The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1879-08-13

The most thoughtful and i'm
prcssive speech that the Fourth of
July called forth was made by Hora-
ito Seymour to the inmates of the
New York State Prison, from which
we give the following extract: "Sit-
ting before my fire in winter eve
ming, and musing, as old men are apt
to do about their acts, their errors,
their successes or their failures, it
occurred to me what l would do if l
had the power and was compelled to
wipe out twenty acts of my life. At
first it seemed as if this was an easy
thing to do. / had done more than
twenty wrong things for which l had
always felt regret, and was about to
seize my. imaginary sponge and rub
them out at once, but ] thought it
best to move with care, to do as /
had done with others, lay my charac
ter out upon the dissecting table and
trace all influences which has made
or marred it. I found, to my sur
prise, . if there were any golden
threads running through it they were
wrought out by the regrets felt at
the wrong; that these regrets had
run through the course of my life,
guiding my footsteps through all in
tricacies and problems, and if l
should oblitcrate all of these acts to
which these golden threads were at
tached - whose lcngthening lines
were woven into my very nature--if
| should obliterate all of these,
should destroy what little there was
of virtue to my moral makeup
Thus l learned that the wrong act,
followed hy the just regret and by
thoughtful caution to avoid IKE cr-
rors, made me q better man than |
would have been if had never fall
len. In this | found hope for myself
and hope for others, and l tell you
who sit before me, as l say to all, in
every condition, that if you will you
can make yourselves better men than
if you had never fallen into errors or
crimes. A mans destiny does not
turn upon the fact of his doing or
not doing wrong for all men will do
it-but of how he bears himself,
what he does and what he thinks af-
ter the wrong act. 1t was well said
by CONTIGUOUS, the Chinese sage, that
a mans character is decided, not by
the number of times he falls, but by
the number of times he lifts himself
up. / do not know why evil is per,
mitted in this world, but l do know
that each One Of us has the magical
power to transmute it into good
Every one before he can, if he wilA
make his.past errors sources of mo-
raj elevation. Is this not grand
thought, which should not only give
US hope, but which should inspire us
with firm purposes to exercise this
power which makes US akin to the
Almighty? for He has given it to us
and has pointed out in His words
how we shall use it. The problem
meets us at every step. There is
nothing we do which will not make
us better or worse. / do not speak
merely of great events, but of the
thoughts upon our beds-the toll in
the workshop and the little duties
which attend every hour. God in
His goodness does not judge US sc
much by what we do; but when We
have done things right or wrong, oul
destiny mainly turns upon what We
think and do after their occurrence
1t is then we decide if they shall lift
US up higher level or bear US down tc
a lower grade of morals. Our acts
mainly spring from impulses or acct
dents-the sudden temptation, i'm
perfect knowledge or erring judg
ment. 1t is the afterthought thai
gives them their hue. The worlt
may not see this; it may frown upor
1.-THE deed and upon the man, who, new
ertheless, by his regrets makes it cnt
which shall minister to purity ant
virtue in all his after life. You who
sit before me in some ways have ad
vantages over other men whose minds
are agitated by the hopes and fear:
of active pursuits, who find no tim'
by their thoughts to make them tent
to virtue and to happiness. Will
each Of you, in a little time, the great
question will be--not if you are to b.
set free, not what the world thinks o
! you, nor what You have-but wha
you are; for death often knocks a
1.-THE door of your cells, and some o
your number are carried from these
narrow walls to the more narrow walls
(of the grave. Let it not be though
chat / prove wrong may be done 81
that good may follow. With St. Pau
protest against such Inference from
1.-The truth that men are saved by re
ipentancc of their sias."