Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1880-12-06


passed in crowded alleys and suffocating
novels, upon whose gaunt forms poverty
has left the traces of It's pinching grip,
and whom misery and wretchedness ex-
-treme have forced into a premature old
age. Think of them, born in sin, train
ed in vice. stepped in inquity, devoid of
virtue, never having known purity. ig-
norant of God, living despised, dying
degraded, and whose eternity we can
leave alone to the mercy Of the Good
God above. la 39I9gsT
4 Think again Of those who all the
past year have had pain and wasting |
sickness as their constant companions,
and the extent Of whose liberty has been
the four walls of the room in which
their bed was placed. ea 1ia ae
Again, call to mind those who bereft |
of their reason. have wandered the cor
corridors and halls of lunatic asylums, all
the rational joy of life blotted out from
their SOULS men unnamed, the godlike
disfranchised of their glory, sitting on a
lower level than the beasts that perish.
Is there one here to-day in whose l
heart is found the spirit Of repining,
o look around and see the thousand
unfortunate ones who now have a
lot as far beneath yours as yours is be-
meath the lot of the wealthiest, and let
the sight chase away your gloom. ban
ish your complaining, and bring from
your heart the grateful ascription. "Bless
the Lord, o my Soul, and al that is
within me, bless His Holy Name" 5ai
But has the goodness Of God been
confnd to these negative phases. have
not positive blessings been yours in
abundance ? Look back Not with eyes
over which the darkening film of dis
content is drawn, but with eyes and
hearts ready and eager to catch the tint.
and revel in the sweetness of the flowers
of goodness with which God has liued
your path. Think of the joy of father,
and sister, and friend, and home; think
of the joy of social intercourse round
the ruddy FIRE, or IN the green fields of
natures best Cathedral. Think of the
Joy of the church. or of religious duties
when your heart has been all aglow be-
cause the Divine has dwelt with the hui
man, and when the harp of your feel
ings has been tremulous with strains
of heavenly rapture. Think of Sacra-
mental occasions when in very deed the
Son of Man has served at the Feast,
and when with no dim or distorted vis-
ion you saw Him whom the angels be-
hold, and beholding are satisfied. 1sa
q Shall further speak of the heaven
ly joy borne into your hearts when some
heavy sorrow had pressed you down to
the ground in anguish Shall | speak
of closed path suddenly opened to you
like the waters of Jordan before the ad-
vancing feet Of Israel's host? Shall l
call to your mind that time when the
tears of joy fell SO fast as one for whom
you had prayed SO long and SO earnestly
received Fathers welcome. as he re-
turned with the prodigal's prayer on
his lips: "Father | have sinned %
Surely as We sit and think, praise shall
dwell upon our tongues. and thanks
giving be the exercise of our hearts.
OF course, we know the year has not
been without its sorrows, not only per-
sonal but national. But can we not for
to-day at least, put these out of sight
Let us hush the minor notes of sorrow,
and let our praise be expressed in cres-
cendo passages. Pull out all the stops
of the organ, let the knee press back
the swell, open clear the couplers. and
let there be no Mtserere chanted in
in wailing tone, but let the glad n
Deuns roll and swell along and aloft
until it rises clear and sweet into tht
ears of the Lord God of heaven and
earth, and He gratefully accepts Hi
children's praise. 5sga 81 paa a1ll3i
Let us wait before God in joyfu
frame to-day. Let our religion be win
some. and let our tongues gladly pro
claim the goodness of God. e s1a 9ai
eve cannot but smile" says an ex
change. "when a man tells us he can
not tska his local naner because h