The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1910-12-23
SATURDAY NIGHT
X|,NSERMONS
>W1----sS BY
= REvSArfUEL
" WpURVISDl
DO THEY COME BACK1"

| ~ w" term nhS come INTO our Won-
dcrful American phraseology. already
rich with expressions from the "dia-
mond," the 'grldron" and the turf"
Now from the squared circle" comes
another. so called Renoism. 1t Is
stated positively. like an axiom in
| geometry. that they don't come
back" That is, he-to quote n certain
famous colored lady-thn brings
home the bacon" must be one who
hasn't had Il defeat or hasn't been too
long out OF the game. TO step out OF
line. or worse. TO be pushed out. marks
the beginning Of the end. No rabbits
foot tallsman can ward Off the ineyi-
table hour. From that time 1.-The paths
of glory" lead but to defeat
Is II True7
Let's face the question bravely and
sensibly. After one has reached the
zenith of his powers and there comes
a reverse. more or less serious. can
he come back" Physically seldom
or only for a time. For the fighter.
the sprinter. the ball player. the ath-
lete. the man who has had a break
down (bis friends tell him vertigo"
the doctor says slight stroke"). the
woman with nervous prostration, it's
n mighty SOLDERING thought-but you've
touched your limit. You've caught
sight of the day when you can't come
| back" In that vague thing we CALI
success" can one 'come back" after
| defeat or failure? Yes. frequently.
| Mark Twain did And the business
world is full of men who went down
in defeat only to rise again to greater
| heights. But, mind you, I'm an opti-
mist. Cold booded statisticians say
| 70 per cent do not come back" How
ever. 25 do You may be among them.
In the moral world can one come
back?' Thank God. yes. Not al
ways into the society against which
they have sinned. but into regard
of right minded men and. most Of
all. into their own self respect. 1t
is old fashioned. 1t seems, to quote
while the lamp holds out to burn,
the vilest sinner may return" but it is
an eternal truth.
Is Defeat Faiure7
You cannot always measure man
by his defeats. You must know what
use he makes of them. The injured
oyster turns his wound into a pearl.
The young Jew Disraeli sits down
amid bowls of derision at his maiden
speech in the house of commons. His
answer is The day will come when
you shall hear mer' Carlyle through
many weary years, In poverty and
.rit hic arc nj, Of rha.
French Revolution" He lends the
priceless manuscript to Stuart Mill.
and Mills servar lights the fire with
it. In spite of his hardship and de-
SPAR again he wrote the masterpiece
Of today. Milton is blind. Dante and
Hugo eXiles, Bunyan. Raleigh and Lu-
Their are in prison. Darwin and r. L.
Stevenson are invalids. Yes, but
they all made good; they came back.
Mr.. Preacher" True. But Robert Il.
Lee didn't. He surrenders his sword
and the Army Of Northern Virginia.
Yet north and south say he is greater
than if he had triumphed. Some men
fight and win: others fight just as
faithfully and lose. Many splendid
success is built upon a heroic failure.
UP in the dungeon at MachaeruS
there's fash of steel In the shudder-
ing light. and John the Baptist has
failed-only to succeed. Sunset at
midday on GOlgotha. A mangled body
is hustled into a borrowed tomb. and
the Man of Nazareth lies among the
failures Of time-only to succeed for
eternity.
The Dial of Aha1
Well, when we are all done here. will
there be another chance to ''come
back?" Is there somewhere in the
spirit world where we have another
opportunity? Can we take up the task
sighted here? VIII God turn back the
universe and give Us yesterday No
one seems to know. "'Tis not SO
nominated in the bond"-that Is the
Bible. There's no encouraging word
from that undiscovered country from
whose bourne no traveller has ever re-
turned" Better not count on 1t. AS
tree falls so shall II lie." Each new
morning is the surest chance to come
back" Sometimes your day may be
prolonged Once upon a time an an
cient king named Hezekiah was sick.
about to die. Prayer was offered for
his recovery. In the courtyard, Wis
ible from his palace window. was the
town clock. a great dial. built by King
AhaZ years before. AS sign of IA
vorable answer the shadow was to go
back ten degrees on the dial. At high
noon some supreme light shone from
the mercy seat. like that shone above
the brightness Of the sun" to Saul on
the way to Damascus. rose on the 9TH
er side of the dial Of Ahaz, and Heze-
kiah had fifteen years added to his
life. Nevertheless the end came
eventually. But don't build on a mir
acle, brother Your day may be near
done. Morning. high sun. afternoon,
shadows lengthening. gloom OF sun
down, twilight and evening star-and
after that. the dark. Yes. you may
"come back" after that bad accident,
"come back" after that fever. 1.-The