth's LIFE
Can you picture this beautiful young
girl mt this critical moment? The
mothcr-in-law comes to her and says:
Ruth. my deer. l must so away. i
cannot make a living here. My hus-
band is dead. My two boys are dead.
And all these people are prejudiced
against me because 1 am n foreigner
and not OF their blood. You stay, my
child. Your parents will take you
home and ali will be well. Don't ruin
your life for my sake" Then 1 be-
lieve 1 read the thoughts that rapidly
pass through Ruth's brain. At first
she soIlloquizes, "Shall 1 stay?" But
the noble part OF her soul says: NAY,
Naomi has been q mother to me. For
over score of years she put her whole
life into the developing OF her two
boys. Then she gave to me one Of her
sons. She said: Take him, Ruth. He
Is thine Then she took me into her
great loving heart as her own daugh-
ter All that she had was mine. And
now. after she has given to me her all,
shall L desert her In the dark hours OF
distressT Nay, Naomi" she says, 81
will not. turn my back upon thee
sWhithsr thou goest L VIII go, and
where thou ledgsst, I will ledge; thy
people shall DO my people. and tAy God
my God" Could Ruth the true, Ruth
the noble. speak othexwise? My
friends, have you these noble charac-
teristics OF getitpde7 After a per-
SON has beenrtrns and self sacrificing
for yous after that person. has given to
you practically the whole OF her life.
IRE you going to turn that person adrift
as soon as the dark clouds of adversely
gather about her head? Are you GO
ing to use the word Friendship" as a
synonym for "convenienceT' As soon
as you think it is for your own best
interests, are you going to turn your
back upon your true friends, as the de-
ceitful Duke of Alva sent Admiral
Hoorn and Egmont to the block and as
Napoleon l. exiled Josephine, the best
friend he ever had?
oh, the contemplate actions of which
some OF us are guilty toward those who
have blessed us in the pasti The story
Is told that many years ago In the Is
land of Mauritius a poor old black wo-
man, who was a slave, worked aud
struggled at odd hours and saved until
after awhile she got together enough
money to purchase the freedom of her
daughter. All, that was n happy day
for the old black womani She went to
her child's house with the good news
and said: my child, you are freel You
are free" With that she seated her.
self by her daughter. But the story
goes that the daughter drew herself up
and said: woman, how dare you sit
in my presence? Do you not know that
am now a free woman and you are
still slave? Rise ut once and leave the
roomv' The story at first seemed to
me to be a farfetched one. aud yet,
after much consideration, 1 doubt IL II
Is. Almost every day we can see un-
grateful children acting thus to their
parents and ungrateful men and WON
en- turning their backs upon those who
have lifted them to their thrones or
started them on the road TO success
and happiness. Not thus was Ruth
In Naomi's adversely she remembered
Naomi's past love May God help us
TO be true TO those who have been true
To US In the troublesome years that are
| gone,
True to Marriage Vows.
Ruth measures up to the full stand
ard or the test OF human gratitude
She does more. She measures up &c
the fun test OF her marriage vows
And when speak thus I am placing
that standard very high The marriage
law OF the east is q far more difficult
one to which 10 do justice than the
marriage law OF the west. Yet she
obeyed those eastern laws TO the last
letter. Let me try TO contrast those
two laws for you.
When a young woman stands before
the marriage altar OF our land and the
Episcopal rector says: "Wilt thou have
this man to be thy welded husband, to
live together after Gods ordinance in
the holy estate OF matrimony? witt
thou obey him and serve him. love.
honor aud keep him in sickness and in
health and. forsaklng ali others. keep
thee only unto him so long as We
both shall llveT' the woman answers,
Il WILL" Rut that promise does not
mean the woman shall lose her own
Identity In that Of her husband as II
A a In thxS 90 49,
m IL hss sxs ED nsr must nnas.
tsRks first place as II does In the east.
BY the law Of the Scottish clan as
sssn a. the dssghter OF one, clan mar
ried iato the -ferniiy OF another elan AT
once she ceased TO have any utilization
nth The clan. OF her father In India
40 sooner does girl marry than she
goes Into the home OF her mother-in-
law and at once ceases to have any as
ISOLATION with the home of her child
hood. Thus In one sense was it with
the Hebrew and Moabitish marriage
laws. When Ruth married she be-
came part OF her husbands family.
Naomi became her mother. And. ac-
eording TO the marriage laws of her
time, she was in duty bound TO care for
Naomi for better or for worse. Cannot
you and I learn a mighty lesson for
hdelity to our marriage affairs Of the
west by Ruth's faithfulness to the
marriage laws OF the east? The simple
TACT Is too many people look upon the
marriage altar simple as a trysting
place and not as sacred shrine. They
seem to think that the marriage ties
are not unbreakable bands of steel, but
mere gossamer threads, which can