Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-02-21

an estate which rims the banks OF the
Hudson.
Belongs to Public.
might feast my eyes upon that wa
ter IL would on moonlight night.
might launch my skiff into those wa
tiers and with powerful stroke All the
blades Of my oars with its treasures sc
that when those drops fall back into
the bosom of the stream they look like
beautiful collection Of sparkling
gems. But I could not control 1t OF
change its course II tried to change
the current of the Hudson river those
who live below me would rise up In
wrathful protest and cry: Stop! Stop!
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 fill you
must let those waters how back into
the river again. You must not change
the onward flow which will bring those
waters to us You can use the river as
it creeps past your land, but then that
river belongs to us aud 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. not thine, but mine. I
give thee the use of them for a little
while as the employer gave the talents
to the servants in the parable. But
| soon | shall take them back again"
ALP Yes. all. Then 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 a
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 q
selfish cog. 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 ont into the gar
den and there digs big hole. Then
| he puts those bones into that hole and
covers them up. Then he looks at the
place minute and seems to say: "Ah,
| am very prudent. No trouble can
entrap me. Some day I will get hun
CRY when my master may be visiting
or dead. Then | will be Independent
of all my surroundings. | will 60 to
yonder brook and find water to drink
l will come here and dig up these
bones and have glorious feast
Therefore l shall never die, because
have lots to drink and lots to eat'
Thus with the worldly wise man. He
does not look upon his lands and gold
rs Gods. hut as his own. He goes and
digs his holes and buries in them his
goods. Then his actions seem to say
Il will live forever. am independent
of all my surroundings"
The UnfaithfuI Servant.
When | see this cringing. crawling
unfaithful servant of the parable be
ing deprived of his one talent, which
he has hidden in his bank vaults. as {
dog hides a bone, l cannot shut my
ears to the false assumption Of virtue
with which this unfaithful servan
tried to assail bis masters character
He seems to say: Master. | know
what a tyrant thou art. l know how
unrelenting and bitter thou woulds
be il I made one mistake in my in
vestments. | knew that II l made .
poor purchase and lost any of the cap
ital thou wouldst never cease to hound
me and that thou wouldst demand al
thy gold back or my life's blood. An,
so, on account of the fear of maxim.
, mistake, l did nothing. Here thol
= hast the money that is thine" Wha
happened? With one mighty grip tn
master tore into shreds the black gar
, mcnt Of hypocrisy which covered tina
craven heart. With one denunciator,
, verbal blow he slenced those lyln!
[ lips. He tore away all the unfaithfu
, servants pretenses to virtue when h
said: "Hypocritc and falsihcr thou ART
Thou hast not only proved recreant t.
the talent l gave thee, but thou ar
now trying to cover that guilt witt
| perjury ana lies. nOu ART uOllS
most unfaithful servants and evildocr
do When they are convicted of wrong
doing they try to lay the blame a
some one else's door" Oh. my friends
are you and l taking that course
When we think of our unused talents
when our consciences tell us that Co
intended us to use the gifts that ar
living idle what IS our answer? Is OIL
excuse that other men prevent us o
that God is a hard master in requiring
, us to work!
Then. agJn. there are men VIII
would make their inactivity appear 4
true kindness. How often do we Sc
the unfaithful servants Of life with Al
d, assumed expression of virtue upol
: their countcnances? They are saying
II know people say ! am selfish.
know people say that I am mean. Blu
what can do? I wish that | might b
! able to help others. But if | help then
| will only do them an injury. 1t i
better for every man to learn to he'll
himself rather than to be helped by hi
: brothers. The easiest way to make
well man a cripple Is to give him
crutch. The easiest way to make 4
lame man we'll Is to take away hi
ou,tob opd cnuDnaI him m usa biu won