Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-08-29


shall net see when good coneth. but
ness. in a salt land. and uninhabited."
on the other hand. the godly man Is TO
be "As a tree planted by thu waters.
and that spreadeth out her roots by the
river. and shall not see when heat
cometh. but her leaf shall be green, and
shall not be careful in the year OF
drought, neither shall cease from yield
ing fruit" A dry tree is a wretched de-
scription Of a selfish man; all dried up
and withered. Just the other sort of
place, and the shadow Of a great rock
in a weary land" or 'as a watered gar
den. whose waters fail not,"-the WELL
spring OF wisdom being as the flowing
brook.
These prophetic figures find their an
swers and reallzatlons only too common
ly in our daily experience. and in every
trade, profession, and pursuit. From
him that hath not shall be taken away
even that which he seemeth to have.
Engrossment in one business or pursuit
some selfish aim, or low and common
occupation, leaves our sensibilities. our
affections, our loves, our tastes, our high
er longings neglected. And. like dis
regarded wives and daughters. they droop
and 'wither and die, or they harden and
degenerate. And the soul deserted by all
that is divine, is the home of all that is
devilsh, or else is in barren age, "dimin-
ished. shrunk. and valueless." A dry
tree is a faint comparison of It. Ans
the life made up of such is lifeless
waste or hopeless ice-field.
Are such conditions accessible to hui
manity, or impressibe by the Spirit of
Heaven? Who knows what the tear OF
sincere pity, and warm. tender, and
thoughtful gentleness may do? Once
the whole earth was a hard, rocky sur
face Yet dews and rain and sun
shine have made the world what Il is
And the loving influences and patient
care of Heaven have made the wilder
ness and the solitary place to rejoice,
and blossom as the rose. Great, great
Is the power Of persistent love. And
we are all, indeed, "lkest God" in the
unstrained and unsystematized and
spontaneous works of mercy. The
Kingdom OF Heaven IS the kingdom of
courtesy, the full and free air of holy,
natural gentility. A kindly gentleman
and lady are divine, God called them
man. The weary traveller shall drink
Of the brook i'm the way and lift up
the head" And we may find these
brooks and springs of water where we
least expect them. There are more OF
H.
we are aware of. Only we are
preoccupiod; our senses are so blurred.
and our sensibilities so rubbed into
corns that we forfeit and lose the
very best opportunities. as we waste
our time and energies on that which
satisfeth not. IN isolated man Is an
icicle All nature teaches us kindly in
tercOurse, CLEANS with tenderness, and
scatters the influences of divine. healing
love. And every kindly twinkle of the
eye. every gentle. sympathetic. genial,
honest smile is Of the very nature OF
Heaven-has the glow and breeziness of
the coming kingdom
The proverb runs: "He that hath
friends must show himself friendly" The
sincere kindness and honest free
heartedness OF the good, true man
freshens and wakes up the world. like
the rosy-hngered dawn. He blesses and
Is blessed.
We make the world we live In. we
make our heavens iron and our earth
brass; or we surround ourselves with
green fields and blossomng trees, with
fountains and springs OF living waters,
and make our heavens brilliant with
light and glory by seeing things in their
true light. as manifestations Of God and
80 t. ind,
And we open up springs of water by
showing honor and justice to all about us,
by being, i'm very truth, what we would
like our friends to be; by seeing every
one and everything in its best aspect,
pro melori parte; by keeping strict ac-
count with our own souls, but being full
of tender consideration and charity for
the ignorances and faults Of others; by
seeing them from virtues side. We pun
ish most severely the faults of others
that we recognize as our familiars.
The sweetest waters OF life come from
the eyes and souls Of the pentent-the
tender assurance OF being forgiven. And
our tenderest, divinest sympathies are
with our acknowledged felowsinners.
And It is He who bore our griefs and
carried our sorrows that is TO all hu-
mainly n very fountain of life. IL was
too a divinely human order that charged
us TO rejoice with them that do rejoice
and weep with them that weep" Hon
est, kindly, modest. self-forgetting souls
are brooks in the way, OF which we mad
vertently drink, and our souls are re-
freshed.
TO dig wells, and establish fountains,
and open springs i'm the highways and
dreary wastes Of the world is a grand
office. OF all these. sensational fiction and
trade literature are but lurid burlesques.
Their smiles and tears belong 10 the shop.