Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1898-07-30

hypocrites who were self appointed
constabulary and having in his presence
q prosecuted woman, who evidently was
very penitent for her SINS I am sure he
wrote two words, both Of them graphic
and tremendous and reverberating. And
the one word was Hypocrisy" and the
other word was forgiveness.
From the way these Pharisees and
scribes vacated the premises and got out
into the fresh air, as Christ, with just
one ironical sentence unmasked them, I
know they were first class hypocrites. 1t
was then as it is now. The more faults
and Inconsistencies people have of their
own the more severe and censorious are
they about the faults of others. Here
they are-20 stout men arresting and ar
raigning one weak woman! Magniti-
cent business to be engaged I'M They
wanted the fun Of seeing her faint
away under a heavy judicial sentence
from Christ, and then, after she had
been taken outside of the city and fas-
tened at the foot of the precipice, the
scribes and Pharisees wanted the salts
faction of each coming and dropping
big stone on her head, for that was the
style Of capital punishment that they
asked for. Some people have taken the
responsibility Of saying that Christ nev-
er laughed. But think as he saw those
men drop everything, chagrined, morti-
fed, exposed, and 60 out quicker than
they came in, he must have laughed.
At any rate it makes me laugh to read
of it. All of those libertines, dramatic
ing indignation against impurity! Blind
bats lecturing on optics! A flock of
crows Oh their way up from carcass,
denouncing carrion
Jesus Reproof.
Yes, l think that one word written
on the ground that day by the finger Of
Christ was the awful word hypocrisy.
What pretensions to sanctity ara the
part Of those hypocritical Pharisees
When the fox begins to pray, look out
for your chickens. One of the cruel
magnates of olden times was going to
excommunicate one Of the martyrs, and
he began in the usual form, "In the
name of God, amen!'' "Stop!" said the
martyr, Don't say in the name of
GodP " Yet how many outrages are
practiced under the garb Of religion and
sanctity! When in synods and confer
ences ministers Of the gospel are about
to say something unbrotherly and UNI
kind about member, they almost al
ways begin by being ostentatiously
pious, the venom of their assault CORE
spending to the heavenly flavor of the
prelude. About to devour q reputation,
they say grace before meal.
But l am sure there was another word
In that dust. From her entire manner
I am sure that arraigned woman was
repentant. She made no apology, and
Christ in nowise belittled her sin. But
her supplicatory behavior and her tears
moved him, and when he stopped down
to write OH the ground he wrote that
mighty, that imperial word forgiveness.
When on Sinai God wrote the law,
he wrote it with finger Of lightning Oh
tables of stone, each word cut as by d
chisel into the hard granite surface.
But when he writes the offense of this
woman he writes it in dust SO that il
can be easily rubbed out, and when she
repents of it-oh, he was mercifu
Christ! 1 was reading of legend that
is told in the far east about him. He
was walking through the streets of &
city and he saw crowd around deat
dog and one man said, "What loath
some object is that dog" Eyes" sale
another, "his ears are mauled anf
bleeding" Eyes" said another, "evel
his hide would not be of any use to the
tanner" Eyes" said another, "tht
odor of his carcass is dreadful. Thel
Christ, standing there, said, Blu
pearls cannot equal the wilderness of hi
teeth" Then the people, moved by thu
idea that any one could find anything
pleasant concerning the dead dog, said
"Why, this must be Jesus of Nazareth 7
Reproyed and convicted, they wen
away.
Surely this legend of Christ is goot
enough to be true. Kindness in all hi
words and ways and habits. Forgive
ness! Word of II letters, and some o
them thrones and some Of them palm
branches. Better have Christ write clos
to our names that one word, though hi
write it in DUST than to have our nam
cut into monumental granite with tn
letters that the storms of thousant
years cannot obliterate. Bishop Babing
ton had book of only three leaves
The first leaf was black, the second lea
red. the third leaf white The black lea
suggested sin, the red leaf atonement
the white leaf publication. That is tn
whole story. God will abundantly par
don.
Mans Guilt Equal.
must not forget to say that a
Christ, stopping down, with his finge
wrote OH the ground it is evident tina
his sympathies are with this penlten
woman and that he has no sympath
with her hypocritical pursuers. Just OK
nosite 10 that is the worlds habit. VIII
didn't these unclean Pharisees brin
one of their own number to Christ fo
excoriation and capital punishment
, No. no. They overlook that i'll ma
|. which they damnate i'll woman. An
so tho world has had for offending won
, an scourges and objurgation, and IL
inst ono .offense she becomes an outcas
while for men whose lives have bee
sodomic for 20 years the world swing
, omen it's doors of brilliant welcome, al
. they may sit in high places Unlike I'll
( Christ Of my text, the world writes
a mans misdemeanor in dust, but chise
| a woman's offense with great capita
upon ineffaceable marble.
. For foreign lords and princes who