The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-12-17

yes! But what. wide halls OF pleasure,
what gardens OF delight, what raptures,
such as on earth with ball and kite and
hoop they never felt Let them 90, moth
er. You can trust him in the land of mu-
sic and flowers. The front door of that
eternal home was opened by him who
said, Suffer the little children to come
unto me and forbid them not, for such is
the kingdom of heaven" What a time
the children have up therei Can you not
almost hear their quick feet on the ivory
stairs? What rounds OF gladnessi What
laughter of eternal glee! Follow the ark.
and it viii lead you to he crossing into
the reunions of the home where you will
never part.
scove of New Things.
As our sorrows are new, our joys are
new and all our experiences are new.
Our life is one long discovery of things
that we did not know and could not
know, because we have not passed this
way before. We nave found, for instance,
that gratitude is the rarest of virtues.
You used to suppose that il you do a
kindness it will be fully appreciated and
reciprocated. You have found out by ex-
perience, as you could have found out in
no other way, that gratitude is apt to be
only another ak to grind. While there is
q possibility that you may return still
more service you are thanked, but when
you can return no more advantage you
are dropped. Here is a man whom you
have helped in political elevation. When
the time comes for the compliment to be
returned, you are not only refused help,
but you receive positive opposition. You
have found put that you should do the
right thing not with respect to reward or
gratitude, but because it is the right
thing to do. Many are miserable because
they are all the way looking for gratitude
which they cannot find. You might as
well go down Pennsylvania avenue,
Washington, or Broadway, New York, or
fremont street, Boston, your eyes scruti-
nizing the pavements looking for tur-
quoises and emeralds and rubies. Per
haps you might find them, but there is
not much probability that in fifty years
you would find one Of them.
No one has come to midlife who has
not been stung of ingratitude. On the
battlefield of Alma in 1854 a wounded
Russian was crying in anguish Of thirst
for water. Captain Eddington Of the
English army ran to him and gave him
drink. AS the captain was running by to
JUL liz ICkilucht luS WOuuOCO SOAuleE
shot him. Almost all languages have
proverbs setting forth this perversity.
English proverb, Bring up a raven, and
it will pick out your eyes" Arabic prov
erb, EAT the present and break the
dish" Italian proverb, 1.-THE ass, after
having drunk, gives a kick to the buck
ct" An old proverb says, IF God were
to be so complacent as to carry us on his
back to Rome, we would not thank him
for his pains if he did not also set US
down in an easy chair" You will never
be happy in this world if you do not do
all the good you can and look for no re-
sponsive gratitude. All the damage I did
a man who is my enemy was to take him
from a position where he received $7OO a
year salary into a position where ne has
ever since received $1,000 q year. He
never forgave me, but has pursued me
with a pen v~itriolic ever since. The worst
enemy you ever had is the man you in
trodueed and favored and helped. But be
not disturbed or even irritated. You are
no better than your Lord. If the world
had had any thankful appreciation of his
coming, it would nave filled that Bethle-
hem c~aravansary with flowers which
bloom there clear on into the December
month, and Herod, instead of attempting
his death, would have sent a chariot to
fetch the infant to the palace, and the
oyer and terminer of Pilates courtroom
would have pronounced him not guilty,
and instead of a cross and a crown of
thorns it would have been a coronation,
with all the mighty ones of the earth
kneeling at the foot of his throne.
Another discovery that surprises us be-
cause we had not passed this way before
is the fact that if two be in quarrel or in
wal with each other the one who is the
most wrong is the hardest and the slow
est to make up. Who wrote them l know
not, but I cut these two lines out and
pasted them in my scrapbook twenty
years ago, for the words are so strikingly
true:
Forgiveness to the injured does belong,
But they neer pardon who have done the wrong.
We talk about the great discoveries Of
the age, the electric power. the steam
power, the telescope and microscopic
power, but do not say anything about the
discoveries we all make year by year Il
day by day. There are surprises all the
time. 1t is n new roa we are travelling.
eye have not passed this way before"
Our Last Journey.
But closely allied is the other fact
which we limited at in the opening-that
we will not pass this way again. This is
our only opportunity for doing certain
things that ought to be done. On all sides
there are griefs we ought to s~olace. hun
ger we ought to feed, cold that we ought
to warm, kind words that we ought to
speak, generous deeds we ought to per-
form. All that you and | do toward max
ing this world better and happier we
must do very soon or never do at all
Joshua and his troops never came back
over the way they were marching toward
the crossing of the Jordan. The impress
of the sandal or the bare feet Of each sol
der showed in what direction he was go
ing, but never did the impress of the san
dal Of any one Of them show that he had
returned. We are all facing eternity to
come. There is no retreat. Alertness and
fidelity would not be so important if we
could truthfully say: 81 will be back here
again. The things l neglect now ] will do
the next time | come. | will be reincar-
mated, and l will resume my earthly obi
cations. Having then more knowledge
than / have now. will discharge nv