The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-03-26
MODEL or POPULAR LECTURE
Satire on Some orstory Now Less F-e.
quent Than Formerly.

quent Than Formerly
"'T HE words of the subject for this
evening are;
"Old Mother Hubbard. She went TO
the cupboard
To get her poor dog a bone.
Eut when che got there the cupboard was
bare.
Ard SO the poor dog had none.
"These beautiful words. dear friends
carry with them a solemn lesson.
Mother Hubbard, you see. was old.
There being no mention Of others. we
may presume that she was aIone-a
widow. friendless. solitary old wild
ow. Yet did she despair? Did she
sit down and weep or read a novel or
wiring her hands? No. She went to
the cupboard. Aud here observe that
she went to the cupboard-she went
70 the cupboard She did not hop oil
skip or run or jump or use any other
perlpatetic artfce. She solely and
merely went to the cupboard We
have seen that sin was old and lone.
ly. and we now further see she was
| poor, for, mark. the words are the
cupboard not 'onc of the cupboards,
| or the right hand cupboard or the
left hand cupboard or the one above,
| or the ono below or the one under
the floor, but just the cupboard'-t
one humble little cupboard the widow
possessed Aud why did she go to the
cupboard? Was II TO bring forth gold
en- gobl,ts. or glttering precious
stones. or costly apparel. or feasts. OF
any other attributes to wealth? II
was to get her poor dog a bone Not
only was the widow poor T.ut her dog
the sole prop of her old age. was pooi
| also. We can imagine the scune--the
poor dog crouching In the corner. look
ing wiStfully at the solitary cupboard
and the widow going to the cupboard
It. although we are not distinctly told
that II was not half open or ajar-tO
open IL for that poor dog.
But when she got there the cupboard was
| bare,
And so the poor dog had none.
when she got there. You see, my
friends. what perseverance Is. You
see the beauty of persistence In doing
right. She got there. There were no
turnings and twistings, no slppings
| and slidngs. no leaning to the right
or falterinS to the left. With glori.
Gus simplicity we are told she got
there And how was her noble effort
rewarded? The cupboard was bare.
II was bare. There were to he found
neither apples. nor oranges, nor cheese
cakes. nor penny buns, nor gingerbread
nor crackers. nor nuts, nor lucifer
matches The cupboard was bare
Had there been leg of mutton. a loir
of lamb. lillet of veal. even an ice
from Gunter's. the. case would have
been very different. the incident would
have been otherwise. But It was bare
my hearers. bare MS bald head.
AT this point our Information ceases
But do we not know sufficient? Are
we not coGnizunt of enough? Wht
would dare to pierce tbe veil tina
shrouds the ulterlor fate of Old Moth
er Hubbard. her poor dog. the cup
board or the bone that was not there
Must we imagine her still standing
by the open cupboard door. depict t
! ourselves the Cog. still dropping hi
disappointed tail on the floor, th,
sought for bone remaining some wher,
else? All. no. We are not permitted
to try to read the future. Suffice
for us to try to CLEAN from this beau
tiful story It's many lessons; suffice |
for us to apply them, to study them
as far as In us lies and bearing II
mind the natural frailty of our nalur
60 avoid being widows. to shun tn
patrony mic of Hubbard and have, /
our means afford II, more than on
cupboard In the house and keep store
In them all. And. oh. dear friends
keeping In recollection what we hav
learned this day. let us avoid keepln
dogs. They are fond of bones.
Let us. like Mother Hubbard. accer
the inevitable with calm stead fas
ness. and should we. like her. ever b
left with a hungry dog and an empt
. cupboard may future chroniclers b
able to write also of us In the beaut
4. full words. And so the poor dog ha