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Show Borne 0ircle. j OUR THANKS THIS YEAR. Glad harps have played and hearts-have hymned The whole year through; - -We have wrought with plow and sickle Thou with-sun and dew. 'Till our granaries are bursting And we're in the accurst thing, So we offer Thee the firstling-More firstling-More we cannot do. Yet not for grain and garlands green We tune our lyres. Nor citadels, nor power, nor place, Nor worthy sires. But for the fairer -fashioning Whereby we sing the songs we sing, Our souls' sincerest offering, Our deep desires. We thank Thee for Thine image. Lord, The spirit's seal; In blood embossed at wondrous cost Thy last appeal. And for life's real achieving. For fragile faiths believing, Hope, sorrows sweet relieving And soulful zeal. P"or these, dear Father Heart, we hymn Thanksgiving themes; Proclaim new notes and melodies ' And visioned dreams, ... Mix with the music of the spheres And sing Thy love throughout the years, -- -- -Till earth s autumnal hour appears And death redeems. Winston Palmer Smith. Fr Slattery's Good Sense. Marriages and the too fewness thereof there-of was the theme of a discourse last Sunday morning by the Rev. Lawrence Law-rence J. Slattery at St. Patrick's, South Grcveland, near Haverhill: "It is the duty," said - Father Slattery, Slat-tery, "of every healthy man when he reaches the age of 25 to take unto himself him-self a wiie." With the piea made by some young men' that they haven't enough money to marry on, the pastor had no patience. "If you would pay less attention," he declared, "to good clothes and good times, you would have it." And he told the people what he' thought about long engagements. Four marriages in his parish last year was a record that he did not want to repeat. We commend the views of Father' Slattery to the young men of every parish in New England. The girls with' whom they would mate (if they did their duty are not only the most lovely' and most lovable to be found anywhere,' but living among the Yankees has given them the habit of savin? nnri: bargaining, and we guarantee the1 money part will be all right if the bridegroom is the proper sort. Propose, youths, and don't ask for a day too long distant. Republic, Boston. Heroes Both. Much has been written concerning the civil war, but still there seems to be no lack of incidents which are worthy of record. Quite recently it has been related that two wounded soldiers after a desperate encounter, were lying about forty yards apart. One was a federal, the other a confederate. A cannonball had broken and terribly mangled, both tne confederate's confed-erate's legs, while the federal was shot through the body ahd thigh. "I am dying for ' water," the. federal moaned. ' W ""'" " 11 1 1111 "j "I have some water in my canteen. You are welcome to drink it if you'll come here," said the confederate, who had feebly raised his head from the ground to look at his late enemy when he heard his pitiful cry. "I couldn't move to save my life," groaned the federal, as he dropped his head to the ground, while hrs whole body quivered with agony. . .. The confederate lifted his head again and took another look at his wounded foe, and an expression of tender j)ity came over his pain distorted face as he said: "Hold out a little longer and I'll try to come to you." Then the brave fellow, by digging his fingers into the ground, painfully dragged himself to the federal's side, the blood from his mangled legs making a red trail the entire distance. When the painful journey was finished fin-ished he offered his canteen to the federal, fed-eral, who took it and drank eagerly. Then, with a deep sigh of relief, he reached out to the confederate; they clasped hands and looked straight into each other's eyes. A moment later the confederate's body quivered, and when his head dropped to the ground one more hero had crossed the dark river. The federal fed-eral kissed the dead man's hand repeatedly, re-peatedly, and cried like a child until he was presently removed to the hospital, where he, too, died the next day. Hospitality and Alcohol. Some people,, having an erroneous idea of hospitality, think that the offering of-fering of spirituous drinks to thoss who come to visit them is an indispensable indis-pensable part of hospitality. Such a custom has done a great deal of harm. In countless cases it has been the cause of others getting into the habit of tak ing such beverages too freely. In this country, no matter where a young woman wo-man may go, if she is refined and well-bred, well-bred, she is never seen partaking of any kind of spirituous drinks in the presence of others. To many people who mean well there may not seem any possible harm in taking a social glass of wine or beer, but the young woman who would do this runs the risk of impairing the delicacy of her character in the estimation of those whose friendship is worth having. There is an unselfish sweetness in that woman's life who is a total abstainer, not in the sense of a crank, but simply for the sake of those who are weak in resisting temptation and also for the sake of setting an example of elevating womanhood to home and society. Learn From Everybody. One of the most useful success habits hab-its one can form is that of learning something from everybody with whom he comes in contact. No Information which can be acquired is too trivial to be ignored, says a Success contributor. Constantly measure yourself with the people you meet. You will find that every one can teach you something some-thing which you did not know before, and which, perhaps, you would never have a chance to learn again if you did not acquire it from him. Daniel Webster once made a great hit in arguing a case before a jury by repeating a story which he afterward said he had not thought of since he heard it- fourteen -ears before. But Webster was always picking up something some-thing for future use. His famous reply to Hayne, the greatest speech ever delivered on the American continent, was largely made up of -little reserves which he had picked up here and there in his reading, from studying men and from observation. . Many a prominent novelist has collected col-lected material for his stories by making mak-ing notes of his conversations with those he has met and by observation. Charles Dickens got a great deal of the matter for some of his novels in this way. One young man will go to a lecture and, after spending an hour listening to the helpful, inspiring words of some prominent man',, will leave the. hall or lecture room without having derived any benefit from the address. Another young man will attend the same lecture with an ambition to learn something. He will drink in the speaker's sentences as if he were never to hear such words of encouragement and inspiration again. At the conclusion of the address he will-determine thatvhe: will make more of his opportunities in future; that he will read more, think more, study more, be more than he ever was before. Such a young man has a purpose pur-pose and is determined to learn something some-thing from everything he comes in contact with and from everybody-he talks to. The other has no ambition, does not throw himself into what he does,, lets his mind wander hither and thither, so that he never wholly understands under-stands what people are saying, and therefore never derives any benefit or information from those with whom he converses. For His Sake. W'ho is there among us who has not some secret little drawer or box with careful lock, and sometimes we steal alone to our room and unfasten that little hiding place, w-hich looks so common, com-mon, and take out some treasure which is perhaps more, precious to us than gold. What is it? Only perhaps a little lit-tle lock of hair, only a withered violet only possibly a faded packet of old let- ! ters, quite out of date, only perhaps per-haps a little baby's shoe. Yet there are old voices and memories connected with those slight things which make their value quite inestimable. And as we look at them the sunny scenes come 1 back of the days that are no more, and there is a magic in them which surpasses the wand of the magician. We love them for the sake of that dear one to whom they once belonged," to whom we feel they still belong. So should it be with the things that belong to God, the men whom he has created in his own image. They belong to him, they are his, they speak to us of him, they are living witnesses to us of his love and providence and care. Him we cannot see, but we can see the human creatures whom he has made. Them we must love because we love him. Them we must pity, because he pities them. Them we must think for and feel for and labor for, because he, our tender, heavenly father, is working work-ing for them too, and slumbers not nor sleeps in his care for their souls and bodies. Which Way Madness Lies. From the report of the commissioners in lunacy the deduction has been drawn in certain quarters that celibacy favors and marriage tends to prevent insanity. The inference is unwarranted. unwar-ranted. At ages over 20 lunacy is full . C-J uiv.ui. m U1UBC v HU are single as compared with the married. mar-ried. The correct conclusion is the same though to a less degree as in regard to consumption; the presence of the infirmary, incipient or developed, prevented matrimony. Another erroneous errone-ous conclusion was that lunacy is much more prevalent among clergy of the Church of England than among dissenting dis-senting ministers. The clergy are classed by themselves, whereas the dissenting dis-senting preachers are classed with Roman Ro-man Catholic priests, missionaries, scripture readers, nuns and sisters of charity; consequently no comparison is possible. A further false corollary was that actresses were larsrelv snhiert tn I alienation. The figures given comprise in one group actors, conjurers, per- formers and others engaged in theatres exhibitions and shows, and therefore defy distinct classification. So far as conditions in life and occupation go, easy circumstances, moderate activity, and life in the open air favor mind as they do body. Perhaps the most remarkable re-markable exception is the high, rate of mental disease among hucksters, cos-termongers, cos-termongers, hawkers and peddlers. Notwithstanding their open air callings the rates are 26.9 for males and 36.9 for females, practically three and four times more than the average for rriopt workers. Some other cause than occu- ! pation probably must be sought. In all justice the phrase "mad as a hatter" hat-ter" must, cease. Hatters and hat-makers, hat-makers, male and female, are less afflicted af-flicted than the average of traders, much less than shoemakers, tailors, carpenters, bookbinders and glovemak-ers, glovemak-ers, for instance. London Telegraph. |