Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1892-06-17

TEXT: Their sins aud their iniquiti
rW remember no mOre.n-Hebrews viii
u
The national flower OF the Egyptians
the heliotrOpe, OF the Assyrians is the wate
| lily, Of the HlndoOs is the marigoid, Of th
Chinese Is the chrysanthemum. We have n
national flower, but there is hardly an
flower more suggestive to many Of us tina
the forgetmenot. Veal like 20 be remem
bered, and ono Of our misfortunes is tina
there are so many things we cannot remem
Der. Mnenonlcs, or the art OF assisting
memory, is an important art. Il was frs
suggested 10y Simonides of Cos five hundre,
years before Christ.
Persons who had but little power 10 recall
events, or put facts and names and dates In
professions, have through this art had theiI
memory reinforced TO an almost Incredible
extent. \ good memory is an almost in
valuable possession. BY all means cultivate
it. | had an aged friend who, detained all
night at a miserable depot in waiting for a
rail train fast in the snow banks entertained
a group of some ten TO fifteen clergymen,
likewise detained on their way home from a
meeting of presbytery, first, with q piece OF
chalk, drawing out on the black and sootY
walls of the depot the characters Of Walter
SCOTS "Marmion," and then recting from
ultlllblN Nllt Nilblt VI lllhb pOtLl Vi SOlllt
eighty pages in fine print.
My old friend, through great age, lost his
memory, and when | asked him if this story
OF the railroad depot was true he said, 81 do
not remember now, but it was just like me.
Let me see" said he TO me- have | ever
seen you beforey" Eyes" | said, you wero
my guest last night and | was with you an
hour ago" What an awful contrast in that
man between the greatest memory ever
| knew and no memory at all.
But right along with this art Of recollcc-
ton, which | cannot too highly eulogi2e, is
| one quite as important and yet | never
heardit appaudel. mean the art of for
getting. There is a splendid faculty in that
direction that we all need to cultivate We
might, through that process, be ten times
happier and more useful than we now are.
We have been told that forgetfuness Is
weakness and ought 10 be avoided by all
possible means SO far from weakness, my
text ascribes it to God. 1t is the very top of
omnipotence that God is able TO oblterate a
part OF His own memory. II wo repent OF
sin and rightly seek the divine forgiveness
the record of the misbehavior is not only
crossed Off the book, but God actually lets
1t pass out of memory.
Their sins and their niquties will re-
member no more" To remember no more
is to forget, and you cannot make anything
else out of it. Gods power OF forgetting Is
SO great that if two men appeal to Him. and
the one man, after life all right gets the
SINS of his heart parionel, and the other
man, after life Of abomination. gets par.
doned God remembers no more against one
both the moralist with his imperfections,
and the protligate, with his deblucheries, Is
as much obliterated in the one case a in tho
other Forgotten, forever and forever.
Their sins and their inquities will | re-
member no more"
This sublime attribute of forgetfumess on
the part of God you and need in our finite
way 70 initiate. You will do we'll TO cast out
of your recollection all wrongs done you.
During the course of ones life he is sure to
be misrepresented, to be lied about to be In.
jured, There are those who keep these
things fresh by frequent rehearsal. Ii things
have appeared in print they keep them in
their scrapbook, for they cut these precious
paragraphs out Of newspapers or books AMI
at leisure times look them over, or they have
them tied up in bundles or thrust In pigeon.
holes, and they frequently regale themseve.
and their friends by an inspection Of these
hlngS these sarcasms, these falsehoods, these
CruetieS
have known gentlemen who carrie!
them in their pocketbooks, so that they
put their right hand in the inside Of the coat
pocket over the heart and say: Look herel
Let mo show you something" Scientists
catch wasps, and hornets, ana poisonous in
seCts and transtlx them in curiosity bureaus
for study, and that is we'll But these of
whom speak catch the waspS AMI the hor,
nets and the poisonous insects, and play
with them and put them on til emSelvas ami
on their friends, and see how far the noxious
insects can jump and show how deep they
can sting. Have no such scrapbook. Keen
nothing in your possession that is Disagree
able. Tear up the falsehoods and tho Sian.
ders, and the hypercriticisms.
Initiate the Lord in my text and forget,
actually forget sublimely forget. There is
no happiness for you in any other plan OF
procedure. You see all around you. in the
church and out Of the church, dispositions
acerb, nalign, cynical, pessimistic. Do you
know how these men and women got that
disposition? 1t was by the embalmment Of
things pantherine and viperous. They have
spent much Of their time in calling the roll
OF all the rats that have nibbled ut their rep.
utatiOn. Their soul is n cage of vultures
Everything i'll them is sour or imbittered.
The milk of human kindness has been
curdled. They do not believe in anybody or
anything.
II they sec two people Whispering they
think 1t is about themselves. Ii they see
two people laughing they think it is about
themselves. Where there is one sweet pip
pin i'll their orchard there are fifty crab
apples. They have never been able to for
get. Thoy do not want to forget They
never will forget Their Indebtedness is SUI
preme, for no one can be happy if he carries
in mind the mean things that
have been done him.
On the other hand, you can find here AMI
there man or woman Qor there are not
many of them whose disposition is genial
and summary. Why2 Have they always
been treated well? Oh, no. Hard things
have been said against them. They have
been charged with offlciousuess; anu their
generosities have been set down TO desire
for display, and they nave many a time
been the subject OF tlttle-tattle and they
have had enough small assaults like gnat5
and enough great attacks like lions to have
made them porpetually miserable, il they
would have consented to be miserable
But they have had enough divine philoso-
ply to cast Off the annoyanceS, and they
have kept themselves in the sunlight Of
Gods favor, and have realized that these
oppositions and hindrauces are part of
mighty discipline, by which they are to be
for usefulness and heaven Tho
secret of it all is, they have by the helm of
VIZ
Another practical thought-when our
faults are repented Of let them 20 out of
mind. If God forgets them, we have a right
to forget them. Having once repented of
our lnfelicities and misdemeanors, there Is
no need of our repenting of them again.
Suppose owe you large sum of money,
and you are persuaded | am incapacitatGd
to pay, and you give me acquittal from that
obligation You say: ~ cancel that debt.
q iuh Afn, -.
next Day | come In and say: !'You know
about that big debt owed you. I have come
IN to get you to let me Off. feel SO had
about it | cannot rest. Do let me off, You
reply with little impotence: ~ did let Won
oil. Don't bother yourself and bother me
with any more of that discussion"
The following day | como in and say. "Nv
dear sir, about that debt. | can never GET
over the fact that l owed you that money
IL is something that weighs on my mind like
a, miilstone' Do forgive me that debt"
i his time Won Clpnr 1pco pou, -.