The age-herald., 1901-02-10

"Far-off from the clamor of liars belied in
 the hubbub of lies;
 From the long-neckd geese of the world
 that are ever hissing dispraise
 Because their natures little, and,
 whether he heed it or not
 Where each man walks with his head in a
 cloud of poisonous flies"
 The tuneful tongue of nature, the pre- cepts of wisdom, the teachings of the faith, and the promptings of our own im- pulses of the heart, all these unite in cease less admonition that we be joyful in times of joy. my beloved.
 It was spoken when the conscious wa ter saw its God and blushed, when the miracle of Love turned the clear water that bubbed out of the Canaan hills to salze the thirst Of all them that thirsted into the wine of merriment at the bridal feast of the merry; and so it has come 10 us through all the genera tions of a score of centuries: so we hailed it yesternight, and so may we receive it on the morrow.
 Beyond the long cycles of long ages, when the Lord of Cana was dim and shadowy in prophecy, the preacher preached this doe Urine of joy crying, Rejoice, o youth, re- joice all ye, and let thy hearts cheer thee and walk thee in the ways of thine heart, in the sight of thine eyes
 We heard it in childhood when bidden to romp and make merry whilst the sunlight beamcd; we heard it in many a holiday dawning; heard it as the years came apace: heard it in all times of gladness and longed for it in all the hours that were dark of sorrow and of suffering
 On with the dance, Our homelier duty done. it is for Us to crowd into every fleet ing day all possible mirthfulness and re- joicing: for in itself this merriment is duty to ourselves and to humanity. Every helpless little infant brought into the world in honor comes with a sunshine heart and soul of song, and if it live not so through the span of it's life the fault. the grievous fault. is with those responsible for it's up- bringing, and then the measure of personal sin and offending.
 The songless soul is a soul perverted, driven wrong by wrong. by selfshness, greed, avarice. covetousness, lust, the in humanity of humanity.
 The cherubic altar boy, attendant upon his pious duties and maybe slumberous under the sonorous chant of praise, nod
  lips fashioned to gentle prisons and bois- terous sport, yet ever faithful to his task and to his faith, casts at last aside the white vestment of his proud privilege and dashes out and away and far afield in wild and hungry pursuit of his unoffendins sports, treasured of every real boy on ev- cry day of the calendar.
 His duty done, his time of mirth and frol- ic comes, and as he worships and as he wrestes and plays all manner of boyish games he is the living poem, the beautiful fin life which all children of larger growth calling themselves women and men may observe and study and emulate and love. and be ever the worthier.
 Worn and weary and heavy of heart tho toier of the night when the morning was come picked his way to the meeting-place of the faithful. because 1t was his duty, he knew. There was some comfort in the uncushioned rest not fashioned for luxury, and by and by there was music which seemed to him to be infinitely sweet, al- most jubilant, as it rose and fell under the arches and in the angles, and beat against the rafters as if it would burst it's way into the cathedral of space where the stars were orchestra of the Most High He was touched to the deeps, was longer worn and weary and heavy of heart. was re- joiced in impulse of the higher joy. And as he looked up to the great altar, upon 2 which mighty multitude had looked and been comforted in days that were dead. there fell upon his head drop of the blessed water then sprinltled in the priestiy