The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-07-21
MEYER DESPAIR,

NofcE ID DFAV6 motto AND
a brave man's armOr. Brig ht, \bea utiful
Hope; the antidote of all the etiis which
sprang from the fatal box of Pandora
What dreary, dark world this would be
without it's smile. 1t springs eternal in the
heart, for ir is the immortal longing of the
soul which earth can never fill.
Man never is bat always to be blessed.
Strike out of the hearts and lives of men
this hope of future good and happiness,
aud it would be the death of human efforts
and life. Hope! it is the handspring of
every deed and effort of the world since
man came into it, and will be 80 until the
"crack of DOOM" Is there life so hope.
lees and miserable as not to be warmed by
its smilef Is there a calamity 80 great
hope will not rise from it's ashes Is there
a crime SO dark and heinous that % wi |
not Tighten or color 2 Is there poverty 80
bleak that hope will not transform into
afhuence and ease7 Is there a misfortune,
sickness. poverty or death that the light of
hope does not illumine7 As the rainbow,
it spans the heaven of man with it's eternal
| faith, and gilds the world with it's heaven
born joy. Hope gids all of earth. and
brightens even the portals of the tomb.
Hope on, hope ever, and if the reality
never comes, the joy of hoping will have
cheered and lightened our lives, and will
find it's fruition in the heaven from which
it sprang.
This ever longing, hoping for the future
is the imprint of Immortality, and the
impulse of man. All nature teaches the
same lesson of hopefulness. Winter thaws
into spring, and spring glides into smiling,
fruitful summer, and the land is teeming
with the fatness of mans toll and natures
bounty. Let us, therefore, be hopeful,
and act, as well as feel SO, and the cloud
now hanging as pail about US will be
rent asuDder, and the bright sky of pros
perity will shine again upon our path.
With this hopeful spirit, and the energy
inspired by it, every rivulet and spring of
industry will open, and the land be filed
with prosperity and wealth. We have been
acting the part of the man ia the fable, cry
ing upon Hercules while he stood despair
ingly by. We must put our shoulders to
the wheel, and if we do it manfully and
hopefully 1t will surely turn. Heaven helps
those who help Themselves; and while
heaven has been smiling and opening op-
portunities for us, we seem to have loet all |
energy and manhood, and simply called
upon Hercules to do the work our own |
hands should have accomplished. .Is it
wonder that the wheel does not turn, and
that business is stag oant, money scarce and
industry idle.
To the determined will there is no fail
ure; it overleaps every obstacle and
turns defeat into victory. Before the
determined will even Natures obstacles
melt away; the sea is bridled, and the |
lightning of heaven speaks it's thoughts |
Look at the dykes of Holland ; the Alps |
girdled, and oceans united and then cay |
what is possible for the energy and will of
man. 1t has made the cold and sterile soil |
of New England the laboratory of wealth, |
and it's capital city the rival Of ancient |
Athens in it's best and palmiest day. lie
the energy of the past palzied and the |
blood that once danced so bravely to gallant |
deeds curdled in peace by the frost of adver
sity 7 Impossible. If m!sfortune is upon US, |
let us meet it bravely, and like all dan gers |
it will seem less by looking itsquarely in the |
face. Is confidence wanting between man
and map Let US set the example and trust
one another. Is money scarce and indus
try standing idle in the market place
Let us unlock the spring, circulate the
money now idle in bonds and securities, and |
labo: will smile in plenty, and a rich har-
vest will be gathered by the brave will
which has brought it into life. If we suf-
fer let US examine into the cause, and with
intelligence, hope and energy we shall fnd
the remedy and be brave enough to apply
it.
So far we haveStaken counsel of our fears
let US hencefortb take counsel of our hopes,
our manhood, and the indomitable will
which in the past has conquered the forest,
man and nature, will conquer all our ills,
and peace and prosperity will bless our
children and ourselves. 1t is a shame to |
our manhood to despOnd. With such
nation, it's Industry scarce touched; its
resources of wealth illimitable its terri
tory rolling from sea to sea /; with any
shade of climate and every prod uction of
with room and opportunity for
q hundred millions of people; with insti
tutions of learning and liberty with free
dom in epeech and action, and a broad and
fair field for each and all, there is no room
or place for despondency or despair. We
should blush for our intelligence and man
hood in allowing the present condition of
affairs to exist. 1t is flying in the face of
heaven, and making little of its glorious
gifts, to thus hide them in our coward
life. Never despair, but let us each and
all gather the lesson before us; and with
hope animating us with new and higher
trust in man and heaven, bend our shoul-
ders to the wheel, and it will turn. the
stream of prosperity upon ne, and We shall
90 on to fill the destiny which God and