News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1892-03-17

environments. n MAN can nlaho Ills
own bedstead. Chantrey and Hugh
Miller were born stOnemaSons, but
the one became an immortal sculptor
and the other a Christian scientist
whose name will never die. Turner,
the painter, in whose praise John
Ruskin expended the greatest genius
of his life, was the son of barber
who advertised "a penny a shave.
DR.. PrideauX, one of the greatest
scholars of all time, earned his way
through college by securing pots and
pans. The late Judge Bradley worked
his way up from a charcoal burner
to the bench of the supreme court OF
the United States. Yes, a man can
decide the size of his own bedstead.
EVEN GIANTS MUST REST.
Notice, furthermore, that even
giants must rest. Such enormous
physical endowment ON the part of
King Og might suggest the capacity
to stride across all fatigue and omit
slumber. No. He required an iron
bedstead. Giants must rest. Not
approaching that fact, how many of
the giants yearly break down. Giants
in business, giants in art, giants in
eloquence, giants in usefulness. They
live not out more than half their
days.
They try to escape the consequence
of overwork by voyage across the
sea or a sail in a summer yacht, or
call on physicians for relief from in
somnia, or restoration of unstrung
nerves, or the arrest of apoplexies,
when all they need is what this giant
of my text resorted to-an iron bed
stead. Let no one think because he
has great strength of body or mind
that he can afford to trifie with his
unusual gifts. The commercial world,
the literary world, the artistic world,
the political world, the religious
world are all the time aquake with
the crash of falling giants.
King Og, no doubt, had throne,
but the Bible never mentions his
throne King Og, no doubt, had a
crown, but the Bible never mentions
his crown. King Og, no doubt, had
a scepter, but the Bible does not men
ton his scepter. Yet one of the largest
verses of the Bible is taken up in de-
sc1ibing his bedstead. So God all up
and down the Bible honOrs sleep.
Adam, with his head on a pillow of
Edenic roses, has his slumber blest by
divine gift of beautiful companion
ship. Jacob, with his head on pill
low of rock, has his sleep gloritied
with a ladder filed with descending
and ascending angels. Christ, with
a pillow made out of the folded up
coat of fisherman, honors slumber
in the back part of the storm tossed
boat.
The only case of accident to sleep
mentioned in the Bible was when
Eutychus fell from a window during
a sermon of Paul, who had preached
until midnight, but that was not so
much a condemnation of sleep as
censure of long sermons. More sleep
is what the world wants. EconO-
mize in everything but sleep. VIII
liam H. Seward, the renowned secre-
tary of state, in the midst of his
overmastering tolls longed for the
capacity to rest, writing in his mem
orandum book, 81 have never found
! but one invaluable recipe for having
! a good nights rest, and that is to
have been restless and sleepIess the
night before.
When President John Quincy
Adams and the distinguished Josiah
Quincy went to hear Judge Story
lecture on law to his students, and,
when invited to sit beside the judge
and both fell asleep, the judge ap-
propriately pointed to them and said
to his students, Behold the evil eff
fects of early rising" In Bible times,
when people arose at the voice of the
bird, they retired at the time the bird
puts his head under his wing.
One of our national sins is robbery
Of sleep. Walter Scott was so urgent
about this duty of slumber, that
when arriving at a hotel where
there was no room to sleep in, except
that in which there was a corpse, in
qulired if the deceased had died of &
contagious disease, and when as
sured he had not, took the other bed
in the room and fell into profound
est slumber. Those of small endur-
ance must certainly require rest, if
rven the giant needs an iron bed
btead.
DO NOT BE SURPRISED WHEN THE GREAT
OPPOSE YOU.
Notice, Furthermore, that Gods
people on the way to Canaan need
not be surprised if they confront
some sort of a giant. Had not the
Israelitish host had trouble enough
already2 No! Red sea not enough.
Water famine not enough. Long
marches not enough. Opposition
by enemies of ordinary stature not
enough. They must meet Og, the
giant of the iron bedstead. Mine
cubics was the length thereof and
four cubics the breadth of it. Why
not let these Israelites go smoothly
into Canaan without this gigantic
opposition? Oh, they needed to have
their courage and faith further tested
and developed! And blessed the man
who, in our time, in his march toward
the Promised Land does not meet
more than one giant.
Do not conclude that you are not
on the way to Canaan because of this
obstacle. As well might the Israel
ties conclude that they were not on
the way to the Promised Land because
they met Og, the giant. Standing in
your way is some evil propensity,
some social persecution, some business
misfortune, some physical distress.
Not one of you but meets giant who
would like to hew you in twain.
Higher than eleven feet this Og dark
ems the sky and the rattle of his
buckler stuns the ear But you are
going to get the victory, as did the
Israelites.
In the name of the God of Moses
and David and Joshua and Paul
charge on him, and you will leave
his carcass in the wilderness. You
want a battle shout! Take that with
which David, the five footer, assailed
Goliath, the nine footer, when that
giant cried, with singing contempt
both in manner and information,
Come to me, and I will give thy
flesh unto the fowls of the all
and to the beasts of the field, y
and David looked up at the mon
ster of braggadociO and defiantly