Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-08-04

am sure that arraigncd woman was re.
pcntant. She made no apology, and Christ
in nowiso belittlcd her sin. But her sup
plcatory behavior and her tears moved
him, and when he stopped down to write
on tho ground he wrotc that mighty, that
imperial word, forgiveness.
When on Sinai God wrote the law, he
wrote it with finger of lightning on tables
of stone, each word cut us by n chiscl into
the hard granite surface. But when he
writes the oiIcnsc of this woman he writes
it in dust SO that it can be easily rubbed
out, and when she rcpcnts of it, oh, he
was n mcrciful Christi was reading Of
II legend that is told in the far cast about
him. He was walking through tho streets
of city, and he saw u crowd around n
dead dog. And ono man said, "What a
loathsomc object is that dog" yes"
said anothcr Ibis cars are maulcd and
bleeding Yes, said another; "cvcn
his hide would not be of any use to the
tanner" YES" said another; "thc odor
of his carcass is dreadful" Then Christ,
standing there, said, "But pearls cannot
equal the whitcncss of his teeth" Then
the people, moved by the idea that any one
could find anything pleasant concerning
the dead dog said why, this must be
Jesus Of Na2arcthp' ReprovCd and CON
victcd, they went away.
surely this legend of Christ is good
enough to he truc Kindness in all his
words and ways and habitsl Forgivcncssl
Word of II letters and some of them
thrones and some of them palm branches.
Better have Christ write close to our names
that one word, though he write it in dust,
than to have our namc cut into monu-
mental granite with the letters that the
storms of 1000 years cannot obltcratc
Bishop Darlington had u book of only
three leaves. The first leaf was black, tho
second leaf rod, the third leaf white. Tho
black leaf suggested sin, tho red leaf
ntoncmcnt, the white leaf publication.
That is the whole story. God will abun.
dainty pardon.
sympathy For the Penitent.
must not forget to say that as Christ,
stopping down, with his finger wrote on
the ground it is evident that his sympa.
thcs are with this pcnitcnt woman and
that he has no sympathy with her hypo.
critical pursuCrs. Just opposite to that
is the world habit. Why didn't these
unclcan phariSces bring one of their own
number to Christ for cxcoriation and
capital punishment? No, mol They over.
look that IN u man which they dumnatc in
u woman, and 80 the world has had for
offending woman scourgcs and uhjurga.
tion, and for Just one ofcnsC she becomes
an outcast, while for men whose lives have
been sodomlC for 20 years the world swings
open its doors Of brilliant welcome, and
they may sit in high places. Unlike the
Christ of my text, tho world writes
man IS misdcmcanor in dust, but chiscls
wUman's otIcnsc with great capitals upon
inciIaccablc marble.
For foreign lords and princes, whose
names cannot even be mentioned i'm re.
spectacle circles abroad because they are
walking la2arCttOs of abOmination, some
OF our American prinCCssCS of fortune
wait and at the first beck sail out with
them into the blaCkncss of darkness for.
ever. And in what are called higher cir
ClcS of society there is now not only tho
imitation of foreign dress and foreign
manners, but an imitation of foreign dis
sOlutcncSS. | like n foreigner, and | like
an American, but the sickcst creature on
earth is an American playing the foreign
or. Society needs TO be reconstructed on
this subject. Treat them alike, masculine
crime and feminine crime. II you cut the
ono in granite. cut them both in granite
If you write the one in dust, write tho
other in dust. mo, no, :" says the world
"lct woman 90 down and let man go up.
What is that hear FLASHING into the Hud.
son or Potomac at midnight? And then
there Is - RurGlc as of stranFulation, and
all Is still. Never mind. 1t Is only
woman too discouraged to live. Let the
mills Of the cruel world grind right on.
But while | speak of Christ OF the text,
his stopping down writing in the dust do
not think | undorratc the literature of the
dust 1t Is the most tremendous of all
literature. II is the greatest of all libraries.
When Lnyard cxhumcd Nincvch, he was
only opening the door of its mighty dust.
Tho excavations of Pompcii have only
been the unclnsping of the lids of u volume
Of "a nations dust. When Admiral Farra-
gut and bis friends visited that rcsurrcctcd
city, the house Of I}albo, who had been
enc of its chief citizens in its prosperous
days, was opened, and n table was spread
In that house which l,Sl0 years had been
buried by volcanic eruption and Farragut
and his guests walked over the exquisite
mOsuics and under the beautiful frcsco,
and it almost seemed like being entertain.
I'd by those who Is centuries ago had
turned to dust.
Literature of the Dust.
Oh, this mighty literature of the dust
Where are the romans of Sennachcrib and
Attila and Epalninondas and Tamcrlane
and Traian and Philip of Maccdon and
Julius Cwsar? Dust! Where are the no.
rocs who fought on both sides at Char
onea, at Hastings, at Marathon, at Cressy,
OF the 600 men who fought at Agin-
court, of the 250, 600 men who faced death