The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1873-12-22
SHORT Lay SERMONS AND CRITI-
CIsMS, SUGGESTED by SUNDAY
REFLECTTIONs AND OLD
READINGS.

reply. To be happy, you have only
account yourself SO; as to be miserable
you have only to account yourself other
wise than happy. IL is neither riches no
poverty, prosperity nor adversely, abund
ance nor scarcity. the smiles of fortune no
the frOwns Of favor that make us eithe
happy or wretched, but the state of tn,
mind only. He is not happy who thinks
himself not to be so, whatever his riches
his prosperity, his abundance, the smiles
of fortune that attend him. O,
any other real or imaginary condi
ton. 1t is the humor of III,
mind only, and, as that runs, so is the
state of our misery or happiness. suffered
or enjoyed. A contented mind il a CON
tinual feast, and out of satisfied mind
flows perpetual stream Of felicity, One
need not therefore be either disconnected OF
unsatisfied. He only yields to a menta
humor if he be either. Hence, no mar
need be miserable or otherwise than ration.
ally happy. IT'S only our conceit, whether
we be miserable or not.
Each substance of a grief hath twenty shad.
ows -
Which shows like grief itself, but are not So"
So saith the dramatist; but we would rather
say, each shadow of grief hath twenty
substances, each one of them more lmapi-
nary than real, and moro fearful to shun
than encounter.
SAITH Hermione, in Winters Tale,
One good deed, dying tongueless,
Slaughters thousand."
Give voice, then, to good deeds but
let them be the good deeds of others, not
your own. Yours will be sure to speak
for themselves, out of example if not habit.
Our praises are our wages, always to be
paid by Others. Never deplete your own
treasury by bestowing praise upon your
self not even to the smallest repetition of
other mems commentator. It is a coin
that wears much by handling, and is far
more likely to be soiled by your own
touch than another's. By prasing good
deeds in others you commend them in your
self; nav more, you spur others to note
those you have already no more than half
proposed in your mind; and this, in turn,
spurs you to fuller resolution to do the
good intended. Never hide a good
deed under bushel, but let it throw its
taper light as far as it will. A good deed
shines sometimes very far in the world.
Those of Florence Nightingale shone far
and wide through many lands, and will
continue to shine with undiminished lustre
through many ages. They did not die
tongueless, but were caught up on the lips
of millions, where they still live. Let all
your deeds be such that they shall not die
tongueless, nor lead to the slaughter of
good deeds in others. Then shall you be
happy, if you do not foolishly account
yourself miserable.
''HR praised the present, and abused the past,
Reversing the good custom of old days."
This was ironically said of one of
highlands famous poets laureate it may
be said of very many who are not poets
laureate, nor poets Of any other descrip-
ton. Too many of US praise the present |
and abuse the past The good custom, as
formerly practiced, of honoring our
fathers, is lost sight Of; it is thought |
quite puerile to observe it. With us the |
present age of the world is the golden one,
past all question or dispute; it is a thous.
sand years nearer the millennium than when
our ancestors wore their homespun, ate
from pewter platters, spoke the truth. and |
esteemed. their virtues the highest evidence
that they were deserving of the good |
opinion of Others. Then (when our /
fathers lived) Boston was poor
fsher-town; now it stands aloft, full OF
classic pride, favor, and renown. Then
New York, at least above Broad street, was
a struggling Dutch village now it is at the
top of fortunes ladder in wealth, honor,
riches and boosted prosperity. Then Rich
mondwas one-horse town on the" Jeemes,"
with an all-commanding country around it, |
but too, small to have any suburbs now
it stands seven-hilled city on the ''noble
James, proud of its prosperity, as well as
its historic worth and grandeur. But where
are the old-time Otises, Hancocks and
Adamses, Of Boston where the noble old
Ogdens, Morrises, Irvings, and Knicker-
bockers, of New York or where the
grand old Henrys, Lees, and Marshalls of
our favored locality? Do we so top them
all that we can afford to stint our own
statures by tightening the tape on theirs =?
Better measure them as they were, and ac-
cord them their full height, even if it does
dwarf us down in the comparison. Were
any one of them to speak, it might be in the
language once proudly replied to certain
depreciators. "'Mea nobiliias est cuca caput,
pestra decli,at adj cdudam---" my nobility Is
abont the head, yours declines in the oppo-
site direction. 4s $50 =,
CIR" said Or. johnson, ssman be falli-
Bile, he must fail somewhere We might
better say, if man be human, he will be
good somewhere. One tree bears excellent
|ruit, another only leaves; but we are ,
ttNA4 A. ...fz IL ~.