Norwich bulletin., 1918-12-28
TFE MAN WHO TALKS

Of & desire to improve ones self; but q string of good resolutions comes near being a sign of imbecility, for good resolutions were never designed to be dealt with in quantities or bulk. Our failures in keeping good resolu- tione is because we attempt to deal with them by the year, or in the ag- gregate. The good resolution should be made for the day. If you can keep you will keep 1t tomorrow; and in this way you may. keep it forever. Aim your good resolution at your greatest weakness or blight and if you over come that 1t does not require any special effort to overcome many lesser faults. What we are going to do dur ing tho new year is brag, but what we are going to do today is chal- lenge which involves our fidelity as well as our honor.
 Don't you think the man who said
 ~The time to stop a bad habit is be- l fore it is established" was wise? Habit is of slow growth and while It seems to be getting one with. films ot silk. it is fixing chains Of steel Men are careless about their habits until l it is too late, and then many of them think they are af11ictions from God to chasten them, instead of self-made tyrants to make them miserable, and for which they are wholly responsible. can't instead of can is the reward | which Habit distributes for loyalty. Being true to false principle results | in deteriorated manhood. The time | to get the best of habit is before it has got the best of you.
 It seems good to feel that one is in- l dependent, but can one really be so! 1 Money makes a man independent Of want; and good character frees him l from many suspicious and perils; and knowledge may keep him from many 1 pitfalls in life; but, with all these, | there are moments in life where the greatest need the aid of the meanest, as much as the meanest need the aid l sf the greatest" It is just as neces- sary to. have strength as to have knowledge, just as necessary to know | how to swim as how to walk, just as | necessary to have endurance as to have faith, and with all these there are moments when we are as depend ent upon someone else as though we were entirely without them. The worth and beauty of service is con- fined to no class and many have been rescued by those they held in utter 1 disrespect.
 We know the public opinion is that I trolley conductors should be more po- lite and attentive; and the trolley conductors are surprised the public is
 so uncivil and unmannerly; and they are both the victims of discordant
 condition which might be corrected
 and which would completely change
 this relation. The trolley conductor must, when possible, start his car on
 time-the belated public planes hirR for doing his duty. The polite con ductor who too promptly attends to ladies and children is called "tOo fresh": and when he is attentive to the aged he often strikes a frost; and there are people who will not tolerate
 Q polite word from him because he is not in their class I surmise the troll ley conductor would dare to be polite
 if the riding public were only half as mannerly as they expect him to be.
 There are a few notices which fit 1 the mind better than the walls of a room, because there are some things we better be constantly conscious of l than to just gaze at several times a day. Better be safe than sorry" is
 better in the mind than q hundred 1 signs: Safety First!" painted upon
 wall. The eye in mental caution is far less dependable than the heart
 An indelible thought is superior to the
 most elaborate motto. Don't say
 things you may be sorry for Is an
 other. The uncoItrolled tongue has
 been compared to a edged sword
 for it cuts both ways. We all talk toe
 much. If we realized how much bet ter it is to be Safe than sorry," we
 shouldn't
 Isn't it sad that only in violence and the awful results. Of it, our greatest
 manhood is disclosed, the greatest. pa
 tience and good cheer in suffering, the strongest faith and the brightest hope
 when everything seems to be hopeless Cur brave boys who are of no pro fessed faith, lying crippled and un-
 done in the hospitals across the seas teach us lessons not only Of how tC face mortal wounds and how to die
 but of the universality of religion, o1
 a divine brotherhood and self abnega-
 ton to which we all seem to be blind
 except when brought to view by con
 fliet. We do not really conceive of. the goodness of men until they come for
 ward and dwell in the consciousness o1
 9 divine brotherhood and die for many [.neople who are unworthy of them Int
 Loy who has faced death for princi
 p1e's sake every day for months ha.
 learned lessons it would be well if w
 could all learn.
 Do not think this season of goot
 will is represented fully by the card.
 and the good words you hear. You world and mine is a great deal broad
 CT than we think. There are nor
 people interested in us than we ar
 aware of; there are good people pray
 ing for us whom we do not know; ant there are hosts who wish us well, wh'
 are glad when they hear of our ad
 vancement or prosperity, and who sin } cerely regret any misfortune or aff1ic , tion which may befan us. The peopl
 are always better than the powers , and they are often misled and grossI , misrepresented by those called thei ! servants, but who are really thei
 masters. Your world extends beyon 7 the horizon; your friends can. be in 5 cluded in no clique; and the good wi y flowing toward you is not only c
 earth, but of heaven.
 Do not think prayer Is something t , live by. or just to escape by? Man n people pray that they may escape tn consequence of their meannesses, nc
 that they may cease to be mean. is fact that the only person who ca I pray right Is the one who acts in ac @ cord with his prayers. Praying to D
 saved without trying to be better, 1 8 like praying that you may be usefr n without making any attempt at use | fulness.. As empty vessels make tn ~ most noise, so senseiess petitioner moan and groan when they shoul g promise and keep their promises. }. prayer without heart or intention . without power. Praying to be re
 deemed without sensing the necessit s for personal endeavor is vain. Ther 7 Is no being diyinely saved by the scru