66 



&l)e Jamur's ittontljlij iKsttor. 



and as their mother-in-law gave them the part- 

 ing kiss, they lilted up their voices and wept 

 and said—" We will return with thee to thy peo- 

 ple." 



The reply of Naomi glows with the great liv- 

 ing truth, that woman can find her natural and 

 permanent rest only in the " house of her hus- 

 band." And Naomi said — " Why will ye go with 

 me ? I have no more sons that may be your 

 husbands. J am a widow; and had I a husband, 

 and should I also have sous, would ye tarry lor 

 them till they are grown?" And when she bad 

 uttered these words, " they lilted up their voices 

 and wept again." Orpha hearkened to the advice 

 of her mother-in-law, gave her a parting kiss, 

 and returned to her own people in Moab. But 

 Ruth clave to Naomi. Now commenced a more 

 earnest struggle between these two remarkable 

 women. Naomi was unwilling that the beauty 

 and bloom of youth should be wasted in her 

 service ; and she took the advantage of the ex- 

 ample of Orpha, and said — "Behold, thy sister 

 has gone hack unto her people and unto her 

 gods; return thou after her." For three thou- 

 sand yeais the answer of Ruth to the earnest 

 and disinterested advice of Naomi, has stood 

 forth in the history of filial affection and duty as 

 the sun in the firmament of heaven. There is 

 no parallel to it in the records of humanity. 

 And Ruth said — "Entreat me not to leave thee 

 or to return from following after thee; lor whi- 

 ther thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodg- 

 est, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, 

 and thy God my God. Where thou diest will I 

 die, and there will I be buried ; the Lord do so 

 to me, and more also, if aught but death shall 

 part thee and me." " 



To these words Naomi made no reply ; they 

 were unanswerable ; and silently the two widows 

 journeyed on foot towards Belhleheni-Judah. 

 When the relict of Elimelech appeared among 

 her people, they said in amazement — " Is this 

 Naomi? The sound of her name used to sug- 

 gest to us her beauty and happiness. She de- 

 parted trom us with her husband and sons, and 

 lo, she returns to us in sorrow, and with but one 

 poor hand-maiden." 



And Naomi said — "Call me not Naomi, but 

 Mara ; for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly 

 with me." Truly a dark cloud hung over the 

 house of Naomi and Ruth. But they had given 

 brilliant examples of the brightest of womanly 

 virtues — fidelity to their husbands and to each 

 other. This was remarkably true of Ruth; and 

 now God was about to honor her with very great 

 honor, even to make her one of the builders of 

 the house of David. 



Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem in the 

 spring, "in the beginning of barley harvest;" 

 and this apparently small matter was the open- 

 ing of the magnificent designs of Providence to- 

 wards Ruth the Moabitess widow. The custom 

 of the country permitted poor young women to 

 glean in the fields of the rich; and the pressing 

 wants of Naomi quickly prompted the excellent 

 heart of Ruth to say to her — "Let me now go to 

 the field and glean ears of corn after him in 

 whose sight I shall find grace." And Naomi 

 said — " Go, my daughter." 



The first adventure of Ruth suggests clearly 

 the magnificent destiny which awaits her. Upon 

 returning in the evening, she related to Noami 

 the beautiful and prophetic incidents of the day. 

 "It was my hap," she said, " to light on a part of 

 the field that belonged to Boaz. And when he 

 came out to see the reapers he inquired 'whose 

 damsel is this?' And being informed, he suid to 

 the young men, ' Let her glean even among the 

 sheaves, and reproach her not; and let fall also 

 some of the handlhls on purpose for her, and 

 leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke 

 her not.' Then turning lo me, he said, ' Go not, 

 my daughter, to glean in any other field, hut abide 

 here fast by my maidens, "i have charged the 

 young men that they shall not touch thee; and 

 when thou art athirst, go and drink of that which 

 the young men have drawn from the wells. For 

 it bath fully been shown me all thnt thou hast 

 done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of 

 thy husband. The Lord recompense thy work, 

 and a full reward be given thee of ihe Lord God 

 ot Israel, under whose wings thou art come to 

 trust. At meal time come thou hither, and eat 

 of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar,' 



and as I sat with the maids, he reached me parched 

 corn with his own hands." 



As Ruth related these incidents the blanched 

 and withered countenance of Naomi glowed 

 with sudden visions of hope ; and she saw the 

 star of her family about lo rise again. She per- 

 ceived, in the language and conduct of Boaz, 

 and particularly in that " handful of parched 

 corn," his young affection for the enchanting 

 Moabitess widow. At the same lime she re- 

 membered that Boaz was "a kinsman of her 

 husband, a mighty man of wealth," which in- 

 stantly brought to her mind the law in Israel, 

 that the childless widow should become the wife 

 of the brother or next nearest of kin of the de- 

 ceased, for the purpose of raising up seed on 

 the estate of the departed, so that it might not 

 pass out of the original family. She was now 

 old, and now childless ; but, Ruth, the young and 

 beautiful widow, was, in the eye of the law, in 

 her place; and she said — "My daughter, shall 1 

 not seek res' for thee, that it may be well with 

 thee?" And the ardent and dutiful daughter-in- 

 law replied, (lor she had seen and loved Boaz 

 the lord of the rich fields in which she had 

 gleaned, and with the instinct of woman on 

 such occasions, saw the hearing of Naomi's 

 question,)"AII that thou sayest uulo me 1 will do." 



The introduction of Ruth to Boaz is too beau- 

 tiful, delicate, dangerous and sublimely virtuous 

 to be recited here. Read it in the book of Ruin, 

 and you will see that Boaz rivals Joseph in that 

 virtue for which his renown has come down to 

 us through three thousand five hundred years. 

 But there was one dark cloud impending over the 

 hopes and wishes of Boaz and Ruth. The law 

 of Israel gave Ruth to the nearest kinsman of the 

 deceased brother, and Boaz was only second of kin. 

 Boaz feared God as well as loved Ruth ; and ob- 

 serve with what dignity and frankness he un- 

 folds to her the appalling fact that another had a 

 right to her by law. " It is true," said he to 

 Ruth, " that I am thy near kinsman ; howheit, 

 there is a kinsman nearer than I. Tarry this 

 night, and it shall he in the morning that if he 

 will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, 

 well; let him do the kinsman's part. But if he 

 will not do the part of a kinsman lo thee, then 

 will I, as the Lord livelh." Ruth related to Nao- 

 mi the result of this interview with Boaz, and 

 her reply is proof of woman's sagacily and 

 judgment in mailers of the affections. "Sit still, 

 my daughter, until thou know how the matter 

 will fall; for the man will not be in rest until he 

 have finished the thing ibis day." 



She spake truly, for in an hour Boaz took 

 measures to test the matter legally. He went 

 up to the gate, and sat him down theie, and he- 

 hold the kinsman came by, unto whom he said — 

 "Ho! such-a-one, turn aside and sit down here. 

 I thought to advertise thee, that Naomi, the wi- 

 dow of our brother Elimelech, selleth her es- 

 tate. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it; if not, 

 I will, for I am next of kin to thee." And he 

 said— " 1 will redeem it." 



When this kinsman, Mr. " Ho ! Such-a-one," 

 declared that he would buy it, he seems not to 

 have known that a young and lovely widow was 

 a necessary part of the purchase, lie supposed 

 that the aged and neglected Naomi was the only 

 embarrassment j and it might have occurred to 

 him that he might wholly disrespect her as a 

 wife ; and at her death, without children, the es- 

 tate of her former husband would come lo him 

 and his children. Boaz immediately reveals lo 

 him the condition of the purchase, "What day 

 thou huyest the field of Naomi, thou must buy it 

 also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wile of the dead, 

 to raise up the name of the dead upon his inher- 

 itance." And the kinsman answered — "Then I 

 will not redeem it." 



The heart of Boaz beat high at his answer, 

 and he immediately turned to the elders present 

 in the gate, and said — "Ye are witnesses this 

 day that 1 have bought all that was Elimelech's. 

 Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of 

 Mali Ion, have I purchased to be my wife, and to 

 raise lip the name of the dead upon his inherit- 

 ance." 



And all the people said — " H'e are witnesses. 

 The Lord make ihe woman that has come into 

 thy house like Rachael and like Leah, which two 

 did build this house of Israel ; and do thou 

 worthily, and be famous in Bethlehem." 



Behold now the reward of fidelity in the wife, 

 and of affectionate duty in the daughter-in-law. 

 The aged Naomi flourishes again in her old age, 

 and receives into her bossom the son of Boaz 

 and Ruth, who are transcendently honored in 

 being ihe ancestors of David ihe king, and Mes- 

 sias the Prince of Peace, in whose veins, there- 

 fore, ran the blood of the Jew from Boaz, and 

 of the Gentile from Ruth. 



Growth of the West. — In 1832 there were 

 no white settlers in the county of Winebago, 

 Wisconsin, except four persons employed by the 

 government to instruct the Indians. The county 

 did not increase materially in population until 

 1846; in December of that year, it numbered 

 732, and in twelve months increased 2787. This 

 part of the country contains extensive pineries, 

 and from an article in the Oshkosh Democrat, 

 from which we gather these important facts, it 

 is estimated that 10,500,000 feet of lumber will 

 be made there this year. The number of per- 

 sons employed in the lumbering business, is 

 computed at 250. — Milwaukie Sentinel. 



A poetical farmer. — The Clinton Radiator 

 tells a story of a jovial old farmer, whom the 

 muses, in detailing out their inspiration, had not 

 entirely neglected. One morning as the golden 

 light stole into his apartments, he called out to 

 his hired man, whose name happened to be 

 John Swain : 



John Swain, 

 If you've lain 



Lung eno.ugh ; 

 Open your eyes, 

 And begin tn rise, 

 Though it's tough. 



It is, almost needless to add, that after such a 

 poetical admonition, the bonny swain was not 

 slow in disengaging himself from the arms of 

 Soinnus, and bidding adieu to the land of dreams. 



Franklin's Familiar Letters. 



The following extract from the work, is a fail- 

 specimen of his style. It is a part of a letter 

 written to a mutual friend, on the death of his 

 brother : — 



Philadelphia, 23d Feb. 1756. 



I condole with you. We have lost a most 

 dear and valuable relation. But it is ihe will of 

 God and nature, that these mortal bodies be laid 

 aside when the soul is to enter into real life. 

 This is rather an embryo slate, a preparation for 

 living. A man is not completely born until he 

 is dead. Why then should we grieve, that a 

 new child is born among the immortals; a new 

 member added to their happy society? 



We are spirits. That bodies should be lent 

 us while they can afford us pleasure, assist us in 

 acquiring knowledge, or in doing good to our 

 fellow creatures, is a kind and benevolent act of 

 God. When Ihey become unfit for these pur- 

 poses, and afford us pain instead of pleasure, in- 

 stead of an aid, an incumbrance, and answer 

 none of the intentions for which they were giv- 

 en, it is equally kind and benevolent that a way 

 is provided by which we may get rid of them. 

 Death is ihat way. We ourselves, in some cases 

 prudently choose a partial death. A mangled, 

 painful limb, which cannot he restored, we wil- 

 lingly cut off". He who plucks out a tooth, parts 

 with it freely, since ihe pain goes with it; and 

 be who quits the whole body parts at once with 

 all his pains and possibilities of pains and dis- 

 eases, which 1 it was liable to, or capable of mak- 

 ing him suffer. 



Borrowing troubles. — One of the best 

 things in Tupper's Proverbial Philosophy is the 

 following: 



"Thou hast seen many troubles, travel-stained 

 pilgrim of the world. But that which hath 

 vexed thee most, has been the looking for evil. 

 And though calamities have crossed thee, and 

 misery been heaped upon thy head, _\ct ills 

 lhat never happened have chiefly made thee 

 wretched." 



