Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-11-01

harmless and innocent, but no sooner
do we allow these evil habits to grasp
us than. like the dangerous quicksan1a,
they will creep up to the ankle. then
TO the knee, then to the hip and then
TO the heart. Then the more we strug-
gle the deeper we will sink and the
more helpless we will become"
! My friend, what right have you to
say that the evil habit which is work
ing such dangerous havoc in your life
now will be more easy to eradicate to-
morrow? II 1t Is difficult to chain a
little cub as he snarls in your hand
and bites and scratches and tears your
bleeding flesh to get away, will 1t be
easier to tame and cage the Bengal
tiger after he has gained his strength
and his claws have grown as sharp as
rapiers and his Jaws have the vigcr of
a steel trap? II the Alpine climber is
80 benumbed by the cold that his eyes
become heavy with sleep, will that
cold cease to continue its deadly work
when he lies down to slumber and the
whistling winds cover his shlvering
flesh with soft quilt Of snow? l see
now three travellers lost upon the
cutting through their clothing like a
knife. One of these travellers, phys.
ically weaker than his companions, be.
comes exhausted. Drowsily he falls to
the ground and Goss to sleep. His two
friends jerk him up and begin to
pound him and to rub the cold snow
upon the frozen flesh. oh he says,
"let me sleep. Let me sleep just lit
tie while. and then l will 60 with you
NO" they say: you must not sleep.
| If you do it will be the sleep Of death.
Every minute this cold will benumb
you more and more. You must walk.
You must throw off this lethargy or
you will die" Thus these two friends
drag him round and round all night
until morning breaks and safety Is
theirs. In this benumbing way our
evil habits affect us. We say: "T0-
morrow we will change. Now. just one
more glass, one more carousal." But
each intoxicating cup, each debauch,
each yielding to sin, renders us more
y
brother, il you do not conquer your
evil habits today you will not conquer
them tomorrow. If you cannot put out
spark today yOn cannot Quench the
great onhagra ton. If you do not step
OH the smoldering fuse you cannot
snuff out a gunpowder magazine after
| the explosive has reached it. Now Is
the time for you to get your ennancipn-
ton from that destroying, debasing,
evil habit-now, now, now. oh. the
Importance Of that infinite word now.
But this gospel motto gives scath-
ing rebuke to the visionary seeker after
happiness as we'll as to those who
| drowsily mutter to their sins and evil
habits. "Oh. let me rest upon my bed
of sin little while longer, and then
shall bestir myself and do what ought
to do" 1t bitterly denounces those
fault finders who always repine at the
present and have their eyes focused
upon the dubious blessings of the flu
ture. Yet some people never see a
beautiful salboat unless it is shining
on the edge Of distant horizon, nor a
happy home unless it Belongs to n
nelghbor, nor smell II sweet perfume I'M
less it is waited to them from the
visionary gardens which shall bloom
FIVE or ten years hence.
The journey Of life might be compar-
ed to summer camping trip. There
Is an old proverb which says, You
never know people Alright unless you
| wit ~ 10 =
| fast table" But / tell you that the
breakfast table may prove deceptive in
reference to your acQuaintance's true
characteristics, but camping trip
never. There the true nature of asman
or a woman can be read by all as an
open book. Now, on an average camp
Ing trip some people are like bees -
they can find honey wherever they
may fly. They are like song birds
they can sing. no matter where you
place them. They are like sunbeams-
| they will sparkle and dance, no mat
ter whether they are up in the noun
tains or down in the valleys. Every
thing they eat Is the most appetizng
of all foods. Every person they meet
Is kind person. No travellers pass
them upon the road but they stop to
chat and joke with them, Their beds
Of pine needles are the softest. The
water that leaps out of the brooks Is
the purest The sunsets and the sun.
rises are the most glorious. They laugh
and play and make merry every day OF
their lives. And during all OF their
next winters work they never tire OF
telling the pleasant incidents of the
past summers trip.
| The Chronic Grumbler.
| But, though all the members Of your
camping party pass over the same
roads and meet the same difficulties,
there is nearly always one member
who does nothing but grumble. Like
an owl who never sees well unless the
darkness envelops him, this fault find.
er sees nothing but midnight. lie is al.
ways droning dirge. He grumbles at
the heat and grumbles at the cold. He
grumbles about the ants that get into
his food box, and grumbles about the
flies, and grumbles about the people he
meets, and grumbles about the long
journey, and grumbles about every
thing. If he Is up in the mountains,
then he wants to be down In the val
leys. II he is down by the seashore
then he cannot sleep because the waves
a a.