The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1895-03-14

and read it so often for him that l
fell in love with it myself. 1t is his ode
to the Water Fowl. quote a portion.
.'Whither. midst falling dew,
While glow the heavens with the last.step OF day,
Far through their rosy depths. dOSt thou pursue
Thy solitary way?
"Vainly the fOwler's eye
Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong.
AS darkly seen against the crimson sky.
Thy figure floats along.
There is power whose care
Teaches thy way along the painless coast
The desert and imitable air
Lone wandering but not lost.
Thou 'rt gone the abyss of heaven
Hath swallowed up thy FORM yet on my heart
Deeply has sunk the lesson thou hast given |
And shall not soon depart.
And as you watch the water fowl
seeking, according to the season, its
northern or southern home, recall the
verse;
HE who from zone to zone,
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain
In the long way that must tread alone
Will lead my steps Alright
cannot close without saying that
this power to read and the love of
reading will enable you to study in
telligently that book of books, which
has within it's lids the grandest of
history, the most wonderful of pIophesy,
the most beautiful of poetry's the ripest
of wisdom, and the most tender pathos.
| In it you will find some verse fitted
| to every condition. to every emotion
and to every season of grief and joy.
What soul is so troubled that it cannot
find a comfort in communion with Job,
who in all his tribulatiOns retained his
faith, SO beautifully expressed in his
exclamation:
Though He slay me. yet will trust Him.
What poetry more beautiful than
that which we find in the twenty-third
psalm:
1.-The Lord is my Shepherd; shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters;
He restoreth my SOUL
Yea though walk through the valley of the
| shadow Of death
| will fear no evil, for Thou art with me-.
Thy rod and Thy staff. they comfort me.
Where in all literature do we find a
passage more touching than Davids
lament over Absolom? Though that
son was in rebellion against him and
sought to take away the kingdom. yet
the messenger who returned from the
t battle field was met by the father with
the eager inquiry, us the young man
Absolom safe? And when at last the
news of his death came, the father as
cended to his room, exclaiming:
l "Oh, my son Absolom, my son
;. my son Absolom! Would God that
[ had died for thee. Oh, AbsOlom, my
) son, my son.
Let me encourage you, boys, to con
tinue the work you have taken up
These books which you read will b'
constant and never changing com
paniOns. Friends may leave you, ac
quaintances may differ from you, ant
depart, but these, your new-foun,
friends will ever turn to you with smil
ing faces, and / can assure you that n
one of you will ever regret day or a.
hour spent in profitable reading.
The reading by Mrs. Rolling was th
not unfamiliar story of "Connor, stor
of manly, honest, earnest, cheerful an
self-denying struggle with poverty, an
perseverance under difficulties an
ye amid trials, of conjugal and paterns
III faith and affliction, of suffering an
10 cruelty from heartless companions, {
h. a struggle lifelong, until heart an
a. flesh failed; wife and child lay burie
as in the ocean depths and he was lai
,u away in his solitary grave.
ed The story, briefly recounted, is SOM
lis what as follows:
7n CONNOR.
"To the memory of Patrick Como
rly this simple stone was erected by h
fellow workingmen," is the simple i
ew scription on plain white marble sls
g." in a cemetery not far from the city
all New York.
ne Connor in his freize jacket and mu
ok laden brogans, applied for work at
tin and hardware shop, Mr.. Bawne's
3D. 'sI've been tould ye advertised f
nd hands, yer honor"
)rt Mr.. Bawne told him he was only OF
RS of fifty who had answered his adve