■■■I 
 
 ^B 274 157 
 
 KSS 
 
EERINESS 
 
 [1] 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2007 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cheerinessOOruthrich 
 
CHEERINESS 
 
 By 
 
 W. R. RUTHERFORD 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 DODGE PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 220 East 230 Street 
 

 (^^ 
 
 Copyright, 1906, by 
 A. M. ROBERTSON 
 
I no 
 
 "Have you any cheering greeting? 
 Tell it out to-day; 
 While you wait, the friend and message 
 May have gone away.'* 
 
 273062 
 
CHEERINESS 
 
 [T] 
 
CHEERINESS 
 
 4 i^ 71 THAT a beautiful day!" How often we 
 ^ ^ hear it said, and how true it is. And 
 is it not ahvays so over the greater part 
 of the world? Where the climate seems to us of this 
 zone to be unpropitious or extreme, nature has kindly 
 tempered conditions so that man does not find those 
 climates any more uncomfortable than we find ours. 
 The Laplander and the Eskimo are fed and clothed in 
 accordance with their requirements, while the South Sea 
 Islander and the African native are fed and unclothed 
 as is comfortable in their regions of eternal summer. 
 
 In our temperate zone have we not more days of 
 sunshine than rain and cloud? Does not the moon, 
 do not the stars, show light on more nights than are 
 cloudy or moonless? Then Avhy should we not often 
 remark, What a fine day? Why not often help one 
 another to note the fact of the beautiful weather? 
 
 [9T 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 If you greet a man with "Isn't it sweltering to-day ?" 
 ten chances to one he will answer, "Yes ; it's roasting," 
 or something to that effect; while if you pleasantly 
 remark, "Fine day," he will reply "Delightful." What 
 is the philosophy of this? Is it that the same man 
 really feels the day different as he meets a growler or 
 a cheery optimist? Yes, and no. He is more or less 
 affected in his physical feeling by his mental attitude, 
 of course; but, on the other hand, he expresses in his 
 reply that inborn longing of every human being, if not 
 of every rational creature, for sympathy, that instinct- 
 ive desire to be in accord with one's surroundings. 
 
 This being so, how great becomes the responsibility 
 of every person who seeks the welfare and not the dis- 
 comfort of his fellows, to strive by every salutation to 
 make his neighbor feel better. Then let us comment 
 upon the beautiful weather every day we have a shadow 
 of excuse for doing so ; and if any stray day of another 
 kind chances to come along let us look for some pleasant 
 thought to introduce conversation or to express the 
 
 [10] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 passing greeting rather than make one another feel 
 more of discomfort than need be. 
 
 And broadening our outlook beyond the mere passing 
 salutation, or even the words of our lips alone, shall 
 we not strive more earnestly to let more of sunshine 
 into our brothers' and sisters' lives day by day? To- 
 day is ours. Of to-morrow we can say only that it may 
 be ours. "Oh, the good we all may do while the days 
 are going by!" As Nixon Waterman beautifully ex- 
 presses it: 
 
 We shall do so much in the years to come, 
 
 But what have we done to-day ? 
 We shall give our gold in a princely sum, 
 
 But what did we give to-day? 
 We shall hft the heart and dry the tear, 
 We shall plant a hope in the place of fear. 
 We shall speak the words of love and cheer. 
 But what did we speak to-day? 
 
 We shall be so kind in the afterwhile, 
 
 But what have we been to-day? 
 
 We shall bring to each lonely life a smile. 
 But what have we brought to-day? 
 
 [11] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 We shall give to truth a grander birth, 
 And to steadfast faith a deeper worth, 
 We shall feed the hungering souls of earth; 
 But whom have we fed to-day? 
 
 We shall reap such joys in the by and by, 
 But what have we sown to-day? 
 
 We shall build us mansions in the sky. 
 But what have we built to-day? 
 
 'Tis sweet in idle dreams to bask, 
 
 But here and now do we do our task? 
 
 Yes, this is the thing our souls must ask — 
 "What have we done to-day?" 
 
 ri2] 
 
THE CONSTANT MAN 
 
 [13] 
 
THE CONSTANT MAN 
 
 THERE is honor given to the successful man, and 
 there is credit to the one who tries but fails, 
 and yet tries again. But there is another man 
 who deserves high praise also — the one, namely, who 
 fixes his eye on a certain goal, and steadfastly pur- 
 sues his way toward that mark, regardless alike of suc- 
 cess or failure. Such a man is not over-elated when 
 he succeeds, his head is not turned, he does not step 
 aside to enjoy the fruits of conquest; nor, on the other 
 hand, when disaster overtakes him, and the way seems 
 hedged up, does he sit down and wring his hands in 
 despair, or tamely yield to circumstances, but makes 
 the obstacles stepping-stones, and climbs over them to 
 higher ground. 
 
 This is the man who goes steadily onward, undaunted 
 by untoward fate, and unseduced by fortune's allure- 
 
 [IS] 
 
^ CHEEBINESS ^ 
 
 ments. He is the type of constancy. He forms his 
 purpose to attain the end before him, the ideal that 
 he seeks, and then follows the path that leads to that 
 goal, unswerving, unaffected by the heights he has to 
 climb, by the pitfalls that lie about his feet — ^but are 
 not for such as he — undaunted by the troubles or the 
 opposing forces that he encounters. He gains strength 
 by every contest, wisdom from every experience, and 
 goes forward undismayed, day by day nearing the 
 heights he would attain — though, if he be a true man, 
 never reaching his ideal. (Pity the man who does!) 
 
 How may one attain to this high serenity, this calm, 
 imperturbable constancy of purpose, this tenacity and 
 patience of accomplishment.? There is no royal road, 
 only the old path of training, or patient plodding, of 
 earnest endeavor and fixed determination. No man can 
 fix the fate that will come to him; every man may fix 
 the spirit and temper of mind in which he shall en- 
 counter whatever fate befall him. As Priscilla Leonard, 
 in the Outlook, recently wrote: 
 
 [16] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 No man can choose what commg hours may bring 
 To him of need, of joy, of suffering; 
 But what his soul shall bring unto each hour 
 To meet its challenge — this is in his power. 
 
 The world respects a man who thus pursues his aim 
 steadily, regarding neither success nor failure, going 
 on from one duty to the next, from one day's achieve- 
 ment, however slight, or however great, to the tasks 
 of the next morning. Honor to him, the steady-going 
 man! the man of constant spirit, of fixity of purpose, 
 of earnestness unwavering! Such as he are needed in 
 this world, where there is too much of impetuosity, of 
 fickleness, of going "by fits and starts." Like the 
 constant dropping that wears away the stone, it is the 
 constant man who accomplishes the great works of 
 the world, the enduring structures of men's hands 
 and men's minds. His example is not exciting, but 
 better, it is encouraging; it helps to achieve under- 
 takings, it serves a useful end, and conduces to make 
 life better. 
 
 [17] 
 
^ CHEERINESS 
 
 I do not know the author of the following lines, 
 which have been handed to me, but they express very 
 aptly the thought of part of this article: 
 
 THE INEVITABLE 
 
 I like the man w^ho faces what he must, 
 
 With step triumphant and a heart of cheer ; 
 Who fights the daily battle without fear ; 
 
 Sees his hopes fail, yet keeps unfaltering trust 
 
 That God is God: that somehow, true and just. 
 His plans work out for mortals. Not a tear 
 Is shed when fortune, which the world holds dear, 
 
 Falls from his grasp. Better with love a crust 
 Than living in dishonor ; envies not. 
 
 Nor loses faith in man, but does his best, 
 Nor ever murmurs at his humbler lot. 
 
 But with a smile and words of hope gives zest 
 
 To every toiler. He alone is great 
 
 Who by a life heroic conquers fate. 
 
 [181 
 
DUTY OF HEALTH 
 
 [19] 
 
DUTY OF HEALTH 
 
 IT is a commonplace to saj that a man has a dutv 
 of being well, because happiness and the best 
 service of life is not possible otherwise. I was 
 reading, a few days ago, an editorial in an Eastern 
 weekly which suggested this line of thought. It is a 
 fact to which we must submit, that a man's mental and 
 spiritual state is strongly colored by his physical con- 
 dition. This fact is thus put by Sydney Smith in his 
 own inimitable fashion : 
 
 "Happiness is not impossible without health, but it 
 IS of only difficult attainment. I do not mean by health 
 merely an absence of dangerous complaints, but that 
 the body should be in perfect tune, full of vigor and 
 alacrity. The longer I live the more I am convinced 
 that the apothecary is of more importance than Sen- 
 eca, and that half the unhappiness of the world proceeds 
 from little stoppages, from a duct choked up, from 
 
 [gi] 
 
^ CHEERINESS S 
 
 food pressing in the wrong place, from a vexed duo- 
 denum, or an agitated pylorus. The deception, as 
 practiced upon human creatures, is curious and enter- 
 taining. My friend sups late; he eats some strong 
 soup, then a lobster, then some tart, and he dilutes 
 these excellent varieties with wine. The next day I call 
 upon him. He is going to sell his house in London 
 and retire into the country. He is alarmed for his 
 eldest daughter's health. His expenses are heavily in- 
 creasing, and nothing but a timely retreat can save 
 him from ruin. All this is lobster, and when over- 
 excited nature has had time to manage this testaceous 
 encumbrance the daughter recovers, the finances are 
 in good order, and every rural idea excluded from his 
 mind. In the same manner old friendships are de- 
 stroyed by toasted cheese, and hard, salted meat has 
 led to suicide." 
 
 The witty canon here seeks to emphasize the fact 
 that an unhealthy condition of body, however caused, 
 produces a disastrous effect upon the mind and the 
 
 [22] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 whole spirit, rendering impossible for the time being 
 the highest living on any plane. 
 
 Fortunately, however, for humanity, good health is 
 possible for the great majority of men and women, 
 if they will but follow certain simple and easily applied 
 rules, which will, even in the case of those suffering 
 from serious physical affliction, make some degree of 
 health and happiness possible. These rules are not 
 new, but they need and bear emphasizing. They are : 
 
 First, preserve a bright, cheerful, hopeful outlook 
 upon the world of men and things. There is no tonic 
 in the world, both for yourself and those about you, 
 like a cheerful spirit. 
 
 Second, live as naturally as you can, by eating 
 wholesome food and living much in the open air. Hap- 
 pily, he is very peculiarly situated who cannot get 
 plenty of God's sunshine, fresh air, pure water and 
 plain, good food, and take the exercise of walking — 
 one of the best. 
 
 Third, avoid nostrums ; avoid them as you would 
 [23] 
 
^ CHEERINESS S 
 
 the devil, for the devil of disease and ruin is in most 
 of them. Of course, there are some exceptions. Some 
 patent medicines are good and useful; but in general, 
 according to the authority of the whole medical pro- 
 fession and the testimony of common sense, they are 
 the prolific cause of much misery and ill-health. These 
 three rules are not hard to keep, and certainly they will 
 help a man to be healthful and happy, and to add 
 to the happiness and usefulness of others also, and 
 thus discharge a duty he owes to himself, his family, 
 the community, and the God who made him. 
 
 [S4] 
 
SEEDS BY THE WAYSIDE 
 
 [25] 
 
SEEDS BY THE WAYSIDE 
 
 ONE of the most beautiful little gems of poetic 
 thought along the line of helpfulness in the 
 seemingly trivial affairs along the pathway of 
 every-day life is this, by D. G. Bickers, printed in "The 
 Lifeboat," an illustrated monthly journal, devoted, ac- 
 cording to the title page, to "charitable, philanthropic, 
 health and soul-saving work," and published in Chi- 
 cago. It is entitled "Little Kindnesses": 
 
 You gave on the way a pleasant smile, 
 
 And thought no more about it ; 
 It '^heered a life that was sad the while. 
 
 That might have been wrecked without it. 
 And so for the smile and fruitage fair 
 You'll reap a crown some time — somewhere. 
 
 You spoke one day a cheering word. 
 
 And passed to other duties ; 
 It warmed a heart, new promise stirred, 
 
 And painted a life with beauties. 
 And so for the word and its silent prayer 
 You'll reap a palm some time — somewhere. 
 
 [27] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 You lent a hand to a fallen one, 
 
 A life in kindness given ; 
 It saved a soul when help was none, 
 
 And won a heart for heaven ; 
 And so for the help jou proffered there 
 You'll reap a joy some time — somewhere. 
 
 It is such seeds scattered by the wayside that often 
 spring up to bear fruit of happy memories in after 
 days, and often, too, bring returns of kind deeds. It 
 is only such things which one can really call one's own 
 acquisitions — for wealth and property can be held only 
 for a few years at longest and then must be left behind. 
 But one's own character, developed by such training to 
 deeds of sympathy and human kindness to one's fellow 
 toilers, remains with its possessor even beyond the 
 bounds of this life. As expressed in a sentence from 
 the conclusion of a eulogy on Peter Cooper, "All you 
 can hold in your cold, dead hand is what you have given 
 away." 
 
 The development of a disposition and character of 
 [98] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 helpfulness is not a matter of accident. It requires a 
 fixed and steady purpose to see and seize opportunities. 
 Like everything else worth accomplishing, it demands 
 constant application. Samuel Smiles, in his great book 
 on "Self Help," says : "Accident does very little toward 
 the production of any great result in life. Though 
 sometimes what is called *a happy hit' may be made by 
 a bold venture, the common highway of steady industry 
 and apphcation is the only safe road to travel." And 
 it is the only road that leads to the rounding out of a 
 beautiful character that shall be made a source of help- 
 fulness to those around. One must keep the eyes open 
 for the chances of the kindly deed, the encouraging 
 word, the appreciative look, which will bring an extra 
 ray of sunshine into the heart of the friend or the 
 stranger, and thus tend to make the world a little better 
 for one's having lived in it. 
 
 [29] 
 
THE SECRET OF CONTENT 
 
 [31] 
 
THE SECRET OF CONTENT 
 
 THE true and only source of contentment in life 
 is to be found not in outward circumstances, 
 but in the heart; if we cannot find it there, in 
 ourselves, it is useless to expect to obtain it elsewhere. 
 Nor is it wise to look always too far ahead. To be 
 sure, it is sometimes a staying thought in the midst 
 of trial and difficulty that in the long run we believe 
 that right will triumph, and all will be well; but some- 
 times it is better to regard simply the present hour, to 
 take a short view gx* life, and calm our troubled spirits 
 with the assurance that all is well for the present, at 
 least; steadily maintaining this attitude from hour to 
 hour, we find the days pass by, one by one, in calmness 
 and peace. 
 
 A writer in the Brown Book, of Boston, gives some 
 very good counsel along this line, under the name of 
 *'Moming Thoughts." 
 
 [ S3 ] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 ''To-morrow is only a stranger ; when he is to-day, 
 consider how you shall entertain him. Go forth this 
 day with the smallest expectations, but with the largest 
 patience; with a keen relish for and appreciation of 
 everything beautiful, great and good, but with a tem- 
 per so genial that the friction of the world shall not 
 bear upon your sensibilities. Keep yourself from the 
 fatal malady of bad humor — from grumbling, from lit- 
 tle irritations, from rudeness." 
 
 It requires watchfulness to follow out this plan, as 
 it does to pursue any other course of action that leads 
 to useful achievement. One has to keep a guard upon 
 one's acts and v/ords, and even thoughts, to be able 
 to preserve a care-free, happy, contented spirit. And 
 of much assistance along this hne is the practice of 
 looking for the beautiful, the pleasing, the good, cher- 
 ishing and appreciating all that tends to make us 
 happier and better. 
 
 Starting out in the day with this purpose in view, 
 and striving to keep it constantly before us as the day 
 
 [34] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 progresses, we can establish a habit of cheerfulness that 
 will enable us to pass over little worries or annoyances 
 which otherwise would fret and disturb, but which now 
 make scarcely a ripple on the calm surface of our con- 
 tentment. 
 
 This habit of cheerfulness counts for far more than 
 any quantity or even quality of worldly possessions 
 for the happiness of the possessor. Many a man and 
 woman who owns millions is less contented than the 
 so-called poor day laborer or washerwoman, who goes 
 to the daily labor with a contented mind, and thus en- 
 joys what the wise man called a continual feast. Not 
 what we possess, but how we possess and how we regard 
 our possessions, be they little or much; not our sur- 
 roundings without, but our feelings within ; not our 
 physical condition, but our mental attitude and our 
 spiritual frame — this is the fertile soil that lies at the 
 root of the beautiful "heart's-ease" plant of content- 
 ment. 
 
 [35] 
 
APPRECIATE THE PRESENT 
 
 [37J 
 
APPRECIATE THE PRESENT 
 
 WE live in the here and now. Some people live 
 largely in the past; they are ever turning 
 their thoughts back to past experiences, of 
 sorrow, or of delight, maybe with regret, possibly with 
 gladness. Then again, many people live largely in the 
 future ; they act out the doctrine uttered by Pope, that 
 "man never is, but always to be, blest." They think of 
 what they see in the future, or what they would like 
 to see, or perhaps what they dread to see, and so 
 render themselves unduly unpractical or needlessly 
 fearful. 
 
 And yet all of us are concerned more with the here 
 and the now than with the remote in either time or place 
 or circumstances. We ought to make the most and 
 the best of the present, with its opportunities, just 
 where our lot is cast. In this way, if the past has been 
 
 [391 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 dark, we have the better chance to make up for it ; or if 
 it has been brighter than our present lot, we do not 
 make things worse by needless comparisons which only 
 emphasize the gloom of the clouds which may now en- 
 shroud our lives. And looking the other way, if the 
 future holds in store for us some grief or suffering 
 or loss, we shall be the better able to endure it, for 
 joy gives strength; while if it is teeming with glad 
 experience for our coming days, our hearts will be 
 the more in tune to enjoy it, and there will be no fear 
 of a hurtful reaction. 
 
 It was a wise man said, "There is a time to weep 
 and a time to laugh." Laughter, merriment, has as 
 much place and right in our lives as sorrow; nay, it 
 has more ! Margaret E. Sangster, who has for a gen- 
 eration been cheering the hearts and lives of men, 
 women and children by her beautiful, helpful thoughts, 
 says: "Looking over our life's story, who does not 
 realize that the merry times are the longer and more 
 frequent times, that the griefs are now and then, and 
 
 [40] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 the joys are every day and all day? Gaiety of mood, 
 readiness to be amused and to find real pleasure in little 
 things, are much more praiseworthy than a gloom 
 which is religion's counterfeit, not the true coin current 
 of piety. 
 
 "Every home," continues this writer, "should have 
 its wholesome fund of little jests, familiar anecdotes^ 
 and sweet traditions. That is the most charming home 
 for children or grown folks in which there is plenty 
 of fun. If you or I have been tempted to forego fun, 
 and frown upon the genial mirth that helps us in the 
 day's work, we may as well summon our resolution and 
 resist that demon from below. The fun is to be had 
 for the making, and the home and all concerned will 
 be better and happier for it." 
 
 The memory of a childhood of pure fun and whole- 
 some frolic in the home and with the home folk is a 
 precious legacy that will serve to brighten many an 
 hour in later life, and may be the guard from gnawing 
 gloom or fretful worry. Make the most of the present 
 
 [41] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 and the place you are in ; it is possibly as good as you 
 have ever had or ever will find, for a good deal of one's 
 enjoyment of life consists in the spirit in which he 
 meets its experiences. 
 
 [4S] 
 
LOOK FOR THE BEST 
 
 [43] 
 
LOOK FOR THE BEST 
 
 ^ ^ "W'F anyone should give me a dish of sand," said 
 I OHver Wendell Holmes, "and say there were 
 particles of iron in it, I might look with my 
 eyes for them, and search for them with my clumsy 
 fingers, and be unable to find them ; but let me take a 
 magnet and sweep it, and how it would draw to itself 
 the most invisible particles by the power of attraction ! 
 The unthankful heart, like my finger in the sand, dis- 
 covers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep 
 through the day, and, as the magnet finds the iron, so 
 it will find in every hour some heavenly blessing; only 
 the iron in God's sand is gold." 
 
 How truly the genial Holmes has described the se- 
 cret of finding in every-day life abundant cause for 
 gladness. It is the spirit in which one views life that 
 makes the outlook pleasant or the reverse. With the 
 
 [46] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 heart ready to receive and appreciate brightness and 
 joyous circumstances, the eyes are open to see all there 
 is of such in the daily pathway. 
 
 The spirit that hopes for the best is often best pre- 
 pared for the worst, should that worst befall, and is 
 most apt to bear manfully whatever happens. The 
 buoyancy of hopefulness is the best antidote to disap- 
 pointment, and most thoroughly fits one to appreciate 
 all that happens in the day to cause joy and thankful- 
 ness. 
 
 It is true that many a day brings some things that 
 are by no means joyful; there are troubles, disasters, 
 sorrows, heart-breaks, but still the hopeful heart is 
 best able to bear up under these trials, and, toiling on, 
 will see the reward of conquest achieved over all that is 
 now so hard to endure. Gerald Massey, a British poet, 
 wrote many beautiful poems, each filled with optimism 
 and hopefulness. The following is a sample of his 
 expression of a cheerful spirit. The little gem, which 
 has been set to music, deserves a reading from all : 
 
 [46] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 Oh, never sit down and say 
 
 There's nothing left but sorrow ! 
 
 We walk the wilderness to-day, 
 The promised land to-morrow. 
 
 And though age wearies by the way, 
 And hearts break in the furrow, 
 
 We'll sow the golden grain to-day, 
 And harvest comes to-morrow. 
 
 Build up heroic lives, and all 
 
 Be like a sheathen sabre. 
 Ready to flash out at God's call, 
 
 O chivalry of labor ! 
 
 Triumph and toil are twins ; and aye 
 Joy stems the cloud of sorrow ; 
 
 And 'tis the martyrdom to-day 
 Brings victory to-morrow. 
 
 We need such reminders frequently repeated to help 
 us to preserve that atmosphere of serenity about us 
 that will make our lives immune against the petty an- 
 noyances of daily routine and daily toil. 
 
 [47] 
 
THE CRITIC AS A HELPER 
 
 r49i 
 
THE CRITIC AS HELPER 
 
 A WISE man, someone has said, will turn adverse 
 criticism and malicious attacks to good ac- 
 count. He will carefully consider whether 
 there may not be in him some weakness or fault which 
 he never discovered, but which was all the while plain to 
 the eye of his enemy. Men often can profit more by 
 the attacks of foes than by the kindness of friends. 
 
 In the strife of political life no little weakness in 
 the character of any man who aspires to public place 
 can pass unnoticed by the critical scrutiny of his oppo- 
 nents. What a fine chance is thus afforded to every 
 public man to know just how bad he is in the eyes of 
 the world! and so he gains, if he will, an exact knowl- 
 edge of all the faults he needs to correct as well as 
 those he doesn't — not possessing them. 
 
 But this same principle has a much wider application 
 than in the political realm alone, wide as that is. In 
 
 r5ii 
 
^ CHEEBINESS Jt 
 
 daily life a man has much to learn from those who are 
 not his friends. His business or professional rivals 
 may frequently let fall some remark that can serve as 
 a real help and benefit to him, if he will only make the 
 right use of it. He may discover some unsuspected 
 weak spot, some place where he could be more effective, 
 and thus he is under heavy obligation to those whom 
 he would least expect to desire to help him. 
 
 Broadening out the thought still farther, we may 
 note the fact that the seemingly untoward things of 
 life, the difficulties, the disappointments, even the ap- 
 parent disasters, may prove to be the very best things 
 that could happen to us. "We are all," says some 
 writer, "dissatisfied. The only difference is that some 
 of us sit down in the squalor of our dissatisfaction, 
 while others make a ladder of it." We cannot prevent 
 the birds of sadness from flying over our heads, as the 
 proverb says, but we may prevent them from stopping 
 to build their nests there; and as with disappointment 
 and sadness, so with opposition, fault-finding, criticism, 
 
 [52] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 even calumny, it rests with ourselves very largely to 
 decide whether these things are to trouble and depress 
 us, or whether we shall look on the other side of 
 the cloud and see the bright lining, shall read be- 
 tween the lines of the criticism (that may be main- 
 ly unjust) and discover the truth that gives occa- 
 sion to the hard judgment, thus becoming able to cor- 
 rect our conduct, and having to thank even an un- 
 friendly critic for the opportunity of self -improvement. 
 Cicero said that it is the characteristic of folly to 
 discern the faults of others and to forget one's own. 
 The wise man may therefore be indebted to the fool 
 for the discovery of some faults he has overlooked in 
 his own character. Beaconsfield declared that it is 
 much easier to be critical than to be correct, and who 
 has not found it so.? But it is the part of wisdom to 
 strive to find the points of excellence in another, for 
 "if you wish that your own merit should be recognized, 
 recognize the merits of others." And this is pleasanter 
 business than fault-finding. 
 
 [53] 
 
A HELPFUL MOTTO 
 
 [551 
 
A 
 
 A HELPFUL MOTTO 
 
 SIMPLE motto is often more helpful than an 
 elaborate creed, and such it seems to me is the 
 following by Rev. William E. Gannett: 
 
 A task to do, 
 And a clear inside ; 
 A friend to help. 
 And the sunny side. 
 
 Certainly no moral person can be content who has 
 not a task to do. Idleness is a great curse. When 
 one's thoughts and energies are not made to expend 
 themselves upon some outside interest the mind and 
 heart will turn inward and become self-consuming, and 
 someone says "There is no poison like an ingrowing 
 soul," which consumes itself in fret, worry, lamenting, 
 or remorse. 
 
 [57] 
 
Si CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 Worry kills more people than work ; better to wear 
 out than to rust out. Tennyson, in his "Ulysses," ex- 
 presses the same abhorrence of being compelled "not 
 to shine in use." All human experience goes to indorse 
 the maxim that would bid us ever have a task to do. 
 
 "A clear inside" may be, and should be, both physical 
 and moral. Disease is a poor concomitant to cheerful- 
 ness, and a poor stepping-stone to success ; not that a 
 person cannot maintain a cheerful disposition in spite 
 of a sickly constitution, or make a brilliant success of 
 life notwithstanding the heavy handicap of ill health; 
 but the sound body is essential to the best development 
 of the sound mind. Hence the advisabihty of shunning 
 all habits that tend to make the body in any part less 
 sound, in any organ less efficient, than it might be. 
 
 And what applies to the clearness of the inside physi- 
 cally, applies with even greater force, if that can be, to 
 its clearness mentally and morally. Ignorance and vice 
 are implacable foes to real cheerfulness and genuine 
 happiness. 
 
 [58] 
 
J* CHEEillNESS JA 
 
 He who would have friends must show himself friend- 
 ly. Who would not have friends must be of a warped 
 or evil nature, shunning the light of companionship, 
 the gleam of recognition and appreciation in the eyes 
 of friends, because of evil ways that love to shrink into 
 the darkness. But every naturally-disposed man and 
 woman desires and enjoys friendship. And what a 
 selfish thing it would be to expect others to be friendly 
 with one who would not put himself out of the way, 
 or one who would not exert herself gladly, to be on 
 friendly terms with others. 
 
 As for "the sunny side," anyone w^ho did not believe 
 in that would scarcely be reading this article, so it 
 appeals to every reader. How often you and I have 
 proved the worth, the advantage, the helpfulness to 
 ourselves and to others, of looking on the sunny side of 
 even the darkest clouds. 
 
 [69] 
 
OPTIMISM, NATURAL AND 
 CULTIVATED 
 
 [6U 
 
OPTIMISM, NATURAL AND 
 CULTIVATED 
 
 THE value to the world of sunshine is inestimable. 
 So is that of cheerfulness of spirit, the sun- 
 shine of the moral world. This cheerfulness 
 may be a matter of temperament, or of philosophy; 
 either kind is good. 
 
 It is well to be cheerful of disposition, to wear a 
 bright face, to speak in a happy tone, to be lively in 
 action — it "doeth good like a medicine," is a tonic to 
 others as well as a benefit to one's self. It is as infec- 
 tious as disease, encouraging good spirits in those 
 about one, as well as stimulating healthy views of life 
 in one's own mind. 
 
 Such a person, when troubles would press him down, 
 rebounds. So soon as the immediate burden is removed 
 his buoyant step springs lightly again along hf e's path- 
 way. He rises superior to the ills and woes he encoun- 
 ters. His head is above the clouds. His natural gaiety 
 
 [63] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 keeps him from sinking beneath the waves of a tide 
 of adversity. 
 
 This optimistic temperament is largely a matter of a 
 healthy constitution. It is a happy fortune for its 
 owner to possess, and it is cheering to those around him. 
 It has a great and constant value in the moral world, 
 and even in the physical, and deserves to be rated high 
 in the market of useful qualities. 
 
 But there is another kind of optimism, which may 
 pass current for even higher worth, when we appre- 
 ciate its usefulness. It is that of the person who is 
 not possessed of a joyous temperament, who maybe is 
 not blessed with health, who perchance finds his way 
 hedged about with difficulties that perplex and harass, 
 whose lot perhaps is cast in the midst of misfortune, 
 of loss, of suffering, of disappointment, of bereave- 
 ment. Yet, withal, he maintains a steady faith in God 
 and goodness, a persistent trust in the final triumph of 
 right, a never-failing courage in the midst of life's 
 battles, a constant hope and confidence that all is well 
 
 [64] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 though the manner of its outworking may be unper- 
 celved. In storm he ever turns his face upward to 
 the skies, where he knows the sun shines, and though 
 the long night be thick with darkness, he scans the 
 horizon in eager gaze and not with despair for the 
 gleam of the dawning light. 
 
 This is the true optimist. What he has of cheerful- 
 ness he has won by stern fighting with the ills of life. 
 His eyes are not shut to the griefs and troubles around 
 him. He has faced the difficulties, the disappointments, 
 the sorrows of the human lot, and though the lines are 
 not fallen unto him in pleasant places, yet still he trusts 
 "that somehow good shall be the final goal of ill." 
 
 Even in the failures and sins that seem to thwart all 
 righteousness he finds room for pity, for penitence, for 
 pardon — those softening emotions that make the heart 
 tender and prove the worth of goodness. He sees even 
 the wrath of man made to praise God. In the presence 
 of the mysteries of life he realizes the omnipresence 
 and omnipotence of God. His trust in the eternal verl- 
 
 [65] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 ties becomes rooted and grounded in hope, and he finds 
 bright promise both of the Hfe that now is and of that 
 which is to come. And surely the optimist is right. 
 
 "Since right is right, if God is God, 
 And right the day must win. 
 To doubt would be disloyalty. 
 To falter would be sin." 
 
 If "God's in His heaven," then he who fully believes 
 that, and who puts himself into right relations with the 
 All-seeing Father, while he may not see how all things 
 are going to work together for his good, and while he 
 certainly will not understand all mysteries and all 
 knowledge, nevertheless trusts and is not afraid, for 
 he feels not only that "all's right with the world" at 
 large, but also that to him individually "no harm can 
 come on ocean or on shore." 
 
 This is the victory that overcomes the world, even the 
 faith of the genuine optimist. By sheer force of true 
 Christian philosophy he takes the only view possible in 
 reason to the believer in an over-ruling Providence. 
 
 [66] 
 
LIFE S LOOM 
 
 [67] 
 
LIFE'S LOOM 
 
 OUR life is made up of days and the deeds we 
 put into them. The days are the warp and 
 the deeds the woof of hfe. Another web has 
 been woven by the swiftly passing shuttles of time, and 
 we look back upon the completed year. In and out 
 have the threads of action been flying through the days, 
 alternating between sunshine and shadow. Well for us 
 if the Master of all good workmen has been able to 
 look with approval upon our endeavor. Not upon our 
 achievement, for the best endeavor all too often falls 
 far short of accomplishment; but the will to do, and 
 the effort to be the best we can, is what is regarded. 
 
 It may be that our own estimate of our actions Is 
 far from correct. On the one hand, it may have been 
 too roseate and self-congratulatory. Or, on the other, 
 possibly we have been unduly cast down and filled with 
 self-reproach. We may have "builded better than we 
 
 [69] 
 
^ CHEEH-INESS ^ 
 
 knew." The true state of our conduct is not always 
 apparent to our own eyes. 
 
 In a discourse quoted in the Sunshine Bulletin, Rev. 
 Donald Sage Mackay, D.D., of New York, refers to 
 the famihar lines entitled "The English Tapestry 
 Weavers," written by an American after visiting their 
 factories in England. 
 
 In these works, as is known to those who have seen 
 or read about them, the pattern hangs overhead, above 
 the weaver, while he himself works always on the wrong 
 side of the web, never seeing the worked-out pattern 
 until the piece is finished. 
 
 Let us learn a New Year's lesson (no better lesson can 
 
 be) 
 From the ways of the tapestry weavers on the other 
 
 side of the sea. 
 
 Above their head the pattern hangs, they ^tudy it with 
 care. 
 
 And as to and fro the shuttle leaps, their eyes are fast- 
 ened there. 
 
 [70] 
 
^ CHEEHIWESS ^ 
 
 They tell this curious thing, besides, of the patient, 
 
 plodding weaver, 
 He works on the wrong side evermore, but works for 
 
 the right side ever. 
 
 It is only when the weaving stops, and the web is loosed 
 
 and turned, 
 That he sees his real handiwork, and his marvelous skill 
 
 is learned. 
 
 The years of men are the looms of God, let down from 
 
 the place of the sun. 
 Where one and all are weaving till the mystic web is 
 
 done. 
 
 Weaving blindly, but weaving surely, each for himself 
 
 his fate, 
 We may not see how the right side looks ; we can only 
 
 weave and wait. 
 
 But looking above for the pattern, no weaver hath need 
 
 to fear; 
 Only let him look clear into heaven, the perfect pattern 
 
 is there. 
 
 If he keeps the face of the Savior forever and always 
 
 in sight. 
 His toil shall be rich with blessing, and his weaving is 
 
 sure to be right. 
 
 [71] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 And when his task is ended, and the web is turned and 
 
 shown, 
 He shall hear the voice of the Master exclaiming to him, 
 
 "Well done." 
 
 Life, we are told, is sacred because it is the arena in 
 which character is developed. "We are placed here to 
 work out a personal character which shall endure the 
 shock of ages." Accepting this, we see our lives become 
 a part of a great plan, "the unfolding of a purpose 
 whose motive is love, and whose thought is immortal." 
 The trials, the defeats, the disappointments, the temp- 
 tations, the sorrows no less than the joys, the satisfac- 
 tions, the pleasures, the triumphs, have been merely the 
 tools placed in our hands "to chisel out the finer lines 
 of a deathless character." 
 
 The past may have contained many things that 
 seemed dark and mysterious to us, even after months, 
 it may be, have rolled by. Nevertheless, at the last, our 
 life will have amounted to something when out of every 
 trial and every sorrow we emerge with purer, stronger, 
 
 [72] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 truer characters. Then we shall see, when the web is 
 turned, that every dark thread had its place in the 
 infinite plan, and the right side will be bright. May 
 we ever work for that side, watching the pattern and 
 copying it as nearly as may be. 
 
 [73] 
 
HAPPINESS OF AGE 
 
 [75] 
 
HAPPINESS OF AGE 
 
 ONE of the best views of life, because at the same 
 time one of the sanest and most cheering, is 
 that which regards the future with the expec- 
 tation of ever-increasing happiness. It is commonly 
 thought that youth is the happiest time of life, because 
 it is more care-free than maturer years ; but this does 
 not stand the test of scrutiny when we look at the 
 facts of the case- from the point of view of the person 
 who has endeavored to make the best use of life. 
 
 In fact, there are many reasons why age should be 
 happier than youth. If the question is asked, why 
 this is so, I cannot do better than quote just here the 
 words of someone, whose identity I do not know, but 
 whose answer to the question I read in a recent issue of 
 a religious journal of this State: 
 
 "Perhaps you will say that it is not. I well know 
 that it is customary to consider the irresponsible years 
 
 [77] 
 
^ CHEEHINESS ^ 
 
 of childhood to be the sunniest part of hfe. But truly, 
 having passed the half-century limit, I would no sooner 
 go back to that charming period than would the college 
 senior like to be put back into the freshman class. 
 Though my childhood and youth were very happy ones, 
 and often it is pleasant to review my delightful past in 
 memory, still I think mature years are richer and fuller 
 of peace and pleasure in living than immature ones can 
 possibly be. For one thing, we have learned how to 
 live; have, in a measure, disciplined ourselves to bear 
 the disappointments, bereavements, trials, which must 
 come to all; have learned that these things must needs 
 be. We see others worse off than ourselves, and feel 
 obliged to stifle our griefs from respect to their 
 'heavier woe.' We learn to weigh circumstances and 
 to know better what is good for us, to live one day at 
 a time ; to know where our place in the world is ; what 
 our work is ; and that to do our best right where we 
 are is all that God requires of us. We can see how even 
 our mistakes have done us good. A thousand matters 
 
 [78] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 of interest claim our attention which in youth possessed 
 no attraction. Having seen the growth of scores of 
 babes, through childhood and youth into manhood and 
 womanhood, we gain a prophetic insight which enhances 
 the study of human nature a hundredfold. 
 
 "Then we know our time is growing short, and whose 
 home seemeth not dearer in the prospect of soon leaving 
 it even for a better.?" 
 
 Such an attitude toward advancing age ought to 
 make the aging feel content and pleased with their 
 condition, and it ought to make those of us who are 
 young look without dread at the thought of growing 
 old. The possibility of growing old beautifully and 
 gracefully, the example of those who have done so, per- 
 haps in our own homes, should stimulate us to live with 
 regard to the future, so that when the hair is whiten- 
 ing and the physical powers are gradually lessening, 
 we may have the companionship of pleasant memories, 
 of days and years well spent, of wisdom gained through 
 experience not full of bitterness, and of a consciousness 
 
 [79] 
 
S CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 of growth into a better and deeper understanding of 
 life and its various problems. 
 
 This view seems to be the most reasonable one. And 
 it certainly is full of comfort for the old, and of en- 
 couragement for the middle-aged and young. 
 
 [80] 
 
GROWING OLD BEAUTIFULLY 
 
 fsn 
 
GROWING OLD BEAUTIFULLY 
 
 ^ ^ ^ T'OU haven't changed a bit !" How often the 
 jf words are said by one friend to another. 
 What is the secret of it? One woman, to 
 whom such a greeting was given by one who had not 
 seen her for years, and who appeared to half wonder 
 and half envy at the perennial freshness of youth in 
 her friend's countenance, saying she looked as young 
 as ten years before, replied: "Young?" as if reflecting 
 upon the word for the first time. "Bless you ! I haven't 
 had time to grow old; I have been too busy even to 
 think about it." There is the recipe ; abundance to do, 
 to keep one profitably busy, yet without worry. In 
 the case of the woman mentioned, her heart and hands 
 had been full ; all the comfort and brightness that came 
 into the sick-room of an invalid was due to her; a 
 sister's orphan children had been left to her care, and 
 with the task of managing her limited income so as to 
 provide for all, her ingenuity had been taxed. Her 
 
 [83 J 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 heart had retained its warmth and interest in Hfe be- 
 cause of her having mothered the flock. Such a hfe 
 of busy helpfulness may add years, })ut they bring 
 few of the signs of age, so long as the burdens are 
 cheerfully, uncomplainingly borne. Old age may be, 
 and ought to be, the happiest time of life; and if the 
 happiest, why should not the greeting, "You look as 
 young as you did when I saw you last, ten years ago," 
 be a frequent salutation? 
 
 Another secret of growing old beautifully is to so 
 live as to keep health. Yes, it is possible in most cases 
 to retain one's health and vigor. "How can we do 
 that?" do you ask. Let me quote a few directions from 
 the Journal and Messenger : 
 
 "Don't worry. Don't hurry. 'Too swift arrived a? 
 tardy as too slow.' 'Simplify! simplify! simplify your 
 diet! Don't overeat. Don't starve.' 'Let your mod- 
 eration be known unto all men.' Court the fresh air 
 day and night. 'Oh, if jon knew what was in the air !' 
 Sleep and rest abundantly. Spend less nervous energy 
 
 [84] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 each day than you make. Be cheerful. 'A hght heart 
 hves long.' Think only healthful thoughts. 'As he 
 thinketh in his heart, so is he.' 'Seek peace, and pursue 
 it.' 'Work like t man, but don't be worked to death. 
 Avoid passion and excitement; a moment's anger may 
 be fatal.' Associate with healthy people; health is 
 contagious as well as disease. 'Don't carry the whole 
 world on your shoulders, far less the universe ; trust the 
 Eternal.' Never despair ; 'Lost hope is a fatal disease.' 
 'If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.' " 
 These suggestions are surely within the compass of 
 everyone to carry out. It seems to me that little needs 
 to be added to these rules for daily simple living, to 
 secure physical vigor that will endure the long years 
 through. Do we not see examples of the very carrying 
 out of these principles of conduct? Have you ever 
 noticed a healthy, happy old man or woman who was 
 not placid, even-tempered, self-controlled, moderate 
 in habits and contented in disposition.? A good exam- 
 ple to copy, surely. 
 
 [85] 
 
USEFULNESS OF THE OLD 
 
USEFULNESS OF THE OLD 
 
 NO age is without its temptations, which would 
 draw one off from making the most of one's 
 opportunities. The youth is disposed to im- 
 pulsiveness and rashness, and perhaps also sometimes 
 (though not so likely nowadays) to think that he can- 
 not accomplish much; that the world's work is for 
 older men. The middle-aged is disposed to be engrossed 
 so deeply in the affairs of business that he forgets to 
 cultivate the graces of hfe. While the aged person 
 is in danger of yielding to one great temptation — to 
 think that his days of usefulness are past. 
 
 It is to the latter class that these lines are especially 
 addressed, though there may chance to be something 
 in them that may stimulate a thought in the minds of 
 the younger. 
 
 It is a great mistake for the old to feel that they, 
 are in the way, and would be better out of the world. 
 
 [89] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 If the Lord thought so, doubtless He would find some 
 way to remove them when their usefulness had ceased. 
 
 What makes anyone useful? Surely it is not strength 
 and vigor to labor. Else a baby would be a most useless 
 creature; but who will say it is? Does it not twine 
 its little individuality around the hearts of all in the 
 family, and by the cords of common love bind together 
 the members of the household, often causing the father 
 to "straighten up," perhaps uniting the once estranged 
 husband and wife, and bringing brightness and peace 
 into a home cursed by strife and variance? 
 
 Usefulness is not dependent upon health. Else there 
 would be many an invalid who would be cumbering the 
 earth, but who now is a blessing to it by calm patience 
 and quiet ministrations to those around. The strong 
 and well could not have access to the heart perhaps 
 as surely as those who are in some sense dependent on 
 account of less abundant vigor. 
 
 In these days, when so much is said, and well said, 
 of the value of the young men and the young women 
 
 [90] 
 
J8 CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 to society, it is well to recognize the value of the old 
 men and women in steadying society, in giving op- 
 portunity to younger persons to cultivate the graces 
 of respect, gentleness and consideration, and in afford- 
 ing the rich results of the accumulated wisdom of 
 experience. 
 
 Then, too, the aged themselves have a right to feel 
 that they are in that period of life when its richest fruit 
 may be plucked by them. The autumnal days of har- 
 vest afford opportunity for gathering the mature 
 thoughts and safest judgments as to the characters and 
 actions of people, the wisest deductions from experi- 
 ence as to the really great things of life, the things 
 most worth while and most deserving of attention and 
 effort. And the aged can give the benefit of these expe- 
 riences and thoughts to those who are less advanced in 
 years, less matured in judgment. This affords delight 
 to the giver and wise counsel to the recipient. 
 
 No, the old are not in the way on account of their 
 age; many a so-called middle-aged man rnd woman, 
 
 [91] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 even here and there a young one, too, is more in the 
 way, more of a "fossil," than the average old person. 
 Let not the old think they are useless, or the young 
 make them feel so. "All are needed by each one." 
 
 192] 
 
A GOOD RULE 
 
A GOOD RULE 
 
 THERE is so much in almost anyone's experience 
 that is pleasant and ought to make one happy, 
 that it would seem very hard to find one's self 
 in any position where the bright spots do not far out- 
 number the dark ones. In other words, "there is nothing 
 so bad that it might not be worse," and in every situa- 
 tion there is more to be thankful for than to grieve 
 over, if we only look in the right direction and see what 
 benefits encompass our pathway. The following lines 
 by D. L. Johnson, handed to me the other day, put this 
 thought into suitable form, so I gladly quote them: 
 
 You live and have your daily bread. 
 
 Just be thankful. 
 Great blessings fall upon your head. 
 
 Just be thankful. 
 God smiles upon you day by day. 
 He guards you whereso'er you stray, 
 He loves to listen when you pray. 
 
 Just be thankful. 
 [95] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 If things ain't cooked the way you wish, 
 
 Just be thankful. 
 Don't growl, and say you'll break the dish. 
 
 Just be thankful. 
 This life, you know, is more than meat ; 
 Be glad for what you have to eat ; 
 Don't scold, but keep your temper sweet. 
 
 Just be thankful. 
 
 When business gets a little slack. 
 
 Just be thankful. 
 When things seem running off the track, 
 
 Just be thankful. 
 It won't help things to mope and cry ; 
 No strength's extracted from a sigh; 
 Keep your eye clear, your courage high. 
 
 Just be thankful. 
 
 When sorrow breaks your peace of mind, 
 
 Just be thankful. 
 Remember God is good and kind. 
 
 Just be thankful. 
 He'll fill your mind with sweetest peace. 
 Your happiness He will increase, 
 His love for you shall never cease. 
 
 Just be thankful. 
 
 God still holds all things in His hands. 
 Just be thankful. 
 [96] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 His word as firm as ever stands. 
 
 Just be thankful. 
 He watches o'er His people still, 
 Their mouths with good things He doth fill ; 
 Forsake His own He never will. 
 
 Just be thankful. 
 
 There is goc i philosophy here, and if we can adopt 
 it as our rule of conduct we shall find life's wheels run 
 more smoothly by far than if we go about fretting and 
 fuming over everything that goes wrong. Life is too 
 short to waste it thus, and as the saying goes, "It will 
 be all the same a hundred years hence" ; yes, one year 
 hence (or one day hence, as I read a few days ago), 
 most of the things that trouble us will be "all the 
 same" as if they had been just to our hking. So why 
 not just cast care and worry to the winds, and face 
 the happenings of every day with an unruffled brow, 
 looking rather at the comforts we enjoy and the good 
 things that fill our days, than at the rough stones and 
 the sharp thorns that occasionally thrust themselves 
 before us in our pathway, and "just be thankful".? 
 
 [97] 
 
POWER OF SONG 
 
POWER OF SONG 
 
 THE cheerful spirit will cause its owner to do 
 things that will and must brighten the day for 
 others whom he is unaware of helping. The 
 Youth's Companion tells of a striking instance of this 
 that happened in San Francisco. 
 
 Thirty men, red-eyed and disheveled, were standing 
 in line before the Judge in the Police Court — the regu- 
 lar morning squad of drunks and disorderlies up for 
 sentence. Some of the men were old in years and in 
 crime, others hung their heads in shame because it was 
 their first appearance there. As the prisoners were 
 about to be dealt with, one by one, by the Judge, a 
 strange thing happened. There came up from below 
 the strains of a song, sung by a strong, clear voice : 
 
 Last night I lay a-sleeping. 
 There came a dream so fair. 
 [101] 
 
.^ OHEERINESS ^ 
 
 Last night ! What a shock ! It had been for most 
 of* them a time of carousal, a drunken stupor or a 
 nightmare. But they heard the song go on: 
 
 I stood in Old Jerusalem, 
 Beside the temple there. 
 
 The Judge had delayed to open the court. He made 
 inquiry, and found that a former member of a famous 
 opera company, who was known all over the country, 
 was in the jail below, awaiting trial for forgery. 
 
 The song went on. Every man in the line manifested 
 emotion. One or two dropped on their knees. A boy 
 at the end leaned his head against the wall, and after 
 trying vainly to keep control of himself burst into sobs 
 and tears, crying out : "Oh, mother ! mother !" 
 
 His sobs went to the heart even of the hardest of 
 the men. But one began to protest. "Judge," said 
 he, "how long have we got to stand this? We're up 
 here for sentence, but this " He, too, broke down. 
 
 The Judge could not proceed with the business of 
 [102] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 the court, yet he gave no order to stop the singing of 
 the beautiful song. It went on to its grand cHmax : 
 
 Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! Sing, for the night is o'er ; 
 Hosanna in the highest ! Hosanna for evermore ! 
 
 In the silence that succeeded the ecstasy of melody 
 the Judge looked into the faces of the men before him. 
 Not one but showed that he was deeply touched, that 
 his better impulses had been stirred. There was no 
 individual calHng of cases that morning. Instead, the 
 Judge gave the men, all together, a kindly word of 
 a.dvice and dismissed them. The song had accomplished 
 more than punishment would have done. 
 
 That forger probably had little thought that anyone 
 would notice his singing, perhaps he cared still less. 
 He sang, no doubt, to cheer his own loneliness, perhaps 
 to take his thoughts off the trouble into which he had 
 brought himself by his crime. But what a power song 
 possesses, when even in such circumstances it could 
 have such a subduing and melting effect. 
 
 [ 103] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 How much easier it is to work briskly when whist- 
 ling a merry tune. How our steps and our every 
 movement will keep pace to an inspiring song. But 
 deeper than this lies the emotional, if one might so call 
 it, the spiritual effect — the toning of one's spirits, the 
 raising of the drooping head, the invigorating of the 
 flagging activity, when a noble song bursts upon the 
 ear, or when a gentle, soothing refrain steals into the 
 consciousness. Religion has stirred all the best that 
 is within human nature by song. Well is music called 
 the "divine art," since it appeals to that which is divine 
 in us. All the noblest and most hopeful and most prac- 
 tically helpful of the various creeds to which man sub- 
 scribes, have their hymns. From the earliest ages it 
 has been thus. Helpfulness to self and to others, then, 
 indorses the exhortation, "Sing on !" 
 
 [104] 
 
FILLING ONE'S NICHE 
 
FILLING ONE'S NICHE 
 
 1'^HERE is a poem written by Ella Wheeler Wil- 
 cox, entitled "Why and Wherefore," which sets 
 forth a wise plan of action, whether we feel 
 that we know much of our origin and destiny or not. 
 Apart from such subjects as perplex and confuse, there 
 are plenty of things to engage our attention profitably, 
 and on these it will pay us to ponder. The gifted 
 authoress thus writes: 
 
 I know not whence I came, 
 
 I know not whither I go. 
 But the fact stands clear 
 That I am here 
 
 In this world of pleasure and woe, 
 And out of the mist and murk 
 
 Another truth shines plain — 
 It is in my power. 
 Each day and hour, 
 
 To add to its joy or its pain. 
 
 I know that the earth exists ; 
 
 It is none of my business why. 
 I cannot find out 
 What it's all about — 
 
 I would but waste time to try. 
 
 [ 107 ] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 My life is a brief, brief thing ; 
 
 I am here for a httle space, 
 And while I stay 
 I would like, if I may. 
 
 To brighten and better the place. 
 
 The trouble, I think, with us all 
 
 Is the lack of a high conceit ; 
 If each man thought 
 He was sent to the spot 
 
 To make it a bit more sweet, 
 How soon we could gladden the world, 
 
 How easily right all wrong. 
 If nobody shirked, 
 And each one worked 
 
 To help his fellows along. 
 
 Cease wondering why you came, 
 
 Stop looking for faults and flaws ; 
 Rise up to-day. 
 In your pride, and say : 
 
 "I am part of the first great cause. 
 However full the world. 
 
 There is room for an earnest man; 
 It had need of me. 
 Or I would not be — 
 
 I am here to strengthen the plan." 
 [108] 
 
^ CHEERINESS J« 
 
 If we realize that we should not be in this world 
 unless there were room and a function for each one 
 of us, we must recognize that it is our duty, as it is 
 also our high privilege, "to strengthen the plan." 
 
 How can we puny creatures of a day strengthen the 
 plan that concerns the world of ages? Well, "if no- 
 body shirked and each one worked" in his own little 
 corner, don't you suppose there would be a great differ- 
 ence in the world? And if so, then to the proportionate 
 degree will the world be helped and brightened if you, 
 as an individual, do what you can ; and if I do what I 
 can, that will be a little more; and so on. You are 
 not responsible for doing my share as well as your own, 
 nor am I to be held accountable for what you could 
 do, besides what I can ; but each of us must answer 
 for what we, as individuals, can and may do. 
 
 There is danger of our having too high a conceit, 
 to be sure, of ourselves and our achievements ; but there 
 is also danger, as Mrs. Wilcox says, of "the lack of a 
 high conceit." There is danger lest we forget our 
 
 [109] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 power as individuals, and therefore our responsibility 
 and duty. 
 
 Our sphere is wherever we happen to be for the time 
 being. Our mission is to make that spot "a bit more 
 sweet," and this perhaps ought to be our chief worldly 
 duty and concern. If along with the daily discharge 
 of this duty and privilege we may speculate upon our 
 origin, our destiny and our essential nature, so much 
 the better ; it will help us to high aims if we raise our 
 eyes to high destiny, and realize the essence of divine 
 grandeur that lies in human life and character. But 
 it is well if we remember the possibilities and opportuni- 
 ties of helpfulness and cheer that lie about our feet — 
 if we "do the next thing." 
 
 [110] 
 
DON'T SEE THE BLOTS 
 
 [111] 
 
DON'T SEE THE BLOTS 
 
 A PRETTY and pathetic story is told, with suit- 
 able application, by a Nashville paper, to the 
 following effect: A father, on coming home 
 one evening, tired and somewhat dispirited, was ap- 
 proached by his little daughter with her copy-book, 
 which she had just finished writing. It being her first, 
 her young face was reddened with a beautiful and hon- 
 est flush, as she was sure of receiving some word of 
 praise and cheer for her hard attempt. The pages 
 were indeed neatly written, and her father told her how 
 well pleased he was to see how careful she had been. 
 Presently coming to one page which had two small 
 blots, the little girl laid her little hand upon them, and 
 artlessly looking up into her father's face, said : "Papa, 
 don't see the blots !" Of course, he did not, but bent 
 down and planted a kiss on the little forehead, and felt 
 thankful for the lesson he had learned. He thus ex- 
 pressed his reflections : 
 
 [113] 
 
S CHEEBINESS ^ 
 
 "How precious it would be if, amid all the nameless 
 strifes and discords which so fret and chafe us, we 
 would just lay the finger on the sullied page of human 
 lives and not 'see the blots.' When littlenesses and 
 meannesses and petty oppositions annoy and vex us, if 
 we could only look away from these to some brighter 
 pages !" 
 
 In our own case, we are thankful and relieved when 
 someone whose right it is to inspect our work kindly 
 overlooks the blots. So in our dealings with others we 
 should remember what has caused us to be glad, and 
 turn away our eyes from those little imperfections that 
 have come into the best-intentioned work. How much 
 happier the day is when that is the guiding and gov- 
 erning principle in our relations with our fellow men. 
 So our aim to give and get happiness may be the 
 nearer attained by the judicious looking away from 
 the blots. 
 
 In fact, the disposition to look at the blots is one 
 which is sure to spoil life for ourselves and for others. 
 
 [114] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 Paying munh attention to what is defective, one comes 
 to see little else, as it is said of those men whose busi- 
 ness it is to examine the coins as they are struck off 
 In the mint, to detect flaws — they come to be able to 
 see imperfections where no one else could perceive them. 
 So the fault-finder fails to get pleasure from anything 
 because he sees the blots. 
 
 But human nature is bound to be faulty and imper- 
 fect. The motive may be the purest, the intention all 
 right and good, but the act, nevertheless, may have 
 some aspect that another person, looking on, may find 
 fault with and condemn. A charitableness in judgment 
 is always wise; it is well to study one's self before 
 pronouncing adversely on any fellow being, for fear 
 that the surface appearance may not truly express the 
 real significance of the action. There will be some 
 blots here and there on the otherwise fair copy-book 
 of life. It is the part of a kind and wise spirit to 
 pass the hand over the blots and see rather what is 
 worthy of commendation. 
 
 [116] 
 
FOLLY OF FRETTING 
 
FOLLY OF FRETTING 
 
 AN Eastern exchange tells a story of how a house- 
 keeper had been able to overcome the habit of 
 fretting over little accidents and worries. Per- 
 haps more real evil comes from worrying over small 
 troubles than befalls one in the way of great disasters. 
 It is helpful, therefore, to strive to impress upon our- 
 selves the folly and wrong of fret by recalling the 
 example of those who have actually conquered it. 
 
 While the woman in question was talking with a 
 visitor, the young servant appeared with a broken dish, 
 and a tearful explanation that it "slipped right out of 
 her hands." The lady had heard the crash, but had sat 
 unmoved, and continued conversing quietly with her 
 friend, much to the amazement of the latter, who ex- 
 pected to see her run out to the kitchen to find out 
 what was the matter. Nor did she chide the girl, but 
 rather sought to comfort her. To the friend's won- 
 
 r.ii9j 
 
Jt CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 dering questions she explained the course of training 
 by which she had learned not to worry over things she 
 couldn't help. The piece was the largest of a fine 
 dinner set given her by her dear old Aunt Rachael, and 
 she did not expect to match it, nor could she afford 
 to buy a new set of dishes every day ; and it was that 
 same aunt who had, when she was much younger, and 
 was very much given to fretting over small annoyances, 
 cured her by a vigorous administration of the good old 
 advice that we may all hear or read any day of our 
 life. 
 
 "Don't fret; it is thankless, rebellious, and utterly 
 useless ; never does a bit of good, and always does 
 harm." She had heard this counsel, but had not acted 
 on it. Shortly after marriage, having got past the 
 time when almost all young people are usually happy 
 and pleased over everything, her habit of worrying over 
 trifles began to blot here and there the home life, and 
 any petty mishap caused her deep trouble. But when 
 real trouble at last came, in the serious sickness of their 
 
 [120] 
 
^ CHEEKINESS ^ 
 
 baby, followed, as soon as the little one recovereti, by a 
 long illness of her own, she began to put into practice 
 the good resolution formed when in the deep valley of 
 trouble, that she would not again allow herself to be 
 moved by small troubles. The sight of the parlor car- 
 pet moth-eaten at the edges, as it had become during 
 her illness, broke down her resolution, but in the midst 
 of it came her old aunt. With her quiet, peaceful words 
 she brought back the younger woman to a state of 
 calm, and to the remark that the knowledge that those 
 bad places were there, even if they did not show much, 
 would take away her peace of mind, the old lady replied : 
 "Thy peace of mind is worth little to thee or to anyone 
 else if it can be so easily broken. Ruth Morrison, thee 
 is starting out in life; beware that thy disposition to 
 fret about small things does not prove a curse. Every 
 thought of discontent about matters beyond thy con- 
 trol is not only a sin against God, but a sin against 
 thy own soul." And she reminded her that every fretful 
 thought wasted on small accidents is only so much added 
 
 [121] 
 
^ CHEERINESS ^ 
 
 to their burden. It only made the matter worse to 
 vex her soul over a mishap. 
 
 Life's burdens are surely heavy enough without any 
 addition of worry. If we persistently refrain from 
 fretting over small things, we have all the more 
 strength of patience and fortitude to bear the really 
 great troubles. If we do not let little things disturb 
 our equanimity, we shall be the less moved by the real 
 misfortunes. 
 
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