Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-07-23

The FLAW IN TIE JEwEL.-If you
could apprehend even a small part of the
reverent love have for the one who ga We
me the stone, you could then know some
thing of the pain it was to me to find in
the center of its heart, flaw. 1t showed
only in certain lights and at certain ang-
les. What is there to be in our holy
friendship, that this means | did not or,
whit falter in my love for the ring, and
the love that came with it-but there was
the flaw, seen or unseen. l carried that
perplexity with me, l can hardly tell how
many days.
think that in this world the nearest
we can hope to get to the real reasons, to
the final unravelings is to be able to sub
stltute some great, inexplicable perplexity
for some bothering one. And my ring Of
trouble has grown into a crown of reioic-
ing. have new watchword in life to add
to my old ones, 1 do not believe in mar.
rowing ones self to single motto, a
phrase that now means so much to me
that it seems as if the very saying of it
should be sufficient" The flaw in the
jewel"
There-there it is again. Not till had
written this on these yellow leaves did
find that had brought my little wisdom
into the world some centuries late. For
what is this flaw of mine but the old story
of the fly in the ointment.
Never mind. there are many sides to
the same truth If you can see far enough
even around a lie you will find side with
different face, perhaps as truthful.
shall ring few changes upon my jewel,
and let it drop back into my heart.
Nobody has fairly begun to live who is
not prepared to find imperfection in what
he thinks is or ought to be perfect. Among
the little luxuries of this life, l suppose
most persons will be willing to include
sheled almonds. To have the kernel of
the nut given you, without the interfering
and teeth breaking hinderance with which
nature, for some doubtless wise purpose,
associates it's phase Of existence sa
voring of the oriental, and has in it, to one
born under western skies, | know not what
of reckless prodigality. The bitter peach
pit inserted by human averice is the flaw
IN that jewel of the Orient. l raise nv
eyes again from these yellow leaves and
they fall upon rose-bush, June-red-and
another proverb confronts me,-for has
not every rose its thorn? All nv friend
do you not see that these haunting pro
verbs, that would drive me from my work.
are themselves the flaw in the Jewel?
But l do not merely mean that the JOY
of accomplishment is always followed by
a pang,-that the shadow of mortal sorrow
is over all the world; but that we must
be prepared to find smutch of circum-
stance upon the whitest robe; we must
steel our hearts to behold, it may be, some
grotesque horror of nature mimicking our
noblest endeavor; or a frightening mo-
mentary estrangement in the look of our
nearest friend or the stalking of dead
and hateful memory when that ghost had
least need to concentrating the pure air
sick and sitting. We must be brave to
behold for little while a lie in the face
of truth Satan where God is
L have pondered good deal on this Gu
rlous experience we call wonder
ing just what it may be, and why the
deepest souls | happen to be best with
the knowledge of, live most in its ecstatic
glow. This last wonder is no longer so
great to me. AT least | seem to be sure
that no soul can 60 deep among the soIem-
mites without having the capacity to take
the rebonnd into highest absurdities. Laugh
ter tor all men the giggle for the great
But since my discovery of the principle
of the flaw flor l shall call the star mine.
though some ancient found it tool. have
begun to think that one of the offices of
humor is to make the flaw endurable. The
sudden conjunction of the petty, with the
sublime, would shock too severely, were it
not tor the sense of the absurdlty that
comes between, and we turn it off with
laugh"
So | think that heaven is land of no
laughter" For all the flaws, | know
there are some perfect moments in this life.
But they are only foretastes. There we
sha IL not say some perfect. There will be
no flies in the heavenly ointment no
thorns with those roses ; and while, as |
look at it now in the golden June sunlight,
the little flaw with its subtitle symbolism
OF the very principle of eviD shines the
brightest spot in my jewel-in the heavenly
jewel there will be no flaw, save the secret
name in the white stones heart" The
Old Cabinet "Sc timers for August.
~-)>)->----
SHoEING A CAMEL.-A traveller from
Pekin to Siberia, across the great desert