Tuesday, December 23, 1902
6
THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER
THE HOME CIRCLE
The Seven Ages of Man.
All the world's a stage
And all the men and women merely
players ;
They have their exits and their en
trances. And one man in his time plays many
parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first
the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's
arms;
Then the whining schoolboy with his
satchel
And shining morning face, creeping
like a snail "
Unwillingly to school; and then the
lover,
SierhhiET like furnace, with a woeful
ballad
Made to his mistress eyebrow; then
a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded
like a pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick
in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth; and
then the justice,
In fair, round belly with good capon
lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal
cut.
Full of wi?e saws and modern in
stances And so he rdays his part; the sixth
age shifts
Into the lean and slippered panta
loon, With spectacles on nose and pouch
on side.
His youthful hse, well saved, a
world too wide
For hi? shrunk shank, and his big,
manly voice
Turning again toward childish treble,
pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last
scene of all.
That ends this strange, eventful his
tory. Is second childishness and mere ob
livion Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans
evervthing.
From ShnVcsneare's "As You Like
It," Act II, Scene 7.
Everlasting Father, the Prince of
Peace.
Of the increase of his government
and peace there shall be no end, up
on the throne of David, and upon his
kingdom, to order it, and to establish
it with judgment and with justice
from henceforth even forever.
Isaiah, ix:6-7.
For unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Saviour, which is
Christ the Lord.
Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace, good will toward men.
Luke, ii:ll-14.
The Saviour's Birth.
iind there shall come forth a rod
out of the stem of Jesse and a
Branch shall grow out of his roots:
And the spirit of the Lord shall
rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the spirit of
counsel and of might, the spirit of
knowledge and fear of the Lord;
And shall make him of quick un
derstanding in the fear of the Lord:
and he shall not judge after the sight
of his eyes, neither reprove after the
hearing of his ears:
But with righteousness shall he
judge the poor, and reprove with
equity for the meek of the earth:
and he shall smite the earth with the
rod of his mouth, and with the breath
of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
And righteousness shall be the gir
dle of his loins and faithfulness the
girdle of his . reins.
Isaiah, xi:l-5.
For unto us a child is born, unto us
a son is given: and the government
shall be upon his shoulder: and his
name shall bo called Wonderful,
Counsellor, The Mighty God, The
rhii Is No. 88 of our series of the World's
Kest Poems, selected PsppHallv for The Pro
gressive Farmer by the Editor.
Keeping Christmas.-
It is a good thing to observe
Christmas day. The mere marking
of times and seasons when men agree
to stop work and make merry togeth
er is a wise and wholesome custom.
It helps one to feel the supremacy of
the common life over the individual
life. It reminds a man to set his own
little watch, now and then, by th-2
great clock of humanity.
But there is a better thing than the
observance of Christmas day, and
that is, keeping Christmas.
Are you willing to forget what you
have done for other people and to
remember what other people have
done for you; to ignore what the
world owes you and to think what
you owe the world; to put your rights
in the background and your duties
in the middle distance and your
chances to do a little more than your
duty in the foreground; to see that
your fellow men are just as real as
you are, and try to look behind their
faces to their hearts, hungry for joy;
to own that probably the only good
reason for your existence is not what
you arc going to get out of life, but
what you are going to give to life;
to close your book of complaints
against the management of the uni
verse and look around you for a place
where you can sow a few seeds of
happiness are you willing to do
these things even for a day?
Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing to stoop down and
consider the needs and the desires
of little children; to remember the
weakness and loneliness of people
who are growing old; to stop asking
how much your friends love you and
ask yourself whether you love them
enough: to bear in mind the things
that other people have to bear on
their hearts; to try to understand
what those who live in the same house
with you really want, without wait
ing for them to tell you; to trim
your lamp so that it will give more
light and less smoke, and to carry it
in front so that your shadow will fall
behind you; to make a grave for your
ugly thoughts and a garden for your
kindly feelings, with the gate open
are you willing to do these things
even for a day?
Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing to believe that
love is the strongest thing in the
world, stronger than hate, stronger
than evil, stronger than death, and
that the blessed life which began in
Bethlehem nineteen hundred vears
ago is the image and brightness of
the Eternal Love?
Then you can keep Christmas.
And if vou keep it for a day, why
not always ? But you can never keep
it alone. Dr. Henry van Dyke, in
the Youth's Companion.
All They Could Afford.
Bev. D. J. Sanders, the negro pres
ident of Biddle University of Char
lotte, this State, related the follow
ing incident to some members of the
Presbyterian General Assembly at a
recent meeting. The story is report
ed by the New York Times:
"Negroes are great lovers of pomp
and ceremony, of titles and decora
tions, and the members of a large but
ignorant negro congregation in
North Carolina conceived the notion
that it would add very much to their
influence as a church if their pastor
could append the initials D. D. to his
name.
"One of the brethren learned that
a certain institution in the North
would confer such a degree for a
price. He wrote, and got a letter
from this institution, stating that
fifty dollars would secure the desired
honor.
"Meantime the members of the
congregation went to work to raise
this fifty dollars, but their utmost
efforts failed to secure more than
twenty-five dollars.
"The committeemen put their
heads together, and it was finally de
cided to send the money, with this
message, to the Northern institu
tion :
"Please send our pastor one 'D.
as we are not able to pay for the
other at this time.' "
A Man's Best Gift to His Family.
The country is full of men who are
overworking, not because they care
for money, but because they want to
command the most comfortable con
ditions for their families; who, if
they were told that they were short
ening their lives ten years, would not
hesitate to go on, accepting the sac
rifice as part of their duty, and an
opportunity to be welcomed rather
than avoided. Those who know
American men well know that there
is a deep vein of idealism in the
great majority of them in their at
titude towards their families. It is
here that they spend themselves lav
ishly; it is here that many give their
lives without hesitation.
But the American father and hus
band does not always give wisely. It
is a great deal to make the most com
fortable conditions for women and
children, but that is, after all, only
furnishing the foundation upon
which the life of the home rests: all
that is finest, most influential and
spiritual in it is not to be found in
its material circumstances. The life
of the home lies in the elements of
vitality, affectional, spiritual, intel
lectual, which are contributed by
every member of the family; and the
best that parent or child can give is
always spiritual. In giving his means
a man often gives himself, because
he spends himself in order to acquire
the means ; but he ought to give him
self in a higher way. It would be
far better for many families if their
conditions were not so easy and their
family life richer; if the toiling man
in the .office took more time to ex
press his affection, to contribute his
strength, to share his intellectual
life, to enrich the breakfast and the
dinner table and the evening with
his large observation of life and
knowledge of men, the varied expe
rience which most men of affairs pos
sess. If family life is to be put on
the highest possible basis, there mut
be the giving of self. The lover who
lavishes on the woman he loves pres
ents of great material value degrades
her if he does not shre with her also
the highest and best of his own life.
And no matter what he give her, if
he withholds this, he leaves her un
satisfied. If she is in any senst;
worthy, and were compelled to
choose she would take the richer life
and the poorer conditions rather
than the richer conditions and the
poorer life.
The tragedy lies in the substitution
in family life of the material for
spiritual things, and for that ex
change many men are unconsciously
responsible. They are so eager to
furnish comfort that they forget to
give life; they are so willing to sur
render their strength and their time
for those they love that they forget
to share themselves. New York Outlook.
Another Cannon Story.
"Uncle Joe" Cannon was the guest
a few evenings since of the Potters'
Association at a local banquet, where
he was belabored by many inquiries
about his Speakership campaign,
which moved him to a story.
"While Payne, Littlefield, and Dal
zell were floundering around for
votes," said he, "I just went up to
Chicago and did nothing. One day
a Chicago scribe came to interview
me.
"'Young man,' I said, 'this is for
your private ear, not for your news
paper ear. When I was a boy the
circus came to the county seat, thir
teen miles away. I wanted to see
that circus the worst sort of way. My
father had a negro hand named Eph.
He wanted to see thecircus, too. We
scraped enough money together to
pay our wTay in, and I had a little
change to spare for ginger snaps
and peanuts. Eph carried me on his
broad back a part of the way, and at
last we paid entrance fee and were
under the big tent. We proceeded
past several cages till we came to a
big cage containing an enormous
ape. There Eph stopped stock still.
" 'How is you V said the old black
man, bowing before the monstrous
ape.
"No answer.
" 'How is you V Eph repeated, with
another profound bow, and still no
answer. Then after a long pause
Eph exclaimed:
"'You's right ole man. Keep yo
mouf shet or dey'll put a hoe in yo'
hand and make yo' raise cotton.
The newspaper writer departed
without further questioning. Wash
ington Post.