Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-03-28


light. what are you making such a
fuss aboutT' l asked a bitter January
wind some years ago among the Mich.
igan hills "Oh," answered the wind.
81 am going to bring down n blizzard
from the far north. Then I am going
to pile these fields up with great snow
drifts. Then l am going to freeze the
lakes so thick with Ice that the lum-
bermen can drive their sleds loaded
down with heavy logs over them Then
] am going to freeze up the ground so
tight that It will be as hard ns rock.
Then I am going to stop all the traffic
upon the railroad tracks. Then I mn
going to starve the snowbirds and the
rabbits and freeze to death the deer In
the forest ravines. Yes. am going
to make all living creatures tremble IN
terror before my scepter of ice.' And
we'll did the January wind keep its
word. It blew until the billiards. came.
It blew until the fences disappeared
under the falling snow. It blew until
It seemed as though man must fee
those Michigan hills for his life. But
after that north wind had exhausted
all lts fury and piled up the great
snow banks everywhere and hung myr-
lads of Icy stalactltes from every tree
branch quietly and gently the warm
sun came out. Then the bright sun
beams kept kissing this snowflake and
kissing that snowflake and changing
this blade Of ice into bar of gold
and that blade of ice into another bar
of gold and burrowing here and bur
rowing there until after awhile that
same sun brushed away every snow
bank and began to WOO the buds out
of the trees and the grass out OF the
ground. and the sap began to flow,
and the birds began to build their
nests. and spring and summer took the
place of the billiards and the frosts
Of winter All, no, it Is not the power
making the greatest noise which al
ways has the most enduring strength.
An Old Legend.
Many centuries ago there was n great
assemblage of the forces of nature and
they said: Let us build a tower Of
Babel. Let us erect huge fortress of
rock which shall be forever monu-
ment to our strength" So the earth
quakes said: I'VE will writhe and
twist this old earth all out of shape
We will throw the rocks aslant, and
we will pile them one upon the other"
Then the fervent heat said, IL will
strike this old earth and make 1t shriv-
ell up like n dried orange Then the
volcanoes said: "Out of the center of
the earth we will vomit up great noun
tains of lava. We will build a huge
range of rocks that the fires
cannot burn and the eternities cannot
level So these forces of nature went
to work. They piled up huge mountain
ranges which seemed to be impregna-
bic and inaccessible fortresses for all
time But after these rough forces of
nature had finished their work a col
lection Of white fleecy clouds began to
sail across the heavens. Then they
came to the great mountains and said,
Let us undo the work of the earth
quAkes, the volcanoes and the fervent
heat" SO these white fleecy clouds
went over to the sea, and they dropped
heir golden buckets into the deep and
illed up their reservoirs. Then with |
heir white wings they few away 20
the mountains and began to let that
water fall upon the mountain side |
Then that water gradually and vet |
surely began to wash away the dirt |
and the rocks Of those mountains |
It washed these mountains down into !
he valleys, and it kept on washing
hem down until after awhile the little |
lrops of water were able to level the .
lnscalabe fortresses which the vol |
,anoes and the earthquake had piled
lp into great mountain ranges, seem
ngly strong enough to defy the cter-
lities themselves. 1t Is not the power
making the greatest noise which al
ways has the enduring strength.
"Aha" cried the sanhedrln. Aha
'ried the synagogue. Aha" cried the
Roman prohigate. aha" cried all the
forces of sin. I'VE shall
brewer live and triumph If we can
'nly STAY this upstart. Jesus Christ"
80 what did they do? They united
heir forces Of evil They deflcd and
'vcrrode every law OF justice. They
Jesus by night They ran
lin to court and tried him by night
which was contrary to every known
Hebrew and Roman usage. Then in the
arly morning they hanged him upon
he cross, Then they stood ut the foot
# the cross and cried: AHA! We, the
'Owers of evil, have forever won!
Aha' Jesus, our denunciator. himself
3 dead" And he was dead. Have YOU
yer seen Rubens' greatest master
lece, called "The Descent From the
ross" All, that picture well illus.
rates how dead Jesus was!
He Was Dead.
When your little girl died and the
ind friends washed her and dressed
err and laid her out in the casket. sur.
ounded by flowers 1t. did not seem az
hough she could be dead. There she
ny with smile upon her lips. Just as
on had seen her lying a hundred
ines in her crib AS you watched her
on could almost see her breast heave
nd see her roll over in her sleep
hen Won said, ooh. she IL too beauti
III to be put away in the dark gravew
But in Rubens' descent From the
ross there is no doubt about Christ