The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1912-01-02
THE IDLER.

expression intended I accept 1t with
thanks. l do not, however, thank the
Lord that I am not as other people,
or that 1 was not brought up as other
people, or that I am better than other
| people. for know that am sinner,
but I am trying to do my duty as I
see it, and asking all the time for that
| power to conceive and Appreciate the
right and to do the right. My prayer
always is, God be merciful to me a
sinner"
Seems to me that I read some
where once-letis see-I think it was a
parable recorded by St. Luke and
spoken by the God man, whose birth
we are now commemorating, and the
parable ran something like this:
"And he spake this parable unto GER
tain which trusted in themselves that
they were righteous, and despised 9TH
erB:
1.-TWO men went up into the temple
to pray; the one Pharisee, and the
other publican.
"The Pharisee stood and prayed
! thus with himself, God, I thank thee,
that I am not as other men are, extor-
TONERS, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican.
"I fast twice the week, I give tithes
of all that I possess.
sAnd the publican standing afar off,
would not lift up so much as his eyes
| unto heaven, but smote upon his
breast, saying, God be merciful to me
sinner.
"I tell you, this man went down to
his house justified rather than the 9TH
er; for every one that exalteth himself
shall be abased; and he that humb-
leth himself shall be exalted
This is wonderful book and un-
derstands human nature wonderfully
we'll and fortunate are those who read
and understand and follow its teach
ings.
I see from the papers that Gov.
Blease has pardoned some thirty con-
victs-either a pardon or a parole. 1
do not know anything about the mer-
it's of the cases in which action was
taken, and, therefore. I am not critic
izing him for what he has done. Tx
cept that it does seem to me that 1t
is wrong to grant either a parole or
pardon on the condition that the
person pardoned or paroled leave the
State. If he is too bad a man to re-
main in South Carolina we should not
dump him off on our neighbors. l
notice that Gov. O'Neal, of Alabama,
! pardoned some 26, and that Gov. Col
quit, of Texas, did the same thing
for 25, and in several other States a
number of prisoners were given their
liberty as a. Christmas present. I
should think there was nothing they
would appreciate more than their lib
erty.
see that some of the good people
are trying to argue that there is no
such person as Santa Claus, and are
saying it is all wrong to fool the chill
dren. Well, 7 am not going to argue
the question with them, and I only
refer to it to say that it is but another
symptom of the materialistic tendency
of the age, and to deplore this sort of
preaching. I read just today the fol-
lowing in newspaper: "The greatest
tragedy of life, and probably the first,
is when the child begins to doubt the
existence of Santa Claus.
,, "a child's day dreams are the stars
of it's destiny. The child who has its
dreams may in after years dream some
of the great things, that make the
world better and happier. The dreams
of one generation become the realities
of the next" And then the writer goes
on to deplore the fact that some other
wise intelligent people are trying to
take away this dream-state of the
child, and says: "If we take from
childhood the fancies that belong to
it, we rob it of its real happiness. A
strictly matter-of-fact child is one of
the most pitiful things on earth, and
a life lived out along those lines is