The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1904-07-14
OBSERV ATIONS
BY S. D.

As no river can rise higher than its
source, 50 no man can raise himself
higher than his ideals. Thus it behooyes
us to possess ideals of great excellence.
Let our ideal of labor be such that in
striving to attain it we may become a
model workman, eschewing laziness,
dissatisfied with mediocrity and lmper-
lection. Our ideals should influence
our conduct and speech They should
lead us to better lives and more kindly
manners.
The remark often made, that so-and-
SO is "notodys enemy but his own" is
the blacklist of lies. Such man is
the enemy of all men. If he is married..
he is the worst enemy of his own family
who will have to suffer through life for
his misdeeds; is the enemy of all those
with whom he associates, for every
word and deed of ours influence those
with whom we come in contact, help
ing to make them either better or
worse. True it is that "no man liveth
to himself or dieth to himself"
1t is hardly zoo much to assert that
King Edward has done more to assure
the peace of Europe than all the other
European statesmen together. He has
brought about feeling between France
and England such as has not existed
for centuries; the understanding be-
tween this country and England is on
a more friendly footing than at any
| time since the war of Independence;
| and now the king is trying to win the
good will of Russia. Difficult-one,
might almost say 1mpossible-as the.
proposed feat may be, owing to the
conflicting interests of the two powers.
| still there seems to be every prospect
of his accomplishing his object. When.
| History awards her honors to the men
of merit of the twentieth century,
| Edward will receive no mean one.
The house in which Peter the Great
lived while in England is still standing.
1t is a roomy old building at the bottom
of Buckingham Street Strand. 1t bears
memorial tablet, and is said to be a
fragment of York House, the residence
/ "Steenie," duke of Buckingham and
favorite of James l. Just below the.
house, on level with the Thames
En- bankment, is fine specimen of an
old stone gateway called York Gate,
formerly the water entrance to York
House. In this house it is recorded
that Peter spent many an evening in,
carousal, drinking brandy hot with a
pinch of pepper. Tho he dressed in
] the height of English fashion during
his stay in London, he ofttimes dis
guised himself as sailor and roamed
the streets in the vicinity of the docks
at night, even entering low public
houses and other questionable places.
Many stories, no doubt partly apocry-
phal, yet based on some truth, are told
of Peter. 1t is said, for instance, that
he would overturn the stalls of apple
women in order to hear them black
guard him.
Those who would like to learn of his
exploits should read Pepy's or Evelyn's.
diary.
A new illustrated edition of "Vathek'~
is advertised As weird, thrilling,
uncanny romance, this story is unique,
and they who have not read it are to
be envied for the treat in store for
them. In it imagination runs riot,-
reminding one of Poe's "Tales of the
Grotesque and Arabesque," or of the
opium-inspired dreams of De Quincy.
1t is one of the few books which, once
i started, compels us to read to the
i end.
The life of the author of "Vathek,"
William Beckford, was as great ro-
nance as his book. The only child Of
la West India millionaire,-whod died
when the future author was but few
months old,-he found himself at the
age of 81 the possessor of e6,OOO,OOO i'm
cash. Being determined to spend some
of it, he purchased the ruined FonthilE
Abbey, near Bath, England, and re-
built it on magnificent scale. More
then 1000 workmen were employed,
and even government works were sus-.
pended to supply Beckford with labor
ers. The whole facade is of polished
Aberdeen granite. The structure
stands today as the most perfect abbey
residence in the world.
i When his hni1aa Mao nnnnnIofo1f