Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1895-09-05

be only slender sinner, and you don
much cxtol the mercy of God; but we that
have been such very awful sinners praise
his grace the moro now that we have been
redeemed Can it be that you nrvf;o des
pcratcy cgotistical that you feel yourself
in first rate spiritual trim, and that from
the root of the hair to the tip of tho toe
you are scarlcss and immaculate What
you need Is n looking glass; and here 1t is
| in the Bible. Poor and wrctchcd and mis-
cradle and blind and naked from the crown
of the head to the solo of the foot, full Of
wounds and putrofyinR sores. No health
in us. And then tako the fact that Christ
gathered up all tho notes against us and
paid them, and then offered us the receipt!
And how much we need him in our sor-
rows! We are independent of circum-
stances if we have his grace. Why, he made
Paul sing In tho dungeon, and under that
grace St. John from desoate Patmos heard
the blast of the apocalyptic trumpots Aft
err all other candles have been snuffcd out,
this is the light that gets brighter and
brighter unto tho perfect day; and after,
under the hard hoofs of calamity, all tho
pools of worldly enjoyment have been
trampled into deep miro at the foot Of tho
eternal rock the Christian, from cups of
granite lily trimmed, puts out the thirst of
his soul.
Consolation For the Dying.
Again. remark that Chrn is chief in
dying allcviations. l havo noo any synpa-
thy with the morbidity abroad about our
demise. The emperor of Constantinopl1
arranged that on tho day of his coronation
the stoncmason should come and consult
him about the tombstone that after awhile
he would need. And there are mon who
are monomaniacal on the subject of de
parture from this life by death, and tho
moro they think of it the less they are pre-
pared to go. This is an unmanliness not
worthy Of you, not worthy of me.
Saladin, the greatest conquoror of his
day, while dying, ordered that the tunio
he had on him be carried after his death
on his spear at the head of his army, and
that then the soldier, ever and anon,
should stop and say: "Bchold all that il
left of Saladin, the emperor and conquer
or! OF all the states he conquered, of all
the wealth he accumulated, nothing did
he retain but this shroud." l have no
sympathy with such behavior, or such alb
surd demonstration, or with much that
we hear uttered in regard to departure
from this life to the next. There is n com
mon scnsical idea on this subject that you
need to consider-therc are only two styles
of departure. A thousand feet under
ground, by light of torch, toiling in n
miners Shaft, "a ledge of rock may iall up
on us, and wee may die a miners death.
Far out Mt sea, falling from the slippery
ratlincs and broken On the halliards, We
may die n sailors death On mission OF
mercy in hospital, amid broken bones and
rocking leprosics and raging feyers, We
may die q philanthropist's death. On tho
field of battle, serving God and our coun-
try, slugs through the heart, the gun car
riage may roll over us, and wo may die a
patriot death. But after all, there arc
only two styles of departure-the death Of
the righteous and the death of the wicked
and we all want to die the former.
God grant that when that hour comes
you may be at home You want the hand
Of your kindred in your hand. You want
your children TO surround you. You want
the light on your pillow from eyes that
have long reflected your love. You want
your room still. You do not want any Gu
rious strangers standing around watching
you. You want your kindred from aiar to
hear your last prayer. l think that is tho
wish of all of us. But is that all? Can
earthly friends hold us up when the bill
/
human voice charm open heavens gate?
Can human hand pilot usthrouRh the mar
rows of death into heavens harbor? Can
any earthly friendship shield us from the
arrows of death, and in the hour when 81
tan shall practice upon us his Internal
archery? No, no, no, no! Alas, poor soul,
if that is all. Better die in tho wilderness,
far from tree shadow and from fountain,
alone, vulturcs circling through the air
waiting for our body, unknown to men,
and to have no burial, if only Christ could
say through the solitudcs Il will never
leave thee, ! will never forsake thee. "
From that pillow of stone Il ladder would
soar heaYcrward, angels coming and go
ing and across the solitude and the bar
rcnncss would como tho sweet notes of
heavenly minstrelsy.
Their Last Words.
Gordon Hail. far from home, dying in
door Of heather temple, said "Glo7y to
thee, O Godr What did dying WILDER
force say to his wife? Come and sit be-
side me, and let us talk of heaven / never
knew what happiness was until 1 found
Christ" What did dying Hannah Moro
say? ITO go TO heaven, think what that
is. To go to Christ, who died that | might
livcl Oh, glorious grave Oh, what IA glo-
rous thing it is to die! Oh, the love Of
Christ, the love Of Christr' What did Mr.
Toplady, the great hymn maker, say in
his last hour? ''Who can measure the
depths of the third heaven? Oh, the sun
shine that fills my SOUL | shall soon be
gone, for surely no one can live in this
world after such glOries as God has mani
tested to my soul.
What did the dying Janeway say?
can as easily die as close my eyes Or turn
my head in sleep. Before "a few hours have
passed shall stand on Mount Zion with
the ono hundred and forty and four
thousand and with the just men made
perfect, and we shall ascribc riches and
honor and glory and majesty and domin-
| ion unto God and the Lamb. DR.. Taylor,
condemned to burn at the stake, on his
way thither broke away from the guards
men and went bounding and lcaping and
/ jumping toward the fire, glad TO go to .Je-
/ sus and to die for him. Sir Charles Hare
/ in his last moments, had such rapturous
vision that he cried, Upward, upward
! upward"' And so great was the peace Of
one Of Christ's disciples that he put his
| finger upon the pulse in his wrist and
counted it and observed it, and so great
was his placidity that after awhile he said
"Stopped" and his life had ended here to
/ begin In heaven. But grandor than that
was the testimony of the wornout first
missionary, when in the Mamertino dun
geon he cried; II am now ready to be VI
fered, and the time or my departure Is at
! hand. | have fought the good 1ght, have
| finished my course have kept the faith !,
] bpDcpfOrth tlorp is laid nm for m n CROWN