Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1896-07-16

rocky lodges 10 cheer the weary traveller
onward with Its hopeful presence.
aLife is not mean. II Il grand" II God
had not thought II worthy Of man He
would not have descended Ia the dust
atom and the tiny crystal dewdrop on q
grass blade. "I3ut he has made il glori-
Jus. It's banks He fringed with flowers
lie channels He pave3 with diamonds.
He over-arched il with stars Around II
He spread the glory ofa Physical Universe,
suns, moons, stars and consultations"
While oar SORROWS are many, the few
joys We have gfisten with such brightness
that our sorrows sink away even as the
clouds scatter before the sun.
So man rises mentally and physically
from among the creatures of the earth and
compels them into obedience even as God
rises with His Divine Holiness above man
and places him ON the earth, which Ii Gods
footsfool
Men must go forth on the Battlefield of
Life with q strong arm and stout heart,
always foremost in the fight to strike q
blow that sewers one Of the cords that binds
him to moral depravity. He must not
finch at the deadly missiles that fly all
around him, but keep steadily onward
with a will mistaken and a purpose un.
swerved.
The battle will not be won in day, but
after years of struggle and toll. An acorn
Is not an oak when II Is sprouted. II has
10 go through long summers and fierce
winters. II has 10 endure all that frost,
snow. storm and wind calrkring before IL
Il fall grown oak. The great heroes that
have gone before us did not rise TO fame
and fortune until after many years Of bat
Ting with the difficulties that lay around
them. Some of our greatest poets have
died, leaving behind them their great works
that immortalized their name. Such a one
was Milton, the blind poet, whose Paradise
Lost" has lived through the centuries that
have wrecked empires and monarchies.
We must not then be impatient for hon.
or and fame, even after long years of toll
ing and waiting, for
Gods plans like lilies, pure and white unfold
We must not tear the close shut leaves apart
Time viii reveal the calyxes OF gold"
Even then il we do not receive those hon.
ors until after we have passed away, isn't
il grander and greater that we should leave
behind US something to make men weep
over our sorrows, sympathize and admire
in the tribulations through which we have
passedI Has not our poet Longfellow said,
Lives of great men all remind u.s.
We can make our lives sublime,
And departing, leave behind Us,
Footprints on the sands OF time"
There is not note oil sorrow in the hu.
man soul without there is q loftier strain of
joys 10 accompany it. Life is not all sor-
row, or was 1t ever intended TO be. Every
ones life is exactly as he makes It, fla
man possesses the higher qualities oftruth.
| fulness, integrity and goodness, "that in
bred loyalty uato virtue which can serve
without livery" as one of our older writers
has said, he can make his life full of glad
some joy that chases away each successive
shadow as II comes. He carries with him
a power irresistible, power to do good,
| power TO bear up under every difficulty.
When. Stephen, of Colona, fell into the
| hands of his base assailants they asked
him in derision, Where is now your for.
tress 2" Here" he answered, placing his
hand over his heart.
1t is in misfortune that the character of
the upright man shines forth with the
greatest lustre. He minds not the scorn.
ings nor the sarcasms of the world, hut
plods diligently along TO his destined goal.
Such a man can shed an influence all
around him, even as the suns rays imparts
Its warmth to each little flower. He can
start out in life with these higher princi-
piles, choosing the path that leads among
the thorns and stones, but that ends in
hornless roses. peace, joy, happiness and
honor. Then, indeed, will that man leave
behind him a white, fiawless monument to
stand ever TO his fame-a monument of
victory gained in the turmoils, crosses and
wounds on the Battlefield of Life.
Cdlcert County, Maryland.