Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1906-09-24

.jcIe chow true, how true. The sue
cessful merchant is not the merchant
who has perfect clerks, but he takes
his clerks as they are and drills them
and keeps on drilling them until in
spite of themselves they are compelled
to do his bidding. The successful cap
tain is a man wso, like Paul Jones, can
inspire a mixed crew, made up of all
different nationalitieS, to fight his bat
Ties as though they were made out Of
the stuff of heroes. And the strong
man for God is not the man who sits
down and repines oyer the weaknesses
of his fellow men. He is like Joab,
ready to shut his eyes to other mems
faults and out of mems weaknesses
build I'D his own towers of strength
Even a lion can be strangIed tezdeatL
with spider webs if you can weave.
enough of them together into one rope.
The sunbeams can change a ships hull
into Goals of fire if you can only focus
the suns rays upon it by a powerful
burning glass.
What Gladstone Said.
But l must not close without drawing
your attention to one other fact. The
awakened king was not young man.
He was not even a middle aged man.
/ think his hair was white and his step
was becoming. slower with age, and he
knew it. William z. Gladstone said
Just before he gave up his English pre-
miership, II feel that the sands of my
life are running out" King David
must have felt his sands of life running
away also. His grown children proved
it. Absalom must have been a grown
man. No mere boy could have had the
brains or the power to raise the insur
rection which he did. Absalom was
evidently fully developed man. This
meant that David, as the father, was
probably past the fiftieth milestone if
not nearing his threescore years Of age.
Now, methinks. when this insurrection
started, David lost all his moral back
bone. I can almost hear him solilOQuiz-
ing something@iike this:
What is the -use of my fighting?
am an old man. If [ were young, as
in the days when I fought Goliath.
I could fight now; but, old. and Worn
out, there is not much use. l think I
had better abdicate. 1t will only be a
few years at the most, and then I must
die" But Joab had none of this non
sense in him. He came to the king and
practically said: Your majesty, your
best days are ahead. Get up out of this
room and go to work. Your last years
Of reigning over Israel are to be your
best years.: My friends, my middle
aged or white haired friends, bring to
you Joab's sa1utation, "Your best days
| are ahead; up and out" That is what
| your motto should be. Yea, up and out
| now!
You are discouraged, like David
Things have not been going right in
business. have they? The younger men
in the partnership want to push you tt
the wall? Don't you let them do it
Things have not been going right in the
home and in the church. People say
! you are an old fogy and that you look
| at things through Anticipated spectacles
/ Don't you let them push you aside
Who ought to be SO we'll fitted to lead
! and mold the world as the mature mid
{! die aged and white haired teachers OF
/ ministers or merchants, or church mem
bers? 1t is a sad cry which the world
is calling today: Give US young. men
Let us have only young men, The
voice of the church and the voice OF
the world should be the voice of Joab
''Giye us older men for our leaders
Give US older men in the pulpit and il
the pew and in legislative hall" The
best days Of King David were his las
days. The best days of your earthl!
life, 0 aging man, are ahead, al
though at the present time, as Will
Davifsjust after Absalom's death, con
ditions may seem to be black and al
most hopeless. And I say this witt
the greatest confidence because I be
lieve that the blackness and hopeless
ness of your present troubles will driv
| you closer and closer to Jesus Christ
who alone is able to fit you for servic
for your fellow men,
How black the world seems at times
even under the brightest of conditions
A short time before Henry Irving, TIL
greatest actor of his day, passed ava.
he made this statement: with the ap
plause of the theater still ringing il
my ears, with the memory of kim
faces emblazoned on my memory, wit
the consciousness that have Won th
affections of multitudes whom canno
ii meet in person, have often gone HON
from the theater feeling utterly desc
late and alone, yearning for the int
/ mate human companionship which fat
, has denied me-
, AS Henry Irving was yearning fo
an intimate human cOmpaniOnshi
gou, on account of your troubles, hav
been yearning for Christ. Thus in clos
ing l commit you. unto the hands Q
my Saviour. He is the Christ who wi
! lead you if you let him. He will lea
+ you out of your troubles just as he lie
! the king of olden times. He may nc
lead you to throne of earthly powe
O but he will lead you to a throne {