Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-07-30
THE VICTIMS OF MOODS.
A Form of Tyranny That should Be Overcome.


 Overcome.
 But to be the slave of tempera
 ment. the victim of a mood, is al signoble as to accept any other form
 of tyranny The beginning of man
 hood. is to keep ones will acting
 freely and vigorously; to proteci ones intellect from the false color, ing which comes from emotion ana
 feeling: to assert ones. self in the face of the passions and influences that assail the stability of a mans Integrity and independence. This is never an easy thing to do. In some cases 1t is very difficult thing to do: but it is* always an. imperative thing. something which no man can leave undone and be man In the full sense of the word.
 For the victim of moods or the slave of a temperament is never a free person. Tn very thoughtful discussion of these and kindred mat ters in his book on The Temple of Virtue" Rev Paul Revere Frothing- ham puts the matter Of moods wi. h admirable clearness:
 First of all there is the district in the mysterious land of selfhood that is occupied by our methods. It appears to me tha- over this each one of us may exercise useful, If not an easy system of control. All of us, that is to say. have our alter hating periods of sunshine and of storm, of cheerfulness and depres- sion, of energy and relaxation, of faith and doubt. of hope and de- spair, of confidence and weak un- certainty. Now we are lifted in.o conscious joy and throbbing hope; but again we feel ourselves forlorn and desolate. life to-day appears a privilege and radiant opportunity TOT usefulness; tomorrow We seri- ously wonder if anything is really much worth while.
 So there are times when our work, our duties, our drudgeriS even, are done easily and gladly. In- stead of finding them burdensome. We rejoice in. the various cares and responsibilities which fill the hours of each day so full. But then, again. deep gloom expresses us, and we can neither seem to do nor be our best. And all such moods are nat ural. They come upon nearly all of us. Very few people can hope Ito live in such divinely ordered lati- tudes of soul that their sky is al- ways clear. We cannot, therefore. put an absolute end to these vari- ous and changeable conditions. But we can and should control them, Little by little We may learn by very commonplace experience that the gloom and the depression need no: cause us genuine despair. However dark the curtain of the cloud may hang, the blue sky is behind it still Night falls, and yet the stars shine out. .ss '
 All Of us may work out for our selves a very practical and helpful philosophy in this respect, and we ought to. work 1t. out and discipline ourselves to live by it as well. When the soul is feeble. to believe. when We feel ourselves indifferent to the good and true. when things seem burdensome and life appears a giant load of care-it is possible to remind ourselves that we have been along that very road before, and have watched the leaden darkness of those same great clouds, and yet be- yond them we hay9 come out into sunlight and have sbeen refreshed. We must have our discouragements. indeed, but We need not, therefore, be utterly cast down. We may de- spond, but we need not feel de- spair.-The Outlook.