  The Witch was not a regular attendant at any house of worship of any set creed, but preferred ones of lesser grandeur, feeling that she met with more sincerity within. But one Sabbath morning her steps led to one of the largest and most fashionable churches in the city. The ushers were busy seating the well-dressed throng. She slipped along and took a seat by the side of a sumptuously dressed lady who shifted and spread her drapery a little more as a hint to the intruder that her presence was undesirable. Many haughty glances of derision were shot at the poorly clad stranger who had presumed to come in their midst. She looked about her on the throng. All is vanity. Ecclesiastes i, 2. Richly attired matrons, conscious only of their extreme style; fair young girls, not a whit less extravagantly garbed than their elders, with cramped waists and all the accoutrements belonging to devotees of fashion. A pity that such fair flowers like the rose could not remain longer in bud, for both fall into decay all too quickly after maturity. But Dame Fashion seems in a hurry and holds to artificial development. Make not my Father's house a house of merchandise. John ii, 16. What more was this great display of finery than one way of advertising goods? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil. Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured. Isaiah i, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Their land also is full of idols; they worship the works of their own hands that which their own fingers have made. Isaiah ii, 8. The daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet. In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon. The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers. The bonnets, the headbands, and the earrings. The rings. The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantels, and the wimples, and the crisping pins. The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the veils. Isaiah iii, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. That women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. I Timothy ii, 9, 10. The eloquent and eminent divine preached a flowery discourse with no reproof pointing to the vanity and frivolity of the hour. They are shepherds that cannot understand; they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. Isaiah lvi, 11. Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard; they have trodden my portion under foot. Jeremiah xii, 10. The pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the Lord. Jeremiah x, 21. Woe unto you, ye blind guides. Matthew xxiii, 16. Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake. Titus i, 11. Ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law. Malachi ii, 8. Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, extort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned into fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. II Timothy iv, 2, 3, 4, 5. The great organ reverberated through the building. The choir sang of God's love to all creatures alike. Two women sat side by side, and the one of loftier mien bowed her head, and for the first time in her life felt the love of God in her heart; and the Witch went out from church happy, knowing that through her influence one soul was redeemed this Sabbath morning. |
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