Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-07-13

tuut Cuuplulu l Euy 10 you WIN your
children depending upon you. with
your store depending upon you. with
your church, in one sense, depending
upon you. You have no right to run
any useless physical risks.
Foolish RSaks.
But, though this truth should be axi-
omatic, on every hand we find men
trying to prove to the world that they
are brave merely because they are fool
ishly reckless. Some time ago stood
In Yosemite park, looking upon the
great Half Dome, rising nearly 5000
feet from the valley below. There ts
trail running up to within three or four
hundred feet OF the summit. Then the
rock ascends almost perpendiculariy to
the top. As I stood looking at that
height gentleman told me that In
1876 Scotchman made up his mind
he would ascend to the top Of the Half
Dome To nscend 1t would do no one
any good. 1t would only endanger his
own life. But ascend Il he would. So
he went and got lot Of iron pegs He
would drill one hole into the side of the
the hole. Then he would crawl UP and
stand upon that peg and drill another
hole and shove In another peg until at
last. after days Of weary work. he
stood upon that which Is high" "Oh.'
I said to myself. how like the foolish
actions Of that man are some Of our
actions! We risk our physical lives for
a. no
swim away out beyond the life lines to
make people think we are brave We 60
fishing in cranky boats. We climb
dangerous heights. We ride fractions
horses. We rim needless risks to benefit
no one" Avoid that which IL high.
Re wise. and shun foolish and reckless
physical dangers. Lovingly cautious
should we be in reference to our phys
ical life.
Lovingly cautious, also. should we
be in reference to our good names. II
the gilt frame which holds the artistic
masterpiece Is valuable, how much
more precious must Rosa Bonheur's
"Horse Fair" be than the wood which
holds the canvas Of the great French
animal painter? II the setting Of a
jewel Is valuable. how much more val
liable must be the "Pitt diamond"
which flashed from the golden hilt Of
the court sword which Napoleon I.
wore on the day of his coronation? II
a mans physical life Is valuable. how
much more valuable Is his good name.
by means Of which that physical life
can be made Of some practical good to
his fellow men as we'll as to himself?
And yet Just think how quickly some
are ready to risk their good names as
well as their physical existence!
Danger OF Bad Associations.
In the first place. for mere social
prefernent, they are ready to risk
their good names by evil associa lions.
Men and women IRE always Judged by
the associates they have. You know
this fact as we'll as I know 1t. You
cannot get around that statement. The
other day the name Of young lady
whom I was very anxious to have Join
our church came up. Again and again
have said: "Is 1t not too bad that
Miss So-and.so does not join our
church and become q good Christian
worker? She seems to be such a nice
girl" A church officer Of mine said:
"Well. do not know whether she Is n
nice girl or no, but one thing do
know, she associates with men about
this town who are everywhere noted
for their immoralities and indecen-
cies--men whom l would not allow to
associate with my wife or daughters
That does not speak very we'll Of her
Christian character" What could say?
could answer nothing. Good men
and good women, as rule, do not
make companions Of bad men and bad
women. And yet today that is just
what some Of us are doing for social
preferment. Like the Scotchman who
risked hts physical life by climbing the
smooth rocks Of the Half Dome or
like that reckless climber who the
other day lost his life when crawling
along the edge of FL Captain in old
Yosemite. some Of IFS are risking our
good names by associating with evil
companions and people Of unsavory
reputation with whom we are seen on
the street and in social gatherings.
But the narrow lodges of social
heights on which many men and wom-
en- foolishly risk their good names arc
not nearly as many or rs narrow or as
high as the dizzy and dangerous lodges
along which some men are ready to
risk their good names in order to win
prize Of gold. Where there Is ono
man who Is ready to risk his good
name for social success there are ten,
twenty. fifty aye, hundred - men
who are ready TO risk their good names
for financial success. And those men
are often ready to risk their good
names when these names are their
only capital In life.
Oh. my friends, never allow your
good name to be linked to shady
financial enterprise. Never trifle with
your good name by walking along q
dangerous ledge on which your feet
might slip and you may be precipitated
into tho abyss Of disgrace. My father
many years ago impressed this fact
upon my mind. He said: my son, as
a minister Of the gospel, in all proba-
bility you will never be financially
wealthy. but ON account Of your good
name, unless you are careful. some
scheming men will Try to drag you into
shady financial enterprises. Then you