Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1900-01-04

early to disturb lady, and he decided to
give ten minutes grace before knocking
at the door. He accordingly walked the
pavement and ut the end OF ten minutes
pulled out his watch and rang the bell.
He was ushered into the parlor, and Mrs.
Washington. accosting him, drew out her
watch and said she had given her orders
for the day. had heard her daughter take
her lesson on the harpsichord and had
read all the morning papers and after all
this had been waiting for him ten min
utes."
My friends, as our life is short, punctu-
atty is one of the important virtues and
lack OF punctuality one of the worst OF
crimes. How many who know nothing Of
plnctuality! They arrive Mt the depot
FIVE minutes after the train is gone. They
get TO the wharf in time to see that the
steamer has swung 500 yards from the
dock. They are late at church and annoy
all who have promptly taken their places,
the late corners not being as good as a
Christian woman who when asked how
she could always be so early Mt church
replied, 1T is part Of my religion not to
disturb the religion of Others" The tardy
ones mentioned are apt to speak the
word Of counsel when it is too late. They
are resolved to repent at some time in the
future, but when they come up 1.-THE door
is shut" They resolve to save soul
when il is already ruined.
But short as time is it Is long enough
If we rightly employ it. The trouble Is
we waste so much time we cannot catch
up Some of us have been chasing time
we lost at 20 years of age, or 30 years Of
age, or 40 years of age, and il we lived
$50 years we could never overtake it. Jo-
seph. poor apprentice, every morning
passed certain store as the church clock
struck 6 ut the moment when the mer-
chant took down his shutters. each OF
them saying "Good morning, SIR" and
nothing else. What was Joseph's surprise
to find that the merchant had suddenly
died and left him his store and business.
That is not the only instance where a
man has made a fortune by punctuaity.
The poets verse reads,
Time flies sway last
he while we never remembef
How life here
Grows old with the year
That dies with the next Dcccnhef.
The Significance of Life.
A third reading Of my text reminds me
that life is not only story told, but a
story listened to. There is nothing more
veXatious to any one thun to tell n story
when people are not attending. They may
be whispering on some other subject, or
they are preoccupied. One cannot tell q
story effcctually unless there are good lis
tencrs. Well, that which in my text is
called the tale that is told" has plenty
Of listeners There is no such thing as
solitude, no such thing as being alone.
God listens, and the air is full OF spiritu-
al intellgences all listening, and the
world listens to the story of our life, some
hoping it will be successful, others hop
ing it will be a failure.
We talk about public life and private
life, but there is no private life The sto-
ry of our life, however insignificant it
may seem TO be. will win the applause or
hiss of great multitude thnt no man can
number. AS a tale that is told" among
admirers or antagonists, celestials or pam
dcmoniacs, the universe is full of listen
ing ears as well as OF cleaning eyes. If
we say or do the right thing that is
known. | suppose the population of the
intelligences in the air is more numerous
than the population of intelligences on
the earth. Oh, that the story of our life
IliSHl Dc III lOI Sutu an uuuituCt Ill SUCH
au auditorium. God grant that wisdom
and fidelity and earnestness and truth
may characterize the tale that is told
Aye, all the world will yet listen to and
be redeemed by 'tale that is told" We
are all telling IT, each in his own way
some by voice. some by pen, some by art
lists pencil. some by harp and some by
song; mother telling it to child, teacher
telling it to Sabbath class, reformcr tell
ing it to outcast, preacher telling it to as
scmblage. The story Of the Lovciest of
heaven coming down to this SCARED and
blasted island of world He was or
dcred back from its shores and struck
through with lances OF human hate as
soon as he landed. Shepherds dog bay
ing on the hills that Christmas night was
better treated than this rescuer of a race.
yet keeping right on, bramblcs on brow,
feet on spikes, Aagellated with whips that
had Jumps of lead fastened to them,
through midnight without lanterns,
through storms without a shelter, through
years that got blacker until they ended in
n MONDAY with the sun blotted out
Mightiest tale ever told. and keep on tell
ing it until the last sorrow is assuaged
and the last anmosity is queuched and
The last desert is white with the lily and
golden with the cowslip and blue with
the gcntian and crimson with the rose.
The End of the story.
While reading my text the fourth time
l hcthnk myself that the story of life
will end when the group breaks up. The
''tale that is told" stops when the listen
ers depart. Sometimes we have been in
groups intcrestcdly listening to some sto-
~ told when other engagements or the
hour of the night demanded the going of
the guests. That stopped the story BY
this exit of another year ! am reminded
that these earthly groups will break up.
No family group or social group or rel-
gious group or political group stays long
together. Suppose some one should take
from the national archives the roll of
yonder United States senate chamber or
the roll of yonder house of representa-
tives as it was made up 20 years ago and
then COLL the roll The silence would be
mightier than the voices that would hear
and respond.
The family group breaks up. Did you
ever know a household that for % years
remained intact? Not one. Was there
ever a church record the same after the
passage of 25 years or - years or 1O
years? The fact is that the story of our
life will soon end because the group OF
listeners will be gone. So you see if VIC
are going to give the right trend and EN-
phasis we must give it right away. II
there are old people in the group Of oui
influence, all we can do for them will be