Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1907-02-23

way past tue t1lB BulduOb anu CoOi lhSLi-
selves under the shadows of the Pal
isades belong to the men who live on
an estate which rims the banks Of the
Hudson.
Belongs to Public.
might feast my eyes upon that wa.
ter If / would on moonlight night l
might launch my sklff into those wa
ters and with powerful stroke fill the
blades Of my oars with It's treasures so
that when those drops fall back into
the bosom Of the stream they look like
a beautiful collection Of sparkling
gems. But l could not control 1t or
change its course. If tried to change
the current of the Hudson river those
who live below me would rise up In
wrathful protest and cry: stop! Stopl
That river belongs to us as much as to
you. You can use those waters to irri-
gate your gardens and fields IL you
will, but after your flowers and corn
and grain have drunk their Gil you
must let those waters flow back into
the onward flow which will bring those
waters to us. You can use the river as
1t creeps past your land, but then that
river belongs to us and not to you" So
with the great river Of gold. The
worldly wise rich man may say, This
land Is mine, these rivers are mine,
this endless system Of railroad tracks
is mine, these newspapers and these Of
fee buildings are mine" NO" an
swers God, mot thine, but mine.
give thee the use of them for little
while as the employer gave the talents
to the servants in the parable. But
soon l shall take them back again"
"All?" "Yes, all. Then l shall demand
an account of thy stewardship" Do
you not see what am driving at? The
rich man may seem to own his land,
but he does not He Is trustee and
trustee alone. Soon at the brink Of the
grave that trusteeship shall be taken
away.
Yet, to hear some worldly wise men
talk, you would suppose that when
they are taking an inventory Of Gods
money they are taking an inventory
of their own gold, which they could
keep forever. They seem to act like a
selfish dog After you have fed your
Scotch collie all he can eat what does
he do? He takes the bones that are
left and carries them out into the gar
den and there digs a big hole. Then
he puts those bones into that hole and
covers them up. Then he looks at the
place a minute and seems to say: "Ah,
l am very prudent! No trouble can
entrap me. Some day 1 will get hun
cry when my master may be visiting
or dead. Then l will be Independent
of all my surroundings. will go to
yonder brook and find water to drink.
| will come here and dig up these
bones and have a glorious feast.
Therefore l shall never die, because 1
have lots to drink and lots to eat"
Thus with the worldly wise man. He
does not look upon his lands and gold
as Gods, but as his own. He goes and
digs his holes and buries In them his
goods. Then his actions seem to say:
II will live forever. l am Independent
Of all my surroundings"
The Unfaithful Servant.
When l see this crlnging, crawling,
unfaithfu servant Of the parable be-
ing deprived of his one talent, which
he has hidden In his bank vaults, as a
dog hides a bone, l cannot shut my
ears to the false assumption Of virtue
with which this unfaithful servant
tried to assail his masters character.
He seems to say: Master, know
what a tyrant thou art. know how
unrelenting and bitter thou wouldst
be II I made one mistake in my in
vestments. l knew that If | made
poor purchase and lost any Of the cap
ital thou wouldst never cease to hound
me and that thou wouldst demand all
thy gold back or my life's blood. And
so. on account of the fear Of making
a mistake. | did nothing. Here thou
hast the money that is thine" What
happened? With one mighty grip the
master tore into shreds the black gar
ment of hypocrisy which covered that
craven heart. With one denunciatory
verbal blow he silenced those lying
lips. He tore away all the unfaithful
servants pretenses to virtue when he
said: "Hypocrite and falsifer thou art.
Thou hast not only proved recreant 10
the talent I gave thee, but thou art
now trying to cover that guilt with
perjury and lies Thou art doing as
most unfaithful servants and evildoers
do. When they are convicted Of wrong
doing they try to lay the blame at
some one else's door," Oh, my friends,
are YOU and taking that coursef
When we think Of our unused talents,
when our consciences tell us that God
Intended us to use the gifts that are
lying idle, what is our answerf Is our
excuse that other men prevent US or
that God is a hard master In requiring
us to work?
Then, again, there are men who
would make their inactivity appear as
true kindness. How often do we see
the unfalthful servants Of life with an
assumed expression Of virtue upon
their countenances? They are saying:
81 know people say I am selfish.
know people say that / am mean. But
what can l do2 I wish that I might be
able to help others. But If l help them
will only do them an injury. 1t Is
better for every man to learn to help
himself rather than to be helped by his
brothers. The easiest way to make
we'll man a cripple Is to give him a
crutch. The easiest way to make
lame man we'll is to take away his
crutch and compel him to use his weak
limb. I am my nelghbor's friend and
Gods disciple, although people know 1t
not"
His Hypocrisy.
NV brother. when you try to defend