Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1905-10-20

with others?
Oh, that we would be more like Jo-
seph and less like the chief butler in
our dealings with our fellow menl IL
you are a man you have without doubt
read that book which is so dear to near
" all boys hearts. called Tom Brown
at Rugby" There the English author,
Thomas Hughes, writes an autobiogra-
ply OF his early life. He gives an ac-
count Of the flag system" OF the great
public school of England, the school I'm
which DIR. Arnold made his name as a
teacher bOnored for all time. The lit
tie boys i'm Hughes day were not only
allowed to be "hazed" by the big boys,
but they had to be their servants. They
bad to carry the water and black the
shoes and run the errands of the older
students. On bitterly cold nights, with
their little shivering bodies, they had
to crawl In between the sheets Of the
big boys beds and warm them before
they could go to their own beds. They
had to do everything the big boys or
dered them 10 do. There we find the
law OF Rugby was the same as is the
universal law Of life. AS a rule, the
boy who had the hardest time as a lit
tie boy was the hardest upon his "fag''
when he became a big boy. What
American boy has not had the big
lump come into his throat when be
read OF the struggles of little Tom
Brown? And, oh, the prayer OF Crate
fulness we uttered when the "big boy''
of that book. that good big boy" came
to the rescue OF little Tom! My friends,
cannot we be the good big boys OF
life? All of us have served our ap-
prenticeships as flags" We have had
our hard times. Shall we not try to
make the burdens Of the little flags
about us lighter. as Joseph tried to do,
or are we going to be hard upon our
fellow men, as was the chief butler
who forgot about the troubles of Jo-
seph. who was once his fellow pris-
oner?
In the Buffers Place.
There is a centripetal as we'll as
centrifugal lesson resulting from this
butler OF my text ignoring his past mis-
fortunes. The one forgetfulness blinds
his eyes and hardens his heart to the
Sufferings of others. The second for
getfulness blinds his eyes and hardens
his heart to the threatening mlsfor-
tunes which are ahead Because this
chief butler had safely weathered one
hurricane on the sea OF life he Is very
apt to forget TO look to the seaworthi-
ness OF his craft and to feel that from
now on there will be nothing but
smooth passage and no threatening
storms ahead. Because he has lain
down upon the operating table and had
the surgeons knife cut near his vitals
and successfully remove the dangerous
tumor he foolishly supposes that he
will never have another tumor and
never have TO undergo another similar
physical and mental ordeal Then
what is the result? AS he fcrgets his
past troubles he also forgets to guard
against the sins and evil habits which
might have brought him into his late
difficulties. Let us for n moment put
ourselves into that buffers place.
Three days after the Interpretation
OF the chief buffers and the chief bak-
er's dreams is past Joseph had said to
the baker. You must die" TO the but
Ter, You shall be restored as the cup
bearer of the king" We bear the
tramp OF the soldiers The warden of
the prison enters. He first points TO
the baker and announces to him that
the king has condemned him and or
ders him out TO he hanged. To the
butler the warden turns and says:
"Cupbearer, thou art free. The king
bids thee hasten as his faithful servant
to his palace" The Interpretation of
the two dreams came true. Now. II
the chief butler had feared that he
might be flung again into prison and
suffer the fate of the baker, what would
he have done when he donned the uni
form OF n royal servant? The same as
you would do in similar condition.
Methinks I might see him as soon as
he goes to his room after the first
nights banquet is over. He PAGES I'D
and down as he says: az must get Jo-
seph out of prison; 1 must have him
by my side; must have this interpre-
Ter or dreams here to warn me against
any dangers which are ahead. He
must keep me from doing wrong again"
But, no. That was not the chief but
ler's way. After the different court Of
hcials had congratulated him ne hunt
ed up his gold challces and looked at
their sides. There he sees his own
smiling face. Then he said: AHA. I |
am safe! am safel No danger novf |
/ am safe forever Then in his SIM |
posed safety he forgot the warning
signals or the past. Perhaps he fell |
into the same evil ways which he once
followed, which evil ways may uIti-
mately have caused his execution. like !
the bakers. His decomposing flesh |
may have been eaten by the hyenas |
ana the vultures who banquet or the |
dead bodies OF all Egyptian criminals.
My brother, can 1t be that we are for |
getting our past misfortunes? Have
we forgotten the awful results OF our
past sinsE DO we forget the patience |
and the pardon and the love OF God |
which once rescued us, as the butler
was pardoned from death by his royal |
master?
ForEetful of Past.
The misfortunes of the past can be |
reproduced in our lives If we 20 on re-
producing the evils which once caused
our downfall The forgetfulness OF the
butler may be compared TO the dyspep- |
Ties forgetfulness OF his physical ago.
MES. Nature takes him in hand and /
nays him with scorpions. BY eating |
what he ought not to eat some night /
he nearly dies. He is careful one day, |
one week, perhaps one month. Then |
the past sufferings are forgotten. The
cravings of gormand are satisfied.
Another night OF horror or perhaps
even death is the result. The buffers |
forgetfulness is like that of the drunk
ard. Delirium tremens has gripped
MN. He imagines serpents are crawl |
ing over his bed. Demons, with eyes
or burning Goals OF fire, are glaring at /
him. Wild beasts, with their angry
roar and their glittering white teeth |
and their lolliDg red tongues and their
sharp claws working convuIsively, are
springing upon him. But in a few /
weeks he feels so we'll and strong that |
he forgets his past terrors. Another |
glass of fiery liquid turns his brain into |
a madhouse. The butler is ike you and |
me if we forget the past evils which |