The Benton democrat. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1871-18??, 1873-01-18

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One has said that the cup of life is
swaetest at the brim, the flavor is i'm
paired as we drink deeper, and the .dregs
are made bitter thatwe may sufeE the
less regret when it is taken from our
| lips. Life finds beautiful image in a
ballroom, where the votaries of pleas
ure enter at one door, which we may
call the threshold of Time. They min
gle in the happy throng for awhile, and
then pass out at another door-the
threshold Of Eternity. Thus the stream
of humanity flows in and out of this
scene of life, almost unnoticed by the
numbers within, who are neither the
less gay or more miserable on account
Fof their perpetual entrance and exit.
And whoever looks into this ballroom,
in ages to come, will find its youth still
as buoyant, as graceful and as beauti-
fuf as ever, and just as happy and un-
concerned as if death never had oc-
Cured and never would occur, upon
earth.
In the ancient citadel of Athens there
stood three statues of Minerva The
first had fallen from heaven, according
to tradition; the second, commemora-
tive of the victory of Marathon; and
the third, mode of gold and ivory, stood
as the perfection Of art in the age of
Pericles. Thus, in the Temple of Time,
stand three statues, emblematic of the
life Of man First, the delicate statue
of childhood, pure and fresh from heav-
en- the second, of manhood, emblem
attic of struggle and victory; and the
third representing the full development
of man.
Life is made up of inequalities of
prosperity and adversely, and if we alb
stract one of these essential factors, we
cannot have perfect whole. Life is
only a success to us as we are acted
upon by its sunshine and its clouds. No
greater curse could be imposed upon
man, in his present condition, than to
condemn him to walk either in the sun
light of unshadowed prosperity, or the
darkness of Enlightened adversely. He
who created us only knows how much
light and shade, sun and cloud, heat and
frost, is requisite to the maturity of
those flowers that are the objects of his
celestial husbandry. Aswe meet with
these vicissitudes Of life, we should
willingly accept them as the instru-
ments tending to our perfection.
Life should have an aim. We are to
build monument of character that
will finally stand before God as an ex-
ponent of our actions through life. IF
we once mar the symmetry of it's struc-
ture, we can never restore it to its orig
inal beauty. Over the rich golden fruit
of autumn, there grows bloom of
beauty, soft, delicate blush that over
spreads its blushing cheek. Now, if
/ you strike your hand over that, and it
is once gone, it is gone forever, for it
never grows but once. The beautiful
rose that hangs in the rays of the
morning sun, glistening with dew drops
l-arrayed as no queenly woman was
ever arrayed with jewels--if you once
shake it, and the drops of dew fall
quickly to the ground, they are lost;
you cannot restore them. You may
sprinkle water over it as much as you
please, yet you can never make II what
it was when the dew fell silently upon
it from heaven. So, in youth, you are
given purity and beauty of character
which, when once touched and deiled.
can never be restored. One who has
spotted and soiled his character in
youth, can, never again make it white,
though it be washed with ones own
tears. AS life is measured by the har-
vest of thoughts and deeds. let every
one solve its problem with this great
truth before him.
| Life is an earnest, vital, essential af-
fair; but how many undervalue it |?