Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1882-04-28

| appetite and passion, ana by avoiding every
excessive indulgence. "He that is slow to an
ger is better than the mighty and lie that
ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city"
The whole man must be educated up to per-
feet manhood the physical intellectual and
moral powers. Man must cultivate and de-
velop these powers il no would make the
| highest possible attainments in useful knowl-
edge-science and religion. And he may
show by vigor of body, and energy Of mind
a well-cultvated understanding, moral prog
ress and power complete growth and thus
show himself a man in the improvement Of
| the Wh0le man.
Notwithstanding all tho facilities for men
tai and moral culture and growth, some are
always babos in religion, and children in in
tellect. Brethren, be not children in un-
| derstanding, howbeit in malice be ye chill
dren, but in understanding be men," By
knowledge shall the chambers of the mind
be filled with all precious and pleasant riches
| An uncultivated soul Is like an uncultivated
| garden, all overgrown with pernicious weeds
| He who neglocts to cultivate his powers shall
| live and die without knowledge and shall
reap a harvest of thorns, briars and tares
We must not rest in eementaries, but from
first principles proceed to higher attainments
in things divine and human to full-grown
men in moral excellence and power; unto a
| perfect man "unto the measure of the stat
ure Of the fulness of Christ" Unless there
is physical intellectual and moral activity
all energies and good principles must stag
nate. There is room enough in human life
TO crowd almost every art and science in It,
| II we pass no day without line, visit no
| place without the company Of book, we
may with ease fill libraries or empty them of
| their contents. The more we do, the more
we can do; the more busy we are, the more
leisure we have and it is an old maxim, He
hath no leisure who useth II not" Notwith-
| standing the curse, sin the sweat Of thy brow
shalt thou eat bread" God has made labor
both blessing and an honor, aud crowned
| industry with rich reward He who provides
not for his own, and especially for those Of
| his own house, is branded by an inspired
apostle with the gross sin of having denied
| the faith, and as worse than an inhdel. Idle
ness is the father Of manifold sins, while in
dustry is the mother Of many virtues lndo-
lence is a reproach to any person, particular
| ly to any Christian. Indeed, it is wholly in
consistent with the Christian character. No
| person can be indolont and show himself a
man. 1t is dangerous to be unemployed, es-
| pecially for the young Idleness is the road,
| 1t may be, TO immortality, vice, intemperance,
dishonesty, poverty, want shame, disgrace,
| crime, prison and death. 81 went by the
field of the slothful, and by the vineyard Of
| lub man NOlu bl UNDERSTANDING huu ~ II
wRs grown over with thorns and nettles had
covered the face thereof, and the stone wall
thereof was broken down" This parable is
daily e1emplifed in temporal and spiritual
| things "Why stand We here all the day idle
| Go ye also into the vineyard and whatsoever
is right, that shall ye receive" He who sows
not in the harvest shall reap not. He who
| laboTs not shall not eat True, with respect
to soul and body
Listen to parable of industry: "Geron,
an old man of eighty, was sitting at tho door
of his rural dwelling when youth from
| town came to him, and entered into conver-
sation. When he heard the number Of his
years, he marvelled at his healthy aud yigor-
| GUS appearance, and asked Geron what ne
| had done to enjoy such strength and serenity Y
in the winter Of his life. Geron answered,
My son, this is like every good gift, from
| above, yet we must do something here Uelow
to obtain it, Then the old man rose and
| took the stranger to the orchard. showed him
the high, splendid trees laden with delicious
fruit. Then the old man said, 'Dost thou
marvel that now enjoy the fruit of these
trees? Behold, my son, l planted them in
my youth. Here thou hast the mystery Of my
quiet, fruitful old age The youth bowed
his head, for he understood the old mans
words and pondered them in his heart"
Some covet the position of others, and i'm
agine that they might more fully develop
themselves, accomplish more, and better
show themselves men if they could only oc-
cupy o different sphere. Be this as it may,
every providential calling is right and lawful,
| aud wherever our lot may be cast, or howev-
er humble it may be, we may do good and
it is manly TO do we'll and with our might
what our hands find to do in every station in
life. Better to succeed as a cobbler than to
fail as a lawyer. Better to be good farmer,
than poor merchant. Better to be asuccess-
full lay worker in the church, than to fail as a
preacher. Do according to your present pow
| er, and greater possibilities will open to you
as you advance in the journey of life. Indus
try will improve great talents and will also
supply the deficiency Of moderate abilities.
Nothing is denied TO well-directed labor,
nothing is ever to be attained without it,"
Let every man know himself, his capacity
and adaptation carefully and prayerfully as
certain what his calling is in the providence
Of God then show himself a man by magni-
flying that calling according 10 his utmost
power, by doing with his might what his
hands find to do. Every man has talent OF
some kind and to some extent, and there is a
sphere for his talent.
Thet Solomon might be qualified for his
high Office and vast responsibilities as king,
his father David charged him with the i'm
portance of understanding the Divine will,
and of rendering his God complete. cheerful
service. "And thou, Solomon. my son, know
thou the God Of thy father and serve him
with perfect heart and with a willing mind.
And he asked of the Lord wisdom and knowl
edge that he might judge great people, and
the Lord granted him wisdom and knowl
edge. In every position of trust and honor
in every high calling; in temporal aud spirit
ual things, divine wisdom and knowledge are
| fnAiunanail,lo Ry industry
and decision Of character, men have come
forth from humble and even obscure walks
in life to eminence, true greatness, and TO po
sitions of highest trust. Young men, you may
not have superior advantages, opportunite,
for liberal education, indeed you may hav,
painful drawbacks, yet, by self-reliance ant
culture and earnest application you may pro
cure an education and thereby show your
selves men. Columbus was the son OF {
weaver and weaver himself. Homer wa
the son of small farmer Demosthenes wa
the son of a cutler. Oliver Cromwell was the
son of a London brewer. Howard was an ap
prentice to a grocer. Franklin was journey
man printer, and son of q tallow- -ohRndle
and soap boiler. Whitefeld was the son Of al
innkeeper at Gloucester Shakspere was th
son of q wood. stapler. Milton was the sol
of money -scrivener. Napoleon, descendan
of an obscure family of Corsica, was majo
| When ne married Josephine, the daughter U
a Creole tobacconist of Martinique. Abra
ham Lincoln was a rail-splitter. Presiden
Grant was tanner. Vice President Wilson
was cobbler. Gen Banks says that he grad
uated at a university which had water
wheel at the bottom, and bell on the top
Moses was the son of poor Levite. Dayi'
was a shepherd-boy. The apostles were ig
norant and unlearned, yet mighty. Zwingl
emerged from a shepherds hut among tn
Alps. Meancthon was a workman in an al
morer's shop. Martin Luther was the chile
of poor miner. Carey, who originated tn
plan of translating the Bible into the Ian
guage of Of the millions of Hindostan, was
shoemaker in Northampton. DIR. Adam Clarl
. | 70 nkila ~ I.-inh nnILnra InhIl EnaLa