News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-02-11
Uncle Johns Sunday Morning Talk
REV, e. Q. Crane IN the Quincy did WhRg,I
FROM FAMILIAR PROVERBS.

REV, E. @. Crane in the Quincy (lll.) WhEg.l |
FROM FAMILIAR PROVERBS.
"God gives every bird its food but
Does not throw it into the nest"
"There is an eel under the rock"
"Sloth is the key to poverty"
"Apolo hears when called upon"
A proverb is truth in nutshell. l
propose to crack four OF these nuts, and
extract the meat if l can, and hope
Young laws will masticate it and young
stomachs digest it. The proverbs are not
texts, nor is this a sermon. They are
rather preteXts for plain talk ON com.
mon sense subject. An audience OF
young people might make an old mans
heart warm, his thoughts qulckened and
his tongue limbered, if they were only I
within the range of his vision and the |
sound of his voice, but such a stimulus |
is not given me in striving to talk with |
YOU. so YOU must humOr an old man |
fancy if by the SpectacleS OF Imagination |
he strives to draw you near enough 10 |
talk face to face, using the Wh'g instead
of his voice as means OF conveying |
his thoughts. ,.
Let no one deceive himself by, the
thought that Uncle John has anything |
new To saw. The proverbs were not new
Int have been reckOned by all nations. |
The truths in them are not new either.
When l was boy-more years ago than
7 can well remember-they Stalked
abroad in the full strength of manhood
children of past generations. L shall
not hesitate to talk. however, because
nv tale is not new. Many old springs
have perennial freshness. Besides this,
the real work of teacher is not the us
cOvery of new truth, but to rehash, warm
over and attractively serve trite and
commonplace truths, which,, lacking
salt. pepper and condiments, have be-
come inSipid and unpalatab1e. L only
hope to cook over old dinners in such
manner as to stimulate appetite, and
ward off dyspepsia. Lest you think this
long gong beating for small dinner,
1 will say that it is to serve as a general
warming for similar meals in the future
and may therefore be excused.
There is an eel under the rock, " says
the pretext, and the inference is plainly
that he who angles there will get him,
and he who doesn't won't. Life is full of
prizes, but they are well winged and
easily elude any feeble pursuer. He who
would catch these birds must get near
enough to put salt on their tails, or his
cage will be forever empty and their
songs unsung in his home.
The prizes invite the young. You
want some of them without question.
Something lies ahead not yours, but
which may be yours and which you
want. Success in business, prominence
in some chosen profession, scholarly at
tainments, social position, human lead
ership, and thousand and one things
lie ahead inviting your approach and
exciting your desire. But, my son, air
castles rest on no sure foundation, and
palaces born of day dreams, afford poor
shelter from life's storms. 1t takes
something more substantial than dream
ing to make life a success, and . If wish.
es were horses beggars might ride"
Nor do these coveted prizes come at the
bidding of Luck or of Genius so often
as is supposed. Luck is at the best a
trickster and a dOuble-handed fellow.
His friendships tickle, tOrrid to-day and
frigid tomorrow. To trust In him
however fair his promises, is not wise,
while genius belongs to very select
family and smiles upon few. You, my
son, are neither a genius or lucky. Y our
mother may think you are the first, and
you may endorse her views, but without
doubt the neighbors all think differently
and rate you as common young man,
in no sense remarkable, while rs.ZOggs
makes no bones of saying that you are
in every sense inferior to her AlgernOn.
If you rely on genius to put you for
ward, you won't go. Luck may give you
a boost to-day and a kick tomorrow,
and between the two your show is poor,
if there be no other ally to aid you.
Another ally is near, slow, countrltied,
plodding, and reliable. He has no style.
He makes no show. He has no brilliant
parts, but mark my words. no man ever
ever put into him, who keeps this ally
by him. His name is Labor, and he is
best known by his deeds.
Without labor genius is delusion and
luck a snare, while mediocre abilities
are wrought by labor into wondrous
success in every department of life.
Work is the talisman that brings all
blessing; the ''Open sesame" to all USE
fulness and honor. No boy ever started
out in life with a firm determination to
win his way by hard knocks, and stuck
to it, but what made his mark some
where, no matter how few his endorse
mentS were, while thousands endorsed
by God with great honor, and given
unusual chances in life have simply
amounted to nothing through sheer
laziness. To saw wood in cellar is far
more manly than to twirl 25 cent cane
on the street corner. 4" Honest old Abe.
the rail splitter, struck his first blows
at slavery, where he Glove hickory rails
with an axe. Andrew johnson, the
tailor, faithful, exact and laborious, was
as worthy as Andrew Johnson, the
President. Garfield on the canal boat a
prophecy of Garfield commanding the
ship of state The world owes every
man living-if he works for it, but if
a man will not work, neither shall he
eat" "God gives to every bird food,
but He does not throw it into the nest, "
any bird old enough to fly and does not
fly in search of its own grubS deserves
to Starve-and without doubt will. In
rnh III hn f0p int off rn1-xr
where, work is the only safe ally, while
"Sloth is the key to poverty, financial
ly, mentally and morally.
If you wish to amount to anything
more than a cipher with its rim lost in
the great sum of life, my boy, you must
knuckle to, bend your back under life's
burdens, lift your pound if you can lift
no more, and don't be afraid of callouSed
hands. In this democratic country no
premium is laid on a velvety touch.
Nor need you expect Apollo to do for
you what you can do for yourself,
= Apollo hears when called upon, says
the proverb, there is no voice that will
penetrate Apollo's ears so quickly as
steady, persistent effort to secure the
blessing unaided. Prayer is good thing
but action is better. No prayers are so
forcible as the acted ones, and none Sc
cure such ready replies. The farmer
prayS for harvest by blowing the soil
and planting the seed. The merchant
prays for wealth by strict attention to
business. The lawyer prays for YER
dict for his client by hard study, and in
nine cases out of ten, these prayers are
answered, while mere verbal petitions
never get higher than the petitioners
mouth.
Don't fool yourself, my son. God helps
those who help themselves, and the best
way to invoke His aid is to pitch in for
yourself, trusting in Him to bless your
effort. The old classic story of the
teamster whose cart stuck in the mud,
and who fell to crying to Hercules for
help instead of using effort to help him
self, and was told by his god to put his
own shoulder to the wheel, shows that
heather mind, long before your Uncle |
John was born, had seen the folly of
asking God to do what we can do for our