Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1877-10-12
ABOUT SHADOWS.
The Part they Play in the World OF
Human Life.
Philadelphia LEDGER

In this matter-of-fact age, per-
haps the last thing that is thought
worthy of notice is a shadow, and
contempt is freely thrown upon
those who are occupied with them.
Yet no thoughtful observer of ma
ture can help noticing how thor.
oughly they are interviewer with
every scene, how they heighten the
beauty of every landscape, or deepen
the sublimity of every grand and
majestic view. All our inner sense
of beauty responds to their delicate
presence on hillside or valley, on
the vast expanse of ocean or the
bosom of the peaceful lake. The
artist studies them with delight,
and longs to depict them faithfully
on his canvas, for he knows that if
his skill deserts him here his art is
a failure. Then, too, how much do
we owe to shadows How grateful
is their cooling and quieting pres
ence to the heated and wearied
trayelerl How eagerly we seek
them, and how gladly we welcome
them when oppressed with the fer
vent sun-raysl Light and warmth,
now our greatest blessings, would
become curses, did not the shadow
intervene to protect us from their
intensity. Often, indeed, does it
seem far more precious to US than
the substance Of which it is the re-
Election. True, shadows are not
always blessings. Sometimes they
are dark, gloomy and lowering,
hiding from us the light which we
crave and the warmth for which we
pine. Then we are glad to creep
from under them and to escape their
chill. Yet in either case, viewed
rightly, they cannot be despiSed,
unreal and unsubstantial az they
seem; they are positive influences,
from which we are never free.
In the world of human life,
shadows play as important a part
as in the world of matter. AS in
the one, they exist either for beauty
or for gloom, either to soften the
light or to obscure it, so in the
other they fail either to refresh or
bless or to darken and chill. Just
as the shadow Of our figure follows
us without any exercise of the will,
SO subtle influence is ever ema-
mating from our character and
feelings, over which we have no
control. We are always scheming,
planning, striving, doing, and we
think that these exhaust the power
of our lives, but there is another
force, silent and unobtrusive, Of
which we never think and never
count upon, yet which is more po-
tent and vital than any which our
will ever puts forth. tits the power
of being; the shadow which the
innermost self casts upon the
world; the unspoken, unpremedi-
tated, unconscious influence which
we are ever shedding, simply by
our life.
In the home we find the fullest
example,of the uncalculated power
of this shadow. Parents are gen.
orally anxious TO do their best fol
their children; they often toll un.
remittingly to supply their needs
if thoughtful, they study and plar
to develop their minds and estab
lish good principles; if unselfsh
they will give up ease, comfort anC
pleasure to secure their children''
best good, and they do well. Yet
after all, there is another and more
potent influence, which is seldom
thought of. 1t is the shadow which
the home casts over the child from
its inmost life, which is either t,
be its blessing, protection anC
safeguard through all coming years
or a darkening and chilling pres
ence which it can never who'll
escape. When men and womeI
look buck to the home Of thei