Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1874-07-04

they should be planted; wnen scienoe
was called magic and punished As an
evidence of atrocious crimes; when su-
perstition occupied the seat of justice,
and the guilt and innocence of the &C
cused was established by righteous de-
cision of fire and water . How great
has been the change A complete
revolution has been wrought eueryUhsre
and in everything. The horse is un-
loosed from the coach, the weaver dis
missed from the handloom, the spinster
from the spinning wheel, and the paint
er from his study, and labor performed
by these is done by the substitutes with
greater despatch and perfection.
Whence all this progress ? It's mind!
Educated mind. Nowhere in the prog
ress of science is it written "The end.
Advancement is apparent on all sides,
and Excelsior" is stamped upon every
page of its history, and sit is finished"
is found nowhere.
Essay, "Gone," by Miss Fanny Folk
In clear plaintive voice the clock in
the steeple tolls the hour Of midnight.
In plain language it proclailns the time.
But does it no more than tell the hour?
Is there not something else in each
deep sounding stroke which breaks the
stiffness of the night? Listen to itand
mediate what it fain would announce.
A most important lesson might be
learned therefrom. Stop, listen-the
great now, so quick so fleeing, is ours
only. A rigid voice from that steeple
old seems to say, Gone Gone Today
ere we are aware, is gone, and is de-
nominated yesterday, and tomorrow
will soon become to-day, yesterday, and
so time passes on and is gone forever
Again the air is still, the vibrations
of the pendulum have ceased; hushed is
the voice of the clock, and nature
reigns supreme over the quiet which
pervades the universe, but in vain does
this quiet invite TO repose. We are re-
minded Of what we have been so negli-
gent-reminded of our duty; reminded
that while time was going, We have
stood still and now it is beyond recall.
1t is gone Too long already have we
slept Indeed we have dreamed away
the morn in castle building, wasting the
work time God has given us. Precious
moments squandeYed in idle dreaming.
Opportunities were offered for accom-
plishing good, but unnoticed, UNDECIDED,
they are gone. Dreams of life remain
unrealized. The plans laid for great
projects are yet to be executed. The
tombs of wasted years.h have been pre-
pared by time, that graves man gray.
But we cease our weeping when we
behold hope, bright and steadfast,
standing close beside each headstone,
with upward pointing hand gazing on
time.
In few hours more. the youths who
have been gathering here from day to
day, will be gone. The old clock in
the steeple may tell the hour, but no
glad voices will respond to its sound.
They are gone, aud quiet reisns in these
old halls. o, Thou before whose sight
the years white with age do fly swift as
a summers noon, whose eye fixed with
an aspect OF severity, marks each mo-
ment which is employed to no purpose,
80 let US live, that not one hour spent
in idle triding, may rise in Judgment
against us in the great reckoning of ac-
counts. Let us toll on in Thy vineyard
30 that each hour may prove priceless
gem to crown our brows in the realms
Of eternity.