Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-06-28
CHOICE EXCERPTS.

CHOICE EXCERPTS.
INGRATITUDE is the abridgement of
all baseness-a fault never found unat-
tended with other viciousness.
CULTURE is good, genius is brilliant,
civilization is blessing, education is a
great privilege; but we may be educated
villains.
II is greatly wise to talk with our past
hours, and ask them what report they
bore TO heaven, and how they might
have borne more welcome news.
Much as friends add to the happiness
and value of life, We must in the main
depend on ourselves; and every one is
his own best friend or worst enemy.
IF You wish success in life, make per
severence your bosom friend, experience
your wise counsellor, caution Your elder
brother, and hope your guardian genius
HAS it never occurred to us, when sur
rounded by sorrows, that they may be
sent to us only for our instruction. as we
darken the cages of birds when We wish
to teach them TO sing?
ENVY may Justly be called ''the gall
of bitterness and bond of iniquity;" it is
the most acid fruit that grows on the
stalk of sin, fluid so subtle that moth
ing but the fire of divine love can purge
it from the soul.
THAT which is won i'll will never wear
well, for there is a curse attends it which
will waste it; and the same corrupt dis
positions which incline men to the sinful
ways of getting will incline them to the
like sinful ways of spending.
IF We truly love our neighbors, we
cannot fail to be kind and sweet to them
If we are Indifferent, all the care we take
of our manners, all our studied refine
ment, all our stylish conversation will be
as dust and ashes.
4 GREAT deal of talent is lost in the
world for the want of little courage.
Every day sends to their graves num-
Der of obscure men who have remained
obscure only because their timidity has
prevented them from making first eff
fort.
WHOEVER feels pain in hearing good
character of his neighbor will feel a
pleasure in the reverse; and those who
despair to rise in distinction by their vir-
tues are happy if others can be depress-
ed to a level with themselves.
WEAR your learning like your watch,
in private pocket, and do not pull it
out and strike it, merely to show that
you have one, If you are asked
what o'clock it is, tell it, but do not pro-
claim it hourly and unasked, like the
watchman.
THE faithful endeavor to do right and
to bear quietly and with resignation what
must be borne is of itself fruitful
source of happiness and serenity; but a
murmuring and discontented spirit may
poison the richest blessings and turn
them into bitter evils.
USE thy youth so that thou mayest
have comfort to remember it when it
hath fOrsaken thee, and not sigh and
grieve at the account thereof. Use it as
the springtime which soon departeth,
and wherein thou oughtest to plant all
provisions for long and happy life.
CONSCIENCE signifies that knowledge
which a man hath of his own thoughts
and action; and because, if man judg-
eth fairly of his actions by comparing
them with the law of God, his mind will
approve or condemn him; this knowl-
edge or conscience may be both an accus-
er and judge.
IF you attempt to beat man down
and to get his goods for less than a fair
price, you are attempting to commit
burglary, as much as though you broke
into his shop to take the things without
paying for them. There is cheating on
both sides of the counter, and generally
less behind it than before it.
As THE sails of a ship carry it into the
harbor, so prayer carries it to the throne
and bosom of God. But as the sails
cannot of themselves speed the progress
of the vessel, unless filled with a favora-
bic breeze, so the Holy Spirit must
breathe upon our hearts, or our prayers
will be motiOnleSs and lifeless.
WHEN Death strikes down the inno-
nocent and young, for every fragile form
from which he let's the painting spirit
free, a hundred virtues rise, in shapes of
mercy, charity and love, to walk the
world and bless it. OF every tear that
sorrowing mortals shed ON such green
graves, some good is born, some gentler
nature comes.
Nor all thoughts are equally true, not
all feelings equally worthy. Wedding
and pruning, as well as cultivating and
harmonizing, are necessary to the gar
den of the mind and heart, or it will be
ruined. And the contrasting colors,
fragrance and stature of the plants form
one of the chief charms of a well-kept
garden, and imply no discrepancy or
contradiction.
A GOOD life, where sin is resisted and
virtue cultivated, where wisdom is stored
up and folly banished, where benevo-
lence, and love reign and malice and
hatred are driven away, is the founda-
ton of a valuable old age. Bodily
may decline, but the purity, the
wisdom, the experience will remain to
benefit society in manner and to de-
gree that can flow from no zeal of youth