St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-11-09
HAD ONLY Known"
Trouble and Mistakes Would Be
Avoided if the Foresight Was
as Good as the Hindsight.


Avoided if the Foresight Mas
as Good as the Hindsight.
Special Letter to The Globe
FOUNTAIN, Mimi, Oct. eff had
only knownw Oh, yes, If you and l,
and countless numbers, had only known
the way. and the right way, very often,
we might have so many, very many,
happy hearts thr0bbing with joy to-day,
that now mourn with yoieelesS pain
IF had only knOwnr' Only the Good
Father knows the bitter cup we are
Obliged to drain to the dregS. He reads
the S0rrOwful story of our not knowing
what we ought to do. and doing it when
we know, in time. We may do the right
and make amends for many wrongs, but
tits the wrong We cannot right that
makes us cry out, ''If l had only
known" Those few words have come
down through the past ages of time, and
will still go on, never leaving one to
forget that we have done some one act
in the morning of our life that will
come up to plague us until we forget in
deaths evening the mornings trans
erosion. Will we forget it then?
Will the woman that married a ''tlD-
pler"-knowiBg it too-but thought to
nun, anu VII uOO' OoO LAOAAA AASA
little children and moan, ''if l had only
KNOWN" forget it in the grave? VIII
not her sin follow her beyond the grave
and into the presence of the Greatest
Judge, that judges according to the
deeds done in the body while on earth.
God pity the young girl who gives her
ali TO a man that looks upon the wine
and drinks of it, for he may become the
whisky Sot long before she is aware OF
his degradation. and past reformation.
And to marry man that loves the "ar-
dent" thinking to reform him, is the
greatest folly a young girl can be guilty
of. 1t is sinful deed that she will re-
pent in Sackeloth and ashes all her days
on earth.
What can a woman do with the man
whose manhood is drowned in the bowl
that intoXicateSo A young girl should
never be more than friend. and never
that with any young man that has not
sufficient manhood and strength of pur-
pose to keep away from the saloon and
all that is accessory to the place. In
truth, every young man should have so
much pride in his young manhood that
lie would Scorn to enter the doors OF
saloon at any time. He should be as
careful of his own conduct as he would
have his own mother or sister be Of their
department.
have seen the death palor on the fa-
theirs face, his stout form suddenly
droOp, and life seemed departing from
his body as his only son came home al
most staggering with the wine he had
drank at an evening party. The moth
er? God knows the agony of that night
as she knelt beside that sons bed and
in dead silence prayed and wTeStled in
prayer for him, the only son God had
left her to lean upon in her sorrow for
the one He had taken from her. Silence
reigned supreme in the early morning,
while a world of woe was surging
through the hearts of that stricken ia
Their and mother. and the erring son
slept that sleep.
But that was not the only home that
passed the early morning hours in grief,
prayer and terror over the mixed wine
and whiSkey, but it was the last time in
that one home, for young manhood
arose in its strength, and the boy of
eighteen became man of years, AMI
yet no words had been addressed to him
on the subject. 1t was written on their
pale faces, and he could read it there.
If we could once convince young girls
of the way that certain words or deeds
may be miSc0nstrued. or the harm they
may yet do, all uncOnsciOusiy, this cry
of IF had ouly known" would not be
so heartrending as it is.
Elm this Western world there is more
freedom or latitude given or taken by
the Young in mixed assemblies than in
the older states, which never should be
permitted by parents that ought to
know better. as it leads to bitterness Of
ones life in one way or another.
Some people seem to think their
daughters must marry anyway, and it
| seems to matter little or not who or
what the man is who offers himself for
q place in their family circle, he is ac-
cepted without any hesitation ap-
parently on the part of any
member OF the household, for
the girl may never have another
offer of marriage from another man and
the marriage rites are cOnSummated.
Sometimes these parties rise above
their surroundings, but more often
they add to the class that fills, up the
charitable institutions of the state or
county, and the children keep in the
same path their parents trade. Now
and then one will say in tones of sor-
row or anger-if l had only known.
They did know, but did not realize the
! great truth in the morning of their
| youth and in Midway of life, yet some
| thing of view of what it might have
been in the evening of their life, had
! they been taught to aspire to better
| life if it was life of poverty for them.
There is not, nor can there be, any
shutting out of those that aspire 10 a
higher plane in life, only each and
| every one must make themselves
worthy of place in the ranks above
| their present condition if they would
go up higher in the scale of humanity.
| 1t has been done time and again, and
will be done by those that labor for it
with patience and persistence, and in
1 ffa Yirbf xxav