Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1894-04-05

lease; undaunted before those who could
take his life, his cheek flushed with trans
port and his eye on heaven with one hand
shaking defiance at all the foes OF earth
and all the principalitiee of hell, and with
the other hand reckoning messenger an
gels to come aud bear him away, as he
ssys: 81 am now ready to be offered, and
the time of my departure is at hand. |
have fought the good fight; have finished
my course; have kept the faith. Hence
forth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness which the Lord, the right
eous judge, viii give me-"
A THRONE OF THE TEMPEST.
Which Of the three spectacles do you
most admire? When the wind of death
struck the conuueror and the iuidel, they
were tossed like sea gulls in tempest,
drenched of the wave and torn of the hur-
ricane, their dismal voices heard through
the everlasting storm, but whom the wave
and the wind of death struck Paul like
an albatross he made throne of the tenn
pest and one day noated away into the
calm, clear summer of heaven, brighter
than the dove, its wings 'overed with sill
yer, and its feathers with yellow gold.
On, are you not in love with such n reli-
gion-a religion that can do so much for
man while he lives and 80 much for man
when he comes to die?
suppose you may have noticed the con
trast between the departure of Christian
and the departure Of an infidel. Diodorus,
dying in chagrin because he could not
compose joke equal to the joke uttered
at the other end of his table; Zeuxis, dy.
ing in Il fit of laughter at the sketch Of an
aged womau-a sketch made by his own
hand; Mazarin. dying playing cards, his
friend holding his hands because he was
una BILE TO hold them himself. All that on
one side, compared with the departure OF
the Scotch minister, w no said to his friends:
~ have no interest as to whether | live or
die if die, | shall he with the Lord and
if | live the Lord will be with me-" Or
the last words of Washington, at is well. y
Or the last word of Mcintosh the learned
aud the greaa Happy Or the last words
of Hannah More, the Christian poetess,
joy" Or those thousands of Christians
who have gone, saying: Lord Jesus, re
ccive my spirit! Come, Lord Jesus, come
Quickly!' 80 death, where is thy sting?
o grave, where is thy victory"
Behold the contrast Behold the charm
of the one: behold the darkness of the 9th
err. Now, know it is very popular in this
day for young men to think there is some
thing more charming in skeptcism than
in religion. They are ashamed of the old
fashioned religion of the cross, aud they
pride themselves on their free thinking on
all these subjects. My young friends, ]
want to tell you what | know from obser
vation-that while skepticism is beauti
full land al the start it is the great Sahara
desert at the last.
THE DYING INFIDEL
Years ago minister : son went or from
home to college. At college he formed the
acquaintance of n young man whom shall
call Ellison. Ellison was an intidel. Eli
son scoffed at religion, and the ministers
son soon learned from him the infidelity,
and when he went home on his vacation
broke his fathers heart by his denuncia
tons Of Christianity Time passed on, and
vacation came and the minister s son went
off to spend the vacation and was on a
journey and came TO hotel The hotel
keeper said: 81 am sorry that tonight ]
shall have to put you in n room adjoining
one where there is very sick and dying
man. / can give you no other accommo
dation.N ooh, " said the young college
student and ministers son, that will make
no difference to me except the matter OF
sympathy with any body that is suffering, y
The young man retired to his room, but
the grooming Of the sick man or the ster
of the Watchers and his soul trcmbled.
He thought to himself: "Now, there il
only thin wall between me and depart
ing spirit. How if Ellison should know
how feel? How If Ellison should find out
how my heart futtersy What if Ellison
knew my skepticism gave way?" He slept
not. In the morning, coming down, he
said to the hotel keeper, GLOW is the sick
man?n "Oh.n said the hotel keeper, she
is dead, poor fellow! The doctors told US
he could not last through the night
"Well." said the young man. what wa.
the sick one $ name. Where is he from?''
"Well, - said the hotel keeper, he is from
Providence college, "Providence col
lege, What is his name?' ELLISON. " "El
lison" Oh how the young man wa,
stunned 1t was his old college mate
dead without any hope
1t was many hours before the young
man could leave that hotel. He got on
his horse and started homeward, and all
the way he heard something saying &c
him: dead! Lost! Dead LostW He
came to no satisfaction until he entered
the Christian life, until he entered the
Christian ministry, until he became one
of the most eminent missionaries of the
| cross, the greatest BaptlsG missionary the
world has ever seen since the days Of Paul
no superior to Adoniram Judson. Mighty
on earth, mighty in heaven-Adoniram
! Judson. Which do you like the best, Jud
sons skepticism or Judson Christian life
| Judson's suffering for Christs sake, Jud-
| sons almost martyrdom? Oh, young man
take your choice between these two kinds
| of lives. Your own heart tells you this
morning the Christian life is more admira
BILE, more peaceful, more comfortable, and
| more beautiful
KINGS AND QUEENS FOREVER.
Oh, if religion does so much for n mar
on earth, what will it do for him in heav
en2 That is the thought that comes to me-
now. If soldier can afford to shout
"Huzza" when he goes into battle, how
much more jubilantly he can afford tc
shout "Huzza" when he has gained the
victory! II religion is so good a thing tc
have here, how bright a thing it will be
| in heavenl want to see that young mar
when the glores of heaven have robed and
crowned him. want to hear him sing
when all huskiness of earthly colds il