Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1897-05-17

care of your health When some of you
die, if your friends put on your tomb
stone truthful epitaph, it will read,
Here lies the victim of late suppers,
or it will be, 'Behold what lobster sal
ad at midnight will do for man." or
it will be, "Ten cigars day closed my
earthly existence or it will be,
Thought could do at 20 what did
at 20, and / am here or it will be,
'sHere is the consequence of sitting a
half day with wet feet or it will be,
s'This is where have stacked my har-
vest of wild oats,'' or instead of words
the stone cutter will chisel for an cpl
taph on the tombstone two figures
namely, dart and liver.
There is a kind of sickness that is
beautiful when it comes from overwork
for God, or ones country, or one's own
family. 1 have seen wounds that were
glorious. | have seen an empty sleeve
that w s more beautiful than the most
muscular forearm. I have seen a green
shade over the eye, shot out in battle,
that was more beautiful than any two
eyes that had passed without injury. I
have seen al old missionary, worn out
with the malaria of African jung1es,
who looked to me more radiant than
rubicund gymnast. have seen a moth
er, after six weeks watching over a
family of children down with scarlet
fever, with a glory around her pale and
wan face that surpassed the angelic. 1t
all depends on how you got your sick
ness and in what battle your wounds.
If we must get sick and worn out, let
it be in Gods service and in the effort
to make the world good. Not in the
service Of sin. No, no! One of the most
pathetic scenes that I ever witness, and
I often see it, is that of men or women
converted in the fifties or sixties or sew
entities wanting to be useful, but they so
served the world and satan in the ear
lier part Of their life that they have no
energy left for the service of
God. They sacrificed nerves, muscles,
lungs, heart and liver ON the wrong al
tar. They fought on the wrong side,
and now, when their sword is all hack
ed up and their ammunition all gone,
they enlist for Emmanuel When the
high melted cavalry horse, which that
man spurred into many cavalry charge
with champing bit and flaming eye and
neck clothed with thunder, is worn out
and spawned and ringboned and spring
halt, he rides up to the great Captain
of our salvation on the white horse and
offers his services. When such persons
might have been, through the good hab-
its of lifetime, crashing their battle
AK through the helmeted iniquities,
they are spending their days and nights
in discussing the best way of curing
their indigestion. and quieting their
jangling nerves, and rousing their lag
gard appetite, and trying to extract the
dart from their outraged liver Better
late than never. Oh, yes, for
they will get to heavenl But they will |
go afoot when they might have wheeled |
up the steep hills of the sky in Elijah's !
chariot. There is an old hymn that we !
used TO sing in the country meeting
house when 1 was a boy, and 1 remem-
Der how the old folks voices trembled
with emotion while they sang it. have
forgotten all but two lines, but those
lines are the peroration of my sermon:
Twill save US from thousand snares
To mind religion young