The National tribune., 1910-12-29


tions" bad form and old-fashioned. /
want 10 quarrel with both classes. If
you have grit enough to make resolu-
tions. make them The first of the year
is good place to make start, and lit
tie sins the best working ground.
When we tackle big things we are apt
to get faint-hearted before the task
looming up in our horizon. and the first
thing we know we have lapsed into the
normal condition of inaction. But when
We say that we will correct the little
errors we stick to it, because il is not
difficult to overcome little fault. and
the first thing we know we have worked
our way thru very grave fault and
with it under our feet realize that little
by little we have reached a point that
would have seemed unattainable if We
had set TO climb 10 it directly. AS for
the creature who shouts bad form" at
you, just cut him. When anyone Suffi-
ciently intimate with you dareS to say
TO you that desire for self-improve-
ment is bad form, there is but one thing
to do, and that is to rid yourself of so
undesirable an acquaintance.
It is not necessary to get up set of
elaborate resolutions and have them
engrossed on parchment, nor is it even
wise to put your resolutions in black
and white, for yoII get so tired of seeing
them day after day, knowing that you
infringe on the letter of them half a
dozen times during the waking hours,
that you get discouraged at last and
throw them away in despair. The very
best resolve is to say each morning:
This day shall be an improvement on
Cn / am nod
An old, old authority says, Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof" and
You can't improve on that. You can
live but one day at a time, but if you
make each day polished gem in its
own setting of hours you will have 365
perfect days in the year. 1t fairly ap-
pals one to think of living whole
year of days. struggling with the old
Adam in oneself thru every hour of
the time, but when one divides the year
into 12-hour shifts it puts different
face on the matter.
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to
The distant scene; one step enough for
me-"
That was Bishop Newman's petition, |
and its lesson of gentle trust might be |
learned by us with profit.
This 'preachifying." as AIaree calls |
II, is the result of talk / had with her
to-day. The New Year was scarcely 4Si
hours old when she came flying into my
room and flung a handful of torn paper
into my scrap basket.
I'm mighty glad Washington wasn't !
o twin" she remarked, with savage
emphasis, giving the basket kick chat
sent the bits of paper scurrying over
the rug
What in the world has Washington |
been doing to you?' [ asked in surprise.
oh, nothing; only it would take two
saints and seraphim to live up 10 his
horrid old maXims. I've smashed about
40 of them already. and il he had been
twins I'd go off and be a girl bandit or
else awful rather than have
two such models throwing precepts at
my head as long as l lived. Fifty-four
maxims are quite enough to madden
one; but twice 54-ugh! 1t makes me
sick"
Poor child. She meant well, but hert
puny efforts at living up to maxims that
himself seems TO have been
skilful in evading when occasion suited
were not unlike the popgun fusillade on
the tariff bill-the range was too long
for effective craftsmanship. II Wash
iDgton were living now he would edit |
those maxims severely, and it stands to
reason that a thoughtless young girl |
could never live up to the stiIted things
which were not original with the Faith
er of his Country anyhow. AS Maree
sobbed out the trials of a peculiarly
hard day, her face buried in my lap
and her voice expressing utter hopeless
ness of her power to keep any kind of |
since she had failed so sig
nally in a two days trial, l tried to !
cheer her by telling her some of my
own experiences, which we're quite as |
disastrous as hers. 1t had the desired |
effect, for misery does love company. |
you know.
tions the girls who read this have
made? Whether they have built an
Eiffel tower of lofty purposes, with no /
elevator to get to the top and a bad |
bound to bring the thing
around their ears in less than
a month, or whether they have quietly
decided to begin with the tiny little
faults of hourly occurrence and smooth
out the twists and tangles as they go?
Women are natural reformers. They
are not always logical, and, / fear not |
always perfectly Indifferent to the prob
able praise their efforts will command;
but il remains a fact that all great re-
forms have had their seed sown by
women.
You see, girls, the reforms have got
TO begin at home and within your own
hearts and lives, regardless of outside |
Influences. Now, ] think if / were a |
young girl, just at the beginning of life.
one of the first things ] would consider
would be a bride for my tongue. and |
this was one of the suggestions ] made
10 Maree.
Truly, the tongue is an unruly MEM
Der. 1t can do infinite harm in the way
of spreading unsayory reports, and
girlish scandalmonger Is creature to
shun- good resolution for you TO
commit to memory and carry with you
every moment of your life was sung by
a King thousand years before the
was born: Keep thy
tongue from evil and thy lips from
speaking guile" If you can't say nice
things about people, don't say anything
at all. You have a right TO choose
your friends, and it is your duty to
know that they are worthy of your con-
sideration, but should you elect to drop
any OF them il is not necessary TO bruitl
IL abroad from the housetops or tell il
sub rosa in your room under ow-burn-
ing lights. from whence it will spread
like pestilence. That the passports to
your favor have been returned will be-
come known soon enough, hut the
why" should remain state secret. 1t
is seldom OF. never conducive to the
public welfare" to make such thingsl
known.
/ know a good many well-intentioned
girls who have a reputation for being
witty and quick at repartee that car
ries a sting. People laugh at them, but
they do not love them. 1t is not hu-
man nature to love thing that we fear,
and one never knows at what moment
the darts of a wit may be turned upon
oneself. Men rather enjoy the risque
A