The Mena star., 1898-08-03
ART OF APPRECIATION.
us the oil Which Makes the DO- nestle Machinery Run
 Smoothly.

1ost art in our age: They can quote
 .oo many utterances from the pulpit
 sbo nlatfor1n and the press in support
 ss their verdict. There are immense
 Sdvantages in freedom of speech, but
 tbere is no advantage to all-except to
 .ho devil and the forces that make for
 sosnair-in unfair and unIindly criti-
 a;sm The more excellent way is to
 ,oolx at the bright side of things, and
 to recognize whatever is good in men
 or movements. The world will not be
 loshed into goodness, but it may be
 ooaxed Resolutions to be and do bet ter flourish in the sunshine of genial appreciation, but they wither and die before the blighting breezes of fault finding. The larger practice of the art of appreciation will add much to the sweetness and helpfulness of daily living.
 Appreciation Is, in many instances, hut another form of gratitude. Some writer says that heart without grat- ;tude is like grate filled with fuel un- lighted, and the room all the colder be- cause of the unfulfilled promise of glow and warmth. Those who have received fayors and feel their obligations, either to God or man, are bound to give some expression to their feeling. Apprecia- ton may be and often is giving thanks to whomsoever thanks are due. This is done on a large scale when, after a great campaign, honorable mention is made of the heroes who have distin- cuished themselves by successful valor. It is right that the soldier who bore the heat and burden of the battle with out finching should receive the grate- ful acknowledgement of the country he has served so faithfully Such appre- citation is not flattery, but the fitting tribute of the nation to services worthy of recognition. The same principle should extend into every department Of civil, social and domestic life, lead ing us to say the helpful word and manifest the grateful spirit in which there are both inspiration and re- ward.
 Appreciation is the oil of family life, making the domestic machinery go swiftly and smoothly. A superficial critic of the undemonstrative char acter of Scottish affection says that Scotchman never tells his wife that he loves her until she is dead. He was not an Irishman, although in this in- statnce he perpetrated bull but a solid matter-of-fact, if somewhat dull, observer. Too many a weary and bur- dened wife has to wait until the hour of death for the loving word of appre- citation which would chase away the clouds from her sky and surround her with sunshine. The husband who is true holfseband of the qualities that sweeten and strengthen life by the fire side, speaks frequently and freely his grateful appreciation of the unceasing ministry of the wife and mother. This is his duty as we'll as his privilege.
 Parents have to wait too long for the recognition of their devotion to their children, devotion which gathers into itself the prayers, the anguish, the sac rriilliiee Of bealys-, soul and spirit. Fer vent eulogiums in the chamber of death, fragrant flowers heaped in pro- fuse prodigality on the coffin, and a beautiful marble monument in the churcbyard, are poor substitutes for the loving words which ought to have been spoken in the days of service that was appreciated, but never praised. 1t is better to break the alabaster box of grateful love in the ministry of alice tonate attention than 10 hoard it up for the hour of burial, when the heart is cold and sponsive.
 There is another class of workers for the welfare of humanity in our day who should receive more generous ap- 1 preciation. Preachers of the everlast- l ing Gospel, who hold forth the word of life Sabbath after Sabbath, pastors who spend heart and brain and en- ergy week after week in comforting the sad and ministering to the sick, deserve | cordial acknowledgment of their labors. They would shrink from flattery as from a blow, but the frank and cor dlal mention of help received from their services would often be to them as a draught of cold water to thirsty trav- eler. The words of criticism and con uemnation are spoken freely, but She words of appreciation are doled out with miserly hand-except in obituary notices. Appreciation of the pulpit is, Ike mercy, twice blessed-it blesses nm who gives and him who receives. MT. Gladstone once said that what an | audience gives in vapor comes back to them in rain. Surround your minister