MOTHER HUBBARD. Brethren, the words of my text are:―― “Old Mother Hubbard, she went to the cupboard, To get her poor dog a bone; But when she got there the cupboard was bare, And so the poor dog had none.” These beautiful words, dear friends, carry with them a solemn lesson. I propose this morning to analyze their meaning, and to attempt to apply it, lofty as it may be, to our every-day life. “Old Mother Hubbard, she went to the cupboard, To get her poor dog a bone.” Mother Hubbard, you see, was old; there being no mention of others, we may presume she was alone; a widow――a friendless, old, solitary widow. Yet, did she despair? Did she sit down and weep, or read a novel, or wring her hands? No! _she went to the cupboard_. And here observe that she _went_ to the cupboard. She did not hop, or skip, or run, or jump, or use any other peripatetic artifice; she solely and merely _went_ to the cupboard. We have seen that she was old and lonely, and we now further see that she was poor. For, mark, the words are “_the_ cupboard.” Not “one of the cupboards,” or “the right-hand cupboard,” or “the left-hand cupboard,” or “the one above,” or “the one below,” or “the one under the floor,” but just “_the_ cupboard,” the one humble little cupboard the poor widow possessed. And why did she go to the cupboard? Was it to bring forth goblets, or glittering precious stones, or costly apparel, or feasts, or any other attributes of wealth? _It was to get her poor dog a bone!_ Not only was the widow poor, but her dog, the sole prop of her old age, was poor too. We can imagine the scene. The poor dog, crouching in the corner, looking wistfully at the solitary cupboard, and the widow going to that cupboard――in hope, in expectation may be――to open it, although we are not distinctly told that it was not half open, or ajar, to open it 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, dear brethren, what perseverance is! _She got there!_ There were no turnings and twistings, no slippings and slidings, no leanings to the right, or falterings to the left. With glorious simplicity we are told “she got there.” And how was she rewarded?