Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1904-12-15


the moral and material aid that is
yours to give tits true you will have
attacked only one little corner but
you will have done what you could
| and perhaps have led another on to
follow you. Instead Of stopping at
the knowledge that much wretched-
ness, hatred, disunion and vice exist
in society you VIII have introduced a
little good among these evils. And by
however slow degrees such Kindness as
yours is enlulated the good will sensi-
| bly, increase and the evil diminish.
Even We're you to remain alone in this
undertaking you would have the as
sufance that in fulfilling the duty.
plain as a ehild's. which offered itself
you were doing the only reasonable
thing. If you have felt it so, YOU have
found out one of the secrets Of right
living
In its dreams mans ambition en-
braces vast limits, but it is rarely Civ
en- us to achieve great things, and even
| then a quick and sure success always
rests on groundwork of patient prep
aration Fidelity in small things is at
the base of every great achievement
We too often forget this, and yet no
truth needs more to be kept in mind,
particularly in the troubled eras of hiss
| tory and in the crises of individual life.
In shipwreck a splintered beam, an
oar any scrap Of wreckage, saves us.
On the tumbling waves of life. when
everything seems shattered to frag-
ments, let US not forget that single
one of these poor bits may become our
plank of safety. To despise the rem
nants is decentralization.
You are a ruined man. or you are
stricken by a great bereavement, or,
again. you see the fruit of toilsome
years perish before your eyes. You
cannot rebuild your fortune, raise the
dead. recover your lost toll, and in the
face of the inevitable your arms drop.
Then you neglect to care for your per-
son, to keep your house, to guide your
children. All this is pardonable, and
how easy to understand But it is ex-
ceedingly dangerous. To fold ones
hands and let things take their course
You who think that you have nothing
left to lose will by that very thought
lose what you have. Gather up the
fragments that remain to you and keep
them with scrupulous care. In good
time this little that is yours will be
your consolation. The effort made will
come to your relief, as the effort miss
ed will turn against you. If nothing
but branch is left for you to cling
to, cling to that branch, and if you
stand alone in defense of a losing cause
do not throw down your arms to join
the rout After the deluge a few sur
yivors repeopled the earth. The fu-
ture sometimes rests in single life
as truly as life sometimes hangs by a
thread. For strength go to history and
nature From the long travail of both
you viii learn that failure and fortune
alike may come from the slightest
cause, that it is not wise to neglect
detail and, above all, that we must
know how to wait and to begin again.
In speaking of simple duty 1 cannot
help thinking of military life and the
examples it offers to combatants in this
great struggle He would little under
stand his soldiers duty who, the army
once beaten, should cease to brush his
garments, polish his rife and observe
discipline. But what would be the
use?" perhaps you ask Are there not
various fashions of being vanquished?
Is it an Indifferent matter to add to de-
feat Encouragement, disorder and de-
moralization? No; it should never be
forgotten that the least display of en-
ergy in these terrible moments is a
sign of life and hope. At once every
body feels that all is not lost.
During the disastrous retreat of 1878
IA, in the heart of the winter, when it
had become almost impossible to pre-
sent any sort of appearance, a general,
know not who, one morning present
ed himself to Napoleon in full dress
and freshly shaved Seeing him thus,
in the midst of the general demoraliza-
ton, as deliberately attired as il for
parade, the emperor said, MY general,
you are brave manl''
Again, the plain duty is the near
duty. A very common weakness keeps
many people from finding what is near
them interesting; they see that only on
its paltry side The distant, on the
contrary, draws and fascinates them.
In this way a fabulous amount Of good
win is wasted People burn with ar
dor for humanity, for the public good,
for righting distant wrongs; they walk
through life, their eyes fixed on mar
velous sights along the horizon, tread
ing meanwhile on the feet of passers-
by or jostling them without being
aware of their existence.
Strange infrmity, that keeps us from
seeing our fellows at our very doors!
People widely read and far Travelled
are often not acquainted with their
fellow citizens, great or small. Their
lives depend upon the cooperation OF
multitude of beings whose lot re-