The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1892-02-05

when that recess of thirty minutes
occurred. Its population has quad
rupled, sextupled, centupled Heaven
has more on hand, more of rapture.
more of knowledge, more of inter
communication, more of worship.
There is not so much difference be-
tween Brooklyn seventy-fve years
ago. when there were a few houses
down on the East river and the vii.
lage reached up only to Sands street,
as compared with what this great city
is nOw-ye not so much difference
between New York when Canal street
was far up town and now when Canal
street is far down town, than there
is difference between what heaven
was when my text was written and
what heaven is now The most thrill
ing place we have ever been in is
stupid compared with that, and if we
now have no time to spare we will
then have no eternity to spare. ST.
lence in heaven only half an hour
HALF HOURS TO BE REMEMBERED.
My subject also impresses me with
the Immortality of half hour. That
half hour mentioned in my text is
more widely known than any other
period in the calendar of heaven.
None of the whole hours of heaven
are measured off, none of the years,
none of the centuries. Of the mil
lions of ages past and the millions of
ages to come, not one is especially
measured off in the Bible The half
hour of my text is made immortal.
The only part of eternity that was
ever measured by earthly timepiece
was measured by the minute hand of
my text.
Oh: the half hours They decide
everything. am not asking what
you will do with the years or months
or days of your life, but what of the
half hours? Tell me the history of
your half hours and | will tell you
the story of your whole life on earth
and the story of your whole life in
eternity. The right or wrong thingS
you can think in thirty minutes, I'll
right or wrong things you can say in
thirty minutes, the right or wrong@
things you can do in thirty minut
are glorious or baleful, inspiring
desperate. Look out for the frad
ments of time. They are pieces
eternity.
1t was the half hours between shoeI
ing horses that made Elihu Burrit
the learned blacksmith, the bal
hours between professional calls as
physician that made Abercrombie the
Christian philosopher, the half hours
between his duties as a schoolmaste1'
that made Salmon P. Chase chief JUS
tice, the half hours between shoe
lasts that made Henry Wilson vice
president of the United States, the
half hours between canal boats that
made James A. Garfield president.
The half hour day for good books
or bad books, the half hour q 4 ~ y
prayer or Incidence, the half hour a
day for helping others or blasting
others, the half hour before you go
to business, and the half hour after
you return from business; that
makes the difference between the
scholar and the ignoramus between
the Christian and the infdel be-
tween the saint and the demon, be-
tween triumph and catastrophe, be-
tween heaven and hell The most
tremendous things of your life and
mine were certain half hours
The half hour when in the parson-
age of country minister | resolved
to become Christian then and there;
the half hour when | decided to be-
come a preacher of the Gospel; the
half hour when | realized that nv
son was dead; the half hour when
stood on the top of my house in Ok
ford street and saw our church burn;
the half hour in which | entered
Jerusalem; the half hour in which
assembled Mount Calvary; the half
hour in which | stood on Mars hill
the half hour in which the dedicatorv I
prayer of this temple was made, and ;
about ten or fifteen other half hours
are the chief times of my life.
You may forget the name of the
exact years or most of the important
events of your existence, but those
half hours, like the half hour of my
text, will be immortal. | do not l
query what you will do with the {
twentieth century, do not query {
what you will do with 1892, but {
what will you do with the next half 6
hour2 Upon that hinges your des-
tiny And during that some of you
will receive the Gospel and make |
surrender, and during that q
others of you will make final and G
fatal rejection of the full and free
and urgent and imprisoned offer of /
life eternal a
Oh, that the next half hour might a
De the most glorious thirty minutes S
IF your earthly existence. Far back y
n history great geographer stood
With a sailor looking at a globe a
hat represented our planet, and he il
N,i,,4f.1 70 ~, 81.