Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1906-12-28

resound1ng with wooden shoes oo;no ~,
ana polished boots coming down. II
IS great thing just to be yonnp 7
would rather be twenty-one and moor
suah oe se7enty-fve and millionaire.
ne trouble with me is, l can't be
either
having said this much for the moor
boy, am bound to add that the cable
that holds many a life from getting
out OF the harbor is poverty. The
bruised specter that walks by the side
oI many a man and keeps him as if in
cnaln gang is lack of funds. There
ne is. Look! This is his history. At
eight, planting corn and doing mans
work ON a farm. At thirteen, appren
tlced TO learn a trade that he might
earn competency and lay by dollar
Ior old age. He laughs as he goes to
MS days work, is frugal, industrious
ana has saved enough to support him
self at the evening of life. He places
MS savings in bank. Through treach-
cry the bank breaks" He wakes ND
to find himself penniless. His hands
are crooked now; his feet that once
were elastic now drag. Slowly he
Wends his way to the river. He stands
Tor moment on the bridge he him
self had helped to build. He looks
with desperation into the stream. it
seems so peaceful, it has such a strange
fascination. There is moment of hest
tation, of desperate resolution-the
world is colder than the wave. He
wanted to do something for his chill
dren, but all that remains is a sense
Of unconditional failure. He had it in
his heart; he wanted to, but he could
not. You must read between the lines.
Thus it must be also in reckoning
the good and i'll Of the past year. How
many things we wanted to do, but the
time was all too short. And yet it may
be that we have done more than we
think. In any case we must not go
to the statistician for an estimate
There are no statistics of the amount
of good done by the sunshine and the
rain. Let us not be misled by our ian
nual reports that is mans measure.
We ask, what have you done? The
accomplished thing is what we want"
But God does not sum up the year for
US in this way. Our Father has a rec
ord in his golden book of the thing you
wish to do.
At Nurnburg two boys began life as
artists One of them, Albrecht Duerer,
had the heaven-sent spark of genius
that put eloquence into every stroke
Of his brush. The other was only a
blotter, dreaming of being an artist,
but doing nothing but fat work. Later
in life they met and decided to paint
q picture of the passion of Christ.
Duerer's was a great painting, every
line told the story Of our Lords suffer-
ing. The other was failure. The
contrast was so great that in the pres
ence Of the two pictures the history
CT the two men stood revealed. Duerer's
friend gave up. With folded hands and
bowed head. the very embodiment of
dependency, he said, II, too, wanted to
do something" While thus he sat
Duerer sketched him, and in Vienna
is Duerer's great painting, 'The folded
hands,"
Have it in your heart to help, to
save, to bless. You will not accomplish
all you set out to do, but our Heavenly
Father will do as much for you as the
friends of Whittier did for him. He
will Read between the lines the finer
grace of unfulfilled designs" and he
will say, '"Hhou didst WELL"