The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1890-12-26

After an all days shopping expedition
in The cfowdfd sores ard streets. am
fearful that very lew notes Of interest will
be transmitted. ,Iave never faileth."
Surely as the busy shoppers 90 from place
to place selecting and then cutting from
tEeir Sele %ctions, love appears 10 be the
I clief end OF lite. Ard .fDot love, what
should b.? ! Gi4aix old ORD indeed
would be oais did we not hasten our steps
TO tie ~ eet influences which arise from
this divine source. After speeding nine
hours IN tic hutryiEg, bustling. but good
natured crowd, one cannot help but reach
this conclusion-that tie American people,
! whether they arc OF the manor born or not,
| are a very orderly and We might say a very
well bred people. For in all the rush
and furry not one unkiudly or impolite
! action was noticeable. with one exception,
but that one being Il semi barbarian per-
hans. ard not accustomed to seeing healthy
people, why our maguanimity arose and
we have excused the feud as best We could.
But if any one ever disliked a crowd as
much as we, then we think yesterdays ex-
p~erieuce would teach them Il lesson. For
Il we are ever fonBd out Oh snch an expe-
ditien again hen the food tide of Christ
mas is SO near upon us then experience Will
prove a poor teacher. What are the OBJ
tCLtiDllss liicts AS-1b LA4Nt 4 III LbbiAs Az
crowd. To say nothing of the oft repeated
answer to the enquiries for different aIti-
Giles which we we're in search: Pm very
sorry, but we are just out Of that par
ticular style However, before this letter
reaches the flood tide will be on the ebb,
and, Will Christmas joys be forgotten? or
will it be as we haze read that: Whatever
OF real love or sympathy or self-sacri9ce or
heroism we give To others rot only bIesses
and benefits them but rebounds to gladden.
and bless our own lives. -" "Nhateveris done
in love aud sincerity, with the simple
des.r of expressing kindly feeling, Will, in
somA way, react upon our OWN characters
aud lives, and make them purer andsweet-
er. II is never lost. Even though we
should meet only indifference and ingrati-
tude from those we serve, still. the kiad-
ness we have felt and expressed cannotd die.
1t lives and grows tnd develops within
us, making us richer. nobler and happier
men and women. Ingratitude is mean,
but there is an expectation Of gratitude,
which is also mean. Il IS a sort of demand
of payment oil %fevoIs, aud he who Graves it
ana feels Injured If he has it not, has not
yet learned tie true happiness Of giving"
In a week We will be saying to 1890:
"we did SO laugh and cry with you,
I've half "a mind to die with you,
cid year, ifyou must die"
But at the death Of the cid and tie birth
OF the new. l suppose We viii all say
"Alack, our friend is gone.
Close up his eyes: lie up his chin:
step from The corpse and lei him in
That standeth there alone
And waiteth at the door.
There's II new foot on the floor, my friend,
Anew face ut the door, my friend,
! new face at the door,
H.. A. 1,resi1, ,.C4 o,5ro =, o,-r >, ip1o
how we will greet that new face? Whether
or not our faces vii be cloaded at the loss
of the old familiar face? or, whether the
new viii be so welcome that we wiIlforget
to mourn the death of the old. But as
those questions recur in our mind We are
brought to answer thus: the old year was
not a friend after which we would be sup
posed to grieve, although upon its face may
be W ritten much the remembrance Of which
will sweeten or enrich cur lives through
out all the year. And we may not realize
hom the pain, tie sorrow, the disappoint-
ments as well as the happier things,
has been, of the two, the nrmer basis
through which our lives have been enrich
ed. And now as &C open the dOeT to the
glad New Year, We trust all may
be strengthened to leave their old
pains behind them, resolving IN their
hearts 10 SO I'VE lhal Iaey may not only
greet this first day with smiling face, but
that each succeeding day may be SO bless
ed with the true interests of the living aud
not the dead things of existence, that every
morning of the year which Is about TO step
in, may be greeted cordially, showing a
welcome to Him ho counts the years as
but moments in His all seeing eminence,
which will reflect upon each one the fact
that they are e~adeayoring to
Give truly, that their lives
May be a great and noble creed
Very sincerely, RUTH.
Phiiadelphia, 18th mo-, %, 1890.