The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1898-04-29
LIGHT IN THE CLOUDS
DR.. TALMAGE SAYS WE MUST LOOK
FOR SUNSHINE.

of Life-Make the Best OF mIsL0fUuhe.
Wealth Often Destroys The Young
Mans Best Heritage-Views of Heaven.
copyright, 1885, by American Press Assoc
ciation.l
WASHINGTON, April 24.-This sermon
Of DIR. Talmage will have a tendency to
take the gloom out of many lives and
stir up spirit of healthful antioipa-
ton; text, Job xxxvii, 81, "And now
men see not the bright light which is
in the clouds.
Wind east. Barometer falling. Storm
signals out. Ship reefng maintopsail.
Awnings taken in. Prophecies of foul
weather everywhere The clouds con
gregate around the sun, prosposing to
abolish him. But after awhile he assails
the TANKS of the clouds with flying ar
tillery of light and here and there is
sign of clearing weather. Many do not
observe it, Many do not realize it.
"And now men see not the bright light
which is in the clouds. In other
words, there are hundred men looking
for storm where there is one man look
ing for sunshine, My object will be to
get you and myself into the delightful
habit of making the best Of everything.
You may have wondered at the sta
tistics that in India, i'll the year 1915,
there were over 10, 600 people slain by
wild beasts, and that in the year 1876
there were in India over 20, 600 people
DESTROYED by wild animals. But there
is a monster in our own land which IS
year by year destroying more than that.
1t is the old bear of melancholy, and
with gospel weapons propose to chase
it back to its midnight Caverns. | mean
to do two sums-a sum in subtraction
and a sum in additional subtraction
from your days of depression and an ad-
dition to your days of joy. If God will
help me- l will compel you to see the
bright light that there is in the clouds
and compel you to make the best OF ev-
erything.
In the first place, you ought to make
the very best of all your financial mis-
fortunes. During the panic few years
ago you all lost money. Some OF you
lost it in most unaccountable ways. For
the question, Chow many thousands OF
dollars shall put aside this year, you
substituted the question, "How shall l
pay my butcher and baker and clothier
and landlord?" You had the sensation
of rowing hard with two oars and yet
all the time going down stream.
A Destroying Power.
You did not say much about it be-
cause it was not polite to speak much
of financial embarrassment, but your
wife knew. Less variety Of wardrobe,
more economy at the table, self denial
in art and tapestry. Compression; re-
trenchment. Who did not feel the ne
cessity of it? Ny friend, did you make
the best of this? Are you aware of how
narrow an escape you made? Suppose
you had reached the fortune toward
which you were rapidly going? What
then? You would have been as proud as
Lucifer.
How few men have succeeded largely
in financial sense and yet maintained
their simplicity and religious consGcra-
tion Not one man out Of hundred
There are glorious exceptions, but the
general rule is that in proportion as a
man gets we'll off for this world he gets
poorly off for the next. He loses his
sense Of dependence on God. He gets a
distaste for prayer meetings, With
plenty of bank stocks and plenty of gov
eminent securities what does that man
know Of the prayer, "Give me this day
my daily bread?'' How few men largely
successful in this world are bringing
souls to Christ, or showing self denial
for others or are eminent for piety? You
can count them all upon your eight fin
gers and two thumbs,
One of the old CovetOus souls, when
he was sick and sick unto death, used
to have basin brought ina basin fill
ed with gold and his only amusement
and the only relief he got for his IN
famed hands was running them down
through the gold and turning it up i'll
the basin. Oh what infatuatiOn and
what destroying power money has fol-
many a man! Now, you were sailing at
80 knots the hour toward these worthless
of worldliness-what a mercy it was,
that honest defalcation! The same Gi.
vine hand that crushed your stOrehouse,
your bank, your office, your insurance
company, lifted you out of destruction.
The day you honestly suspended in bust.
ness made your fortune for eternity.
"Oh, " you say, Il could get along
very well myself, but L am so disap
pointed that cannot leave a competence
for my children" My brother, the samC
financial misfortune that is going tt
save your soul will save your children
With the anticipation Of large fortune
how much industry would your chill
dren have, without which habit of in
dustry there is no safety? The younG
man would say "Well. there's no neeC
of my working My father will sool
step out, and then III have just what
want" You cannot @de from him how
much you are worth. You think you arr
hiding it. He knows all about 1t. Il,
can tell you almost to dolla-. Perhap
he has been to the county Office anC
searched the records Of deeds and mort
cages, and he has added it all up, anr
he has made an estimate of how Ions
Won will urObabIv STAY in this wOrll