Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-12-08

DR.. TALMAGE SEES SUNSHINE ON
EVERY CLOUD.

Gods Seeming Affections on Us Are
Influences For Good-Grnndeur Of
Character Is Achieved by Conquer
ing Evil.
copyright, 1898, by American Press Asso-
clation.l
WASHINGTON, Dec. Am this discourse
DR.. Talmage takes an optimistic view OF
many things that arc usually accounted
as incxplicable In human experience and
shows us that even trouble and aflllotion
may not be wholly without their brighter
side text, Psalm xix, A. II will open
my dark saying upon the harp"
The world is full Of the inexplicablc, the
impossible, the unbelievable, the insur
mountable. We cannot go three steps in
any direction without coming up against
hard wall Of mystery, riddles, paradoxes,
profundities, labyrinths problems that we
cannot solve, hieroglyphios that we cannot
decipher, anagrams we cannot spell out,
sphinxes that will not speak. For that
reason David in my text proposed to take
up some of these somber and dark things
and try to set them to sweet music. II
will open my dark sayings on harp" So
/ look off upon society and find people In
unhappy injunction of circumstances,
and they do not know what 1t means, and
they have right to ask Why is thisp Why
Is thatp And / think will be doing a
good work by trying to explain some Of
these strange things and make you more
content with your lot, and / shall only be
answering questions that have often been
asked me or that wo have all asked our
selves while try to set these mysteries to
music and open my dark sayings on harp
why Are the Useful Tnkenf
Interrogation tho first Why does God
take out of this world those who arc use.
ful and whom we cannot spare and leave
alive and In good health so many who are
only nuisance to the worldp / thought l
would begin with tho very toughest Of all
tho seeming inscrutables. Many of the
most useful men and women die at 80 or
40 years Of nge, while you often find uso.
less people alive at 90 and 20 and 80. John
Careless wrote TO Bradford, who was soon
to DO put to death, saying, why doth God
suffer mo and such other caterpillars to
live that can do nothing but consume the
aims of tho church and take away so many
worthy workmsn In the Lords vineyardY
Similar questions are often asked. Here
are two men. The one is a noble character
and Christian man. He chooses for
lifetime companion one who has been ten
derby reared, and she Is worthy Of him and
he Is worthy of her. AS merchant or farm
er or professional man or mechanic or ar
list he tolls to educate and rear his chill
drcn. He Is succeeding but no has not
yet established for his family full COM
potency. He seems Indispensable to that
household, but ono day, before he has paid
off the mortgage on his house, he Ia COM
ing home through n strong northeast wind,
and chill strikes through him, and four
days of pneumonia end his earthly career,
and tho wife and children go into n strug-
gle for shelter and food His next door
neighbor is man who, though strong and
well, let's his wife support him. He Is
around at tho grocery store or some gen
eral loafin8 place In the evenings, while
his wife sews His boys are initiating his
example and lounge and swaggor and
swear All the use that man is in that
house is to rave because the coffee is cold
when no comes to a late breakfast or TO
say cutting things about his wifc's looks,
when he furnishes nothing for her ward
robe The best thing that could happen TO
that family would ha that man : funeral,
but he declines to die. He lives on and on
and on So we have all noticed that
many OF the useful are early cut of, bile
the parasites have great vital ,enacity.
take up this dark saying on my harp
and give three or four ,hrums on the string
in the way OF surnising and hopeful
guess. Perhaps the useful man was taken
out Of the world because he and his family
were SO constructed that they could not
have endured some great prosperity that
might have been just ahead, and they all
together might have gone down in the
vortex OF worldliness which every year
swallows up 10000 households. And so
he went while he was humble and conse-
Grated, and they were by tho seventies OF
lfo kept close to Christ and fitted for use.
fulness here and high seats In heaven, and
when they meet at last before the throne
they will acknowledge that, though the
furnace was hot, 1t purified them and pre-
pared them for an eternal career of glory
and reward for which no other kind Of life
could have fitted them. On the other
hand, the useless man lived on to 80 or &C
or 20 years because all the ease he ever can
have no must have in this world, and you
ought not therefore begrudgo him his
earthly longevity. In all the ages there
has not single loafer ever entered heaven.
There is no place for him there to hang
around. Not even in the temples for
tDcy arc luil Ol vigorous, alcrt anu ruplur'
Gus worship II the good and useful &c
early, rejoice for them that they have sc
soon got through with human life, which
at best is IA struggle. And If the useless
and the bad stay rejoice that they may bt
out In tho worlds fresh air good many
years before their final Incarceration.
Troubles of the Good.
Interrogation the second; Why do goot
people have so much trouble, sickness
bankruptcy, persecution, tho three BLACK
vultures sometimes putting their fierce
beaks into one set of tangled nervesY
think now Of good friend l once had
He was a oonsecrated Christian man, al
elder in tho church. and as polished {
Christian gentleman as ever walked
Broadway. First his general health gav'
out, and he hobbled around on a cane, al
old man at 49, After awhile paralysis
struck him. Having by poor health beef
compelled suddenly to quit BUSINESS III
lost what property he had. Then his beau
tiful daughter died; then son became
hopelessly domented Another son, splen
Gid Of mind and commanding OF presence
resolved that he would take care of his ia
TIERS household, but under the swoop o
yellow fever ut Fernandina, Fla, he sud
denly expired So you know good men an,
women who have had enough troubles
you think, to crush 90 people. No world
ly philosophy could take such a troubl
and set it to music or play 1t on violin O
flute, but dare to open that dark sayin