The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1888-01-04
For The Mirror.
The New Year.


Will the New Year come tO-nigh? Yes,
with all its hopes and happiness, it's gloom
and sadness and tears. What is it to us in
this sepulchre of lost manhood? All that
it is to the struggling millions. We are not
dead; we are but sleeping off the effects of
debauch, and renewing our vigor that we
may emerge from hence the more capable
of success-with greater energy to with
stand defeat. The year that dawns tonight
will see many who are now with us again
at liberty mingled with the ever moving,
grasping players in the great drama of Life.
Let us hope that no Inflated star will be
their guide, no false dream lure them from
ennObling pursuits. If there is one univer-
sal principal taught within these walls. it is
that, AL is vanity The novice realizes
this. but. alas. is not always able to profit
by the golden truth. The rash player. who
is here from some indScretiOn, and the
victim OF circumstances who is guilty of no
crime; each realize it. for they see how even
they might have lived in a manner that
would have made their present condition
impossible. The professional KNOWS 1T
over and over again, as a truth many times
learned, but never heeded-never properly
needed. He may have tried to profit by the
lesson Of life, over the course of which is
written in letters too plain to be misjudged-
failure; but he yielded to Encouragement, or
was drawn by the magnet that had become
stronger than diseased will. Judge not,
dear reader, too harshly. lest you get be-
You'd your depth in the vast sea of human
nature. Perhaps you are not in position
to say where you would now be had the
same tempteTS haunted your life. There is
said to be a limit at which all human will
SecumbS. and there is. no truth in human
philosophy more positive than, There is
no hight from which man may not fall"
But while this is true and applies with
double force to those who ARE not as other
men" it is equally true that there is no
depth from which he way not rise, and this
it is with which we have to do. The germ of
manhood may be deeply buried from HUI
man eyes," but it is not dead, and will
come to the surface if persistent effort is
made in the right direction. Will we make
the effort. or will we placidly yield? Yes,
many will be restored to liberty during the
year, but many more will count the long
and heavy hours of Imprisonment with no
hope of liberty before an other New Year
rolls round. And even many who have a
hope will, no doubt, live to experience dis
appointment. But, however this may be.
certain it is nothing can be gained by dis
couragement, and everything is lost. Let
us gain consolation III taking life as it
comes and making the best of it," This
has been said to be the true philosophy of
life in any sphere. 1t is fOrcibly illustrated
in the happiness of the cottage compared
with the misery of the palace, the content
ment OF the peasant, and the suffering of
the king. There is always room in the hui
man mind for hope: without 1T no life can
be a success. So, in the New Year, let us
hope for the best, and remember that
''Vice is monster of such fearful MEN
That to be dreaded needs but be seen;
But seen too Oft familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace
Dec. 81, 1887, d. IN. c.