Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1900-01-22

Them Consolation.
copyright, Louis Elopsch 1901
WASHINGTON, Jan. 21.-In this dis
course DR.. Talmage shows how we
should interest ourselves in the affairs
of others for their benefit, but never
for their damage; text, | Peter iv, 10,
"a busybody in other mems Esltters."
Human nature is the same in all
ages. In the second century of the
worlds existence people had the same
characteristics as people in the nine
teenth century, the only difference be-
ing that they had the characteristics
for a longer time. 1t was 500 years of
goodness or 500 years of meanness in
stead of goodness or meanness for 40
or so years Well, Simon Peter. who
was a keen observer of what was go
ing on around him, one day caught
sight of a man whose characteristics
were severe inspection and blatant crit
icism of the affairs belonging to people
for whom lie had no responsibility, and
with the hand once Drowned and hard
ened by fishing tackle drew this por-
trait for all subsequent ages, "a busy
body in other mems matters"
That kind of person has been a trou-
BILE maker in every country since the
world stood. Appointing himself to
the work of exploration and detection.
he goes forth mischief making. He
generally begins by reporting the iDfe-
iicity discovered. He is the advertis-
ing agent of infirmities and domestic
inharmony and occurrences that but
for him would never have come to the
public eye or ear. He feels that the
secret ought to be hauled out into light
and heralded. If he can get one line of
it into the newspapers, that he feels to
be a noble achievement to start with.
But he must not let it stop. He whis-
pers it to his neighbors. and they in
turn whisper it to their neighbors. until
the whole town is abuZZ and agog.
You can no more catch it or put it
down than you can a malaria. 1t is in
the air and on the wing and afioat.
Taken by itself. it seems of little i'm
portance. but after a hundred people
have handled it and each has given it
an additional twist it becomes a story
in size and shape marvellous. If it can
be kept going. after awhile it will be
large enough to call the attention of
the courts or the presbyteries or con-
ferences or associations. The most Of
the scandals abroad are the work of
the one whom Peter in the text styles
"a busybody in other mems matters"
Mission of Kindness.
First, notice that such a mission is
most undesirable, because we all re-
Quire all the time we can get to take
care of our own affairs. To carry our
selves through the treacherous straits
of this life demands that we all the
time keep our hand on the wheel of
our own craft. While. as | shall show
you before l get through, we all have
a mission of kindness to others. we
have no time to waste in doing that
which is damaging to others.
There is our worldly calling. which
must be looked after or it will become
q failure. Who succeeds in anything
without concentrating all his energies
upon that one thing? All those who
try to do many things go to pieces Ell
Their as to their health or their fortune.
They go on until they pay 10 cents on
the dollar or pay their body into the
grave. We cannot manage the affairs
prosperous. While we are inquiring
how precarious is the business Of an
other merchant and finding out how
many notes he has unpaid and how
soon he will probably be wound up or
make an assignment or hear the sher-
IFS hammer smite his counter our own
affairs are getting mixed up and en-
dangered. While we are criticising
cur neighbor for his poor crops we are
neglecting the fertilization of our own
fields or allowing the weeds to choke
our own corn. While we are trying to
extract the mote from our neighbours
eye we fall under the weight of the
beam in our own eye. Those men dis
turbed by the faults of others are
themselves the depot at which whole
trains of faults arrive and from which
whole trains of faults start The men
who have succeeded in secular things
or religious things will tell you that
they have no time for hunting out the
deficits Of others. On the way to their
counting room they may have heard
that a firm in the same line OF bust
ness was in trouble, and they said.
SORRY, very sorry" But they went In
and sat down at their table and open
ed the book containing a full state
ment of their affairs to see If they
were in peril of being caught in a SINH
lar cyclone.
Gadders about town. with hands In
pockets and hats set far back on the
head, waiting to hear baleful news.
are failures now or will be failures.
Christian men and women who go
round with mouth and looks full of in
terrogation points to find how some
other church member Is given to ex-
aggeration or drinks too much or