Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-01-09
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Talmage's first discourse for the new
year he speaks words of encourage
ment TO all the timid and doubling.
The text is Exodus xii, ., This month
shall be unto you the beginning of
months; it shall be the first month Of
1.-The year to YOU"
The last month of the old year has
'lpassed out of sight. and the first month
of the new year has arrived. The mid
night gate last Wednesday opened, ana
January entered. She deserves n bet
liter name, for she Is called after Janus,
| the heather deity who, they supposed,
presided over doors and so might be
/ expected to preside at the opening OF
| the year. This month was of old called
1.-The wolf month because, through the
4 severity of its weather, the hungry
| wolves came down seeking food and
/ devouring human life. In the missals
| of the middle ages January was repre-
scented as attired in white, suggestive
Of the snow, and blowing the fingers,
rs though suffering from the cold, and
having a bundle Of wood under the
arm, suggestive of the warmth that
must be kindled.
Yes, January is the open door of the
year, and through that door will come
what long professions, some Of them
| bearing palm leaves and some myrtle,
others with garlands of wheat and
others with cypress and mistletoe. They
are coming, and nothing can keep them
back-the events of a twelvcmonCh. 1t
will, l think, be one of the greatest
years Of all time. 1t will abound with
blessing and disaster. National and in
| teruational controversies of momcntOus
import will be settled. Year of coro-
nation and dethronement. year that
will settle Cuban and Porto Rican and
Philippine end South African and Chi
nese destnies. The tamest year for
many decade past has dug its mil
lions of graves and reared it's millions
l of marriage affairs.
We can expect greater events in this
year than ever before, for the worlds
| population has so vastly increased
there are so many more than in any
other year to laugh and weep and tri-
umph and perish. The mightier wheels
of mechanism have such wider sweep.
The fires are kinded in furnaces not
seven times but seventy times heated.
The velocities whirling through the air
and sailing the seas and tunncling the
mountains will make unprecedented
demonstration. Would to God that be.
I fore the now opening year has closed
/ the earth might cease to tremble with
the las, cannonade and the heavens
ce&Ga l. be lighted up with any more
contagratiCn of homesteads and the
fonndries that make swords be turned
tnto blacksmith shops for making
Dlovshares.
CLASP Present Opportunities.
The front door of a stupendous year
has opened. Before many Of you there
will lie twelve months Of opportunity
| for making the world better or worse,
henpier or more miserable. Let US
pray that it may be a year that will
l. indicate the speedy redemption Of the
hemisphere. Would to God that this
might be the year in which the three
great instruments now chiefly used for
secular purposes might be put to their
mightiest use in the worlds evangelical
tion-the telegraph, the telephone, the
photograph. Electricity ha; such po-
| tert tongue, such strong arm, such
swift wing, such lightning foot, that
it occurs 50 me that it may be the angel
that st. John saw and heard in apoC-
alyptic vision when he started back
and cried ont, Il saw another anger
| flying in the midst Of heaven having
the everlasting gospel to preaca unto
them that dwell on the earth and to
every nation and kindred and tongue
and people" They were tongues of fire
that SAT- on the heads of the disciples
at the Pentecost, and why not the
woSl id called to God by tongue Of cleo
trio fire? Prepare your batteries and
make ready TO put upon the wires the
world wide message. Of "whosoever
Twill"
Furthermore, this month Of January
has the greatest height and depth Of
cold. The rivers are bound in crystal
chains. The fountains that made high
est leap in the summer parks now toss
not one jet, for every drop would be a
| frozen tear. The sleds craunch through
. the hard snow. WarmeSt attire the
wardrobe can afford is put on that we
may defend ourselves against the fury
Of the elements. Hardest of all the
months for the poor. let it be the sea-
son of greatest generosity on the part
of the prosperous. How much a scut-
tie Of coal or a pair Of shoes or n coat
or Il shawl may do in Arrangement Of
| suffering between the 1st of January
and the LIST Of February God only
knows Seated by our warm registers
or wrapped in furs which make us in
dependent of the cutting January blast,
let us not forget the fireless hearth and
the thin garments and the hacking
cough and the rheumatic twinge of
those who through destitution find life
In winter an agony. Suppose each one
or us take under charge one poverty
stricken household or one disabled man
Or one invalided woman. On our way
home from such charity, though the
wind may be bowling and the night
tempestuous. l should not wonder if
we could hear voice that was heard
on Galilee and at the gates Of Main
and by the pool of Bethesda saying,
"lnasmuch as ye did 1t to them, We did
| ~ fo mn