Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1893-08-07
iMUSING BY THE FIRE.
THE PSALMIST RECALLS THE DAYS
OF HIS YOUTH.

tDr. TaImage breaches on the Benefits OF
Solitary ContempIation-The Hand of
Providence In the vicissitudes of Life.
Preparation For the Hereafter.
BROOKLYN, Aug. 6.-Rev. DR.. Talmage
mas chosen as the topic for today pam
Drama of "reminiscences appropriate to
the season, the text selected being Psalm
xxx, 8, "While I was musing the fire
burned"
Here is David, the psalmist, with the
forefnger of his right hand against his
temple, the door shut against the world,
Engaged in contemplation. And it would
ibe well for us to take the same posture
often, closing the door against the world
while we sit down in sweet solitude to
contemplate.
. In a small island off the coast l once
passed a Sabbath in delightful solitude,
for / had resolved that l would have one
day of entire quiet before l entered upon
autumnal work. 1 thought to have spent
the day in laying out plans for Christian
work. but instead of that it became a
dav of tender Renaissance. [ reviewed
nv pastorate. | shook hands with an old
departed friend, whom l shall greet
again when the curtains of life are lift
ed. The days of my boyhood came back,
and | was 10 years of age, and was g.,
and | was 5. There was but one house
on the island. and yet from Sabbath day
break. when the bird chant woke me,
until the evening melted into the bay.
from shore to shore there were 10000
memor' IS. and the groves were a-hum
with voices that had long ago ceased.
YOUTH AND AGE.
Youth is apt too much to spend all its
time in looking forward. Old age is apt
too much to spend all its time in looking
backward People in midlife and on the
apex look both ways. 1t would be we'll
for US, | think, however, to spend more
time in Renaissance. By the cOnstltu-
ton of our nature we spend most OF the
time looking forward. And the vast
majority Of people live not so much n
the present as in the future. find til;ts
YOU mean 10 make a reputation. on
mean to establish yourself, and the a.
vantages that you expect to achieve ab-
sorb a great deal of your time. But !
L
YOU discontcnted with the present or
disqualify you for existing duties
/. 1t is a useful thing sometimes to look
back and to see the dangers we have es-
capped, and 10 see the sorrows we have
suffered. and the trials and wanderilGs
of our earthly pilgrimage, and to sum
up our enjoyinents. | mean today, SO
far as God may help me. to stir up your
memory of tie past, SO that III the re-
view you may be encouraged and hum
bled and urged to pray.
There is q chapel in Florence with a
fresco by Guido. 1t was covered up
with two inches of stucco until our
American and European artists went
there and after long toll removed the
covering and retraced the frescO And
am aware that the memory of the past,
with many of you, is all covered up with
10000 obliterations. and 1 propose this
morning, SO far as the Lord nay helI
me, to take away the covering, that the
old picture nay shine out again.
want 20 bind in one sheaf all your
past advantages, and | want to bind IL
another shcaf all your past universities
1t is a precious harvest, and must bf
cautious how swing the scythe.
Among the greatest advantages OF
YOUR past life was an early home and 1t
SURROUNDINGS. The bad men CT the day
for the most part, dip their heated p2s
sions out OF the boiling spring OF an ult
happv home. We arc not SURPRISED "a
iByron's heart was a concentration o
sin when we hear that his mother wa
abandoned and that she made sport o
his inir1nity and often called him eth
lame brat" He who has vicious parent
has to fight every inch of his way If n
would maintain his integrity and at las
reach the home of the good in heaven.
Perhaps your early home was in tn
CITY. 1t may have been III the day
when Canal street, New York, was IA
ND town. That old house in the cit.
NAV have been demolished or change,
into stores, and it seemed like sacrileg
to you, for there was more meaning Il
that plain house, in that small house
than there is in granite mansion or
turreted cathedral. Looking back thi
morning, you see it as though it wer
yesterday-the sitting room, where til
loved ones sat by the plain lamplight
the mother at the evening stand, tn
brothers and sisters, perhaps long az
gathered into the skies, then plotting
mischief on the floor or under the table
your father with a firm voice command
ing silence, that lasted half a minute.
HAPPY CHILDHOOD DAYS.
Oh, those were good days! If you ha
your foot hurt, your mother always ha
soothing salve to heal it. If you wer
wronged in the street, your father wa
always ready to protect YOU The yea
was one round of frolic and mirth. You
greatest trouble was an April shower
more sunshine than shower. The hear