LINCOLN COURIER.
VOL. VIII.
LINCOLNTON. N. C, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1887.
NO. 20.
THE
THE QUEENS OF
HOME."
IT IS WOMAN'S RIGHT TO
RHINO US TO THE KING
DOM OF HEAVEN-
An Eloquent Tribute to Woman
and Her Worth.
DR. TALMA (IK'S SKIIMON
YES-
TKKDAY.
Fr m the Richmond .Slate.
The Hampton. .September 4.
Dr. T. Do Witt Talmagc's text to J
day wai from .Solomon's Song, chap J
ter V!., verso : " mtro are inreo
Kcorc queens." Following is tbo ser
mon in full :
So Solomon, by ono stroke, set
forth tho imperial character of a
true Christum woman. She is not
a sl:iv. not a hireling, not a subor
dinate, bit a queen ; and in my text
Solomon sees sixty ot then helpingt
make up the royal pageant of Jesti.
I n a former sermon I showed you
to that crown and courtly attend
ant and imperial wardrobe was not
necessary to make a queen ; but that
grace of t ho heart and life will givo
coronation to any woman. 1 showed
you at some length that wo.nan's
position was higher in the world
than man's, and that although she
had often been denied the right of
puflYage, sl e n'ways did vote and
always would vote by her influence,
nod that her chief dosiro ought to
bo that sho should have grace right
ly to rule in the dominion in which
she has already won. I began an
enumeration of some of her rights,
and this morning I resume the sub
ject. In the first place, woman has the
special and superlative right not
again going hack to what I have al
ready s-iM woman has the spcehi
liiid superlative right of blessing and
comforting the sick.
What land, what street, what
houso, has not Ivlt the sick beds 1
What shall we do with them ? Shall
mnn, with Lis rough hand and clumsy
foot go stumbling aiound the sick
room trying to soothe tho distracted
nerves, and alleviate the pains of the
to-smg ptitient ? The young man at
college may scoff at the idea of being
tinder maternal influences; but at
the first blast of tho typhoid fever
on his cheek, ho says: "Where is
mother?'' Walter Scolt wrote part
ly ii satire and partly iu compli
ment when he s;iid :
tli woman, in our hiurs of iiat).
Uncertain, copy and hard to please;
When p:iin and anguish wring tho brow,
A ministering angel thou."
I think the most pathetic passage
in nil tho Bible is tho description of
the lad who went out to tho harvest
field of Siiunem and gotsunstruck
throwing his hands on his temples
and trying out : "Oh, my head !"
find they Raid : "Carry him to his
mother." And then tho records is:
'Ho eat on his knees till noon and
then died." It is an awful thing to
b ill away from home in a strange
hotel, onco in a while men coming
in to look at you, holding their band
over their mouth for fear they will
catch tho contageon. How roughly
they turn you in bed. How loudly
they talk, ilow you long for the
ministries at homo. 1 knew one
Much who went away from ono of
the brightest of homes, for several
weeks' business absenco at tho West.
A telegram came at midnight that
ho was on his deathbed, far away
from home. By express train wifo
and daughter went westward ; but
they went too late. Ho feared not
to die, but ho was in an agony to
live until his family got there He
tried to bribe the doctor to mako
him live a littlo while longer. Ho
naid I ana willing to die bat not
alone." But tho pulse flutterod tho
eyes closed and the heart stopped.
The express trains met in the mid
night ; wife and daughters going
westward lifeless remains of hus
band and father coming eastward.
Ob, it was a ead, pitiful, overwhel
ming spectacio I When wo are sick
Vf e want to bo siok at homo. W hen
the time comos far us to die, we
want to die at homo. Tho room
rr.ay be very bembie, and the faces
I -rn
look into ours way bo very plain
but who cares for that ? Loving
hands to bathe the temples. Lov
ing voices to apeak good cheer
Loving lips to read the comforting
promises of Jesus. In our last dread
ful war, men cast the cannon; men
fashioned the musketry ; men cried
to tho hosts: 'Forward march!"
men hurled their battalliona on the
sharp edges of the enemy crying :
"Charge ! charge !" but woman
scraped the lint; woman adminis
tered the cordials ; woman watched
by tho dying couch; woman wrote
tho last message to the homo circle ;
woman wept at tho solitary burial
attended by herself and four men
with a 6pade. We greeted the
General home with brass bands,
and triumphal arches, and wild huz
zas; but tho story is loo good to to
written anywhere, save in the
chronicles of heaven, of Mrs. Brady,
who camo down among tho sick in
the swamps of the Chickahominy ;
of Annie Jloss, in the coopershop
hospital ; of Margaret Breckinridge,
who camo to men who had been for
weeks with their wound- undressed
some of them frozen in tho ground,
and when she turned them over
those who had an arm left waved
it and filled tho air with their ' bur
rah!'4 of Mrs Hodge, who camo
from Chicago with Blanket9 and
with pillows, until tho men shouted:
I'hreo cheers for the Cbristain
Commission !" God bless tho women
at home:" then sitting down to take
the last messase : I'Tell ray wife
not to fret about me, but to meet
me in heaven : tell her to train up
the hoys whom we have loved 60
well ; tell her wo hall meet again
iu the good land ; tell her to bear
my loss like the Christain Boldier"
and of Mm. Shelton, into whoso
face tho convalescent eoldier looked
and s id : "Your grapes and co
logne cured me." Men did their
work with shot, and shell, and car
bine, and howitzer; women did their
work with socks, and slippers, and
bandage and warm drinks, and
and Scripture texts, at d gentle stro
kings of the hot temples; and sto-
ries of that land where they never
havo any pain. Men knelt down
over the wounded and said : "On
which ride did j-ou fight?" Women
knelt down ever tho wounded and
said: "Where are you hurt? What
nice thing can I make for you to
it? What makes you cry?" To
night, wbilo wo mon aro sound
asleep in our beds, there will be a
1 ght in yonder loft ; there will be
groaning down that dark alley ;
i hero will be cries of distress in that
cellar. Mon will sleep and women
will watch.
Again : woman has a srperlative
right to tako caro of the poor.
Thero are hundreds and thousands
of them all over tho land Thero
ii a kind of w ork men cannot do
for.tho poor. Hero comos a group
of little barefoot children to the door
of tho Dorcas Society. They need
to bo clothed and providcJ for.
Which of these directors of banks
wolud know how many yards
would make that little girl a dress ?
Which of theso masculino hards
could fit a hat 'to that littlo girl's
head? Which of tho wise men
wo"ld know how to tie on that new
pair of shoes ? Man somotimes
gives bis cbaritj' in a rough way,
and it falls like the fruit of a treo in
tho Fast, which fruit comes down
so heavily that it breaks the skull
of a inan who is trying to gather it.
But woman glides so softly into the
house of destitution, and finds out
all the sorrows of the place and
puts so quiotly tho donation on the
table, that all the family come out
on the front steps as she departs,
expecting that from nnder her
shawl 6ho will thrust out two wings
and go right up toward heaven,
from whenco sho seems to havo
camo down. J Ubristain young
woman! if you would make your
self happy and bind the blessing
of Christ, go out among the desti
tute. A loaf of bread or a bundle
of socks may make a homely load
to carry, but the angels of God will
como out to watch, and the Lord
Almighty will (give His messenger
hosts a cbargo, saving ; "Look af-
j tcr that woman. Canopy her with
your wings and itfcelter her from
all harm" and while you 'are seated
in the house of destitution and suf
fering, the little ones around the
room will whisper : "Who is she ?
Ain't she beautifull" and if you wil
listen right sharply, you will bear
dripping down through the leaky
roof, and i oiling over the rotten
stairs, the angel chant that shook
Bethelem : "Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, good
will to men." Can j-ou tell why a
Christain woman, going among tho
haunts of iniquity on a Christain
errand, never meets with any indig
nity ? I stood in the chapel of Hel
en Chalmers, the daughter of the
celebrated Chalmers, in the most
abandoned part of the city of Edin
burgh ; and I said to her as 1 looked
around upon tho fearful surround
ings of that place ; "Do you come
here of nights to hold services?" "O,
yes,' she said. "Can it bo possi
ble that yon never meet with an
insult while performing this Chris
tain errand?" 'fNcver," she said "nev
cr." That young woman who has
her father by her side walking down
tho street, and armed with a po
lice at each corner, is not so well
defended as that Christain woman
who goes forth on Gospel work into
tbo haunts of iniquity, carrying the
Bible and bread. God, with tho red
right arm of His wrath omnipotent,
would tear to pieces any one who
should offer indignity. He would
smite him with lightnings, and
drown him with floods, and swal
low him with earthquakes, and
damn him with eternal indigna
tions. Someone said: "I dislike j
very mucrj to see tbat ubristam
woman leaching those bad boys in
tho mission school. I am afraid to i
have her instruct them." "So," (
said another man, "1 am afraid, too.',!
Said the first: "1 am afraid they will ,
use vile language before they will j
leave tho place." "Ah," said the J
other man, 4 1 am not afraid of that.j
What am I afraid of is, if any of I
those boys should use a bad word !
in that presence, the other boys
would tear him to pieces und kill
him on the spot." That Woman is
tbo bestj sheltered who is sheltered
by tho Lord God Almighty, and
you need never lear going any
where where God tells you to go.
It seems as if the Lord had or-
dainod woman for an especial work
in the solicitation of charities.
Backed up by barrels in which
there is no flour, and by stoves in
which there is no fire, and by war
drobes in which thero are no
clothes, a woman is irresistible.
Passing on her errand, God says to
her. "You go into that bank or
utoro, or shop, and get the money."
She goes in'and gots it. Tho man
is hard fisted, but she gets it. She
could not.help but get it. It is decreed
from eternity sho should get it.
No need of your turning your, baek
and pretending you don't hear; you
do hear. There is no need of your
sa ing you aro begged to death.
There is no need of your wasting
your time, and you might as well
submit first as last. You had tetter
right away take down your check
book, mark tho number of chc chock,
fill up the blank, sign your narao
and hand it to her. There is no
need of wasting your time. Thoso
poor children on tho back street
havo been hunfiry long enough.
That sick man must have some farna.
That consumptive must have seme
thing to case his cough. I meet
this delicate of a relief society com
ing out of the store of such a hard
fisted man and 1 say : "Did you
get the money ?" "Of course," she
says, "I got tho money ; that is what
I went for. The Lord told me to
go in and get it, and He never
sends me on a fool's errand."
Again, i have to tell you that it
is a woman's specific right to com
fort under the stress of dire disas
ter. She is called the weaker vessel;
but all profano as well as sacred
history, attests that when the crisis
comes sho is better prepared than
mau to meet tho emergency. How
often you have seen a woman who
seemed to be a disciple of frivolity
and indolence, who under one stroke
of calamity, changed to a heroine.
Oh, what a great mistake thoso bus
iness men make who never tell their
business troubles to their wives I
There comes some great loss to their
store, or some ot tbeir companions
in. business play them a sad trick,
and they carry the burden all alone:
What is the mutter? but he believes
it a sort ofChrietcin doty to keep all
that troublo within his own soul.
Ob, sir! your first duty was to tell
your wifo all about it. She, perhaps,
might have not disentangled your
finances, or I extended your
credit, but she would have
helped you to bear tho mis
fortune. You have no right to car
ry on one shoulder that which ii in
tended for two. There are business
men hero who know what I mean.
There came a crisis in your affairs.
You ntruggled bravely and long ; but
after awhile there came a day when
you said : t "Here I shall have to
stop," and you called in yeut part
ner, and you called in the most
prominent men in your employ, and
you said : "Wo have got to stop.'
You left the store suddenly. You
could hardly make up your mind to
pass through tho street, and over on
the ferry-boat. You felt everybody
would be looking at you, and blam
ing you, and denouncing you. You
hastened home. You told your wife
all about the affair. What did she J
say? Did she play tho butterfly ?
Did she talk about the silks; and tho
ribbons, and the fashions ? No. She
came up to tue emergency.
She qualified nc& under the 6troke.
She helped to begin to plan right
away, bbc ottered logo out ot tbo
comfortable nouso into a smaller
one, and wear the old cloak another
winter. She was ono who under
stood your affairs without blaming
you. lou looked upon what you
thought was a thin weak women's
arm holding you up ; but while you
looked at that arm there camo into
the feebler rcusclos of it the strength
of tho eternal God. No chiding.
No fretting. No telling you
about the beautiful house of her
father, from which you brought her,
ten, twenty, or thirty years ago.
You said : "Well, this is the hap
piest day of my .life. 1 am glad
1 bave got from under my burden.
My wife don't care I don't care.
At tbo movement you wcro utter
ly exhausted. God sent a Deborah
tc meet the host of the Araaiekites
and scatter them hko chaff over
the plain. There are sometimes
women who sit reading sentimental
novels, and who wish that they had
some grand field to display their
Christain powers. Oh. what grand
and glorious things they could do
if they only had an orportuoity 1
My sister, you nood not wait for
any such time. A crisis will come
in your affairs. Thero will bo a
Thermopylae in your own house
hold where God willl tell you to
stand. There aro scores and hun
dreds of households to-day whero as
bravery and courago aro demanded
of women as was exhibited by Grace
Darling, or Mario Antonictte, or
Joan of Arc.
"Again : I remark, it is woman'
right to bring to us the kingdom of
heaven. It is easier for a woman to
be a Christian than for a man. Why?
You 6ay she is weaker. No. Her
heart is more responsive to the plead
ing of divino love. She is in vast
majority. Tho fact that she can
moro easily become a Christian, 1
prove by the statement that thiee-
fourths of the members 'of the
churthes in all Christendom are wom
en. So God appoints them to be the
chief agencies for bringing this world
back to God. I may stand here and
say the soul is immortal. There is
a man who will refute it. I may
stand hero and say we are lost and
undone with Christ. There is a man
who will refute it. I may stand
here and say there will be a judg
ment day after a while. Yonder is
some ono who will refuto it. But a
a Christian woman in a Christian
household,' living in the faith and the
consistency of Christ's Gospel no
body can refuto that. Tho greatest
sermons aro not preached on cele
brated platforms ; they aro preached
with an audience of two or three,
and in private homo life, A con
sistant, consecrated Christian service
is an unanswerable demonstration
of God's truth. A sailor cam slip
ping dawn the ratline one night, as
though something had happened,
and tho sailors cried What's the
matter?" He said, "My mother's
prayers haunt me like a ghost."
Home influences, are the mightiest
of all influences upon the soul.
There are men here today who have
maintained their integrity, not be
cause they were any better natural
ly than some other people, but be
cause mere were nome innuences
praying for them all the time. They
were launched on the world with
the benedictions of a Christian moth
er. They may track Siberian snows,
they may plunge in African juhgles,
they may fly to the earth's end
they cannot go so far and so fast
but the prayers will keep up with
them.
I stand before women to-day who
have the eternal salvation of their
husbands in their right band. On
the marriage day you took an oath
before men and angels that you
would be faithful and kind until
death did you part, and I believe
you are going to keep that oath ;
but after that parting at the door of
the grave will it be an eternal sepa
ration ? Is there any such thing as
an immortal marriage, making the
flowers that grow on tho tow of the
sepulchre brighter than the garlands
which at the ccarriage banquet flood
ed t ho air with aroma'? Yes I stand
here as a priest of the most high
God to proclaim the banns of an im
mortal union ior an tnose wuo join
u,t : tu ri.-:. r
;arAru.k.,i r.k.
i your son, away lrom God 7 The
Lord demands their redemption at
your hands. Thero are prayors for
you 'to offer, thero aro exhortations
for you to give, there are examples
for you to set, and I say now, at
Paul eaid to the Corinthian woman,
Wh. tnntvest thuu "UIa"'
but thou canst savo thy hus
band?" A man was dying, and he said to
his wife: "Kebeccujyou wouldn't let
mo havo family prayers ; and you
laughed about all that, and you got
me away into worldlincsa ; and now
1 am going to die, and my fate is
soaled, and you arc the causo of my
ruin 1" O woman, what knowest
thou but thou canst destroy thy
husband ? Are there not some here
who havo kindly influence at home?
Are there not some hero who have
wandered far away from God, who
can remember tbo Christian influ
ences in their early home ? Do not
despise those influences, my brother
If you die without Christ, what will
you do with your mother's prayers,
with your wife's importunities, with
your sister's entreaties? What will
you do with tho lotters thoy used to
write to you, with the memory of
those days when they attended you
so kindly in times of sicknoss ? Ob,
if there be just one strand holding
you from floating off on that dark
sea, I wouldjust liko this morning
to take hold of that strand and pull
you to tho beach 1 For tho sake of
your wife's God, for the sake of your
mother's God, for tho sake of your
daughter's God, for the sake of your
sister's God, come this day and be
saved.
Lastly : I wish to say that one of
tho specific rights ot woman is,
through tho grace of Christ, finally
to reach heaven. O, what a multi
tude of women in heaven ! Mary
Christ's mother, in heaven ; Eliza
beth Fry in heaven ; Chailotte Eliza
beth in heaven ; the mother of Agus-
line in heaven : the Countess of
Huntingdon, who sold her splendid
jewels to build chapel-, in heaven,
while a great many others who have
never been beard ot on eartn, or
known but little, have gone into the
rest and peace of heaven. What a
change it was from the small room,
with no fire and one window, the
glass broken out, and tho aehmg side
and wornout eyes, to the "house of
many mansions I" No more stitch
ing until 12 o'clock at night, no more
thrusting of tbo thumb by the em
ployer through the work to show it
was not done quite right. Plenty of
bread at last. Heauen for aohing
heads. Heaven for broken hearts.
Heaven for anguish-bitten frames
No more sitting up until midnight
for the coming of staggering steps
No moro rough blown across the
temples. No more sharp, keen, bit
ter curses. Some of you will have
no rest in this world. It will be toil
and sttngglo and suffering all the
way up. You will have to stand at
your door fighting back the wolf
with your own hand, red with car
nage liut uod nasa crown ior yon.
I want to realise this morning that
He is now making it, and whenever
you weep a tear Ho sets another
gem in that crown, whenever you
havo a pang of body or soul, He puts
another gem In that crown, nntil, af
ter a while, in all "the tiara there
will bo no room for another splen
dor, and God will say to His angel :
"Tho crown is done ;Iot her up that
bhe may wear it." And as the
Lord of righteousness put the crown
upon your brow angel will cry
to angel: "Who is she 1" and Christ
will say: "1 will tell you who she is.
She is the ono that came out of great
tribulation and bad her robe washed
and made white in the blood of tbo
Lamb." And then God will spread
a banquet, and ho will invite all the
principalities of heaven to sit at the
feast; and the tables will blush with
the best clusters from the vineyard
of God, and crimson with the twelve
manner of fruits from the Treo of
Life; and waters from tho fountains
of the rock will flash from the gold
en tankards ; and tho old harpers of
heaven will sit there, making music
with their harps ; and Christ will
point you out, amid the celebrities
of heaven, saying, "Sho suffered with
Me on earth ; now wo are going to
be glorified together." And the ban
queter, no longer able to hold their
peace, will break forth with con
gratulation: "Hail! hail I" And
there will bo hand-writiniM on the
wall not such as struck the Persian
nobleman with horror but fire- j
-II --- c u
capitals of light, and love, and vic
tory; God hath wrped away all
tears from all facos I"
What Three Weeds Can Do.
Three weeds of moderate size and
growth w ill occupy as much ground,
draw as much nutriment from iti
take in as much of the life-giving
sunlight, and of tho food-bearing at
mosphere, as a good stalk of corn. It
must be a very rich and strong soil
that can stand the full draft of two
crops growing on it at tho same
time, one of corn and ono of weed,
and yet stint neither of them. The
rays of tho sun, so necessary to the
life and growth of nearly all vegeta
tion, of all crops, como to tho plants
in direct lines, and if interrupted by
tbo stalks or leaves of weeds, cannot
o around them to reach tho corn.
Tho carbonic acid of tho air is tho
reat supplier of the main portion of
all crops, both stalks, leaves and
roots. But this carbonic acid exists
in very small quantities in tho air,
only about one quart of it in 2,500
quart8ofair. Air must bo moving
quite rapidly to bring in enough of
this gaseous carbonic acid to supply
the wants of a rapid growing corn
stalk. A whole gallon of carbonic
acid weighs only 113 grains, of
which it takes 7,000 to weigh a
pound. Now if wo leave weeds to
stand alone with or near corn leaves,
they steal away a good deal of tho
arbonic acid that the (corn leaves
want : and it is only when the wind
is blowing strongly tha, enough
comes to meet the wants of both corn
6talks and weeds. The practical les-
n of this is that every weed with
or near the corn is robbing it of the
very things it wants from tho sou
end air, and is also stealing some of
its needed sunlight. Sixty to seven
ty corn stalks yield, on an average,
about a bushel of corn. He must be
a poor, slow worker indeed, who can
not with a hoe, cut and kill 2,500
weeds in a day if he takes them when
small.
Tho evidont lesson from this is,
that after wo have used tho horse
implements to kill out what weeds
we can without going down to dis
turb the young roots of the corn, it
will pay grandly to have men go
over the ground with hoes to remove
the last weeds which are left. If
one man kill 2,000 weeds in a day he
has destroyed a sufficient number of
thieves to steal from the soil, the air
and the sunlight, which would sup
port stalks enough to yield ten bush
els of corn, worth $3 or $4. If the
weeds aro not largo enough and
growing thickly to rob tho corn of
all its needed earth, air and sunlight,
yet every weed that grows is doing
something to diminish the health,
growth, vigor and ultimate yield of
corn.
Brethren, think of these things,
keep the hoe going at the right
time. Look upon every weed allow
ed to grow up as being as much a
robber of your crop, as is the thief
who takes it at night out of your
corn crib with only this difference,
that the weeds rob the field in open
daylight, right before your eyes, and
when you are perfectly. at liberty to
murdor him without raorcy, and
without any formality of dragging
them before com is of law. Prari$
Farmer.
THE NOBLE REDSKI3L
Observations by Bill Nye.
The regular form of annual hydro
phobia known as the Ute outbreak:
has followed the sea serpent, the par
agraph about tho watermelon and
other current items. As a matter of
fact the Utes have dono more to
raake'newspaper'lifo desirable than
Constant licadcr, Veritas and Tax
payer all put together. You can aU
ways bet on a Uto outbreak and
write it up when you feci like it, aa
long beforehand as you wish, and
the Ute will not ask you to retract.
Old roan Colorow is like tho regu
lar army, ne is bravo, but he hasn't
got help enough. He is a man of
great nerve, and enjoys carnage, pro
vided it is furnished by sorao ono else.
He is said by thoso who havo met
him to be a "slow sol" man, with a
o uYllv" e as" m St1 "Vv itU in u Ssf -poe.
Bible.
But tho Utcs aro not strong
enough to do any special damage,
and it is very likely they havo no
special notion of it. They aro a
measly set, and still not likely to
break out.
It has been customary to havo an
Indian scare in tho Rocky mountains
every year until it is almost indispen
sable. For several years, also, tha
circus is kept out of Wyoming Terri
tory by a high license, which amount
ed to prohibition, and if the people of
Wyomingjhadn't had an Indian scarv
that thoy could turn to they would
have suffered.
The Indian is tho nation's ward
kind of a doubtful ward, as it wero
bnt he is a great boon to tho news
paper man, who naturully gots tired
of pool and picnics at this season,
and pines for almost anything that
will give him a chance. It 13 safe
to say that tho Uto outbreak will
turn out, upon closo investigation
to be nothing worso that, prickly
heat.
It is not presuming too muoh to
say that human life will be petfectly
safe as far as St. Louis and even
those who dwell as far west as Oma.
ha and Denver will run no risk of
being killed by Indians if they will
come home by 9 o'clock p. m.
Indians are not so ferocious as
many suppose them to be, anyway.
We havo seen the Indians of Buffalo
Bill and they were very pleasant to
meet. They are mot intellectual, of
course, and they want to ride ia a
hotel elevator all tho time when they
are not drunk, but they have behave
ed well hero and won the English,
heart. It is claimed that by anoth-
er year tho common frontier Amer
ican blue-eyed fla will be ad com
mon in England as it is now in tho
territories. And yet it is claimed
that the Indian is cold and backward
in society and desirous of inaugurate
ing an outbreak.
The Ute has always boen friendly
to tho whites and has repeatedly as
sisted the white man in fighting tho
warlike Sioux.
The price of good, available lots
facing south ought not to be reduced
at Kansas City or Omaha on account
of pending Uto outbreaks and the St.
Paul man who refuses to bring in tho
washing from the clothes line after 9
oclock because ho is afraid of Indians
is just simply trifling with the tendotr
feelings of his wife.- Sew York
World.