Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1894-04-12
CHOICE EXCERPTS.


and so prepares every man for itself.
CHOICE EXCERPTS.
To give suggestion, or even seriou
advice to another, may be kind and wise
but to progress either beyond certain
limits is both rude and impolitic.
NOTHING more surely marks them or
al advancement of man than his increas
ing power to identify himself and hi
own interests with those of larger circle
of humanity.
IN every pursuit of life it is the effort
the preparation, the discipline, the earn
est labor that makes the valuable mai
in every department, not the mere fac
of his occupying this or that position.
Nor only does straightforward criti
cism serve the cause of truth and justic'
by revealing the reality, instead of dis
torted conception of it, it also puts int
the hands of the speaker an inf1uenc.
for good which can be gained in no 9th
er way.
He that is habituated to deceptions
and artificialities in trifles will try in
vain to be true in matters of Importance
for truth is thing of habit rather than
of will. A man cannot in any given
case by any sudden and single effort
will to be true if the habit of his life has
been insincerity.
TIE unseen is greater than the seen
The friend that you love is not the form
that is visible to your eye. 1t is the un.
seen spirit, the soul that is invisible tC
sense, that awakens your affection The
outward and visible has no power ovel
the heart, save as it is symbol for the
unseen intelligence that accompanies it.
To despise and defy custom as whole
is simply to show our ignorance of its
real nature. On the other hand. il is
equally absurd to depend upon it, as if it
were infallible. The very fact that il
has continually improved is conclusive
evidence that it will continue to do so,
and we should help and not hinder the
good work.
THERE are numerous ways in which
business must be watched. One must
love the business cne is engaged in, and
seek to make it all that it should be.
The mark of excellence cannot be placed
too high. Reward for his labors is sure
to come to the dilgent man, and that
was well known in the days of Solomon.
who said, "Seest thou a man diligent in
his business? He shall stand before
kings; he shall not stand before mean
men,"
CULTURE. in opposition alike to ego
ism and egotism, quickens and extends
both intelligence and sensibility, and
thus yields a refinement which carefully
subordinates all merely personal attri-
butes, sectarian prejudices, or partisan
considerations to public interests, gen
eral principles, the ACKNOWLEDGED stand
ards of the company in which one finds
himself. This is what distinguishes the
universal code of politeness from the
universal code of vulgarity.
THE first step which man takes in
the direction of his own overthrow is
not to do some overt act of evil. A boat
that lies on the waters edge does not be
gin to wreck itself by thrusting Itself
out abruptly into the current; it begins
by lying on the beach and letting the
current play with it. If it is chained to
the rock, no harm can come to it; mis-
chief begins when it half lies on the
beach and half floats on the water. The
trouble with people is that they are
drifting. They are the chip on the
wave instead of the watch tower on the
shore
ASIDE from the very important and
controlling influences of inheritance, of
diet, and of temperate habits, the points
to be learned from the few statistical
data attainable are that longevity is
promoted by quiet, peaceful life, in a
retired and rural community. where there
is freedom from nervous strain and wor-
rying and excessively laborious toll. The
business man, with increasing cares and
responsibilities, the mill operative toll
ing hard to keep together the souls and
bodies of himself and his family, the
politicians, the hard working profession
nj b-Cus diC uOb IHC CiliCl
the centenarian ranks. DIR. Holyoke.
indeed, became centenarian, but his
example has rarely been followed by his
professional brethren.
VAGUE dreams are worse than value
less. They carry the mind away from
the duties that lie near at hand, through
which alone the distant honors may be
approached. How often we hear people
discussing what they would do if they
had money, how generous and philan-
thropic they would be; and meantime
they are not showing the qualities they
admired In all these loose thoughts of
future gains, whether they are fostered
by the indolently ambitious youth, or
the maiden with high-pitched expecta
ton, or the parent lovingly weaving
fairy fortunes for the child, or the aspir.
ant greedy for social consideration, there
is one common note of failure-the "liv-
ing present is neglected, and the
dreamer forgets that what he is now he
would still be however much his sur
roundings might change. If he cannot
distinguish himself here, he cannot there
in fact. the capacity to do well now is
the warrant for trying to do well uLder