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

are not happy as young girl you
will not be happy as woman. This
living In the joys Of the future Is all
nonsense. 1t Is the will-o'. the.wisp
guiding lts deluded followers, not into
the gardens of the gods" but into the
quagmires and the swamps. where ev.
cry step you take will make you sink
deeper and deeper into the mud of the
slough of the despond"
The warmth of Gratitude.
When a man foolishly allows himself
to brood over bis troubles the mists of
unhappiness will only befog him the
closer and the frOsts Of misfortune cut
him the deeper. "Supposlng some cold
morning." said Henry Ward Beecher,
you should 60 into a neighbours house
and end him busy at work. scratching
away at his window panes, and should
ask what he was doing, and he should
reply, why, I am trying to remove the
frost, but as fast as l get it Off one
square 1t comes on another what
would you say? Why, you would say.
Man, let your windows alone and kin
come off," Aye, that was well said by
the Plymouth pulpit sage, for every
where we find the windows covered
with the frosts that keep out the vi
sions of Gods blessings Here is one
man scraping ut this trouble and an
other scraping at that "Ah." they keep
saying chow happy | shall be when
this misfortune is gone" My friends,
the future will leave a still heavier
frost upon your window panes unless
your heart is changed. What you need
Is to kindle the fires Of gratitude in
your own life Thank God for what be
has done for you. Then, instead Of
looking only at your misfortunes your
blinded eyes will be opened, and you
will find whole horizon abloom and
fragrant with blessings. Cease to talk
about what God may do for you in the
years TO come. Get down on your
knees and thank your Lord and Say
Jour for what he has already done and
Is doing for you today
But this gospel motto Is also a brake
II would put the conservative hand up-
on the shoulder Of the optimist and
say: Brother, be little careful about
trusting too much 10 YOUR future. Do
not rate your assets too high All your
future days may not be flooded with
sunshine 1t is always well for n
ship to be ballasted before it sets sail
from harbor. And yet some men, be-
cause they have made success in the
past, think success will always be
theirs. Therefore they live UP to the
last cent Of their income and have their
properties mortgaged up to the full
limit and buy .her stocks upon a mar
gin. and when the wheel Of fortune
turns a little the superstructure goes
down with a crash. Now, my brother,
in order to have happy future you
must be like Joseph. the prime minister
Of Egypt. In your seven years of pros
perity you must prepare for your seven
years Of want. Though bright days
will come. dark days Of adversely will
also surely be yours.
business Risks.
This fact is we'll Illustrated BY the
| life insurance business. Some years
ago I was talking with one of the lead
ing insurance superintendent Of Chi
cage. He said: Il suppose you think
that my chief object is to get people
to carry all the Insurance possible.
That is great mistake some agents
make. I always say to my agents:
Men, do not persuade your people to
take any more insurance than they
can carry. a man should always be
able to make his payments easily. II
you persuade man to pay too large
premium within a few years sickness
and trouble may come to his home
The man may be thrown out of his
work temporarily. Then he drops his
insurance. and he will neWr take it up
again. Then that action not only hurts
the man, but also the life insurance
business And yet in many ways
! there are thousands Of men making the
same mistake as does the man who
overinsures. These men bank too much
upon the properties of the future.
Therefore they lose their all when
these properties fail.
l never think Of n mans future but
as kaleidoscope. You remember
when as little boy your mother bought
you one for Christmas present. You
went to the window and lifted the lit
tie apparatus TO your eye and looked
through it. All the brightly colored
pieces of glass at the other end formed
themselves into most fantastic shapes.
You studied them long and carefully.
Beautiful, beautiful you said. why,
I see rainbows and towers and mead
ows and farmhouses." Then your Sis
ter said, "Charley. turn It," You turn
ed the Kaleidoscope, and all the glasses
jingled. Then you looked again and
said: why, sister. all the pictures are
different Look and see. How did
this all happen:" Then you turned it
again, and there We're other combina-
tons of colors. Wonderful are the
changes of kaleidoscope. yet not
more strange than will be the changes
In Your future. The fact that you
have $1,000 income this year does
not prove you will have even a thou
sand dollars next. Because you are in
good health now do not think that your
lungs will be stout next week. The
fact that you are riding upon the wave
of prosperity today does not prove th9 t
the flood tide will not ebb away. DO
not bank too much upon the temporal