The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1892-01-21
Five Gents,
Don't Fret.

1 have often, since my arrival here,
noticed peculiarly marked traces of sadness
among the inmates. Each and every one
has surging memories of past that is bet
ter gone; only remOrse to whisper of life
that might have been, and his thoughts are
strongly and almost indellibly reflected in
his face. This is more noticeable in the
younger men. The old ones land by this l
do not mean older in SIM look at life and
its immediate surroundings in true phiIo-
sophical light. Some there are. doubt not.
who may be unjustly confined here. Cir
cumstances have been against them. To
such 1t is hard, bitter hard. to bear up and
wear mask of cheerfulness when the heart
is sunk in gloom. Often when in this
frame of mind thoughts OF revenge are up.
permOSt. Let us remember the venerable
Franklin's words: Doing an injury puts
you below your enemy; revenging one
makes you even with him; forgiving it sets
you above him." This spirit of gOOminess
and thoughts of revenge leave their traces
on the countenance which years cannot
eradicate. BroOding over the past is to
misspend the present and jeOpardiZe the
future.
Try to overcome this terrible bitterness
of spirit. for the discipline of the past may
have been sent to purify us and make us
better men and women.
Some eighteen years ago Bill Nye was
elected a justice of the peace in some Mon
tana town. There were two other justices
in the town. They got all the pecuniary
benefits to be derived from the Office while
Bill got all the stand offs. or else had to
take his pay in old saddle bows. worn out
blankets and such like--but never a cent
in the coin of the realm. Last week while
Bill was thinking of the past. it struck him
for the first time that his election was only
a bit of political humor with nothing to it,
About ten years ago there was not
wrinkle or furrOw in my face, to day have
more than my share at my time of life. and
just ''tumbled' to it few minutes ago
that this is the result of worrying and
fretting. Laugh and the world laughs with
you" is an old and true saying.
DO your task here in a spirit of self
loyalty, and when you again enter the world
a free man your chances for work are
thousand fold brighter if you can apply for
it with a cheerful cOuntenance; but let that
gloomy cast once settle upon you and your
prospects grow dim. There is everything
tOrbidding to the merchant in gloomy
face.
Let us learn from Sundays sermon that
if we are to succeed in life we must have q
defined purpose to that end. Let each one
say: l will make my course on the chart Of
better life and follow it; l will follow it
without swerving. through rocks and
shoals, through storm and calm, to haven
of rest and peace. will mark my course
now. to-day. and follow it. Our lives will
yield as we SOW them. harvest of chaff or
grain. Let us remember the richest flowers
bloom in the deepest forest gloom; the
thOrny plant which has been bitten by the
frost stands forth a king among its rosy
creation.
"Smile when you can; it may tighten burden.
You know not how many your brother must
bear
Know not how ofttmes bright smile may soften
heart that is ready to yield to despair"
To sum it all up. Don't Fret. M. f.