Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1875-12-18
For the Chronicle.
THE BRIGHT SIDE.

The -BklaHf Side.
Some one has said, AThere is many a
rest on the road Of life, if we would
only stop to take it, When young
man starts out on the broad road of
life, full of ambitious promptings. he
casts about him in all directions to
find, if possible, the profession or oc-
cupation that will bring him, if follow
ed, most readily to the point or station
in life's journey where he can set down
and take quiet rest. Deciding upon
what he conccives to be the right one,
he prosecutes the labors of the same
with rush and an exhaustion of
strength and energies which brings
confusion and unrest.
While we detest anything that even
looks like lazy man, at the same time
we think there are many who in the
rush and hurry to press through, fail
to find the many quiet rests strewn
along life's pathway, and in many cases
all the sweets drop from the cup Of
life without being observed. The Sab
bath, the church of God, pleasant and
profitable society. are some of the
many sweet, quiet resting spots along
the thoroughfare of life. It would be
we'll to remember. while we are being
crowded along, that there are many
resting spots along the road of life if
we would only stop to take them"
How true that poetry which says,
"To the sunny soul tha.is full of hope,
And whose beautiful trust ne'er faileth,
The grass is green and the flowers are
Though the winters storm prevaileth."
There are many oases In the midst of
which are clusters of flowers blooming
to make US cheerful, and a cool stream
running to refresh our tagging souls if
we would only pteperly appreciate
them God never intended life to be
like an insipid stream or a path of
thorns, for He has endowed us with
faculties capable of high enjoyment.
If hard times oppress and disap-
pointments come up, We should hope
for better times, and keep our eyes
lifted above our disappointments all
the time, making life pleasure, get
ting all the good and leaving out the
bad.
Better to hope, though the clouds hang
low,
And keep the eyes still lifted;
For the sweet blue sky will soon peep
through,
When the ominous clouds are rifted
There was never night without day,
Or an evening without a morning.
And the darkest hour. as the provero goes,
Is the hour before the dawning."
How many of our young people who,
when they fail to make that progress
in life they had hoped to make give
themselves over to despair, and then
seek as a means of relief the society of
the deprayed or resort to the grog
shop to drink what the world calls
''the restorer of the spirits" This
often results where the object in life
was the qualification of an ambitious
nature, but where the true object is
had in view, hope is seldom subdued
and eyes cast down.
"There is many gem in the path of life,
That is richer far than the ieweIed crown,
Or the misers hoarded treasure;
II may be the love of little child,
Or a mothers prayer TO heaven,
Or only q beggar grateful thanks
For a cup of cold water given"
The brightness of life consists not
SO much in what, but in the quality of
what we possess not so much in what
we do, as how we do it; not so much
in what we say, as how we say it. The
ddcerJ or the ho,o of life is the pivot
on which turns our happiness or un-
happiness, our usefulness or unuseful-
ness, you may take the greatest troubles
| in life, and by turning them around
find joys on the other side. So every
thing may be done SO as to bring good
to ourselves or to some one else. The
gloomiest mountains never cast a
shadow on both sides at once, nor does
the greatest of life's calamities. Now,
we are on the bright or the gloomy
side in proportion to our appreciation
of the true object of life and its
pleasures.
Since our lives are composed ofwhat
we put into them, We should put in as
much good as possible. We reap that
we SOW. The poet gives us these beau
tiful lines,
Better to wear in the thread of life
4 A bright and golden filling,
! And to do Gods will with ready heart,
| With hands that are ready and willing,
Than TO snap the delicate, minute tGreads
Of our curiousltyes asunder,
| And then blame Heaven for the tangled
ends,
And sit and grleve and wonder"
just so, many go pushing through
with no good purpose ID view, ponder
ing to the solicitations Of an avaricious
ambition. until at last they get the
whole web of life SO tangled and con
fused that there is no beauty, strength
or pleasure in it. Then they are ready
to lay the whole blame on God and sit
and grieve and wonder, because life
has no bright side for them. b.
When debt is due in China, if the
money does not come the mans ears
do. They do worse than that here,
saws the Colambus Times; they cut
off his credit.
Richmond, Indiana, presents the