Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1892-02-05
Economy Of Time.
from Tho Waoerley Progress, by ]. L.
LODGE, D. D., Editor.

Nothing so infallibly marks the faulty OF
| a common character as the willful abuse OF
this most priceless Of earthly treasures. Or
dinarily, it is not thoughtlessness (; it is not
imprudence it is not ignorance; it is
deliberate crime. First intuitions, primal
lessons on the page of that open book all
eyes read and every mind may comprehe nd,
convict the judgment, inform reason, and
leave the transgressor without excuse. No
value can be set upon the privilege; no
earthly measurements can guage the oppor-
tunity; regret probes without mitigation or
cessation the superlatively tortured con-
science the profoundest depths of suffer- ng
have been fathomed when anguished sensi-
tiveness has been regained. He who sought
riches, dug for gold, searched for diamonds,
hshed for pearls, coveted star-dust, has lost
all in losing time.
The fatal illusion might more easily be
swept away, the bedazzlement of truths
splendid light disspate the dreadful dark.
ness reigning in the intellect and shrouding
the affections, could calm thought appre-
ciate the real nature of that wondrous mys-
terry to which men give common name. If
it could be understood that we cannot con-
ceive of or deal with it in the aggregate, be.
cause, of its three divisions, our use or en-
joyment is limited to that passing section of
the awful whole which we call the present.
The facts and arguments stand out lumin-
Gus in these words of Beaumont:
Time flows from instants, and of these, each
one
Should be esteemed as if it were alone;
Let it but slide into tn eternal main,
No realms, no worlds can purchase 1t again.
Precisely because this is so, because sixty
seconds make minute, sixty minutes make
an hour because the arithmetical table Is
inexorably linked to the Judgment throne
OF the Eternal and all the endless cycles, the
theme can never become common. place or
the admonition superlous. The watch ticks
time :" the clock strikes past" conscience,
reason, revelation say, "actp Even If it
were right, the wish to recall is vain. 1t
cannot be right, because the transition order
is divine, and displays wisdom, justice, and
goodness, in equal measure in this one de-
cree. Besides, the usual division is in the
nature of an accommodation. AS an eternal
verify it has no existence. Young caught
the true idea when he wrote:
Time is eternity,
Pregnant with all eternity can give;
Pregnant with all that makes archangels
smile.
Who murders time, he brushes in the birth
A power ethereal, only not adorned.
! Eternity is continuation of time in way
like that in which night turns TO day. Who
ever murders time would Stay eternity; but
is intercepted by the ours e.
The solemn duty of sacredly employing
the tleeting particles includes the common.
est and necessary with the highest and i'm
perative things. TO disdain the body as
totally unworthy because in all respects it
does not rank with the soul, is to adopt at
second hand the rash conclusions of q shall
low philosophy and the mental habit Of mis-
| guided religionsts While in union with
the spirit in the sublunary sphere it has real
| needs. 1t is duty to selt and therefore piety
to God, 10 supply these. The wrong lies in
not cruclying its lusts, and denying its un-
lawful cravings. To amass wealth in the
spirit of a mlser, gloating over the mere
! possession, betrays so weak mind as to
produce disgust. To desire money for the
purposes of the voluptuary and the liber
tine, reveals brutality that horrifes To
court the means Of gratifying the tastes and
habits of idlers and pleasure seekers, marks
lack Of enlightenment and character which
excites notifying pity rather than unquali
fled anger Yet one Of these is the impul-
sion with most who strive to hoard up pelf.
| But wrong direction does not alter the ad.
u
tuates them. Beggary, in spite of the posi-
biity of better condition, is criminal De-
pendence, under any circumstances, is hide
Gus. Not wealth, but competence, is the
worthy aim of every man. Time is the only
indestructible capital on which to work.
Here, as everywhere, it must be kept In
mind that 10 day is all there is. What be-
longs to youth cannot be transferred TO mid
die age the new and increasing response
biites and burdens OF that mature season
are far too onerous for old age. 1t is sad
beyond all description when the last of life,
hesitating, bewldered helpless, in unpited
nudity has its last resource in dreamy in
terrogation of distant and kinder realm
La all the writings of that masterful intel
lect, that profound philosopher, that acute
discerner Of human motives and impulses,
Victor Hugo, have seen nothing which
presents truth Ia more luminous even if
sorrowful aspect than that sentence in Les
MsSerdJteS which describes the d0sttution
of the aged man The wretchedness of a
child interests a mother, the wretchedness
of a youth interests an old man, but the
wretchedness of an old man interests no.
body, and 1t is the coolest of all dstresses."
Add, only, that the old man is poor, and
you have misery personified before you.
| The loss of moments, which is the loss Of
days, which is the loss Of years, which is the
waste of time, brings poverty, and poverty
| brings misery. He who would climb from
Indulgence 10 competency, who would cut
his way through cold granite walls Of hu.
maa selfishness, Indifference, and sinister
reflections, must rouse himself, deny himself,
till he realize his goal in prosperity 1t
must not be he of whom DR.. Watts could
say
IT'S the voice of the sluggard, I've heard
him complain,
"You have walked me too soon, must Stun.
Der again."
As the door on its hinges 50 he on his bed,
Turns his side, and his shoulders, and his
heavy head.
Homer says: "Bad companions have ruin
ed me, and in addition TO these, excessive
sleep" And the Book Of Proverbs says /;
"Drowsness shall clothe man with rags"
So far the view has been limited 10 the
influence wise, economical use Of time
exerts upon the procurement Of creature
comforts, in lifting above the asperities OF
want, in freeing from the domination OF cor
rosive anxiety and care. These, though re
ally considerable, appear too paltry almost
for comparison when the mind becomes the
subject OF our reflection. There's nothing
great III lnlS WORTH DuL uudu LntIc > mum
ing great In man but mind" Thus, the basal
doctrine underlying the universe, explain
ing its existence, interpreting the visible
signs OF destiny, clarifying even the mortal
in the earth's masters, is the first lesson the
wise soul has 10 learn. IL must come as a
revelation, for il can come in no other way.
The listless, jaded, air, the enRui discernible
in so many faces and in 80 many actions, is
probably irremediable. The process Of en-
iightenment will be tedious and unsatisfac-
tory. 1t will be found difficult, perhaps i'm
possible, 10 animal with interest in ethereal
subjects natures prone satisfied and familiar
with the dust. A qualified man may give
them arguments; God alone can give them
brains.
The genuine philomath needs no urging
W fill up every moment with originatioR Of
ideas, digesting and assmilating the learn
ing oil others as the best preparation for per
, sonal exerton in either thought or action
With him thought and study, in the true
sense, IS a passion, a craving, thirst which
knows and can know no satiatlon, but grows
upon the thing on which it feeds. The diff