Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1905-02-18


as he who has made another happy.
No pillow is so restful as that of him
who has relieved the anxiety of his
brother. The peace that passcth under
standing never ILLS the heart that cher
isheS selfish desires or turns away from
another's misery.
The secret of Happiness.
How is il with America: Il would
ike to see America. but the people are
hot rs great as you think said Thorn
MS Carlyle TO an American visitor. You
may boast of your democracy or any
other 'cracy' or any other kind of polit-
ical rubbish. but The reason why your
laboring folks are so happy is that you
have Il vast deal of land for very few
people" True. Thomas Carlyle, true.
But what would our lands be worth if
we did not have our mighty rivers to
find water to drink and grass to eat
but for the rivers: How could our
grain lift its golden cheek to he kissed
of the sun unless its roots once waded
knee deep i'm the mud: What makes
the Atlantic coast. especially New Eng
land. have the most fertile valleys? The
rivers. What makes Sahara one great
sea of sand: The absence of the rivers
Yes. as tie Egyptians for centuries
worShiped the river Nile because its
rise or fall meant TO them food or fam
inc. clothing or nakedness. prosperity
of our land are the source of fertility
TO the soil and prosperity to our people
If the peace of our hearts is TO be like
a river it must give help temporal and
spiritual To all around us.
Are we temporal and spiritual "riv-
ers of life" to our fellow men? Some
of us are truly rivers of death or
rivers of seclusion." Our lives are like
the stygian stream in the great Mann
moth cave of Kentucky. We are sur
rounded by grandeurs and beauties on
every side. but we have walled our
selves in by solid rock. where we can
do no good to others and where others
cannot do any good to us.
Like Luray Cave.
Or our lives. if they are not like the
Styx of a Mammoth cave, supporting
only a few blind fish swimming hun
drels of feet below the surface of the
earth. may he like the wonderfully
suggestive beauties of Luray cave of
old Virginia. which likewise are doing
no good To any one. That Luray cave
nc,
ties were buried for centuries. yet TN
der the flash of light ii looks as though
It's walls had been erected only yester-
day and. like the Tai Mahal of India.
are glittering mass of dead precious
stones. Yonder stand the columns Of
stalagmite as statuary in vestal gar
ments of purest white Here are the
drippings of cataract. as though the
mad rush of niagara had been in
stantly halted and. like an open mouth
ed lion. dared not utter one grOwl. al
though even now we seem TO hear the
echo of its last wild. mad roar. Yonder
is the ballroom where our magma
ton tells us the nymphs and the fairies
used To sport and dance and make mer-
ry. Near To this ball halr' is the "cem-
etery ridge" where those nymphs and
fairies were buried ages on ages ago.
Here are the hanging wells of the god
desses." so thin that through them
flashes the light of our guides lamps.
so red that they seem to have been
dipped in the blood of the soldiers who
over this very mountain once followed
Stonewall Jackson i'm his last raid or
into the blood of those soldiers who re-
coiled before the cavalry charge of
Lightning Horse" Phil Sheridan.
From yonder cathedral, with its domes
and spires and steeples and minarets
and strange carvings. there come echo
ing up the solemn notes of an organ
which roll and swell and thunder and
whisper and pray and chant and die.
From out of every grOtto stretches
some hand or lifts some snowbank or
flaps some wing or. like cats eye,
blinks some emerald or. tiger-like,
glares the bloodshot eyeball of some
ruby or flashes some emerald. And
while all the chimes of all the towers
are beginning to ring suddenly a sta
lactite many tons in weight breaks
loose and crashes upon the floor 1t
rolls over once or twice and
then lies STILL to be decomposed by the
coming ages. A marvellous and en-
chanting place is Luray cave of old
Virginia.
All its walls are strangely sculptured.
Column high and chasm wide.
'Tis the place where all the shadows
OF the past years silent hide.
But when l stood within the walls
Of that fascinating place l said to my
self: How like selfish man is this cave.
His heart is heart of stone. Amid
the sufferings and troubles of sinful
world. with all his vast resources for
doing good. he buries himself i'm wall
ed citadel. which is called his home or
his store. He lives. he breathes. he
eats. he sleeps. he works for himself,
and himself alone. Oh. brother may
your gospel peace be not like the gilt
tering grandeur hidden i'm the darkness
of Luray cave in Virginia or of II 81
lent river StyX flowing through the
dark halls of Mammoth cave of old
- l.. r.