St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1886-04-22

ISL, man. The Lord hath use for
silver and gold, corruptible things,
wrought into benefactiOns But in
the scale that indicates the Lords will
about man, it is the liberal spirit
that weighs much. Therefore it hap
pens that the poor weigh more in the
balance sometimes, than the rich for
if there be first willing mind it is ac-
cepted (as weight in this reckoning)
according to that man hath, and not
according to that he hath not. Now /
was sure that, according as God had
prOspered him, the man at the scale
was a cheerful giver, the same whom
God loveth; whites by the experiment
of this ministration he glOrified God in
protested subsection unto the gospel
of Christ.
l will tell of another thing, which, if
my vision was true, the man never
failed to have on the scale in large
weight-in double weight, SIS if /
might so say-Simplicity and Cody
Sincerity. In the midst of great pros
perity it never appeared that he was
spoiled. Unexpected success did not
throw him off balance. One could not
see that the smell of the fire of vanity
had passed over him. A writer once
said that he would walk weary jour
ney to the utmost verge of the big
world to kiss the hand of the man who
in the height of prosperity and honors
would
Preserve lowly mind; and to his God
Feeling the sense of his own httleness-
BE as a child in meek simplicity"
l think it would have pleased that
writer to see the vision of the scale and
the man thereat. Affixed to the mans
person he might discover imperial in
sigma (put there by other hands than
his) /; decorations from oriental courts
or from the land of the white elephant;
he might even be tempted TO salute
him, Sir Knight ! or Commander el- L ti-
kar! But the earnest, demure face of
the man would forbid that, and before
long it would appear that the decora-
ton most priced by him was not the
Knightly Cross nor the Barbaric Cy-
pher, but that other one which is not cor
ruptible, even the Ornament of a meek
and quiet spirit which is in the sight of
God of great price which is on the
scale of great weight. Most certainly
the scale beam indicated this as the
testimony of his conscience, that in
simplicity and godly sincerity, not
with fieshly wisdom but by the grace
of God he had his INSTRUMENTATION in
the world.
The vision did not pass till had
seen one thing more, distinctly. Over
all the toll of ninety years to balance
that scale Alright, was written this in
scriptiOn-"Thel life which | now live
in the flesh, live by faith in the Son
of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me-" This was the last that ap-
peared that night but shortly after
caught in my mind the sound of a
sweet salutation, the same that foated
over the waters of Hiddekel, long
while ago, as if One said-"O man
unto thee am now sent, for thou art
greatly beloved /! And now thou shalt
rest, and stand in thy lot at the end OF
days"
Next morning [ knew that a soul had
passed, whose work at the scale was
done. l do not say he filed out the
ideal set before him or balanced the
weight set on the beam. l only know
he tried to.
May each of us aim to fill out ac-
cording to our capacity the full char
acter weight of one soul, on the just
balance and scales which are the
Lords.