The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1893-06-16

mills and corn thrashers.
"Well," You say, ''if l could choose
my troubles would be willing to be
troubled" All, my brother, then II would
not be trouble. You would choose some
thing that woald not hurt, and unless it
hurts 1t does not get sanctified. Your
trial perhaps may be childlessness. You
are fond of children. You say, "Why
does God send children to that other
household, where they are unwelcome
and are beaten and banged about, when
| would have taken them in the arms of
my Mfectionsg' You say, "Any other
! trial but this" Your trial perhaps may
be a disfgured countenance OF face
that is easily caricatured, and you say,
"Oh, could endure anything If only
was good looking" And your trial per-
haps is violent temper, and you have
J to drive it like six unbroken horses amid
the gunpowder explosions of 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
husband, short, sharp, snappy and cross
about the house and raising small riot
because a 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 made! Your trial is a hard school
lesson you cannot learn, and you have
bitten your finger nails until they are
sight to behold. Everybody has some
vexation or annoyance OF 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 cannot teach ON
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 workmen are engaged on it
for 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
a lad 6 years of age comes running down
the dock with 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 9
trying to hew it out and fashion it q |
launch it. All, do not try to be a riN i
of the great Jehovah. God is always
right. and in nine cases out of ten you
are wrong. He sends just the hardship
just the bankruptcies, just the cross tn t
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 "whoaI' 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
ices that the straw has let go the grain
md the grain is thoroughly thrashed.
i 30 God. Shifting rod and turning wheel
both cease us 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.
this was great world We learned 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 worldr' Troubles
came in after life, and this trouble sliced
off one part of the world, and that trou.
BILE sliced off another part of the world,
| bne 70 |, ,,,1J ,,,I
in some of your estimations a very in
significant world, and it is depreciating
all the time as spiritual property. Ten
per cent off, so per cent off, and there
are those here who would not give 20
cents for this world-for the entire world
--as a soul possession.
We thought that friendship vase 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 a 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 competency he was Safe for all the
future, but we have learned that a
mortgage may be defeated by an I'M
known previous incumbrance; 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 a 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 ratil the last moment who
suggest TO ne the condition and conduct
of the poor liaian in the boat in the Nj
agara rapids coming on toward the fall.
| SEEING that l.4 .fDr.lJ NOT asropn n mo-