Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-08-29

ence over the sailors Of the Alexan.
drian corn ship. lie had n spirit filled
life. Oh, yes! Every one who came
in touch with him realized thpt. But
he was also one who was faithful in
pointing ont mans past mistakes
When the ship was tossing and tum-
bling about in the Mediterranean cy
clone he practically said this: II am
a servant Of the Lord Jesus Christ.
am messenger OF the Lord God AL
mighty. Men, last night one Of Gods
angels came to me and said: Fear not,
Paul Thou must be brought before
Caesar and, 10, God hath given thee
all them that snil with thee Yes, we
are all going TO he saved, every one OF
us" But stop. How did Paul intro
duce this statement which had come
from God? He turned and pointed his
finger at those trembling sailors and
said: "Men, the reason you are in your
present plight Is because you would
not heed my advice In the beginning.
I told you not TO loose from Crete.
told you we would get into difficulty If
you did. But you wanted to hasten on
and get to Phenice and spend the win
ter there in sin and carousal. You have
made one mistake. Now will you make
another?' And, my friend, you and I
can never preach Jesus Christ Alright
unless we are first brave enough to
point out to men the errors Of their
past life. We cannot teach men to
come to Christ unless we, like Paul,
are first faithful in warning men
against the sinful acts Of their bygone
years.
60 and compliment a man on his vir-
tues and praise him when he Is do
ing right. But 1t takes lots Of grit to
put your finger upon the weaknesses
of mans life and tell him when he
Is doing wrong. 1t takes lots of grit
for Nathan to stand up and say to
King David. Thou art Il libertine and
n murderer" It takes lots of grit
for the members of privy council of
King Solomon 10 say to the young
prince Rchoboam: Thou art wrong
Comply with the requests of the peo-
pie, and they will serve thee" And
when they said it they knew that their
advice would cost them their official
positions. 1t takes lots of grit for a
Young preacher like Henry Ward
Bcccher to he at the head of n church
in Indianapolis. where most of It's
members are antagonistic to the aboli-
zionist increment. and stand up and
defy whole community and say, THE
slave ought to be free" 1t takes lots OF
grit for Il young clerk, then he Is
asked to do something dishonest, to
say to his employer: NO. sir. will
| not do II, because it Is wrong" 1t
takes lots of grit for n young girl who
| loves = young man dcvo.edly TO say to
| that young man: Harry. l love you.
| | love YOU with all my heart, and yet
| if you are not true to your better self,
and IL you do not turn your back upon
your evil associates, | must turn my
back upon you" In other words, it
takes lots Of grit to come to your
friends and neighbors and place your
| finger upon the weak spot of their
mental moral and spiritual life and
say: "lIcrc, YOU must change. IN or
der to do right for the future you
must rectify this wrong of the past
Are you willing as a friend to point
| out to your friends the weaknesses OF
their lives, as Paul warned the sailors
of the Alexandrian corn ship?
A Story OF Edward Livingston.
For my own part can think Of no
t1,nt ,t-1,i y,
/ come TO us if we were to go TO those
we love to warn them Of their sins
and weaknesses, which are threaten
ing to destroy them There is n beau
: tiful story told about the great Ed
ward Livingston. Perhaps he was the
greatest of all the great men who have
borne that family name. But few
men have been greater from worldly
standpoint than he. lie was represent
ative in congress. mayor Of New York
city, United States senator from Loui
siana, secretary OF state and minister
tn France. One day i'll his old age 4
friend said TO him, Senator. what was
the supreme moment of your life|'
Without moments hesitation. he re
| I'IWu. sumo Nfh!h Gsp tIlui ~ul'ltilc
moment came when ! was delivering
an address at the dedica'i'. # the
Masonic temple Mt New ~. dls.
was speaking upon the duty If man
loving man. Among other things
said: My brethren, have you searched
your hearts? DO You find any lurking
animosity against Ii brother! Have
you the felicity never to have cher
ished or are you so happy ms &c
have banished all envy at his prosper
ity, all malicious JOY Mt his misfor
tunes? II you find this Is the result
of your scrutiny, enter with confidence
the sanctuary Of union. But If tho
examination discovers either ranking
jealousy or hatred long concealed, OF
even unkindness or offensive pride
cntreat you, dehlc not the altar OF
friendship with your unhallowed Of
fering but In tho language Of Scrip
turc, First be reconciled to thy broth
err and then come and offer thy glft."
AS a result OF that plea, two brothers
whom we all knew. who had beel
estvanged from each other for years
arose and rushed toward each Other
and with mutual sobs flung them
selves into one another's arms"
Do you wonder that Edward Liv
ingston looked upon that victory rs the
supreme moment Of his life? With til;
Arm gentle touch of n friend he place.