Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-01-17

and fifty years afterward- In the sleei
driven by that east wind no sweet
flowers OF Kindness and geriality will
grow. Let children hear their parents
picking at each other. and those chill
dren will be found picking at each
other. and far down the road of life
Will be seen the same disposition to
pick at others. Better than this habit
OF picking at children. which SO many
parents indulge In, would be one good
healthy application OF the rod Better
n shower that lasts a few minutes
than the cold drizzle of many days
We never get over our first home, how
ever many homes we may have after
ward.
Cultivate ChrSstfan Grace.
Let us all cultivate this grace of
Christian courtesy by INDUCING in the
habit OF praise instead of the habit of
blame. There are evils In the world
that we must denounce. and there are
men and women who ought to be chas-
tised. but never let us allow the op-
portunity OF applauding good deeds
pass unimproved. The old theory was
that you must never praise people lest
we make them vain. No danger of
that. Before any of us get through
with life we will have enough mean
and ignoble and depreciating and ly-
ing things said about us to keep Us
humble. God approvingly recognizes
a system of rewards as well as OF pun
tshments.
When you hear n good sermon, stop
after the benediction and tell the pas
tor, though you never saw him before
that day, "Your sermon did me good"
When mechanic does good piece of
work. tell him Ii is well done. When
physician brings you out of a peril
Gus illness. stop him In the street and
say, Doctor. you saved my life.'
When you hear of business man In
some heavy stress OF financial weather
helping Trailer craft into the harbor,
60 into his counting room and say. 81
hear you have been helping your fei-
low business man to outride the tenn
pest of panic, and I came in to thank
you for the good advice you gave and
to let you know that all good citizens
appreciate what you have been doing"
Go down the street tomorrow and
thank somebody. There are hundreds
OF people who never get thanked at all.
Plenty of severe criticism, plenty of
faultfinding. plenty Of misinterpreta-
ton, plenty of depreciation. but as to
gratitude-that is a market in which
the supply does not equal the demand
In the cultivation OF this habit of
Christian courtesy let us abstain from
joining in the work OF defama ton
Every little while society takes after
a man, and II must have a victim. Ii
you had roll of all the public men OF
this generation or of any generation
who have been denounced and despoil-
cd OF their good name, 1t would take
you a long while to call the roll. 1t is
a bad streak in human nature that
there are so many who prefer to be
lieve evil instead of good concerning
any one under discussion. II good
motive and a bad motive have beer
possible in the case I'm hand. one mar
will believe the conduct was INSPIRED
by good motive. and ten men will be
lieve II was inspired by q bad motive
The more faults man has of his owr
the more willing is he TO ascribe faults
TO others.
Speak Well OF One Another.
What a curse OF cynics and pessi
mists atiiicts our time. afllicts all time.
There arc those who praise no one un
iii he is dead. Now that he is clear
under ground and n heavy stone is OF
~ ~ n &C. i.s.
ever coming up again as a rival Som,
OF the epitaphs on tombstones are S,
fulsome that on resurrection day {
man rising may, IL he reads the cpl
taph. for the moment think he got in
10 the wrong grave. Speak well OH,
OF another. and II you find yourself II
circles disposed to SANDER and abus,
be for the time as dumb as the sphin,
which. though only few yards ava,
from the overshadowing pyramid o
Egypt. has not with its lips OF ston,
spoken one word In thousands o.
years.
There are two sides to every man,
character : n good side and an evi
side The good see only the good ans
the evil only the evil. and the proba
bility Is that medium opinion is tn,
right opinion. Most OF the people whom
i know are doing about as well as the,
can under the circumstances. When
see people who are worse than am,
conclude that IL / had the same bat
influences around me all my life tina
they have had would probably hav,
been worse than they now are. TIL,
work OF reform is the most importan
work, but many OF the reformers
dwelling on one evil, see nothing bu
evil. and they get so used to anathemi
they forget the usefulness once II
awhile OF benediction. They get s,
accustomed to cxcoriating public mel
that they do not realize that never
since John Hancock in boldest chiroy
raphy signed the Declaration of indie
pendence, never since Columbus pick
ed up the floating land flowers tha
showed him he was coming near som,
new country, have there been so man,
noble and splendid and Christian mel
in high places in this country as now
You could go into the presidents cabi
net or the United States senate or tn,
house OF representatives In this cit,
and find plenty of men capable of hold
ing an old fashioned Methodist prayel
meeting. plenty OF senators and repre-
sentatives and cabinet officers to star
the tune and kneel with the penitent,
at the altar. In all these places Their,
are men who could. without looking a
the book. recite the sublime words, a,
did Gladstone during vacation at Ha
warden, IL believe In God, the Fathe
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth
and in Jesus Christ" and from the sen
ate and house OF representatives ant
the presidential cabinet and from tn,
surrounding offices and committe,
rooms, If they could hear. would com,
many voices responding "Amen ant
amenv
eff You Please"
Christian courtesy I especially com
mend to those who have subordlnates
Almost every person has some one un
der him. How do you treat that clerk
that servant. that assistant, that EN-
ployee? Do you accost him in brusau,
terms and roughly command him to d.
that which you might kindly ask hin