The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1889-04-26
HERE AND HEREAFTER.

Who hath greater combat than he that la
boreth to overcome himsef.-[Thomas
Kempis.
1t is self-absorption that carves wrinkles in
the face and streaks the hair with gray
Kindly thought and labor for others depend
ent and beloved-the living out of and not in
the petty round of personal and individual
interests-keep heart and energies fresh
Selected.
To be misunderstood even by those who m
one loves is the cross and bitterness of life.
1t is the secret of that sad and melancholy
smile on the lips of great men which so few
understand; it is the cruelest trial reserved
for self-devotion it is what must have often
est wruns the heart of the Son of Man; and
if God could suffer, it would be the wound
we should be forever inficting upon Him. He
also-He above all-is the great msunder.
stood, the least cOmprehended. Alas! alas !!
Never to tire, never to grow cold; to be pa
tient, sympathetic, tender; to look for the
budding flower and the opening heart; to
hope always, llke COO; 10 love alWays-tnls
is duty Amiel.
Astronomers tell us that the motion Of the
earth hss not probably varied in million
years. They have no figures for expressing
the age of the sun. All is wonderful except
man. Endowed with mind like Deity, en-
lowed with heart like the divine heart, he
Is doomed to grave before his powers have
reached even partial action. Tnirty-three
years sweeps away all this human pageant.
If this be true, there is nothing so imperish-
able as stone, there is nothing so contemp-
tible as divine soul. The oak tree will live
a thousand years, and thus will see 80 gener-
atoms of men pass away. There are oaks in
England in whose shade children have played,
and kings and queens have paused to rest, in
the 10 hundred years gone. The white ele-
plants of India live century, thus surpaSs
ing that being whom we behold endowed
with reason, memory, hope. love and relig-
ion If man has no life beyond then we per-
ceNe this being taken away from the highest
order or earth. and bestowed upon the OAK of
the forest, or the dumb brute of India. Rea-
son must deny this, and must feel that man
must surpass the brute world by life on an
other shore. There is to be found an arena
OF time adequate to the lofty endowment of
mind and heart which man possesses.-[R REV.
David Swing.
He speaketh, but it is with US to hearken or
no. 1t is much, yea, it is everything, not to
turn away the ear, to be willing to hearken,
not to drown His voice. "The secret of the
Lord is with them that fear HIM. 1t is a
secret, hushed voice, a gentle intercourse of
heart to heart, still, small voice, whispering
to the inner ear. How should we hear it, if
we ill our ears and our hearts with the din of
this world, its empty tumult, its excitement,
It's 1rettlng vanltles, or cares, or passions, or
anxieties, or show, or rvalres, and its whirl
Of emptiness.-fE E. B. Perry.
Nothing is harder in life. nor nobler, than
to do ones simple duty when there is strong
temptation not to do it. A duty that would |
De very easy at another time. is very difficult |
1ne just then. Yet 1t may be said that a man
deserves no credit for doing his simple duty. |
That is true in one sense. but not in another |
A man has no right to claim any credit for
simple duty-doing at any time; yet if he does |
lis simple duty when strongly tempted not to
10 it. he shows the spirit of Il real hero, or of
! real saint. Even though he claims no credit
or himself in such case, we should fail in
,ur simple duty.if we did not accord it to him,
When did any man ever bear himself worthily
md with nobleness. save by doing just that
which, ali things considered, was his simple
luty? Our nobleness is really tested by our
bilty TO perceive and to honor the noble ness
f another's simple uty-doing-when it is
worthy of such recognition Selected.