Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1868-04-24


pastor of such a church. And the congreEa
| ton, if these Garfelds were specimens, woul
be such people as Alice belonged to, as thei
children ought to grow up among
He passed the evening in making hlmsel
agreeable, and learning what he conld abou
the arrangements Of the church. The sa!ar,
was fifteen hundred dollars. That seeme'
riches to Mr. Eastman. but he said nJthln,
when Mr.. Garfield suggested that they eoul'
easily afford to raise it if they were entirely
satisfied. The candidate was to preach, an'
| directly after the service Of the morning Z
meeting was to be held to decide upon In
claims. He had come 10 them 50 hlEniy re
| commended that the committee having th'
matter in charge bad thought immediate ac
| ton expedient in his case. although sucl
meetings were usually held on week days.
The minister went o. bed late. his brain II
| n wbirl. He was thankful t. be 50 familiar
| with his sermon that he need not look at it.
| That was all right well for him that it wac
so. for never had he felt 50 incapable of con-
structing single sentence.
| He rose late again the next morning, and
it was not until Just before church t.at he
found moment to try and quiet his mind
and bring his heart into harmony with the
work before him After he had knelt & ask
for aid and strength, he hastily uut9idcd
the manuscript Of his sermon. and started to
his feet with a cry Of dismay. BY what I'M
lucky chance had he brought the wrong par
eel ? He had long believed that there was no
such thing a= accident hut that belief, faith.
hope, all seemed slipping away from him
now. The text Of the sermon he WAS To
preach-the only sermon he had with him
stared him in the face. 1t was not, '' In my
Fathers house are many mansions, bat
.'Who is my neighbor?
What should he do He had never ex-
temporized a discourse in his life-least Of
all could he do 50 now, with this whrliug
anxious brain. For one weak moment he
was tempted To feign-and there would have
been very little feigning about it - sudden
indisposition. and refuse to preach at all. lie
threw himself upon his knees in utter help
lss,ncss and prayer. When the time for ser
vice arrived he se.to his feet, strengthened
in heart. A noble purpose had been born
within him. It was meant that he should
preach this We Y sermon, and no other, should he
refuse TO DO lis Masters work? Ii would
lose for him his opening for a new career
what Of that, i. it should quicken one soul
to new life
Mrs. Garfield thought his face shone like
the face of an angel when he came out 10
walk to church with her and her husband
And. indeed. for this once, if never again.
be felt himself God : messenger.
He,went through the preliminary services
calmly and reverently. His appearance
pleased the people of Colonore, hut of this
he took no thought His hope was no longer
in them When he announced his text his
voice rang out clear and strong Then he
looked round for moment, over that full
and fashionable congregation-thosew we'll to
do men, and graceful, faultessly dressed vo-
men-and again his tones sounded soIemnly
above them, - Who Is my neighb1r ?''
Verify, Colonore heard such words that
day as Colon0re had never heard before
was taught then where to look for her neigh
Dor. If she ever forgot afterwards, the sin
be upon her and her children; Henry East
mans skirts would be clear Of it. In all
wrong dOers-in crime-stained men in out
cast women. such as the Lord drew with
cords Of love to His very feet and then for
gave inEaH down trodden and oppressed
races, he hade them see the neighb0rs whom
they were called upon to ail-woe he to
them if they passed by on the wrong side.
No one who knew that congregation would
have believed that they would have sat still
through such sermon. But Il spell was
upon them which they deemed powerles- to
break. Full Of rage as some Of them We're,
they vet sat quietly. As for the minister, he
put aside utterly the fear Of men. He knew
well enough that he should never stand again
in Colonore pulpit but none the less did he
call out to them, whether they would hear
| or f0rbear his message from God lie wa.
| raised for the time above all earthly things
and talked to them as one who would not Q
to heaven alone.
When the service was over he went home
silently by Mrs Garfeld's side Her hus
| band remained to attend the church meeting
"A meeting whose verdict the minister knew
well enough beforehand. Only when h'
passed by her in the hall, to 90 to his room
did she say to him, with tears in her eyes -
You have done right. 1t was doin,
Gods own work to preach that sermon lie
that comfort you"
That he should get no other comfort h
knew well enough-just as well then as whel
Mr.. Garfield, an hour later, conveyed to hin
as delicately and kindly as he could the ad
verse decision Of the meeting.
The next day at noon he reached his ow
door, his waiting wife.
" o, Henry, what did You do? You cal
ried the wrong sermon
She spoke with pitiful eagerness. and h
answered, very gently
- No dear. | carried the right sermon. ic
it was the one God meant me to carry. AZ
satisfied to have done His work, though "
must content ourselves to stay on here
Noodburn awhile longer"
, This is the true end Of my story. 1t h'
nothing to do with the purpose Of it that
stranger had been in Coion6re church tn;
day whose thoughts and wavs were not
! the thoughts and ways Of that goodlv town
! and through whose representations the preac
er was called to a parish where the rewar
; Of this life would be offered him in as lar;
measure as they would have been in the co
servatiye Colonore town that refused to
: under his ministry. OF that matter Il
= = Great Paymaster took note whose promi
is not only sure, but has no end. The oi
! lesson is to trust IIim-to do His work. Il
I reward will come in His own time and wa,
u if it please Him, - in this life houses a
lands - but better than these, % in
~ world to come the life everlasting. = Wat
d man and Reflector.
re Orr A>s,,-pp Il On no further ! ora