Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1880-09-16
"sHoRT VIEWS"

That deep-Iunged, -bIooded preach
er, Sidney Smith. used to throw open
the shutters TO the morning sun, say
ing. "Let rs gloFify the room r. Both
conscience and temperament led him,
also, TO insist on flooding the dark places
Of the moral world with cheeriulpess.
v which is the sunshine Of the spirit.
Thus he constantly advocated The wis.,
dom Of what he-calIed "short views"
Of life. IL was obvious, be thought,
that the larger part oi our worries and
- exiflas came fgem The anticipation
of evils. He insisted that II be were
happy now, or al least not miserable, or
even not overborne by the trouble of
the hour. we might logically infer
nay, we should even make il duty TO
suppose-that tomorrow, or next week,
or next year, would also bring its bal
snce Of compensation and resistance.
Every substantial grief or danger, he
used to say, was accompanied by twen-
ty shadows. and most of these are OF
our own making.
One reason for this dread OF the fs-
ture lies in a confused perspective. We
see all manner OF calamities besetting
us at once. But, as Mr.. Lewes has
pointed out in his remarkable essay on
"Suicide," our imaginations are always
wrong, If not as to events themselves,
at least as to the degree in which they
will affect US. Practically. il is MIS-
take as to time which has led to many a
selE-slaughter. The tormented victim
sees his troubles marching in upon him,
not as single spies, but as battalions.
But in reality they do moi come so.
Evil, even more than good, procrasti-
mates and is very lax about keeping lis
appointments. And the hidden princl-
pie of adjustment is all the Sine al
work. Indeed, so unlike our appre-
hension is the form which our trouble
usually puts on that this experience is
expressed in an Eastern proverb-
'Nothing is inevitable but the uniore-
seem"
Moreover, that other old saying, that
no certainty is so dreadful as suspense,
simply means that the imagination
scourges us as no reality can do. We
have so felt and shrunk from from the
stroke that we have discounted il in ad-
vance. Even should it descend, we
can no more feel the full weight of the
blow when it falls than the victims oil
the torture, whose bones were broken
by the first shock, could respond with
renewed agonies to the renewed strain.
Besides, while 1t is probable that the
expected calamity may. not overtake
us at all, it is still more probable that
we shall be in quite different attitude
to meet it. For il, as the despondent
claim, happiness is brief, Joy fading,
and peace unstable, it must also be true
that affection is for day, and that the
darkness is as likely to be irradiated as
the light 10 be darkened. Our human
ity is heir to both conditions, and man
IS no more born to trouble than he is
born TO Joy.
If, then, 1t is not The weIght of the
Present, but the vague and vast Incum.
bency of the Future, which bends our
backs and keeps our eyes on the ground
the wisdom Of Sydney Smiths 'short
views" is manifest. If we could be
really content TO take The most out o
every day as We go on-the most quiet
comfort, the most love OF husband OF
wife, Of child or friend, the most knowl-
edge, the most benevolence of kindly
looks and cheerful smiles, even the
most growth and discipline from our in
evitable mistakes aud disappointment
tomorrow, or next year, would seem
far less potent power for good or evil
in our destinies. Instead OF that, we
postpone enjoyment to day when we
shall be richer, more famous, more al
leisure. And to gain the distant good,
we not only project our cares and wor-
ries into that unknown realm winch is
not ours, and may never be, but we
spend our present IN the inonotonous,
unrewarding, exhausting labor which,
of itself, tends to dependency and
gloom.
Debt, for example, which is, perhaps.
the most depressing companion a man
can have, commonly fastens upon him
because he took too long views, and
saw resources in the future for the
wants ofthe present. which, when over
taken, proved worthless or unmanage-
able. Then the hard necessity to rid
himself OF his monster strips to-day oI
its charms, and arms the morrow with
terrors.
The fear Of illness or death, and the
leaving of helpless family, poisonS
many mans and woman's peace. The
dread of losing friends, or the meaSur-
ing OF hopeless and joyless future
without them when we have lost them,
darkens countless lives. But Time the
smIter proves TO be Time the cousoler,
and we come to see that the grief which
was past bearing had no existence save
in apprehension.
Perhaps il is one OF the strongest evi-
dences OF "design in creation" that
Heaven itself permits Us only shor,
views. That we cannot really know
what rs beyond, secures our happines.
and sanity.
The Greeks said grandly. in their
tragic phrase, 'Let no one be called
happy till his DEATH" To which we add,
"Let no one till his death be called un-
happy. ."-Haryer's BGzar.