Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1893-11-27

out That all immortal nature CANNOT i've
on bank stock. They took up a North
ern Pacific bond, and there was a hole in
it through which they could look into
the uncertainty of all earthly treasures.
They saw some Ralston living at the
rate of G25, 600 a month, leaping from
San Francisco wharf because he could
not continue to live at the same ratio.
They saw the wien and paralytic bank
ers who had changed their souls into
molten gold stamped with the image OF
the earth, earthly. They saw some great
souls by avarice turned into homunculi,
and they said to themselves, II will seek
after higher treasure
POOR THING TO HUNT.
From that time they did not care
whether they walked or rode, if Christ
walked with them; nor whether they
lived in a mansion or in a hut, 1t they
dwelt under the shadow of the Almighty;
nor whether they were robed in French
broadcloth or in homespun, if they had
the robe of the Saviour's righteousness:
nor if they were sandaled with morocco
or calfskin, If they were shod with the
preparation of the Gospel. Now you see
peace on their countenance. Now that
man says: s'What q fool was to be en-
chanted with this world! Why, I have
more satisfaction in five minutes in the
service of God than [ had in all the first
years of my life while I was gainget-
ting. I like this evening of my day
great deal better than [ did the morn
ing. In the morning I greedily devoured
the prey, but now it is evening, and am
gloriously dividing the spoil"
NV frion1c This world ic moor f1iuo
to hunt It is healthful to go out in the
woods and hunt. It rekindles the luster
of the eye. It strikes the brown of the
autumnal leaf into the cheek. It gives
to the rheumatic limbs the strength to
leap like roe. Christopher North's pet
gun, the muckle-nou'd Meg, going off
in the summer in the forests, had its
echo in the winterti1ne in the eloquence
that rang through the university halls
of Edinburgh. It is healthy to go hunt
ing in the fields, but I tell you it is be-
lifting and bedwaring and belaming
for man to hunt this world. The ham
mer comes down on the guncap. and the
barrel explodes and kills you instead of
that which you are pursuing.
When you turn out to hunt the world,
the world turns to hunt you, and az
many a sportsman aiming his gun at a
panther's heart has gone down under the
striped claws, so while you have been
attempting to devour this world the
world has been devouring you. So it
was with Lord Byron. So it was with
Coleridge. So it was with Catherine of
Russia. Henry II went out hunting for
this world, and its lances struck through
his heart. Francis I aimed at the world,
but the assassin's dagger put an end to
his ambition and his life with one stroke
Mary Queen of Scots wrote on the win
dow Of her castle:
From the top of all my trust
Mishap hath laid in the dust.
The queen dowager of Navarro was
offered for her wedding day costly and
beautiful pair of gloves, and she put
them on, but they were poisoned gloves,
and they took her life. Better bare
hand of cold privation than a warm and
poisoned glove Of ruinous success. "Oh,
says some young man in the audience,
Il believe what you are preaching. ]
am going to do that very thing. In the
morning of my life [ am going to devour
the prey, and in the evening [ shall di-
vide the spoil Of Christian character
only want a little while to sow my wild
oats, and then I will be good.'
Young man, did you ever take the CEN
sus Of all the old people? How many old
people are there in your house? One, two
or none? How many III a vast assemblage
like this? Only here and there a gray
head, like the patches of snow here and
there in the fields on late April day.
The fact is that the tides of the years are
so strong that men go down under them
before they get to be 60, before they get
to be so, before they get to be 40, before
they get to be 80. And if you, my young
brother, resolve now that you will spend
the morning of your days i'll devouring
the prey the probability is that you will
never divide the spoil in the evening
hour He who postpones until old age
the religion of Jesus Christ postpones it
forever
Where are the men who 80 years ago
resolved to become Christians in old age
putting it off a certain number of years?
They never got to be old The railroad
collision, or the steamboat explosion, or
the slip on the ice, or the falling ladder,
or the sudden cold, put an end to their
opportunities. They have never had an
opportunity since, and they never will
have an opportunity again. They locked |
the door of heaven against their soul, |
and they threw away the keys. They
chased the world, and they died in the
chase. The wounded tiger turned on
them. They failed to take the game
they pursued. Mounted on a swift
courser, they leaped the hedge, but the
courser fell on them and crushed them.
Proposing to barter their soul for the
world, they lost both and got neither.
DIVIDING THE SPOIL.
While this is an encouragement to old
people who are still unpardoned, it is no
encouragement to the young who are