The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-12-30


, vent, in her rage, she destroyed three
I Of the nine books. after which. she
/ came back with the six books that
/ were left. and again offered the ora
cles to the King. Still, the King shook
/ his head. The price was too high. He
| had not come TO appreciate the signif-
| cSnce and the value Of these mystic
! books. Again, the SibyI goes away In
! anger. and destroys three more of the
| books. After a time she comes again
to the King bringing the fra agments
! that remain-only thee books out of
nine! Again they are offered for sale:
, and now the King realizes how much
1 has been lost, and the value Of what
! remains. and gladly pays out Of his
treasure for the three books the en-
/ tire sum originally demanded for the
whole. Is IT not true that the years
come to US in childhood and then again
1 in youth, and then in early manhood,
| Offering US each time their treasures
their opportunities, their mystic pos
sessions. in which, though we may not
De able to read them, are written our
destiny? But the price seems too high
We reject the opportunities; we frtter
away the precious years. We allow
I them TO be destroyed, book after book
year after year. until by and by, when
we are forty, fifty. sixty or seventy,
now gladly we would buy up the op-
Portunity that remains with the whole
price that was demanded originally for
. the whole. We stand this morning on
, the threshold OF another year. 1t VIII
come to US like an angel. flying out Of
the darkness and the night. We see
OEly the face and it's features, as ii
looks on us out OF the mystery. What
burdens it may bring We may not see
as yet. They Will be revealed to us in
the course Of the months that are to
come. But this new year brings I'm it's
hand an open, clean. fresh page of life,
on which we may write whatever we
will. 1t brings 10 us raw material
which We may convert into whatever
product We please. 1t brings 10 us new
capital that We may use ii bringing TO
pass whatever We desire. I do not
mean that we can turn the old page Of
the past year over without any regret.
Only the very young and the very
thoGShtlSss can do that. The most of
Us fingered a little yesterday over the
last writing OF 1901. We felt like say
i.g with Tennyson:
old year. you must not go:
So long as you have been with us,
Such joy as you have seen with us.
Old year. you shall not go"
But go. he Will, whatever ne may
take away with him. Perhaps, some
OF us are saying to ourselves. IF we
could only call the year back and try
K over again." But no; the record
whatever IL is, stands. One of the old
Persian poets has said:
THE moving finger writes: and, hav-
ing writ. /
Moves on; nor all your piety nor wit
Shall lure IL back TO cancel half n line.
Nor all your tears wash out q word OF
It,"
We may try something else, but new
er that again. But the fact that the !
page numbered 1901 is written with in
delible ink should not be taken too
much to heart. There is such a thing
as recognizing failure in such a way
that il becomes only 4 source OF dis
COura cement to us. There is a use
Of the past that wears its heart out in
Unayailing regret, and there is another
use that feels il all quite as keenly.
but which wastes TO tears over what
cannot now be helped. bat uses it as
an inspiration To new endeaVors. We
may allow ourselves to be buried under
the ruins Of a years failures. OF. as
LouEfellow sings. we may
rise on stepping stones
or our dead selves to higher things
But now let us look away from the
old page that is SO soon 10 be turned
down forever. and see what the new
one has to say to US. As I look over
its clean. blank surface, the first feel
ing that comes to me is the wish that
1 were able to write in big, bright let
ters, "a happy New Year" clear across
the page in the life-book of every one
OF you. But that is what no one OF
us can do for any other. For better or
for worse, We have to do our own
writing and abide by the result. Since
this is SO. little thOughtfulness as to
what we shall write may help toward
making the year 1902 happy one. For
one thing, let us beware Of being the
victims Of good resolutions. An i'm
nense amount Of white paper has been !
" aSted III writing them, and an i'm q
nense amount of disCoura cement has &
attended the looking up of their broken
fragments. I frankly confess that
10 not have n great deal OF confidence il
:. new years resolutions on the part ,
II people who do not show much resO-
utiOn at any other time except the l
irst of January Just after a man has l.
AIKEN his last drink, and when he does
iOt feel a all thirsty, ii IS a very easy
ming to swear of for an indefinite time
n the future. But il is quite another y
hing to say no when the thirst i
". \ very small amount OF doing is 2
vOrth more than a whole wagon load 81
II resolutions. =,
Then. there Is another thing we need q
o think Of before We begin TO write Il
pom this fair. white page that lies BE- T.
ore us this morning. 1t Is that If we
re to live a life worth living, If we are /,
D do anything worth while, we must C
ave an ideal, some definite plan Of ~,
fe. We must b. able 10 answer the
ucstion. What am l living fOT?' To- 81
ard what goal am / striving, or have tt
any goal? is there any definite end
hat I am seeking to attain II IS
aid that among civilized nations the @,
yerage length Of life is somewhat ;
uger than il used to BE-. But who
ares for mere length of life? 1t is not "
myth, but breadth and thickness that "
n ke the worth Of life: and not mere -
length and breadth, but quality as
ell. Who cares merely to eat. sleep and 81
-eathe twelve months moTe2 Who G.
ares to live another year merely for
l. sake Of taking off his boots at
.ght and putting them on again in the a.
.0ruirg? And yet there are thousands pa
people whose lives would be u great
.al more useful than they are Il that lV
as all that they did. ] was reading ST
story the other day about a literary
an OF some prominence who found -
msaIf I'm rapidly declining health. On III
insulting physicians he was tod that rs