The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1895-01-03

weigh we'll the fact that your least
punishment is the hardship OF con-
vict's life, and the sure degradation and
shame surrounding it; your greatest,
the loss of so many hours of your
precious life. Consider it, we pray
you, in all it's bearings; in the many
catastrophes, heartaches, sorrows, joys
and happiness, that can be encom-
passed in that one year. Mothers, wives,
children, brothers, sisters, all may pass
away during that year. Opportunities
may arise, that were you free to grasp,
would place you upon the topmost
round of the ladder of success; and
saddest of all, that very year may be
your last upon earth; surrounded by
bars and bolts, your body incased in
the garb of degradation, life passes
away, and convict's grave opens for
what remains; lost, forgotten, execrat-
ed by all the pure and good. In vain
you cry at the hour of dissolution:
ooh God! could | but recall that year,
what amends l would make, how pre-
ciously l would guard that life" No
power, human or divine, could give it
back to you; no resolution that you
might make, however cOnscientiOusly,
would avail, it is lost forever. Young
men, we speak to you, from a heart
and mind schooled by experience. that
time lost is mans greatest punishment.
Guard it well, it is precious, it is with
out price. Keep the thought ever be-
fore you, that life is now, death and
eternity in an instant, be prepared
for it,
TO our fellow-inmates to whom the
past year is lost we would say: This,
the beginning of new year, is our
opportunity to make use of the time
with us; every moment is as precious
to us here, as If we were out in the
world, if we but utilize it toward
the uplifting of our natures; if we but
build up character fit to co! with
the world when once again we are at
liberty to face it. In order to do this,
we must resOlutely cast off every last
shred, every thought of the past that
is lost; and knowing our failures, build
up barriers against their recurrence.
We know that along the lines we have
drifted in the dead past, there is no
hope for us: that continuation along
the path that made us what we are to-
day, outcasts from society, we can find
no comfort, no peace; that as the past
has been, the present is, so will be the
future, no matter how long life lasts
There is no stronger incentive for us
to put OH new resolutions to strive for
a better life, than serious cOntempla-
ton of the causes that led up to our
present condition. Let us, therefore, in
the very beginning of this glad new
year that is with us, make every pre-
ciOus moment count; Danish every ILL
will, every pernicious thought, every
thought of continuation of an evi
life. and even while here we will be
the better for it. Our cOnsciences will
become clear: we will be on the side OF
God and the right, and life will loon
up to us more beautiful, because of the
fires through which it has been puri
fled. We have every opportunity; g
school to learn unlimited time fol
reflection and study; away from the
temptations Of the saloon, our greatest
enemy; away from the vulgar, every
opportunity is oars to train the heart
and mind, SO that we may walk from
this prison finding everything in life
worth the living. 1t requires no great
effort on our part; let us place our
selves on trial, looking upward to Z
divine power for strength; concen
trate our minds on the pure, the bet
ter side of life; read healthy books, an(
: take inspiration from the lives of thos'
who have benefited the world; an(
when 1895 shall have taken its place
l in history. let it be recorded that i
was year we'll spent.