Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-05-21

bonds as bound with them, and one by one
the letters have snapped asunder, the strong
shackles of the Roman law, the woundpp
cords Of feudal vllenagc the degrading tolls
of British slavery, the proscriptive manacles
of Russian serfdom, until, even in our own
land, and our own day, "Our eyes have seen
the glory Of the coming of the Lord, as He
comes proclaiming liberty throughout the
land 10 all the inhabitants thereof.
"Thy kingdom come :" the children Of the
light are pleading, and the hiearchies that
sought to confne the thought of men were
baffied and paralyzed, and the Bible was un.
chnined and the ways that lead TO the mercy
seat were opened to the feet of all penitent
believers.
Thus il is by these mighty changes that
have liberated and elevated and enlightened
the children of men that Gods kingdom ha,
been coming through all the ages, with in.
creasing glory and enlarging power. Some.
times we hear the voice Of His heralds cry.
ing, "Who is this that cometh from Edon,
with dyed garments from Bozrah, glorious IT,
his apparel, travelling in the greatness Of his
strength lie who hath trodden down the
people in his wrath and trampled upon them
in his fury" Sometimes the voice cries
"IIow beautiful upon the mountains are the
feet of him that bringeth salvation. that pub.
lisheth peace :" But whether He come in
His might. with confused noise and garment
rolled in blood, or whether He come in His
genteness stealing in by all sweet influences
to mems hearts, and kindling in them better
wishes and kinder feelings, He is always
coming and the prayer that His children
night and day are lifting to His throne is al.
swered spcedily-yea with the light OF every
sunrising and the smile Of every watching
star.
And now we come to ask whether there is
anything that we can do toward the an.
swering of this prayer. Truly we can do
much, and in many ways. Though the
greatest, says Mr.. Ruskin, lit is that ever.
lasting kingdom which the poorest Of US can
advance We cannot hasten ChTists coming
'Of the day and hour knoweth none But
the kingdom of God is as grain of mustard
seed we can SOW of it it is as O foam-globe
of leaven we can mingle it and its glory
and its joy are that even the birds of the air
eau lodge in the branches of it"
Even these children can help to bring in
many places this kingdom Of God for which
they daily pray. | heard a mother telling
the other day Of her children, who had quar-
relied sometimes, as many children do, fear
but who had both been made so thoroughly
sorry and ashamed on account of one of their
quarrels that they were careful for many days
after that not to say a bitter word, or to do a
hateful deed. so peace came to that house
through the prayer and the watching of those
two Christian children and peace, you
know, is one of the signs of the kingdom of
God in the world. And hope that when the
children off this prayer they will remember
that this is one of the ways in which it is an
swered, and in which they may help in an
swering it,
And whenever we help one another to the
living of better lives-to be more truthful or
upright OF honorable or kind, to be more
faithful in our duties to God or to man-then
we are helping to answer our prayer and to
hasten the coming of Gods kingdom.
You offer this prayer sometimes many of
you, most of you, / trust. Do you always
stop to think what it meansy For it has a
personal bearing. | have said that it is
very comprehensive petition, and so it IL
but has q very direct application TO the life of
every individual who utters it. 1t is like the
'whosoever," of the Gospel; what makes it
such a momentous word to me is the fact that
that it means me. You pray that the king.
dom of God may come Do you want
it to come to Vermont? DO you desire that
it should come to Brattleboro Do you wish to
have it come to your store, your Office, your
shop, your study, your kitchen, your table,
your toilet, your closet, your heart How
near to you do you desire that the kingdom
of God should come?