Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1896-12-31
speci.ioorrespondenc- OF saze.te and Journal

be thOughtleHS all the year through, but
there comes time when. waiting for
the bells to ring in the New Year,
we are forced to think. Not to dream
about the pleasure of tomorrow, not
to gIoat over the delights of yesterday,
not to linger over the delicate feasts,
not to remember the fascination of the
game. OF the beautiful woman, of the
dainty dishes, or the fine wines; but
to face that inward monitor. the con-
science, and wonder about the future.
Somewhere, my friend, there is a Life
Book that has, written upon the first
page, your name. The preface tells OF
Z gil that is yours by heredity; of your
environments, and the temptations that,
because the flesh ia weak, will most
surely come to you. A greater being
than you put down the name and wrote
the preface, but you have been filling
tho leaves with your own writing,
sometimes clear, sometimes blurred
blurred, perhaps, with wine stain,
faded out with tear drop, or made
crimson by your hearts blood. And
when that book is read, there will be
another book opened, and your fate will
be told to you as the leaves Of the great
Judgment Book unfold.
Tonight, take an hour to yourself
thinking of the year gone by. Judge
yourself by the laws written on the
stone tablets SO many thousand years
ago, and see what the record would be
in your life book If it were read by
stranger. Never mind whether you are
acquainted with those laws in the
order in which they were written, or
not-you know the difference between
virtue and vice, between right and
wrong, without absolute exactness.
Take up the book and look at it. You
are fortunate, my friend. Your life
book is daintily bound, its corners are
rich in silver gilt. and your name is
wrought upon it in gems OF great
price. Your neighbours book is of com
mon paper, with poor binding. But
Z the great Judge does not decide by
appearances, and your neighbor has the
same chance that you have, although,
indeed, because of the fineness of the
binding, because of the ease in which
your life has been spent, more good
deeds should be written in your book,
since you never needed to steal for
bread, or to be dishonest for the sake
of few dollars. These laws are old
fashioned-but so is death d-fash-
ioned--and that which comes after
lit is not new fashion.
Look at the first law; have you had
one god or many? Was it of more i'm
portance to you that you slept easily,
that you ate rich food, that you adored
beautiful women, and perhaps, made
ar idol of one who seemed to you a
little more lovely than all the rest? Or
did you bow down to meaner gods?
Did you bend the knee to the god of
greediness, OF wealth, of lust, or did
you worship yourselfP What a mean
god is self! Poor, weak and utterly
unstable! In the hour of trouble could
you turn to any one of these, your
chosen gods, for help? Perhaps you
elected to have for your gods those
children of the brain, those queer,
strange beliefs that lead you-whereH
Then. turning over another leaf, do
you have to write yourself down a
blasphemerY Have you soied your lips
with jests against One so much greater
than yourself that you ought scarcely
to mention His name, save with
reyerential bow? How would you like
to hear these jests and these wicked
words come from the lips of the child
that bears your nalne2 How would you
like to have them said by the woman
whom you love best in all the world!
You laugh little uneasily. You NUT.
ter something about nonsense; but !,
isn't nonsense, my friend; there is very
much of good sense in it.
Close your eyes and imagine you were
boy again, and see yourself happy il
your Sunday suit, dressed to 90 t.
church, and clinging, like the shy DO,
you were, to the hand of your mother
Then you sang hymns and raised YOU
voice in praise of God, after that vol
came home and enjoyed the day in /
quiet way, hearing probably some o
the stories of the great and good met
who have lived, as we'll as of One Mar
who was boy like you in that He wa
human, and He could symrathize will
you because of that humanity and yo
because He knew all of your DESIRE
and disappointments, because of Hi
divinity. He could lead you to create
ambitions and console you under create
disappointments Then, when nigh
dropped its curtain and the star
pinned it up, you went to sleep easil,
\ because you were happy, and you wer
happy because you were good.
You open your eyes and shrug you
shoulders and say: "Times hay
changed; it's different whom ones'
man." Don't you wish you were DO,
again? How are your Sundays spen
now? You sleep late in the morning
you awaken when the churches are let
ting out past designations have killet
your appetite for breakfast, and as 70,
would say, you drag through the ia,
somehow and wish for Monday. | won
der how the Sundays will look as the
are described upon your Life Book
That book will be read before all tn
world, and do you think you will b
proud of the account given of thos
days.
Then thore comes that commandment
with promise, the only one How hav
you honored those whose name yo
bear? You count your father AS old
fashioned; as something of bore. Yo
think you have done your duty to you
mother ii you send her an occasions
present, but there never comes to 20
the thought Of what you really nigh
do, of what they hoped for; of ho'
they counted on your being, when 80
were a man, not only the early be
loved SON, but the friend and tn
counselor; the one TO whom they coul
turn with their SORROWS and find sym
pathy; the one TO whom they coul
bring their pleasure and find sympa
thetic delight.
| do not believe you care to look a
that old-fashioned picture of you
mother that is in an old album anon
some papers that are never disturbed
whare WIN an amkuurI bnv ora in m