Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-11-16


precious upon our family affairs and
made It's what we are spiritually. But
have they not done more than that7
oh, yes. They have literally sacrificed
their all for lis and submerged their
lives In our life. When Benjamin Dis.
raeli retired from the ministerial
bench Queen Victoria wished to Gle
vate her favorite prime minister to the
peerage. He declined at that time the
honor for himself, but he practically
said this: Your majesty, the honor
you would confer upon me would graf.
ify me more If conferred OH my wife.
for all that have been able to accom-.
plsh In English statesmanship Is due
to her devotion and self sacrifice" So
for the time he remained plain Mr.
Disraeli, while his wife became Count
ess of Beaconsfleld. Not until somo
years later did he accept the honor
urged upon him and take the title of
Earl of Bea consfeld.
When the aged banker, Rothschild,
founder Of the banking house which
now bears his name, was dying he
called his boys TO him and said. "Nev.
er make financial move until you
have consulted your mother" What
the wives Of Disraeli and Rothschild
were to their husbands in q temporal
sense our wives have been to us. They
have submerged themselves in our
lives. They have nodded themselves
In our work. They have poured out
their lives ~ us. All, yes, as we have
had good mothers, we have also had
good wives.
The Tired wife.
And here let me state something
which has been OH my mind for long
time. l have been noticing how tired
your wife looks of late. Aye she il
beginning to get that tired look your
mother had during her last few years.
You have often said to your brothers
and sisters since your mothers death.
"Oh, if father had only made her hold
up Il little she would have boon with
us now!' Yes, perhaps she would.
Your mother was one Of those "wllling
horses" who work themselves to death.
Your wife is the same kind of a wo-
man. Her alabaster box Of ointment
Of spikenard very precious which she Is
now pouring upon you is her life's
blood. You had better make her hold
up or your children may soon be saying
about their mothers premature death
what you said about your mothers.
Yes, we have all had good mothers.
We have all had good wives.
But as our minds wander back into
the dim past there is another sweet
face which arises above the horizon of
our memories. Next to the mother and
the wife think this third face belongs
to young girl who has had the most
Influence in our mental and moral and
spiritual development. l allude to that
sweet sister who grew up by your side.
She was a good girl You cannot
speak Of her now without your lips
trembling and your eye being moisten-
ed with tears. oh" you say, "if we
We're not so far apart how l would love
to go and have one Of the old chats we
used to have"
Truly she did for you what she
could. She naturally did more for you
than any Of the other children, because
you grew up together. You played
your games together. you trudged to
school together She was little older
than you and was always looking after
you. When you got into trouble you
always went first to her. Cannot you
hear her gentle voice saying: Now.
brother. you must not do that Mother
would not like you to do It," Though
the older sister when she corrected
you would always make you angry,
she would always make you feel will
ing to do what you ought to do. Yes.
yes. that dear sister has sacrificed Il
great deal for you. When you were
little she used to give you her pennies.
Like the poor widow. she gave you her
mite. 1t was not much intrinsically,
but it was her all. When she grew a
little OldcS she still continued your
friend. She gave to you her whole
heart. Aye. it was a sad day for you
when she married. Cannot you write
to her now and bridge over that awful
chasm OF separation:
But are the mothers. the wives, the
sisters. the only female faces we can
mention today like this woman of my
text? No. The list would not be CON-
plete unless we spoke few words Mt
least in reference to the children who
have grown up in our nurseries. Once
there was time we carried our daugh-
tiers In our arms Now they are too
big for that. They have grown so big
and strong in some families that in
stead Of the daughters leaning upon
the parents the parents have to lean
upon the daughters. How strong and
helpful some of those daughters have
been. Do you not know that in some
families the daughters have literally
given up their whole lives in order to
please and to help the parents? Let
me tell you a beautiful romance that
ended in tragedy.
Why she Did Not Marry.
DO you see that sad faced young wo.
man with the gray hairs just appear.
ing amid her brown locks? Who Is she?
Miss Soand-so." you answer. "Why
did she not marryT" "Oh, l guess be-
cause she did not wish to marry" you
answer. Oh. yes, she did want TO mar
~. She does not want to marry now
because her heart Is broken. Many
years ago a young man met her and
la oinva IA hor hoovt Shn u,,, a.