Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1904-10-31

they will be kind and gentle to their
friends. They are not ready, however,
TO say they will be kind and forgiving
TO their enemies. They pride them
selves upon the fact that they are
good lovers. They also pride them
| selves upon the fact that they are
good haters. If a man does them a
| kindness they store that fact away in
the most secure treasure room of the
temple of memory" They will wait.
| If need be, ten, twenty, thirty or even
| forty years to pay back that kindness.
l was reading the other day of noted
| eastern politician whom William c.
| Whitney many years ago befriended.
! This politician, when young man,
| stood under the shadow Of the peni-
| Tertiary walls. Whitney came to his
rescue. Twenty-Five years later Will
| liam c. Whitney was nightly in need
| Of a certain help. He went to this
man and asked it. This famous poll
tician turned and said: whitney, l
| have been waiting for nearly thirty
| years for the chance to repay you for
| that kindness you once did me- Now
| the chance has come. / never forget
| friend" He at once came to Whitney's
rescue. But, though some people never
| forget a friend, on the other hand
| others never forgive an injury done by
an enemy. They may have to abide
| their time a quarter or ever half
century, but when the time comes they
| are as vindictive as though the past
injury was of yesterday. Now, my
| text emphatically says: Deal gently
with friends. Deal gently with the en-
| envy also" Love those who love you.
Yes. But love those who hate you and
i'll treat you and despise you. That is
| the commandment Of my text also.
Dare you disobey Gods orders to deal
| gently with those who have done you
an injury? If you do God will make
| you rue your defiance in more ways
| than one. The Sword of hate is two
edged and keener than any Damascus
blade. With one stroke it Stays a foe.
but when the swordsman draws forth
| the 'blade of vengeance" whetted with
mortal blood Of his dying enemy, this
| sword springs back with it's unused
| edge and Stays the vindictive swords
man also. Two lives are generally de-
| stroyed, and not one. Some of us have
| read the terrific philippe uttered by
| James G. Blaine, the brilliant son of
| Maine, when he tried to retaliate on
| Roscoe COnkling of New York for his
| gibes and sneerS. He acquitted him
self with vigOr, winning the applause
of his friends. With all the force of
his eloquent tongue he ridiculed and
castigated his political opponent. All,
that was a terrible denunciation! That
was one of the most bitterly crushing
attacks ever made in forensic arena
James G. Blaine waited for just the
| right time when he could most sue
cessfully hit his foe. But that terri
BILE denunciatiOn against Roscoe Con-
king cost James G. Blaine mighty
dear. He paid the price of that venge-
ance at costly rate. That one speech
without a doubt cost him the presi-
dency of the United States. Conkling
never fOrgave him. Had Blaine tried
to conciliate Roscoe COnkling instead
of trying to destroy him the "plumed
knight of the Maine hills would have
|
his friends as we'll as himself longed
to have him. With bludgeOn you can
knock man down. With keen. cut
| ting speech you can make him wilt and
| compel him to curse you under his
breath. But the sharp word, the bit
ter word, the sarcastic word, never yet
| changed a foe into friend. Now, my
text demands that you shall try to de-
stroy your foes not by crushing them,
but by winning them to your ranks.
You are to destroy them, even as Ma
| poleon on his escape from Elba made
Marshal Ney and his grenadiers fall
at his feet, because they felt he loved
them. You are to destroy them by
dealing gently with them, by forgiving
as we'll as forgetting the evils of the
past
But greater sweep than the establish
ment of harmonious relationships with
our personal enemies has the applica-
ton of my text We should try to
bring back to Christ those who are at
war with their Divine Master on &C
count of their sins. We should try to
lead Gods wayward children back to
their Divine Fathers house, even as the
prodigal of the far country was led to
return to the old homestead. No man
, can truly love Christ unless at the
| same time, by yearning, tender affec-
, ton, he is willing to go forth to save
+ | Chrlsts loved ones even as he would
! want to save one of his own children.
Bring Back the Lost Sheep.
1 To bring the lost sheep back to the
e Shepherds fold ought to be the high.
est wish and desire of every Christian
And that is not to be done by menaces
). and denunciation. God, as Elijah
/ found, is not in the earthquake nor in
2 the fire, but in the still small voice -
Men may be wooed back to God, but
e they are seldom driven. And why
i should we not deal gently with God
!, hayward children? Do you for one