Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1901-12-30

Do not hast Of your moral strength.
One of the most brilliant men of the
nineteenth century. having temporarily
reformed from inebriacy. stood on the
platform OF Broadway tabernacle. New
York. and said, Were this great globe
one crystallite and 1 were offered the
possession of it If | would drink one
glass of brandy / would refuse with
scorn. and I want no religion to help
me-" But that same man died at
Poughkeepsie n drunken pauper. Bet
ter underrate than overrate ourselves.
Famous Sentiment Refuted.
My subject is also refutation of the
famous sentiment that God is on the
side of the heaviest artillery From
all can read about this struggle Ben
hadad spoke the truth when he said,
The gods do SO unto me and more
also if the dust of Samaria shall suf
fee for handfuls for all the people that
follow me-" He was so confident that
with his superior numbers he could
defeat the king of Israel and capture
Samaria that he left the work for a
short afternoon. He is at noon in
wassail with his royal associates The
battle of Waterloo was not opened un-
til twenty-five minutes of II o'clock
at noon, but that was because the
ground was too wet to move the artil-
lery. Benhadad waits until afternoon
because he is overconfdent. God is
not on the side of the most swords or
non if they be in the wrong, but on
CIT 1f &I,A -sf<1,H II oh
posterous sentiment as have mention
ed should have gained sway 1 know
not when all history proclaims the OPP
posite. Describing the very next bat
tie in which Benhadad fought and was
miserably defeated, the Bible says,
1.-THE children of Israel pitched before
them like two little fiOcks of kids, but
the Syrians filed the country" How
insignificant were the unarmed Israel
ties, half starved and unOrganiZed,
compared with Pharaoh's host on foot,
on horseback and charioted! But the
waves of the Red sea took part in the
conflict, parting to let the pursued
pass, but coming together to destroy
the pursuers. The Midianites and
were like grasshoppers for
but 800 men under Gideon
came down, their only weapons pitch
ers and lamps and trumpets, and as
they held up the lamps and threw
down the pitchers and blew the trum-
pets the flash of the lights and the
blare of the instruments and the crash
of the crockery made their enemy fall
back in wild terror.
Notioo aIco fhof NV foyf fa<pS if for
granted that you must put on the har-
ness, else how can you take it off?
Life is battle-a thirty years, a forty
years or a sixty years war. Helmet
you must have, for the battleaXes OF
and agnosticism are aimed
at your head. Every possible effort will
be made to make you think wrong.
The young man who gets his head
filled with wrong notions about God,
about Christ, about the soul, about the
great beyond, is already captured. Put
on the helmet, the latchet well adjusted
under the chin. Think right, and you
will act right. Yes, breastplate for the
heart. That is the most important part
to be defende9 That decides what you
love and what you hate, what you hope
for and what you despise. That de-
cideS earthly happiness and eternal des
tiny.
Beware of Hidden Foes.
Young man, see that you have on
complete armor. All looks bright now,
and it seems as if you could march
right on without opposition or attack,
but be not deceived. There are hidden
foes ready to halt you on your way.
The same cup that Benhadad drank out
of just before his defeat will be offered
to effect your defeat. His intoxicated
brain saw victory when there waa
nothing but rout and ruin. What work
cup made for Benhadad's
army! What shipwreeks on the sea.
what disasters on the land, caused by
inf1aming liquids put upon the tongue
to set seething the brain! How many
kings of thought and influence, with
crowns brighter than the one Benhadad
WORE have by strong drink been put
into fight as base as that in which
Benhadad rode! "Give them to me-"
says the demon of inebriacy. "Give
them to ne; hand them down-tAe
brightest legislators of the land.
will thicken their tongue; 1 will bloat
their cheek; 1 will stagger their step;
will damn their soul. Hand them down
to me-the physician out Of his labora-
tory, the attorney from the courtroom,
the minister of the gospel from the al
tars of God. Hand them down to me,
the queens of the drawing room, and
will disgrace their names and blast
their homes and throw them down far
Their than Jezebel fell to the dogs that
her carcass"
We hold our breath in horror as once
in awhile we hear of some one, either
by accident or suicide, going over Nj
agara falls, but the tides, the depths,
the awful surges of intemperance are
every hour of every day rushing scores