Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-07-25

proceeding out of the throne Of God
and of the Lamb. He wanted to go
over and rest. He said: There are
50 many dear ones beyond. o God.
If it be thy will, take me TO them and
70 thy glory" Yes, today thy prayer
Is answered Thou art with thy de-
parted kindred and friends. Thou wilt
stay with them until the time comes
for us to depart, and then thou wilt
come forth to greet us, as they came
to greet thee.
Nov. today I am not going to preach
n funeral sermon. | am not gong TO
sound dlrge or ring n death knell.
But am going to strike up hallelu-
iah chorus. If the cold lips OF our
loved friend could speak, I know he
would have me do as I ain doing
There was not a minor key In ~ his
music. And so today, instead of talk
ing about how bad We feel Mt his go
Ing. am going to try to analyze the
mower of this one Of the greatest
temperance workers of our time, so
that we may he encouraged in our
work for the same Master and he
stimulated to more vigorous effort by
the example of this strenuous leader.
A Noble Man.
In the first place. would place my
finger upon the greatest source OF
Francis Murphy's power and tell you
that the chief reason why this success
ful temperance worker won so many
trophies for the abstinence cause was
because he believed in the nobility of
man. lie believed that, no matter how
fragrant the sins Of the social outcaSt,
no matter how low or vile human
being had become. deep down in that
human heart were some remains of the
image Of God. Murphy never despair
ed of any human being, however
drunken or degraded he might be.
| Here was Il man-one OF the race
Christ came 10 save-and he believed
| that Christ could save him. The de-
grading obstacle Of his thirst for liquor
stood in the way and therefore Muir
phy tried TO remove that, so that the
| power and influence OF Christ could
reach the poor. helpless creature.
! 1t does not require very much genius
| to find flaws in mans nature. It
does not require wonderful erudition
! to magnify the faults of mankind
Any herd of swine can root out flow
or garden. If It Is possible for them
! to squeeze through gap in the fence
It does not take mitch of frost to kill
all the fair apple blossoms in the
sDringtime; neither does 1t take much
labor to develop . feld of Canada
thistleS in the place where wheat and
corn and barley ought to grow. But
il does take the genius of a horticul-
turist 20 find latent buds and develop
them. 1t does take agricultural acu-
men to put the right kind Of fertilizer
on the ground after the spring plow-
ing. And 1t does take the marvellous
grace of God to find the latent buds OF
purity and truth and love and honor in
the corrupt heart Of man and to de-
velop them Alright for God. And this
IS always the work of a successful
evangelist Of Christ. This was the Sc
cret of Murphy's success. He believed
in Christ and he believed in men. Did
not Fanny COSBY. the Christian hym-
nologist have such worker as this in
her mind when she wrote these i'm
preSsive words:
Down IN the human heart. crushed by the
tempteI
Feelings lie buried that grace can re-
store:
Touched by a loving heart. Weakened by
kindness.
Chords that wHre broker will vibrate
cnce more.
And pt"allcl % this same line OF
Thought was another fact which in
spireh Francis Eiurphy to seek the
most dcprayed Of men. He knew that
the victim Of the Intoxicating cup was
in many cases man worth saving
The very characteristics of the man
that had led to his degradation-his
Genial.y his good fellowship, his
friendiaess- the characteristics
tha, wouId make MIN "A successful
worker if he VAS delivered from his
thraldom. : ne intensity and zeal that
made Saul n prosecutor were traits
which made him a successful apostle
when he was converted. And Francis
Murphy had arrived ut this belief 10y
looking ut the history Of his own life
Have you ever heard him describe the
tragedy OF his wrecked home? When
the civil war broke ont, he. Ike other
Irishmen. was eager to take part in II
At the bugle call to arms he shoul
dered the musket and went to the
front lie was not struck by the en-
emy's bullets, but like Alexander the
Great, he was oVerthrown by the temp
tations Of the camp.
Murphy's Temptation.
Then after the war was ended In or
der to make living for his little fam
lily he took charge of a hotel in Maine
In other words. the devil knew the
mans weakness and led him into the
occupation that would develop t. He
put whisky bottle into bis hand and
said to him: Drink until your man
hood is gone. Drink until you come
home to your wife and babies with the
fierce passion of a brute, Drink until
the vilcst sot in the gutter is no vilel
than you" And with that strong per
sonality OF his, he never did anything
halfway. He drank until he went
down, down, down into the lowest
depths OF degradation.' When the
change came and Murphy "camc tc
himself" like the prodgal he could not
forget the pit from which he had beer
lifted AS he looked on the Sodden. de
pravcd wretches who We're brought tC
his meetings he saw in them the Mur