The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-12-29
4 HOHILY FOR TIE HOLIDAYS.
BY HON. SCHUYLER coLFAx.

HOHILY FOR THE HOLIDAYS.
BY HON. SCHUYLER CoLFAx.
It Isl a happy thing that the holidays
i occur in midwinter. The bleakness
aud rigurs of rat frigid season, which
shrUUd the earth with snow aud lock
10 the running stream in ice, too Of
ten turn the key Oh sickness and in
fancy, and deny t. thousands that
outdoor life 80 bracing and invigOT1t-
ing. But with the dying days Of the
Old Year comes ulau "week of hDii-
days" to which 50 many. old and
young, rich and poor, invalid and
healthful, lOuk forward with jOyuu-
anticipation. Parent and child, em-
p.Uyer and employed, Oft n have
cause l. bless tine week Of holidays.
Affection l. illustrat u, faithful ser
vice appreciated more during that
week iau any other Of the revolving
year. Il opens with the anniversary
OF the SayiDr's birth. It ends with
tie birthday of the New Year. Aud
all Christendom agrees that il should
be a week Of cheerfulness aud hdpJI-
less, even OF m .rt ami merTimeut.
Il may not he uniting, however,
before the Christmas tree j. reared
aud L. branches flied, before the New
Years festivities VAIN aud giaddeH
the heart, that We should consider in
how many ways we might make this
week brighter and more gladsOme 70
those around Us than ever before.
And hence l venture a few sugges-
tiOns based on that striking antithe-
sis of Mohammed.
"When a man dies, the people ask,
what property has he left behind
him p But the angels, as they bend
over his grave, inquire. What good
deeds hast thou sent before thee%"
And first I would suggest, as duty
as well as a labor Of love:
Seek out and rejoice the hearts Of
the Door. In the unequal distribution
Of tine wealth Of the world they are ev-
er at your doors. PrOspered yourself
in the worlds goods, blessed in basket
and in store, you can scarcely realize
the hardships Of their lot. Struggling
against reverses, against tempt itiOn,
the path they daily tread is full of
thOrns, while yours is lined with flow
ers. If you have never tasted the Joy
tItat active benevOlence brings 70 the
heart Of the cheerful giyer; II you
would realize that "charity is twice
blessed"-blessing him that gives even
more than those who receive; if you
would feel an unwOuted thrill Of pleas
ure, seek out snme widow who strives
by honest industry to earn a liveli-
hood for herself and the little ones left
her TO care for, and send to her hum
ble home the -four and wood OF meat
that Will make the week Of holidays
so happy u her. And, as you sit by
your bright fire at night, with thOs,
you love around you, the thought that
yGu have made one family happier
at this fetal period will be your album
dant reward. There is an inspired
promise, too, for such good works:
"Biessed is he that cOnsidereth the
poor. The Lord will deliver him in
trouble, the Lord will preserve him
and keep him alive; and he shall be
Blessed upon the earth.
Visit the sick. Around you are those
Frustrated on beds of anguish by con-
,uming fever OF incurable maladies.
Their days are full Of pain; their night
weary with watching for the m Drn
The tide Of busy, active life around
them sweeps on, regardless Of these
almost unnOticed eddies. COmrades
and neighbOrs miss them, perhaps,
from their accustomed place, but bus
ineSs, domestic cares, incessant du-
ties consume their time, and the in
valid suffers comparatively alone.
Bring sunshine to this af1 cted house
hold. Light up this darkened heart l.
tIne 10y your cheerful presence.
| Warm this chilled heart by genial
kindness and sympathy and assis
tance-by needed comforts for the
heart.
Make your oUn home happier. II,
during tie year, any root Of Offens,
has grown up, eXtirpate it. II love
/ las abated, rekindle it. It is an easy
work for. as the magnetized steel at
! tracts, so does the heart filled with at
! fectiOn. II rich in possessions, and
some com fort of life has been lacking
something to make work less tOilsOmt
/ and wearing i'm your household, re-
member that the one by your side
/ mas given her life t. you and your,
and make her heart happy as the bells
ring in the New Year for you and
| her.
Settle old contr OUerSies. Let them
die with the old year in which they
were born. Happy is he who lives al
neace with all men. Unhappy tile
man who, stern and uncLnciliating
/ tllOWs differences with his neighbOrs
/ 20 increase in number and intensity
with time. Better, far better, tu
make advances for concOrd's sake
even in your controversies. How of
Ten a few kind words and frank and
manly explanation dissipate all an
Uagunism and rdstOre estranged
nei5hbors to all their old friendly re-
/ atiOns.
! Remember your employees. II you
are one who has those under you 10
/ whom you say, Come, and he COM
eth, or Go, and he goeth-whO give
| you the labor Of their sinews and mus
/ Gle, the power Of their arm or theii |
/ brain, let them share, ifever so slight |
/ v, in your prosperity, that their week |
# holidays may be cheered with SOME |
unexpected delight, that their families !
uay rejoice as yours does at the ad-
vent Of period cOnsecrated to be- |
nevOlence and good will.
In word, purge yourself OF selfish /
ness. This is a beSetting sin, from /
which all of US should pray to be de-
| livered. Living for self alone, NEIL |
carry with them to their graves heart /
| IF steel and faces of iron. Cold, aus
| tere, repulsive, no noble charity
Ifects their souls, no generous un- |
locks their hearts, no blessings are i'll /
vOked on their heads. Butt seeking /
to make others happy, you will caus,
4 constant influx Ofgladness into your
heart, and will make yourself indeed 1
loved while living, and muurned when
dead. To close, as l commenced yoU /
will send your good deed before you,
richer possession than all the wealth /
you may leaYe hehind you.
Condensed into a column, hav, /
but barely glanced at thoughts deem
ed not inappropriate for this holiday
season. / might have amplitied fur
ther on a tPrse and truthful sentiment |
i'm a recent address of Rev. Robert |
COllyer, of ChicagO-that "mOney cali /
be an angel Of darkness or an angel OF |
light, and its pOssessOr may be either
its master or its slave" But I only |
add that those who strive to bless such |
as have beer less fortunate than them
selves, to shield the helpless from the
rough wind of adversely, to assuag,
the sOrrOws of the griel-stricken, t.
make the commnnity In which they
reside, happier from their living in
their midst, will taste of joys thai
neither the grasping miser nor the
selfish millionaire ever conceived of,
and will live SO as to be graf fully re-
membered as worthy exemplers for
those who are to come after them.
-
The Week Of Prayer In 1871.
The Hon. William E. Dodge, Presi-
deut of the Evangelical Alliance OF
Ahe United States, and the Rev. DR..
Noah II. Schenek, Chairman of the
E.nntrfirra Nm N iff.n have issI1tan