Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-04-20


him and cruelty him before his friends
can come to the rescue. Here is my
man at hand. What say you, Judas
Will you betray your Master for thirty
pieces of silver2' Il WILL" answered
the apostate. Then what happens?
No sooner is Christ betrayed and
Judas is overcome with remorse than
he comes back to these same priests
and snys: II cannot take this money.
1t is blood money. Here it is." And
he filings It ut their feet. Then what
happens9 Why, the priests look down
upon this blood money and say: THAT
money Is too vile for us to touch. We
cannot use nairderers money in the
temple. We are too good and holy
for that. Let us take the money and
buy paupers' burial ground. That
certainly will hurt no one. They got
Judas to betray Christ. Then as soon
as Judas had done this vile, under
hand, sinful work they turned their
backs upon him and said: Judas, you
are too low, too mean and too con-
temptlble for US to have anything to
do with you. We will not even take
back the money we paid you with our
own hands, for 1t is blood money"
All. the evil gcniuses who lead US In
to temptation will never stand by us
when they have miserably destroyed
us. In ancient Rome the defenders for
months were defying the northern bar
barians The strong walls and the IRON
gates could not be broken down. At
last these barbariaus went to Roman
woman and said, "Ip you will open for
us the gates at night and les us in. we
will give to you our war shields. made
of ornamental gold and silver" She
opened the gates by night, and Rome
fell. But as soon as the northern bar
barians became masters OF Caesars
throne they destroyed the woman who
betrayed her country. They gave her
their shields of ornamental silver and
gold, but they hurled those shields at
her with all the force of their mighty
arms until her manClei and bleeding
and lifeless body lay buried under her
prizes of war. After Benedict Arnold
betrayed his country he was hated even
more in England than In America One
day he was seated in the gallery of the
house of commons when q statesman
arose TO address the house. Before CON-
mencing his speech he said: ~ see In
the gallery of this house contemplate
character who, by the betrayal of his
own land has forfeited every right to
the respect of maEHind. Before | enter
upon my speech | hope that Benedict
Arnold, known rs Arnold the traitor,
might be requested to withdraw from
this body Of honorable men" Yes, the
very men who profit by Il crime despise
their instrument and desert him in his
ignominy.
They Will Turn Against You.
Man trcading the path of sin. do not
be a fool. Do not suppose that those
sinful people who are praising you
now will fawn upon you after your
morals and money are gone. All that
the saloonkecper wants is your gold;
rs soon as you nro in rags his free
lunch counters will no longer give a
welcome to yo' and yours. All that
gambler wants is your gold; as soon
as your money is gone he will kick
You out Of his presence as willingly as
he would put bullet in the heart Of
a mad dog. All. yes. the far country
held plenty Of friends as long as the
younger SOL had horses and wine sup
pers, bur as soon as his money was
gone his friends We're gone, his wine
hnrSne, T.
servants We're gone; there was a great
famine in that land. Companions of
sin will fawn at your feet while you
live in a palace. They viii crush YOU
under their heels when they can de-
stroy you. Aceldana, the field of
blood. was bought by the evil priests,
who had turned against Judas as your
companions CT sin will yet turn against
you.
Accldama teaches another lesson.
The easiest way to make an apostate
Is not by denouncinc or ridiculing the
divine mission OF Jesus Christ. but by
the tendencies to sin which
have not been cradicated from his ma
ture. Let me illustrate my thought
You have all wandered
through the northern forests in the Win
ter time. Everywhere you have seen
the tall trunks OF the trees supporting
the bare branches. Not a leaf Is in
sight; not a flower IS blooming. Where
nrc the millions upon millions OF leaves
which rs an arched roof covered the
pathways last summer? All
gone. But If you will rub your fingers
lightly over the bark of those branches
you can see where new buds and new
sprouts will come forth just as soon as
sprlngtime places to her lips the silver
trumpet of the warm winds. AS np-
proach man who is called n Christian
man I flguratively find him without
sin. but as I touch his heart find,
still figuratlvely speaking. that all over
his heart are latent sinful buds easy to
be developed. Unless man lives close
10 Christ and continues to live close to
Christ these evil buds will sprout and
grow even as the white apple bios
sons cover the tree branches almost in
me May day. The reason Judas be-
rayed Christ was because he allowed
lis latent buds of sin to develop; that
4 all
Judas not different from his fellow
apostles? How WAS that?" some one
asks me. "Why, Christ called him
devil" Aye. my friend, that is true.
But Christ did not call Judas q devil in