Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1904-02-22
A mans true life can nearly always

pictures ana especially in conspicuous
places such religious pictures as Rapha-
els "Sistine Madonna" and Rubens'
Descent From the Cross" and Muril
los Abraham and the Angels" or
Correggio's "Penitent Magdalen;" if l
see upon your library shelves among
the well thumbed books such works as
Thomas a kempis Imitation and
Farrars life of Christ and the BIZ
ographies of Livingstone and Brainerd
and Gordon and a set of Parker's "Peo-
pies Bible;" if l see your music rack
filled with the masterpieces of the
great religious compositions, such as
Handers Messiah" and Wagner's
"Parsfal' and Flotow's Martha" and
Memberships Elijah" or Paul." if
see standing in the corners of the Ii
brary the plaster casts OF such pieces
of sculpture as that of Michael Ange-
los David or Moses" | am COM
PEELED TO believe that some pure, noble
spirit has been living in and dominat-
ing that home. So, by the Language
of action" when. find man longing
to be in the hose of God on the Sab
bath day, when ! see that man, week
after week, sitting in a conspicuous
place at the midweek prayer meeting,
when | find him continually seeking
the great religious gatherings which
every little while take place in q large
city; when find him, daily and week
~ and yearly, associating with men
and women noted for their Christian
integrity, l ara compelled to believe
that that man wants to be good and to
live a pure life, On the other hand,
when | see a man conspicuous for his
absence from all good affiliations his
actions inform me as plainly as his
words could do that his character is
just the opposite of what it ought to
be.
Character Judged by Associates.
The father Of a great English preach
err taught this lesson to his son. Some
time after his son, then a very young
man, was married his father visited
him. After lie had passed through and
examined the different rooms of the
house he said: My son, there is one
mistake about your home. l see moth
ing in the furniture, in pictures upon
the walls or books upon the table to
lead me, if | was q stranger to this
home, to judge whether you belonged
to God or to the devil. In every room
and upon every wall you should al
ways have something to prove to your
guests that you are a child of God. A
mans Christian life should be mani
tested in the furniture of his house as
we'll as by his outside surroundings"
What that Christian parent said in ref
erence to q mans domestic life is es-
sentially true in reference to his out
side human affiliations. A wicked
mans inner character can nearly al
ways be judged by lis conspicuous
avoidance of noble associates. By your
intimate friends your Christian life is
to be judged as we'll as by the words
that you speak.
But a wicked mans actions have a
positive as we'll as a negative signif-
canoe. If by the absence from all good
associates u mans character rests I'M
der Il dark cloud, then by his bold and
reckless defiance of all the great moral
influences of the day his wicked life is
to be judged also. 1t is one act to sin
in secret and to be ashamed of your
sins. 1t is a far more heinous act to
publicly parade your sins and come to
a depraved condition, in which you do
not seem to care what people may say
in reference to your life or how by
your bold example they may be led
astray through your evil conduct.
Depravity Hidden.
| This indictment against the actions
of an evil mans life is the more posi-
tive because, even in the lowest forms
! of outward vice, by the Language of
action the wicked man nearly always
wants to appear u little better than he
really is. Theodore Roosevelt, who has
been student of beasts and birds and
flowers, says that this characteristic tC
appear better than they are is not al
ways true Of al the inhabitants of the
natural world as it is of men. Once,
when visiting Nashville, Tenn, he
heard a knocking bird, whose reputa-
ton for the most part rests purely
upon his ability for mimicry, fill a
whole night with sweetest music. Upon
the tree just outside his opened window
the president saw and heard him
Sometimes" wrote Mr.. Roosevelt, "he
would perch motionless for many min
utes, his body quivering and thrilling
with the outpour of music. Then he
would drop softly from twig to twig
until the lowest limb was reached
when he would rise tiuttering and leap
ing through the branches, his sons
never ceasing for an instant. until hC
reached the summit of the tree ant
launched into the warm, scent ladeT
air. floating in spirals With outstretcheC
wings. until, as if spent. he sank gently
back into the tree and down through
the branches. while his song rose int
an ecstasy of ardor and passion" Tha
midnight song seems to have given th'
president a higher appreciation of TIL
powers of the mocking bird. The song
ster, warbling in the darkness and 81