The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1854-10-13
GOVERNMENT OF TEMPER.
rFor the Post.l


For the Postl
In nv last I said there could not be offered
one good excuse for the indulgence OF an angry
manifestation of our passions, and that 1t re-
NAMED the duty of every one to suouue MS
temper. hope will not be censured oy
the reader in my attempt to enforce this be-
lief upon all, and more especially to impress
il upon the minds of the young who are just
,tarirc the arena of life. Now let us notice
sor,e Of the inestimable blessings which are
continually showered down upon those who
oot uprirhtly-whose business it Is to possess
themselves with disposition to do to others
as they would have Others do to them. by
this is secured the love and confidence OF
YOUR neghbor. You suffer no remorse OF
conscience of having wronged yourself or any
one else in the heat of passion. This invests
YOU with power to govern yourself, and also
mower to govern and bless others-to send
the Joyous sunshine of peace and plenty to
the chilled hearts of the sorrowing and OPP
pressed. who are seen raving through the
labyrnths of inconsistency or who are enter
inc the bowers of ease to repose in the shades
of security. In word, the person who thus
acts laws hold Of the lever which is to envl-
ron him with the richest blessings of this life
and that which is to come 1t is not the $50
lated acts of him who, after years of selfish
ness and marked disregard of the happiness
of those around him, that is to bring about
such happy results.
Neither can the narrow minded, miseredly
hearted individual, by occasionally pouring
out his ili-gotten gains, secure for himself
seat in the temple of fame. Fame, 1t is true,
may peal from her golden trumpet the name
of SUCH and the slumberng echoes of a thou
sand hills may awake to catch the sound and
send it reverberating around the world, still
there is in the heart of such an one many dark
and blank leaves which might have been re-
plete with beauties and rare with precious
wisdom, had the mind early been directed
Alright. Sombrcy, ungenial and ungcnerous
are many who are laughing, weeping, living
and dying around u.s. But amid the vast con-
cord of human beings which tread the crowd
ed pathway to the tomb, we still keep our
eye fixed upon the self-governed in spirit, and
see tina. the germs planted in his youthful
heart bear rich fruit, watered by his tears and
warmed by the approving smiles of friends
and though the individual be often bitten by
the serpent Kissing ones of earth, yet he still
lives on in the performance of his every duty
to his fellow man, and to his God. The hum
bic current of little kiRdpeSSeS which, though
but creeping streamlet, necessarily flows,
although it glides in silent secrecy within the
domestic walls and along the walks of pri
vate life, and makes neither noise nor appear
ance in the world-yet, like the unobtrusive
every day acts of the truly benevolent, it falls
upon the wounded spirit like the gentle dew
drop upon the plant, creating music which,
though not sung on earth, is whispered from
angel to angel, and finally woven into the
sweetest songs of heaven. Having such
truths revealed to our view it is enough to
fill us with an overwhelming sense of our re-
sponsibility to that God who is the controller
of all events, whose eyer-searching eye sees all
tnlnBs, from Ine Dlftn OF Lne bmullesI insect
to the creation of a mighty univcrse-who is !
the author of that mighty central law which |
binds the planets in their spheres to the dew
drop on the leaf of the rose-who heaves the |
turbid ocean and curs the surface of the
sleeping lake-who unbinds the earthquake
that is to overthrow cities, and lends sweet
music to the lay of the morning lark-who
marks the distress that wraps the palaces of
the great in weeds, and knows the disappoint |
ments that invade the simple hopes of the
cottage. And this holy God is ours-our
Father and our Friend through the checkered
scenes of life. To love and serve him in this
world is mans imperative duty, highest moral
dignity, and most profitable service this side
the burning throne around which seraphs
kneel. JUVENTUS.
Sweetwater, Oct 8, 1854