Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1886-10-15

I
while,n say the gentleman Of the firm
"Your son, am sorry to say, IS on the
wrong track
The old father goes hunting him from place
10 place and comes suddenly upon him that
night in place OF abandonment. The father
says: my son, come with me. Your mother
has sent me 70 bring you home. hear you
are out OF money ana good clothes and you
know as long as we live you can have a
home.n "Come right awayln he says, put
ting his hand ON the young mans shoulder.
In angry tone Edward replies: take
business. will do as please. Take your
hgnds of of me or l will strike you DOWN.
/ You go your way and will go minen
That Saturday night or rather Sunday
morning-for 1t is by this time two o'clock in
the morning, the father goes to the city home
of his SON Nicholas and rings the bell and
rings again and again, and it seems as if no
answer would be given, but after a while a
window is hoistsd and voice cries:
"Who's there n
, SIT is me-" says the old man.
"Why, father, is that you %
In a minute the door is opened and the son
says;
the city this hour of the night ~
"Oh. Edward has brought me here. Ifeared
your mother would go stark crazy not hear
ing from him, and / find out that it is worss
with him than | suspected
Eyes" says Nicholas, II hal not the heart
to write you anything about it have tried
my best with him and all in vain. But it is
after two O'clock" says Nicholas to his
fatnsr.s land l will take you to bed"
On comfortable couch in that house the
old father lies down, coaxing sleep for few
hours, but no sleep comes. Whose house is
it! One rented by his son, Nicholas. The
fact is that Nicholas soon after coming to
nfFyr hnno I'D -. AIa
mercial establishment where ne was placed.
He knew, what few persons know, that wEiie
in all departments of business and mechan-
ism and art there is surplus of people of
ordinary application and ordinary diligence,
there is a great scarcity and always has been
great scarcity of people who excel. Plenty
OF people to do things poorly or tolerably
well, but very few clerks or business men or
me ,hanicS who can do splendidly well. Ap-
prsciating this, Nicholas he'd resolved to do
30 graudly that the business firm could not
do without him. Always at his place before
the time he was required to come Always
at his place little after everybody had gone.
As extremely polite to tn SO who declined
purchasing as to those who made large pur-
chases. He drank no wine, for he saw it
was the imprisonment of multitudeS and
when any one asked him to take something
he said "No,n with the peculiar information
that meant no. His conversation was always
as pure as if his sister had been listening.
He went to no place of amusement where he
would be ashamed to die. He never bet or
gambled. even at church fair. When he
was at the boarding house after he got all
the artistic development he could possibly
receive from the chromos ON the wall he be-
gan to study that which would help him to
promotion; study penmanshp, study biog-
raphies OF successful men, or went forth to
places OF innocent amusement and to Young
Mems Christian Associations, and was not
ashamed to be found at q church prayer
meeting. He rose from position to position
and from one salary to another salary.
Only five years in town and yet he has
rented his own house or suit of rooms, not
very large, but home large enough in its
happiness to be a type of heaven. Ia the
morning as the old father with handkerchief
in hand comes crying down stairs to the table,
there are four PERSONS one for each side: the
young man, and opposite to him the best
blessing that God Of infinite goodness can
bestow, namely, good wife, and on another
side the high chair filled with dimpled and
rollicking glee that males the grandfather
opposite smile outside while he has broken
heart within.
Well, as I said, it was Sabbath and Mich.
olas and his father knowing that there is no
place so appropriate fer troubled soul as
The house Of Cod find their way to church.
1t is communion day, and what Is the old
LlHu SURPRISE 10 SEQ SUI pass uOWu
aisle with one of The silver chalices, showing
him to be a church Off ,fal. The fact was
that Nicholas from the start in city life hon.
ored God and God had honored him. When
the first wave Of city temptation struck him
he had felt the need of Divine guidance and
Divine protection and in prayer had sought
!. q regenerated heart, and had obtained that
mightiest of all armor, that mghtiest of all
protection, that mightiest of all reinforce.
ments, the multipotentand omnipotent grace
Of God and you might as well throw thistle
down AGAINST Gibraltar, expecting to destroy
it, as with all the combined temp atoms of
earth and hell try to overthrow young man
who can truthfully say: God is my refuge
and strength"
Come let us measure Nicholas around the
head. AS many inches of brain as any other
intelligent man. Let us measure him
around the heart. 1t is so large it takes in
all the earth and all the heavens. Measure
him around the purse. He has more re-
sources than nine-tenths Of any of those who,
on that Monday, September 20, came in on
any of the railroads from North, or South,
or East, or West
But that Sabbath afternoon, while in the
back room Nicholas and his father are talk
ing over n>w plan for the reclamation of
Edward, theYs is a ringing of the door bell,
aud a man with a uniform Of policeman
stands there and with some embarrassment
and some hating, and in roundabout way
saws that in fight in some low haunt of the
city Edward has been hurt He says to
Nicholas: 81 heard that he was some rela-
ton of your and thought you ought to know
itn
"Hurt3 Is he badly hurtr
Eyes, very badly hurt"
us the wound mOralp
Eyes 1t is mortal. 70 tell you the whole
truth, sir,n says the policeman, although
can hardly bear to tell You, he is dead
"Dead!' cries Nicholas And by this time
the whole family are in the hallway. The
father says: Just as | feared. 1t will kill
his mother when she hears of it. Oh, my son,
my son! Would to God had died for thee.
Oh, my son, my SOM"
wash or the wounds says Nicholas,
''and bring him right here to my house and
let there be all respect aud gentleness shown
him. 1t is the last we can do for him.
Oh, what obsequies /! The next door neigh
bors hardly lnew what was going on, but
Nicholas and the father and mother knew
Out of the Christian and beautiful home Of
the one brother is carried tho dissolute
brother. No word of blame uttered. No
harsh thing said On the bank of camellias
Is spelled out TIE word "BRoTHER.n Had
the prodigal been true and pure and noble in
lie and honorable in death, he could not
have been carried forth with moro tender
noss, or slept i'll "a moro Dea IlIiul gard II of
thedead. Amid the looSened lrf the brothers
who left the country for city life five years
before now part forever. The last scene Of
the fifth act of an awful tragedy Of human
life Is ended.
What made the difference between thess
two young men1 Religion. The one de.
pended on himself, the other depended on
God. They started from the same home, had
the same opportunities of education, arrived
in the city on the same day aud if there was
any difference Edward hal the advantage,
for he was brighter and quicker and al the
neighbors prophesied greater success for him
than for Nicholas. But behold and wonder
at the tremendous Issue. Voices come up
out of this audience and say Did you know
these hrOthars Wa lnaw than wall hid