The Sumter watchman. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1855-1881, 1870-06-15

| on these 7ss@s 'WSThat as Won "a so6d
out 1ofit!" Ihavs neVef forgotten I'D
answer. s"I 'getsah that 6ny zone al, p
was his reply: eLifs's only worth il
what its discipline amounts to-" sss.,
"Life is worth just its disoiplius r.
The idea was q new ono to me then
L: came to me at momeut When was
bittef.aad sore. But I.have never for.
Cotton it.A..It olung to me. And the more
thought gift, the wiser it seemed
And the longer have lived, and the
more I have seen and done since then,
the truer has appeared the old clerks
theory. [ have adopted it as my own.
And l have dono SO because it fits,
more than any other one, all parts OF
lie, and the life Of every man. Let me
show you how it does so.
In the first place, it fits every mans
life. We are put into this world to be
trained. We came empty. handed into
it, and We 80 empty-handed out Of it.
And that shows us that the good of life
is intended to bean interior thing. 1t
is something man can have, even when
his arms lie crossed in his oofiu. Aud
that good is his discipline of spirit
The training and culture of the soul is
the great matter. How man feels to-
ward God aud toward his fellow.men,
is the question which life's discipline
decides; what his influences ave, what
his principles, what his satisfaotiqns,-
these are the things life determines.
II man has soul, and is to live forever,
these mottoes are the great ones Of life.
The theory, then, fits every man.
But see, too. how it fits all parts of
every mau's life. IF the good Of life is
what its discipline amounts to, then
there is no circumstance Of life which
may not be without its profit. Is man
rich? Why, then, he has the discipline
Of wealth. How hc uses, riches is the
trial question for him. Is a man poor !?
Poverty is his trial experience. How he
bears want is tho important problem to
him. Thcro is not circumstance Of
any mans life, prosperous or adverse,
but in this theory Of the "value of life"
finds its place. And each circumstance,
in its turn, may equally secure life's
good. A man may be gaining it when he
is accumulatinS wealth, or when wealth
is fleeing from him ; when he is in
health, or when he is sick; when he
rejoiccs, or when he wocps. Discipline is
accomplishing its purpose. He is getting
tho good of life.
"What lifo is doing for mo-" then, is
a question which has, for good while,
turned my thoughts inward instead Of
outward. don't expect to find my
answer in bank account. I look not
first to sec whether life is going we'll in
suclrmattcrs as social standing, political
pcrIermcnt, or literary repute. 1 ask
myself, in quiet hours, els the discipline
oi life making me humber, stronger,
moro patient, more Christian 2" "Is
life doing this best thing that it ever
does for any one, fitting mo for useful
ness in the present, and for readiness
to meet whatever comes AFTER"
try to be able to answer that oues>
tion ai1irmativcly. And when l am
able, it does not trouble me much to be
poor, or disappointed, or lonely: I am
still getting the good of life. Nobody
can rob me Of all that is best in it. The
theory fits the case fully elite is worth
just its discipline and that discipline
is securing my good.