Norwich bulletin., 1916-10-14
THE MAN WHO TALKS

Some men are born old" says Tryon Edwards, "and some never seem so." Some people are born weak l and faltering and others never be- come so.@ It is not length of years that mark ages much as lack of en- ergy and hope. Some men falter and forget at forty and others have an elastic step and a level head at 100. It is a mistake to be more conscious of the ravases of time than of our own power to live fn joy and hope keeping the soul unfettered by the in | cidents and accidents of life. "A man is no older than he feels," says the modern philosopher, but the little col ored boy reversed this when he re- piled to an inquiry as to his age: "1'se five, but if all the fun Tse had is counted l shood fink Pse a hundred" It is the spirit of man not cosmetics or youthful dress which preserves him in sense and activity despite his years, The man who courts Wisdom as time passes indulges in noe of the or efficiency. The spirit of modera- ton and cheerfulness helps man never to seem to be old.
 The way of the transgressor may be hard, but a great many of them never say anything about it; and more give no sign of severe trials. So far as ordinary observation goes the trans gressor among men has a soft snap. The honest, devout, plodding citizen doesn't wear the good clothes or the smile of the man who doesn't mind fortifying himself with the where withal to make his fellowmen afraid and to openly defy the powers that be. If it was not for the long road which has no turn one might think the transgressor could plot and filch lo after the cold and smileless face what? In our unbelief we smile when it would be more to our credit to weep. The way of the transgressor is hard the moment he is found out, because the weight of his own guilt is more than he can bear. What we are can not always be concealed.
 When a man gets discouraged why should he think he needs friends to lift him up? What he needs is in trospection and correction and cour- age and energy. Such men usually think they have lost their grip when really they have never found it. When things are going bad with us it is up to you and I to discover what the matter with us is not what is the mat ter of the, other fellow. Many d mans wrong idea of independence has wrecked him; and many another man
 
 his value and understanding the importance of his employer. Modesty, faithfulness and a live interest in making an employers business a suc- cess has shielded thousands from the consequences of many minor faults It is important that we should get in the right relation to the community and in the right relation to those who are compelled to boost us for our merits if they greatly exceed our faults. We are none of us perfect; and most of us are mistaken in a hundred things and TO one knows it all. Hard luck should always prompt the inquiry: What is the matter with me-"
 Stay up! Don't give up!" every doctor knows, is better than medicine for a great many patients. It is bet ter to sit up feeling mean, than it is to becomeaa distress and an addition lying down It is the viii and the energy consequent upon it which gives the current of fife new force. He who thinks the sands of life are running out is actually petering out. He who is apprehensive Of failure is inviting the very condition he dreads. Was it not Job who said in his plea to the Lord: That which I feared has come upon me" Half the medicine given to men in this life is to inspire q new hope not to cure q nalady. Drugs by reaction may check baneful condi- tions, but faith in ones power to re- cuperate brings back to normality the disturbed currents of life. Doctors make men sit up who they believe would die should they lie down Real grit is expressed in that old prOverb: Never say die!" If too weak to do much compel yourself to do little Little by little strength is redevelop- ed.