Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1883-06-11
&eliaioas department.
GOOD WORK VS.. TALK.

not enough stress upon Sood WORKS, as
connected with salvation. Good works
will never save man; but if he has not
good works he has no practical religion.
There are men whose religion is for the
most part made up of talk; vigorous talk,
fluent talk, perpetual talk. They will en-
terrain you for an hour telling how good
they are. AS nearly as 1 can tell they re-
semble an ocean craft which is mostly
sail with very little tonnage. They have
topsails, and studding sails, and stay
sails, and maintopsails, and mizzentop-
sails, and flying jib, and mizzen spanker,
but they make no useful voyage. The
world has got tired of this, and wants
religion that will work into all the cir
cumstances of life. We do not want new
religion, but the old religion applied in
all possible directions. Yonder is a river
with steep and rocky banks. 1t waters
no farm; it welcomes no cattle to drink
it has no factories. No one cares where
that river was born among the rocks, or
where it is lost in the sea. But yonder is
another river whose banks have warm
tides; it rocks with lullaby the water
lilies sleeping on its bosom; it invites
the cattle and the birds to come and
drink; it has grist mills on one side and
cotton factories on the other; it has
wealth of two hundred miles of luXuriant
farms Birds chant where it was born in
the mountains, and ships press in to hail
it as it comes down to the Atlantic. One
river is the man who lives for himself;
the other is the man who lives for others.
1t is said that the site Of Jerusalem orig
inally belonged to two brothers whose
farms joined. Each of them formed the
idea of surreptuously giving part Of his
crop to the other. The two brothers
surprised each other one night in the act
of making the generous transfer. That
is beautiful tradition, and, whether it is
true or not, it suggests that whenever a
generous act is performed, that is the
spot for a temple of cOmmemoratiOn.
'"The great want of to-day is practical
religion-a religion that will correctly Ia
bel goods: that will prevent a man tell
ing you a watch was made in Geneva
when it was made in Massachusetts that
Will go into the shoe store and rip off
the fictitious soles and show where the
pasteboard is sandwiched between the
sound leather. We want practical re-
ligion that will go into the grocery and
pull out the plug of ale-adulterated SVr-
up; that will dump in the ash barrel the
cassia buds that are sold for cinnamon;
that will Sift out the PrusSian blue from
the tea leaves; that will keep out of our
flour the plaster of Paris and the soap
stone. We want a practical religion that
will separate the one quart of Ridgewood
water from the one honest drop of cows
milk; that will throw out the live animal
cul3 from the sugar. There has been
so much adultelatio Of food that it has
been an amazement to me that there is a
healthy man in America. Heaven knows
what they put in the spices, in the butter
or in the drugs; but chemical analysis
revelations. The board of health of Mas
sachusetts analysed alleged coffee, and
found not one grain in ten bushels. In
England, there is a law against putting
alum in bread, yet the authorities who
examined fifty packages of bread fount
them all adulterated with alum. Physi
clans are almost afraid to prescribe be
cause drugs are SO seldom pure. Worm
wood warranted pure was found to con
tain fOrty-one per cent of resin. Scam
mony, valuable drug, and very rare, i:
the gum of tree or bush in Syria. Thu
natives adulterate it with q cheaper ma
terial, the exporters adulterate it again
the porters adulterate it again, and tn,
wholesale dealers again. and the retail
dealers again, until finally, when it get
into the sick mans medicine bottle it is
different thing altogether. Practical re
ligion will remedy all this. 1t will g
to the hypocritical professors of religion
who corner the corn market in Chicago
the men who make fortune of million
out of the miseries of their fellow me-
and then try to fix it up with the Lor
by founding a church, university, or
hospital. They think the Lord will be S
pleased if they give him part Of tn
swndle. Their liturgy ought to be this
go Lord, we, by making corners i
breadstuffs and swindling for years, hav
ten millions of dollars saved up. Tho
knowest it was scaly job; but it wa
smart. Now we would like to comprt
mise with thee at one per cent of til
profits. You can build an asylum fC
these poor, miserable weaklings that su
fer, and we will take yacht and go I
Europe. Forever and ever. Amen
Practical religion will make the ma
work as well by the job as by the day.
will make driver go just as fast whe
you hire him by the hour as he does whe
you hire him for the journey. The trou
lie is now that everything mnst be inspec
ed. There is boss to watch the me
and a capitalist to watch the boss. II
conductor must have bell-punch
mark his honesty while the passeng
gives him a clipped nickel. Imperfe
lions are covered with putty. ShoddY
everywhere. Pinchbeck abounds. Di
monds are offered for $3.50. Books f;
apart when you get to the third chapte
Spawned horses are doctored to To-
good few days. Imperfect >car whet
detain the train with hot box. Pract
al religion must prevent the man w
works the farm on halves from maxi
his pay three-quarters. 1t must keep t
elder from working on Sunday aft
noon in the new lot where nobody sc
him. 1t must teach the lawyers tn
responsibility in expOunding the law
defending evil persons. 1t must tea
the newspaper men to print the virtu
of the world in as large type as they
the sins of the world. 1t will stop tn,
from misrepresenting people in int
views. Practical religion will COZ
down with a heavy hand on what is CO
ed good society, elevated society, 81
cessful society, so that people will 1
spend more than their incomes and
when they have callers whom they
not wish to see. 1t will keep innoct