Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-06-28

the dreams Of youthful ambitions, have
been condensed into the common pud-
dies Of everyday life. "Oh," you say,
chow my early hopes have miscarried
From living among the clouds I have
dropped to be nothing but snail
crawling in the dirt. Bitter, bitter. are
the waters which have been condensed
from the mists Of our early dreams
photographed in the miragcs Of the
nursery and the schoolroom."
Yes, my brother. it is certainly sad
TO see n Paul Potter cxhnustng his
genius as sign painter. Perhaps you
have been to Europe and have stood
before THE Jewel of The Hague" 1t
is the picture of the farm lands. There
under a tree are lying COW. n goat n
mother sheep and Il lamb. But above
them all stands the magnificent proper
tons of the male offspring of that COW.
Strong. powerfully formed is he. From
the looks Of the animal he must be
about year and n half old. Instead Of
the mother protecting him. he now
stands as the protector Of the mother.
All the artistic world has sat before
that picture rs before shrine. Yet
Paul Potter painted THE Jewel of The
Hague" for tavern sign. For years it
swayed backward and forward, beck
oning the traveller to come and find
rest and refreshmcnt behind the open
doors. There are many Paul Potters.
There are many men and women who
have had beautiful and inspiring earth
ly dreams. but they have never been
able to make those dreams materialize.
The vapors which photographed those
mirages of early childhood have been
changed into the common puddles of
prosaic, ordinary life.
But have you and I a right TO sup
pose that the work Of any Paul Potter
has gone astray and been useless? Let
me mention a few Of the Paul Potters
Of your life. There was your mother.
She was what might he called n
"household drudge" Was her life a
failure? She spent far more time in
washing dishes and with the sewing
needle in her hand than you do. Her
family was larger. Was her life use
less, humdrum one? Then there was
that proprietor of the village store near
your fathers farm. Most Of his life
was spent without a coat and in his
shirt sleeves; but were not his quaint
words of wisdom carried far up and
down those valleys; Was not his help
! ing hand extended 10 every one? And
were not the words he so often gave
/ to his customers Of God bless You"
the means of spiritually blessing hun
/ dreds upon hundreds Of lives? And
there was your old nurse. Was her
/ life a failure! Henry Ward Beechor
/ once declared that one Of the grea test
gospel teachers he over studied under
was an old black man. who used to
work for his father. and who used to
sing to him the gospel songs and tell
to the towheadcd boy Henry the Bible
stories which ever after We're so pre-
cious to him. DO You mean to tell me
| that your opportunities for working
for God and man are not as great as
work in Lyman Bcechcr's parsonage and
who helped start Henry Ward Beecher
out on his worldwide ministry!
FarrRGut's Opportunity.
Then most people lave no right to
complain about their insignificant posi-
tons, because they are not yet through
with life, and they do not know what
positions Of conspicuousness they may
yet be called upon to fiji. ! was In
tensely interested the other day in
reading about the supreme moment Of
! Farragut'S life. That moment was
when in command of the Hartford he
was leading his ships into Mobile bay.
The monitor Tecumseh was at the
head of the line. She struck torpedo
in the most dangerous part Of the en-
trance to the bay and almost instantly
disappeared. Soon the next boat in
line, the Brooklyn. began to back wa
ter away from the dreaded torpedOes
and was backing upon the admrals
flagship. All seemed lost But sud
denly Admiral Farragut lifted his
trumpet and called, -Four bells, Cap
tain Drayton; go ahead" Instantly
the flagship moved ahead. and all the
other ships followed AS the ships
passed into the harbor the men could
hear the torpedoes humping upon the
hulls. But they were dumb torpedoos
and exploded not All America and
the whole civilized world at once hail
ed Admiral Farragut as one of the
boldest naval heroes. But Farragut
when he entered Mobile bay was an
old man, as General lIavelock was an
old man when he led his troops on for
the rescue of Lucknow. For nearly
threescore years these men had to live
in obscurity before their great oppor.
tunity came. AS unknown men they
worked and plodded. No one seemed
to take notice of them. But when the
greatest opportunities of life came in
their old age at once they graspcd them
and leaped to the front. Young man.
you have no right to complain about
the humdrum work Of an ordinary life
If these heroes did not complain. You
do not know what God has ahead for
you. DO your work we'll in obscurity
so that when the great opportunities OF
life come later you may be able to
grasp them as did Farragut and Henry
Iavelock.
"'Tis true" you say, that I have
tasted the bitter waters of the wrecked
ambitions of early childhood, but in
one sense l have outlived them. 1t is
surprising how time will blunt the
keen edge of even the sharpest OF