Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1896-10-26

the last spark of the cleaning forge
shall have henrn nI1enched

the last spark Of the cleaning forge
shall have been ouenched.
So gradually we pass away. From
day to day we hardly see the change
But the frosts have touched US. The
work OF decay is going on, now slight
cold, now q season of overfat1gue, now
fever, now a stitch in the side. now a
neuralgia thrust, now q rheumatic
twinge, ROW a fall. Little by little,
pain by pain, less steady Of limb, sight
not so clear, ear not SO alert. After
awhile we take q staff. Then, after
much resistance, we come to spectacles.
Instead Of bounding into the vehicle,
we are willing to be helped in. At last
the octogenarian falls. Forty years of
decaying- No sudden change. No fierce
cannonading Of the batteries of life, but
q fading away, slowly, gradually, as
the leaf-as the leaf!
Again, like the leaf, we fade to
make room for others. Next years for
ests will be as grandly foliaged as this.
There are other generations of oak leaves
to take the place of those which this
autumn perish. Next May the cradle of
the wind viii rock the young buds The
of 1eafy voices. If the tree in front of
your house, like Elijah, takes a chariot
Of fire, its mantle will fall upon Elisha.
If in the blast Of these autumnal bat
teries Sc many ranks fall, there are re-
serve forces to take their place to defend
the fortress of the hills. The heaters Of
gold leaf i'll have more gold leaf to
beat. The crown that drops today from
the head Of the oak will be picked up
and handed down for other kings to
wear Let the blasts come. They only
make room for other life.
Give Way CheerfuIly.
So, when we go, others take our
spheres. We do not grudge the future
generations their places. We will have
had our good time. Let them come on
and have their good time. There is no
signing among these leaves today, be-
cause other leaves are to follow them.
After lifetime Of preaching, doctoring,
selling, sewing or digging let us cheer
fully give way for those who come on
to do the preaching, doctoring, selling,
sewing and digging. God grant that
their life may be brighter than ours has
been. AS we get older do not let US be
affronted if young men and women
crowd us a little. We will have had our
day, and we must let them have theirs
When our voices get cracked, let US not
snarl "a those who can MARBLE. When
our Hflees are stiffened, let us have pa
thence with those who go fleet as the
deer. Because our leaf is fading do
not let Us despise the unfrosted. Au
tumn must not envy the spring Old
men must be patient with boys. DR..
Guthrie stood up in Scotland and said
''You need not think I am old because
my hair is white. I never was SO young
as am now :" look back to my child
hood days and remember when in win
ter nights in the sitting room the chill
dren played the blithest and the gayest
Of all the company were father and
mother. Although reaching fourscore
years of age, they never got old.
Do not be disturbed as you see good
and great men die People worry when
some important parsonage passes off the
stage and say, His place will never be
taken" But neither the church nor
the state will suffer for it. There will
be others to take the places. When God
takes one man away. he has another
right back Of him. God is SO rich in
resources that he could spare 5000
Summerfields and Saurins, if there were
SO many. There will be other leaves as
green, as exquisitely veined, as grace
fully etched, as well pointed. However
prominent the place we fill, our death
will not jar the world. One falling leaf
does not shake the Adirondacks. A ship
is not we'll manned unless there be an
extra supply of handsome working
On deck, some sound asleep in their
hammocks. God has manned this world
very we'll There will be other seamen
on deck when you and I are down in
the cabin, sound asleep in the ham,
Knocks.
Not Alone We Perish.
Again, as with the leaves, we fade
and fall amid nyriads of others. One
cannot count the number of plumes
which these frosts are plucking from the
hills. They will strew all the streams;
they will drift into the caverns; they
will soften the wild beasts lair and fill
the eagles eyrie.
All the aisles of the forest will be COW
cred with their carpet, and the steps Of
the hills glow with wealth. OF Color
and shape that will defy the looms of
Administer. What urn could hold the
ashes of all these dead leaves? Who
could count the hosts that burn on this
funeral pyre of the mountains?
So we die in concert. The clock that
strikes the hour of our going will sound
the going of many thousands. Keeping
step with the feet of those who carry us
out will be the tramp of hundreds doing
the same GRAND. Between so and 20
people every day lie down in Green
wood. That place has over 900, 900 of
the dead I said to the man at the gate,
ssThen If there are So many here 1Qu