The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1903-02-06
THOUGHTS.


ont here are leafess trees that turn
To harmony the tempest shock,
And verdant moss and feathered fern
That deck the SCARED and barren rock.
And aowcrs that only laugh outright
when Venus rules the falling night
And there are happy hearts that give
melody 70 iifes despair.
And gentle souls that love 10 live
where an is harsh and cold and bare
And spirits bright that blossom best
When twilight sadness droops the rest.
Cherfulness is the winning half in the
battle Of life Cheerfulness is akin to
courage; it is courage. The craven
spirit wbiDes about hardship and bad
luck. The cheerful spirit takes things
As they come, makes the best of them
s. they stay, takes from reversals their
sting, ever hopes for better next time.
Such a spirit gets more out Of life, en-
joyment, solid content, reasonable liv-
ing, than is possible with the sour-faee
whose fear is Of every one and every
thing, that in some way, by Provi-
denee eonniving, they will get ahead
Of him and ''don him.
We know that every life has its dis
sppOiDtments-some very bitter, some
having 81 lneilaceable scar, some IT.
remediable in this life; yet even so, the
cherries spirit does really seem the
least reasonable. Let US talk it over
together. Do metals crop out Of the
ground and form themselves naturally
into implements for our use? No;
through the fire they have to go and
part way through the fire man has to
with them. Do foodstufis grow in the
forms Of rolls and biscuits, waiting to
be eaten? No, indeed; they come by
cultivation, by relentless war against
weeds, by score Of processes in which
mans care is needed before ever they
are fit for food. In other words, no ma
ierial good is gained in this world ex-
cept by struggle with the inert or the
actively opposing forces Of nature. The
user Of metal who waited for it to grow
into the shape be wanted would be a fit
subject for a lunatic asylum; the farmer
who threw up his hands because the
same rain that helped his crop also
helped the weeds, would be a pretty
weakened sort Of man: no sort of
a man to make the bone and sinew of
a nation that in a century has carved a
continent to its will, forced cities to
grow, covered a hemisphere with
parallels Of steel, and achieved a world
wide fame and prominence.
In the above facts are the arguments
that would undo every cherries spirit
and make it true to the rest Of strug-
ling humanity. Character in its
original meaning signifies something
scratched IN. Our characters are
scratched into moral natures by the
experiences through which we have to
20 and over which we have to triumph.
We are not born with characters, They
are in making as long as we live, there
fore, with the cheerful one the things
be has TO fight, the reverses he has to
overcome, are truly recognized as helps
10 the spirit that has overcome and
made the world what it Is. As helps |
to character, they are cordially well
coined, and their very unsavoriness dis
armed by the spirit in which they are
met. The cheerful one treads even
his serious blunders under foot and /
makes Of them stepping stones across
turbulent waters to solid ground.
What do we expect out Of life, plain
sailing, easy-golng, smooth roads,
comforts, permauency, the
continuous possession Of friends and
beloved ones? If we do, we are of the
highway Of betterment and improve
ment Smooth-road men expect for
all the exceptions in the
highway Of life. They are selfish
they say in their hearts, struggle Is
Is well for the others, but to me COM
fort is due from the world
No really good thing comes easily.
The cheerful spirit gets good out Of
evil; all things work together
Tor good to them that see a challenge
for effort in the reversal Of plans. The
cheerful man cannot be dOwned. His
face is ever towards Hope as seen smil-
ny over the head Of his opposing foe.
The cheerful man may die and does
lies after receiving many and grievous
wounds, but the enemy's arrows are
never found in his back Perchance
We speak 10 a cherries one who feels
hat all is against him. Let this
thought sink IN, Cheerfulness can be
a man eau force himself 10
take The best view of things, just as the
man who has pugilistic ambitions can
N l.