News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1893-06-15

trial but this" Your trial perhaps may
be a disfgured countenance or face
that is easily caricatured, and you say,
''Ok, could endure anything if only l
was good looking" And your trial per-
haps is violent temper, and you have
to drive it like six unbroken horses amid
the gunpowder explosions of a great hol-
iday, and ever and anon it runs away
with you. Your trial is the asthma.
You say, "Oh. if it were rheumatism or
neuralgia or erysipelas, but it is this
asthma, and it is such an exhausting
thing to breathe" Your trouble is q
husband, short, sharp, snappy and cross
about the house and raising small riot
because button is off How could you
know the button is off?
Your trial is wife ever in contest
with the servants, and she is sloven.
Though she was very careful about her
appearance in your presence once, now
she is careless, because she said her for
tune is madel Your trial is hard school
lesson you cannot learn, and you have
bitten your finger nails until they are a
sight to behold. Everybody has some
vexation or annoyance or trial, and he
or she thinks it is the one least adapted.
Anything but this" all say. "Any-
thing but this"
Oh, my nearer, are you not ashamed
to be complaining all this time against
God? Who manages the affairs of this
world anyhow? Is it an infinite Modoc,
or Sitting Bull savage, or an omnipo-
tent Mana Sahib? No, it is the most
merciful and glorious and wise Being in
all the universe. You cannott teach Om-
impotence anything. You have fretted
and worried almost enough. Do you
not think so? Some of you are making
yourselves ridiculous in the sight of the
angels.
Here is naval architect, and he draws
out the plan of ship of many thousand
tons. Many worknen are engaged on it
for a long while The ship is done, and
some day, with the flags up and the air
gorgeous with bunting, that vessel is
launched for Southampton. AT that time
lad years of age comes running down
the dock with a toy boat which he has
made with his own jackknife, and he
says: "Here, my boat is better than
yours Just look at this jibboom and
these weather cross jack braces" and he
drops his little boat beside the great ship,
and there is a roar of laughter on the
| docks.
All, my friends, that great ship is your
life as God planned it-vast, million
tonned, ocean destined, eternity bound
That little boat is your life as you are
trying to hew it out and fashion it and
launch it. All, do not try to be rival
| 81 +l,o To, God &c oil
right, and in nine cases out of ten you
are wrong. He sends just the hardships,
just the bankruptcies, just the cross that
| it is best for you to have. He knows
what kind of grain you are, and he sends
the right kind of thrashing machine. 1t
will be rod or staff or iron wheel just
according as you are fitches or cummin
or corn.
THE WHEAT AND THE CHAFF.
Again, my subject teaches US that
God keeps trial on us until we let go.
The farmer shouts ''whoap' to his
horses as soon as the grain has dropped
from the stalk. The farmer comes with
his fork and losses up the straw, and he
sees that the straw has let go the grain
and the grain is thoroughly thrashed.
% OOu. DHllIluS IOl dllu CuI LIIIS WHICH,
both cease as soon as we let go. We
hold on to this world with its pleasures
and riches and emoluments, and our
knuckles are so firmly set that it seems
as if we could hold on forever. God
comes along with some thrashing trouble
and beats US loose.
We started under the delusion that
| this was great world Welearned out
of our geography that it was so many
thousand miles in diameter and so many
thousand miles in circumference, and we
said, "Oh, my, what worldT Troubles
| came in after life, and this trouble sliced
off one part of the world, and that trou-
| bic sliced off another part of the world,
and it has got to be a smaller world, and
in some of your estimations a very in
significant world, and it is depreciating
Ill the time as a spiritual property. Ten
per cent off, so per cent off, and there
are those here who would not give 10
cents for this world-for the entire world
as a soul possession.
We thought that friendship wasa grand
thing. In school we used to write COM
positions about friendship, and perhaps
we made our graduating speech on COM
mencement day on friendship. Oh, it
was charmed thing! But does it mean
as much to you as it used to? You have
gone on in life, and one friend has be-
trayed you, and another friend has mis-
interpreted you, and another friend has
neglected you, and friendship comes
now sometimes to mean to you merely
another ak to grind!
So with money. We thought if man
had a competency he was safe for all the
future, but we have learned that
mortgage may be defeated by an I'M
known previous incumbGance; that sign
ing your name on the back of note
may be your business death warrant;
that a new tariff may change the cur
rent of trade; that man may be rich
today and poor tomorrow. And God,
by all these misfortunes, is trying to
loosen our grip, but still we hold on.
God smites us with staff, but we hold
on. And he strikes US with rod, but
we hold on. And he sends over us the
iron wheel of misfortune, but we hold on.
There are men who keep their grip on
this world until the last moment who
suggest to me the condition and conduct
of the poor Indian in the boat in the Nj
| agara rapids coming on toward the fall.
| Seeing that he could not escape, no.
ment or two before he got to the verge
of the plunge he lifted a wine bottle
and drank it off and then tossed the bot
| tie into the air. So there are men who
clutch the world, and they go down
| through the rapids of temptation ard
sin, and they hold on to the very last
moment of life, drinking to their eternal
damnation as they go over and go down.
Oh, let go! Let go! The best fortunes
are in heaven. There areno absconding
cashiers from that bank, no failing in
promises to pay Set your affections on
things above, not on thing ON the earth.
Let go! Depend upon it that God will
keep upon yon the staff, or the rod, or
the iron wheel until you do let go.
THE STAFF AND THE ROD.
Another thing my text teaches us is
that Christian sorrow is going to have
sure terminus. My text says, "Bread
corn is bruised because he will not be
ever thrashing it," Blessed be God for
that! Pound away, o fail. Turn on,
0 wheel! Your work will soon be DONE
''He will not be ever thrashing it." Now
the Christian has almost as much use in
fl.azz Il Il