The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1891-09-18

Il least two witnesses Of integrity. And
Il guilt be proved, flnd out the extenuat-
lnR circumstances II there are any.
And then commit to memory 70 that
you can quote for yourself and quote
Tor others that exquisite thirteenth
,hapter Of First Corinthians about char
Ity that suffers long and is kind and
hopeth all things and endureth all
things BY pen, by voice, In public
and In private, say all the good about
people you can think Of, and II there
be nothing good, then tighten the
chain Of muscle on the back end OF
your tongue and keep the ivory bars OF
teeth on the lower jaw and the ivory
bars Of teeth on the upper jaw locked,
and the gate Of your lips tightly closed
and your tongue shut up.
What a place Brooklyn would be to
live In, and all the other cities and
neighborhoods to live in, II charity
dominated What If all the young and
old gossipers were dead. The Lord
hasten their funeralsl What If title
tattle and whispering were out OF fash
ionl What If in ciphering out the value
of other peoples character in our moral
arithmetic we stuck to addition instead
of subtractionl Kindness! Let us,
morning, noon and night, pray for it
until we get it. When you can speak a
good word for some one, speak It, II
you can conscientiously give letter OF
commentator, give it. Watch for OPP
portunities for doing good fifty years
after you are dead.
All my life has been affected by the
letter of introduction that the Rev. DR..
Van vranken, of New Brunswick The
illogical seminary, wrote for me, boy
under him, when I was seeking set
Element in which to preach the Gospel.
The letter gave me my first pulpit. DR..
Van Vranken has been dead more than
thirty years, yet l feel the touch of that
magnificent old professor. Strange
sensation was it when l received kind
message from Rev. Thomas Guard, of
Baltimore, the great Methodist orator,
six weeks after his death. By way of
the eternal world2 Oh, no, by way OF
this world.
l did not meet the friend to whom
he gave the message until nearly two
months after Thomas Guard had as
cended. So you can start a word about
some one that will be on it's travels and
vigorous long after the funeral psalm
has been sung at your obsequies. Kind
nessl Why, if fifty men all aglow with
it should walk through the lost world,
methinks they would almost abolish
perdition.
INSPIRING EXAMPLES OF KINDNESS.
Furthermore, there is kindness Of ac-
ton. That is what Joseph showed to
his outrageous brothers. That is what
David showed to Mephibosheth for his
father Jonathan's sake. That is what
Onesiphorus showed to Paul in the Ro-
man penitentiary. That is what VIII
liam Cowper recognized when he said
he would not trust a man who would
with his foot needlessly crush worm.
This is what our assassinated Fresi-
dent Lincoln demonstrated when his
private secretary found him in the
Capitol grounds trying to get bird
back to the nest from which it had
fallen, and which quality the illustrious
man exhibited years before which hav-
ing some lawyers in the carriage on
the way to court passed on the road a
swine fast in the mire, after awhile
cried to his horses, "Hop and said to
the gentlemen, II must go back ana
help that hog out of the mire." And
he did go back, and put on solid
ground that most uninteresting quad
ruped.
That was the spirit that was mani
tested by my departed friend, Honor
able Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia
(and lovelier man never exchanged
earth for heaven), when at Washing
ton. A senator's wife, who told my
wife of the circumstances, said to him,
"Mr. Stephens, come and see my dead
canary bird" And he answered, mo,
/ could not look at the poor thing
without crying"
That is the spirit that Grant showed
when at the surrender at Appomattox
he said to General Lee, "As many of
your soldiers are farmers and will need
the horses and mules to raise the crops
to keep their families from suffering
next winter, let each Confederate who
can claim horse or a mule take it
along with him.
That is the spirit which last night
ten thousand mothers showed to their
sick children coming to give the drink
1T the twentieth call as cheerfully and
as tenderly as at the first call. Sup
pose all this assemblage. and all to
whom these words shall come by print
.r's type, should resolve to make kind
ness an overarching, undergirding and
all pervading principle of their life, and
then carry out the resolution, why, in
nix months the whole earth would feel