The Van Buren press., 1877-04-24
A Lesson About Diligence.

There vas once German duke, VIII
sguisel himself, and during the nlgl
laced great stone in the middle OF th
road. near his palace,
Next morning n sturdy peasant, name
llahus, came that WAY with his !nmbeFln
ox-cart 20, these lazy people ! san
he, /" there's big stone right IN the mld
die of the roai, aud no one viii take tn
trouble to put it out of the way, >
Hahns went on his way, seolding abou
the laziness of the people.
Next came a gay soldier along III
had bright plume waving from his hel
init, and sword dangling by his side
ani went singing lnefrilp on his way
His head was held so far back that ht
diin't notice the stone. so he stumbled
over it, This stopped his song, and ht
began to storm at the country people
aud call the1. Doors aud hlockheads
FOR leaving huge rock in the road for q
gentleman to fall over Then he went
on.
Next came 4 company Of merchants,
with pack horses aud q ods, on their
way To tile fair that was 10 be held ut the
village near the dukes palace. When
they came to tho stone the road was so
narrow tlat they had to go OF in single
iieson either side One of them, named
Derthold, cried out, Did anybody ever
.essthe like Of that big stone lying here,
al the morning, ond no one stopped to
AXE It away ?"
1t laid there three weeks, and nobody
tried to remove it. Then the duke sent
round word to all the people on his lat
Q meet at II deep cut in the road, called
Dornthou, near where this stone lay, as
be had somethisg to tell them.
The day came. and a great crowd gath
ereiiat the Dornthou Each side of the
cut was thron2ed with people overlook
ing the road. Old Hahns, the farmer,
was there, and SO was Berth0ld, the mer,
chant
And now winding horn was heard,
aud the people all strained their necks
and eyes toward the castle, as a splendid
cavalcade came salioping up to the Dorm
thou. The duke rode into the cut, got
down from his horse, and with a pleasant
smile bsgan u speak to the people thus .
Aly friends, it was | who put this
stone here three weeks ago. Every pass
er by has left it Just where it was, and
has scolded his nei9hbor for not taking
1t out of TIE way
When he hal spoken these words, he
stopped down, and lifted up the stone.
Directly underneath it was round hol-
low, lined with round pebbles, and in the
hollow lay II small leathern bag. The
duke held ii up that all the people might
see what was written on it. On a piece
OF paper, fastened to the bag, were these
words, i" For him aho tits up tie stone"
He united the bag, and turned it upside
down, aud out fell Il beautiful gold ring,
aud twenty large, bright golden coins
Then everybody wished they had NOV
ed the stone, instead of going round it,
and only blaming his ncighbors. They
all lost the prize because they had not
learned the lesson, or formed the habit
OF helpfulness. And re shall lose many
prize as we 90 on in life, if wo don't
form this habit That bag OF money
was the dukes promise Of reward for
helpiulness. But that promise was hid
den away under the stone, so that no one
could see it. God S promises are not hid
den in this way They are written ont
plainly in the Bible. so that we may all
see them and understand them.
Or. franklin used to say, What
though you have found no treasure, and
had no legacy left you. never mind. Re
member that diligence is the mother Of
luck Thcn
Plough deep while slugsards sleep
And you'll have corn to sell and keep"
Work while il is called to day, for you
know not how much you may be hinder
ed, tomorrow. One to. day is worth two
10 morrows; and never leave till to NOR.
row anything that you can do to day"