The tri-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1866-1868, 1868-06-23
For the Standard.
GLIMPSES In THE MIRROR OF EXPERIENCE.
BY FATHER BRoADBRIM

For the Standard.
GLIMPSES In THE MIRROR OF EXPERIENCE.
BY FATHER BRoADBRIM
No. 1.
These papers, which we design contribu-
ting from time to time, will contain contem-
plations of mans moral powers and wants
as they manifest themselves to us in our in
tercourse with the world and we trust they
may serve to remind many of your readers
of the important duties of life, directing
their attentions to the cultivation ot those
feelings and principles which are noble in
themselves. and which experience teaches us
make up the grand sum total OF life.
Many of the readers of the Standard may
have occasion to ask who is Father Broad
brim We can relieve their curiosity by
stating that he is respectable old gentle
man, long since retired from active partlcl-
patton in the affairs of the world, but, who,
nevertheless, takes minute observations OF
the men and opinions of the day." In
fact, he is one of those polite old gentlemen,
who loves to review the past and give atten-
ton to every word and acf, which may tend
to- control the present welfare and future
happiness of his fellow men. 1t Is well for
us all to indulge thoughts which may throw
the light of experience over the distant
Future and serve to remind us of the good
we are heaping up for our comfort at ii time.
when we cannot, except in fond recollection,
bring Joy and consolation from the past
The great trouble with lis all In this age
of Ego ahcadativeness" is want of calm
reflection. If men never acted without due
consideration many great errors might be
avoided, many regrets saved and fewer hopes
blasted. We would not speak before we
had weighed our words. We woud not act
before we had examined the tendency of
xynnll fax So Guided
lives would be better and more virtuous; re-
morse would seldom Turk in the hidden re-
:. cess of the heart; disgrace would fly from
our pathways, and shame would be stranger
to the soul.
We do not consult the mirror of expert
ence often enough in this rash age, and the
want of caution and reflection is the
cause of the many sorrows and disturban.
ces which i'm this hour of head long precpi
tation cast their gloom not more upon those
in the secluded and quiet walks of life, than
upon others in the high places, the impor-
tant councils of the nation. Oh ! that our
great statesmen and lawg ivcrs would look
oftencr in the blazing, shining Mirrors of
Experience! Then instead of being SO of
ten entangled in labyrinth of error they
would place their feet securely on flames
highway and lead our country to honor,
greatness and glory. If the impeachment
recusants and Judge Chase together with a
host of other public men would only con-
suit the Mirror of Experience they would
find, that IN the past, many men of inllu-
ence, whom the voice of the people called to
greatness and renOwn, had been buried in
political graves of their own digging, from
which no sounds from the trumpet of glory
could ever bring them forth. Alas Alas !!
when once they fall, no hope can they keep
to brighten the gloom of oblivion ! eau
ton and reflection woull have saved them,
but no. they would heed it not. Who can
doubt but that most of our errors social, as
we'll as political, are attributable to the way
great men, men OF influence speak at ran
dom? Listen to the manner in which they
Use their tongues, hampering their actions
with the thoughtlessness of foolish words,
without even so much pause for the mo-
ment, when cool Judgment and the voice OF
Experience might add reason to their haste
and knowledge to their guidance. As one
who runs in haste and leaping over a fence
may fall into ditch, 50 do men now a-days
(even wise CO politicians plunge suddenly
into thoughts and enter more suddenly into
actions, bringing themselves most successful
ly into error and reaping with many secret
pangs of bitter sorrow, most baneful conse-
quences.
To be on the alert for the appearance of
danger, to marshal we'll our forces, to keep
our moral out-posts we'll guarded, and to
consult every hour the Mirror of Experience,
may serve to avert many of our most serious,
private, as well as public, calamities. To be
calm, wise and considerate, we must hearken
to the voice of Reason, which moves US in
the quiet moments of reflective considera-
ton, when the whisperings of conscience
fall gently upon the mind, and point with
steady course to the paths of safety and
truth. If the great General Grant had failed
to consult the oracle of Reason and the
Mirror of Experience, he would have gone
on in the plunging fool hardy steps of his
predecessors i'll command of our national
forces and to-day, well, who knows what IA
dark day it mi ght have been without Grants
quiet torethought, GOODNESS and calm refcc-
ton at the head of our armies Methinks
he can he seen now " fighting it out on that
line" with the Mirror of Experience before
him, calmnly smoking his cigar, but deeply
contemplating Lees chances against him.
Grant as Il study for caution, moderation and
calm reflection is worth more than all we
could write on the important topic. In him
self, he is q Mirror of Experience, and we
present him to the good people of North
Carolina for their admiration, together with
the grand platform of Republican princi-
pies, which was formed at Chicago by the
united moderation, forethought and wisdom
OF many OF the hatl0nS cool-neadeu, expo
rienced and rejecting heroes and statesmen.
Having found in Grant a remedy for the
rashness of this fast age, and believing his
life furnishes an example of true greatness
worthy of imitation, We will put up our
spectacles and say farewell for the present,
trusting that moderation and cool reflec-
ton may guide US to consult Grant
often, and to keep him before US for the next
four years at least, as the best Mirror of Elk.
perince we can hold before the public. May
We all go right!
Yours in all sincerity,
FATHER BROADBRIM.