The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1895-11-08

Amalekitish banquet, and the 200 Grip
pied and manned and aged soldiers
who tarried ON garrison duty get just as
much of the spoils of battle as any OF
| the 200 men that went to the front "As
his part is that goeth down to the bat
tie, so shall his part be that tarrieth by
the stuff. "
The Stay at Homes.
The impression is abroad that the
| Christian rewards are for those who dc
conspicuous service in distinguished
places great patriots, great preachers,
great philanthropists. But my text sets
forth the idea that there is just as much
reward for a man that stays at home
and minds his own business, and who,
crippled and unable to go forth and lead
in great movements and in the high
places Of the earth, does his whole duty
Just where he is. Garrison duty as i'm
portant and as remunerative as service
at the front. GAS his part is that goeth
down to the BATTLE 20 shall his part be
that tarrieth by the stuff. "
The Earl of Kintore said to me in an
English railway, "Mr. Talmage, when
you get back to America l want you to
preach sermon on the discharge of or
binary duty in ordinary places, and then
send me copy of it. " Afterward an
English clergyman, coming to this land.
brought from the Earl of Kintore the
same message Alas, that before got
ready to do what he asked me to do the
good Earl of Kintore had departed this
life! But that man, surrounded by all
palatial surroundings, and in distin-
guished sphere, felt sympathetic with
those who had ordinary duties to per-
form in ordinary places and in ordinary
ways. A great many people are discour-
aged when they hear the story of Moses,
and of Joshua, and of David, and of
Luther, and of John Knox, and of Deb
orah, and of Florence Nightingale.
They say, ooh, that was all good and
right for them, but shall never be
called to receive the law on Mount
Sinai, I shall never be called to COM
mand the sun and moon to stand still, l
shall never be called to Stay a giant, l
shall never preach on Mars hill, ! shall
never defy the diet of Worms, I shall
never be called to make queen tremble
for her crimes, shall never preside
over hospital :" .. ~
There are women who say, eff I had
as brilliant a sphere as those people had
I should be as brave and as grand, but
my business is to get children of to
school, and to hunt up things when they
are lost, and to see that dinner Is ready,
and to keep account Of the household
expenses, and to hinder the children
from being strangulated by the whoop-
ing coagh, and to 90 through all the an
noyances and vexations Of housekeep-
ing. Oh, my sphere is SO infinitesimal,
and 60 insignificant am clear discour-
aged" Woman, God places you on gar
rison duty, and your reward will be just
as great as that of Florence Nightingale,
who, moving so often night by night
with light in her hand through the
hospitals, was called by the wounded
the ''lady of the lamp" Your reward
will be Just as great as that of Mrs
Hertzog, who built and endowed theo-
logical seminary buildings. Your re-
ward will be just as great as that of
Hannah More, who by her excellent
books won for her admirers Garriok and
Edmund Burke and Joshua Reynolds
Rewards are not to be given according
to the amount Of noise you make in the
world, nor even according to the amount
of good You do, but according to whether
you work to your full capacity, accord
ing to whether or not you do your full
duty in the sphere where God has placed
you. ... .- b..
Another Glass of Workers
Suppose you give to two of your chill
dren errands, and they are to go off to
make purchases, and to one You give 81
and to the other you give $50. Do you
reward the boy that you gave $50 to for
purchasing more with that amount of
money than the other boy purchased
with 81? OF course not II God give
wealth or social position or eloquence,
or twenty times the faculty to a man
that he gives to the ordinary man, is he
going to give to the favored man re-
ward because he has more power and
more infuencer Oh, no. In other words,
if you and l were to do our whole duty,
and you have twenty times more talent
than have, you will get no more divine
reward than will. Is God going to re-
ward you because he gave you more?
That would not be fair; that would not
be right. These 200 men Of the text who
tainted by the brook Besor did their
whole duty. They watched the baggage,
they took care of the stuff, and they got
as much of the spoils Of victory as the
men who went to the front. ''As his
part is that goeth down to the battle, so
shall his part be that tarrieth by the
stuff. " ,--
There is high encouragement in this
for all who have great responsibility
and little credit for what they do. You
know the names of the great commercial
houses of these cities. Do you know the
names of the confidential clerks-the
men who have the key to the safe, the
men who know the combination lock?
A distinguished merchant goes forth at
the watering place, and he flashes past,
and you say, who is that?" ''Oh, re-
plies some one, ''don't you know? That
is the great importer; that is the great