The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1883-09-12
Sunday Thoughts, SEPT. 9th.

thoughts upon the readers of the Jour.
nal, and whether they read these
thoughts or not we little care, because
our pleasure ceases as suOn rs we cease
to write. In this respect we are like
unto many WHO 20 ahead regardless of
consequences, and then repent when re.
pentahce comes too late. In order to
ENJOY a little hurried delight they entail
upon themselves lives Of quiet grief, if
not undyng misery. Oh! how MANY
men and women, if they could read
what we have already uttered, would
call to mind some momcnta.y pleasure
winch has cost them years of pain and
anxiety! How many are to-day in
prison and disgraced; how many wo.
men are outcasts on account of cruel
vcrdicts of public opinon--all because
they chose some hurried delight, some
short path to present qualification
They did not stop to reason that flowers
wither soon, but seeds bring forth for.
ever. And public opinion is soil well
fertilized, wherein the weeds Of scandal
and taitle do grow most luxuriantly,
without cultivation.
But our Sunday Thoughts, which We
have 50 often ushcrcd into print, and
which our Mr.. Dulin calls "mcntal va.
garics,' have sometimes met with kind.
~ comment. One thing We are firmly
persuaded to the affirmative off We
said aught in conflict with religious dog.
mas, or puriianism in any shape; if We
said aught to displease the tyranny of
public opinion, or the vanity Of men or
women whose "little learning" made
them quick to suspicion that we had
lowered ourself enough to think Of then,
while writing in Il nobler strain we
were sure to find it out. And since
fools Of this kind can he Modified with
foolish explanations, We never found it
difficult to prevent duel. II we said
something mcritorous, perchance some
good friend, who was competent to APP.
preciate, would tell us so, and we al.
ways had sense enough to feel momenta.
rily good over it. Sometimes designing
men, or women, do try in this world IL
find wrong where no wrong was intend,
cd, and it is fearful to think how often
they succeed History tells us tina,
great effects have followed slight causes.
1t tells us that basin Of water split on
Mrs Masham's gown deprived the Duke
Of Marlborough Of his command and led
to the inglorious peace Of Utrecht; that
one Of the most desolaiing wars ensucd
because Il minister Of Louis XIV was
nettlcd at his finding fault with a win
dow; that Helen lost Troy; that Lu
cretin was the cause of the expulsion OF
The TarQuins-(a good cause, howcvcr)i
that an insulted husband led the
Ganls to Clusium and thence to Rome,
aud so on, and so on. An order tc
make Cromwell disembark from the
ship IN which he intended to sail fol
this country resulted in the loss OF
Charles head and the brilliant reign OF
the Protector. And it seems to us that
everybody wants to be a Cromwell, but
Nature did not give them sense enough
They want to make mountains out o.
molchills, but they engage in ,attle
which proves them at once to be fools
for no man or woman has ever ye
gained, in the long run, by tattling OF
repeating, even, the tottlc Of those poor
creatures who are to be pitied for having
no more sense than is gained from sucl
novels as Ouida's, or the Seaside Libra
ry," both of which ought to be sup
pressed under a law captioned "Men's
Humanity to Women"
But this is the 9th of September
1888. 1t is Sunday. Up to this hour
2 p. M, it has been gloomy day, bu
now the sun is making II teint show o
his eiiulgcnce, as if he wanted to par
very soon in peace. Really, we have
had forc,astc of winter. The whole
forenoon has been distinguished by cool
ness and absence of sunshine, and We
cannot help being depressed by gloomy
sky and lamp atmosphere Some pro
fessedly pious people covet days of this
kind rs an excuse to remain at homo
and not 90 to church. If some of these
same saints had II chance to 60 in car
riagcs to church, and there flaunt theil
fine apparel and jcwelry, and the gol,
clasps (so-called) upon their prayel
books, they would do so, and then, i
they thought rs worthy of notice, woul,
upbraid Us for staying at home, where
we sit now and gaze ever and anon up
on the blue Cumberland mountain tina
curves so gracefully in the distance
around Winchester, while the high in
tcrvening hills seem to beckon us up t.
see the works of God the untold mil
lions of years gone by. Oh, it is mos
delightful to live in such country Il
this. 1t is a glorious climate at al
seasons of the year. We saw nothin!
to equal it in our late trip to Mexico
The people here are poor, but no on
is starving Wealth is generally scat
tered, and the little "style" put on, b.
those who are able, is not taken as ev
dence that they are any better moral
or intellectually, or that they are NOR
refined. We put it all down to "goo
luck" since the results of the wa
brought an upheaval in social matter
and merit just as great commissions i
Nature have forced stra'as into pos
tons where the geologist can discove
very soon their value and normal pos
A.. C,o;ot,, COLL eNnn rnuIlotn tsn1