Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-03-06

>"hn WIN IuOTe eupudsis anu urBeb
haste and says not second ought to
be lost. Oh, do tell us what is the
matter. All, now see; there are hawks
Of temptation in the mir, there are vul.
lures wheeling for their prey, there are
beaks Of death ready to, plunge. there
are claws Of allurement ready to
clutch. Now 1 see the peril. Now
understand the urgency. Now l see
the only safety. Would that Christ
might this day take our sons and
into his shelter "as a hen
gathereth her chickens under her
wing"
The fact Is that the most Of them
will never mind the shelter unless
while they are chickens. 1t Is a simple
matter Of inexoraple statistics that
most Of those who do not come to
Christ in youth never come at all.
What chance is there for the young
without divine protection? There are
the grogshops, there are the gambling
bells, there are the infidelities and i'm.
moralitles of spiritualism. there are
the bad books. there are the impurities,
there are the business rascal ties, and
so numerous are these assailants that
1t Is wonder that honesty and virtue
are not lost arts. The birds of prey,
diurnal and nocturnal, Of the natural
world are ever on the alert. They are
the assassins of the sky; they have va.
rieties Of taste. The eagle prefers the
flesh Of the living animal; the vulture
prefers the carcass; the falcon kills
with one stroke, while other styles of
beak give prolongation of torture. And
so the temptations of this life are va
rious.
Protect the Young.
Fathers, mothers, older brothers and
sisters and Sabbath school teachers. be
quick and earnest and prayerful and
importunate and get the chickens IN
der wing. May the Sabbath schools of
America and Great Britain within the
next three months sweep all their
scholars into the kingdom. Whom
they have now under charge Is uncer-
tain. Concerning that scrawny, puny
child that lay in the cradle many years
ago, the father dead, many remarked,
What mercy If the Lord would take
the child" And the mother really
thought so too. But what good thing
that God spared that child, for 1t be-
came world renowned in Christian lit
erature and one Of Gods most lllustri-
Gus servants-John Todd. Remember,
your children will remain children only
a little while. What you do for them
as children you must do quickly or
never do at ALL why have you never
written book?" said some one to a
talented woman. She replied: 81 am
writing two and have been engaged on
one work ten years and on the other
five years-my two children. They are
my life work" When the house Of
John Wesley's father burned and they
got the eight children out. John Wesley
the last before the roof fell In, the ia
Their said: LET us kneel down and
thank God. The children are all saved
Let the rest of the place CO." My hear
lasting welfare OF our children, most
other things belonging to us are Of but
little comparative Importance. Alexan-
der the Great allowed his soldiers to
take their families with them to war,
and he accounted for the bravery Of his
were born in camp and were used to
warlike scenes from the start. Would
God that all the children of our day
might be born into the army of the
LOrd
The Mercy of God.
But we all need the protecting wing.
II you had known when you entered
upon manhood or womanhood what
was ahead Of you, would you have
dared to undertake life? How much
you have been through! With most
life has been q disappointment. They
tell me so. They have not attained
that which they expected to attain.
They have not had the physical and
mental vigor they expected or they
have met with rebuHs which they did
not anticipate. You are not at forty or
fifty or sixty or seventy or eighty
years of age where you thought you
would be. | do not know any one ex-
happy surprise. never expected any
thing, and so when anything came in
the shape of human favor or comforta.
BILE position or widening field of work il
was to me a surprise. | was told in
the theological seminary by some of
fnlInyu CT that I would
Get anybody to hear me preach unless
changed my style, so that when
found that some people did come tc
hear me it was happy surprise. But
most people. according to their OWL
statement, have found life disap
polntment. Indeed, we all need shelter
from its tempests.
About o'clock on hot August aft
ernoon you have head a rumble thai
you first took for wagon crossing G
bridge. but afterward there was loud
er rumbling, and you said, "Why, thai
Is thunder! And. sure enough. the
clouds were being convoked for full
diapason. A whole park Of artillery
went rolling down the heavens. anC
the blinds OF the windows in the sky
were closed. But the sounds above
were not more certain than the sound:
beneath. The cattle came to the bar!
and moaned for them to be let dowr
that they might come home to shelter
and the fowl, whether dark Brahmi
or Hamburg or Leghorn or Dominick
began to call to its young, "Cluck