©he Jlrison JHirrar.
“ IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND.”
Vol. VII. No. 25. STILLWATER, MINNESOTA, JANUARY 25, 1894. Terms:] Six
MISTAKES.
When seeing mistakes that another has made,
In this unequal battle of life.
Don’t smile at the error his suffering has paid,
But help him along in the strife.
Don’t hold up to ridicule faults which we know
Are hidden by pride in each breast;
For no one is spotless, as histories show.
And time oft reverses the jest.
Don’t sneer at the whims and caprices of these
Who, spite of a weakness or two.
Are faithful and loyal to friends and to foes,
With hearts that are noble and true.
When others, ambitions look strange to our eyes
Don’t treat them with coldness and scorn:
For. not understanding, we’re apt to despise
What often proves history’s dawn.
We all make mistakes, the simple, and wise:
But this is the greatest of all.
To laugh at another’s hard struggle to rise.
And hiss if they happen to fall.
So let us take heed to the faults we possess
And strive our own errors to cure:
And help all we can our brother’s distress,
With patience our own endure.
—Selected.
SELF IMPROVEMENT
It May be Accomplished Even Here
There is perhaps, no rational man,
who finds himself surrounded by the
harriers of freedom such as we daily
experience, who does not ask himself
the serious question “how may I best
improve myself during my term of
imprisonment?"
Setting aside the many influences and
circumstances which may have had a
tendency to place us in our present po
sition, we must face the unwelcome
fact that we are here, and make the
best of it. In every sphere of life a
wise man will adapt himself to the
circumstances in which he finds him
self surrounded; so should it be with us.
There is not a man within our midst
who is possessed with an intellect which
will not bear a greater and more vig
orous development, nor does he possess
a talent which may not be improved;
.and it matters not how small or great
this improvement may be, we all know
that sooner or later, we shall personally
reap its full and lasting benefit. There
is an imperative law stamped upon the
mind of every intelligent human being,
that he who is most to himself, is most
to his fellow-men. It is certainly our
duty to know what we are, for only in
the possession of this knowledge can
we know or judge what we are capable
of becoming.
Thousands of minds have become
develoj)ed through the medium of ap
parent barriers placed unpleasantly in
their way, causing them to reach out
and above the present, in search of a
higher and nobler attainment, thus
developing grander and more lofty
Eowers of mind, until at last they have
een crowned by some great and glori
ous achievement. Every man is the
architect of his own individual charac
ter. Every man of usefulness to his
fellow-beings, is a self-made man.
The trouble with us appears to be
that we dote too much over our misfor
tunes, and thus are made to feel that it
is too late to mend, whereas, our present
surroundings may be such as are best
fitted to awaken our true manhood and
give a vigorous development to our
true character. Let these dark and mis
leading thoughts which so often enter
our minds, that, because we are now
prisoners, debarred from - ''the associ
ations of our friends and loved ones,
we can never again hold up our heads
like men, and become good, true and
useful members of society. Thousands
•of men in ages past have been im
prisoned, oppressed, misrepresented and
slandered, who have heroically borne
nn under their load of misfortune and
come forth to eventually shine as
jewels in the crown of humanity. Look
back and see the noble reformers of the
past, the humble founders of primitive
Christianity and promoters of modern
civilization, who were oppressed and
dragged before mock-tribunals of jus
tice who sent them to prison and even
banishment because of their noble
Christian principles; who shall say that
these principles, from which sprang
every iota of our present civilization
did not find their development from
beneath the cold and barren walls of
those ancient prisons ? There is no
circumstance or condition of life which
is not subject to improvement, The
very stumbling-block over which we
fell, we may, if we choose, transform
into a stepping-stone which will aid ns
to attain a higher and nobler sphere of
life ' A. B. M.
Its a mighty small word and don't
take long to say it, if you say it quick.
Every Sunday-school boy, like myself,
has read the awful calamities that be
fell the boy who, although at the head
of his class in everything else, did not
“learn to say no!’ - We have all tried to
imitate a copy set in our writing books
by the county school teacher, which ad
monished us to express ourselves iu a
negative manner, or words to that
effect. I attended a fair once —not the
World’s Fair—and while making a
mental calculation of my finance with a
view of buying ice cream for my friend
(female persuasion,) I noticed a small
son of the soil approach his bewhiskered
sire, and in dust choked accents ask him
for a glass of red lemonade. The anti
quated populist jammed both hands
deep down into his pockets, and I fully
expected to see him dig up at least a
quarter, but he didn’t. Memory
brought to his mind the faithful adage
and true to its teachings he waved, no!
with a bang that stopped a team of
mules in the pole team exhibit. The
boy with his eyes full of tears and his
throat full of second hand soil went to
the horse trough and drank water with
the horses. The old man went to the
beer stand and drank three schooners
alone. The boy was in the best com
pany.
The man who always says no! in
variably has a high developed capacity
for being good to himself. How differ
ent the man who shows himself both
capable and willing to say yes! In this
connection I would mention two cases
of affirmative placidity, viz: Grover
Cleveland and myself. The President
could not refuse the request of her
majesty, Queen Lil, to assist her in time
of trouble. lie may have incurred the
displeasure of thirty or forty million
Americans, but what is that against the
gratitude of a queen. As to myself—
well I never could say, no! not even
when Judge requested me to re
tire from public life for a few years,
could T bring myself to the point of re
fusing. 1 may suffer some few incon
veniences by complying with the judge’s
request, but what is that compared to
the “peace and dignity” of the common
wealth? You will always find that the
man who is eternally saying, no! wears
long whiskers and makes his wife cut
his hair. If he ever goes to a hotel for
dinner, his patronage comes the sec
ond time unsolicited. Selfishness has
marked him for her own. I love a hog
but I like him baked, well-done, flanked
with a dish of brown baked beans, but
when he walks on two legs instead of
four, and presumes to talk and even
dictate to others, 1 cease to love him.
Attendance at his funeral would be the
only possible pleasure in his power to
give me. You will also notice that it
is almost exclusively the men who use
the veto prerogative. Our mothers —
God bless them —could never refuse our
childish requests, selfishness is almost
unknown to the female character, con
sequently they have no use for the
word. Where would all us future presi-
dents, and senators, and aldermen, and
policemen, and liy-cops have been if
our mothers had said no! when the
governor proposed marriage? A nice
little rule to follow for using this word,
is as follows: When a person makes a
request which is easily in your power
to grant, before saying no! stop and
count fifty and then don’t say it.
Laughter
What is sweeter to the ear than a
good, genuine, hearty laugh ? How its
melody thrills every fiber of our being;
helping us to forget our trials and era
dicating that despondent feeling which
oppresses us, and carrying a consoling
balm to every weary heart. Its bright
ening effect upon the discouraged, is as
marvelous as its rapidity of action. It
transforms us from moody, irritable
and disconsolate beings, into bright and
cheerful ones. It leaves in its train an
inexplicable feeling of sweet relief and
contentment. It reaches every nook
and corner of our being, and its sound
is a God-send to the unfortunate. I
have heard several of these soul-stirring
exultations since my advent into this
“400,” and came very near attending
the “tea party” on one of those occa
sions, for the temptation was strong to
answer the salute, and it cost quite an
effort of will-power not to do so—will
power which I never knew I possessed.
It is remarkable, the amount of force
there is in the human make-up, that is
discovered accidently. This is worth
looking into; the results will surprise
and benefit us all. We are capable of
overcoming obstacles seemingly insur
mountable, yet, when we undertake the
task, we are amazed at our success and
discover hidden forces hitherto un
known to us. This seclusion gives us
one great advantage; that is, it affords
the opportunity of becoming thorough
ly acquainted with ourselves. We will
find, upon investigation, a quantity of
rare material that only needs polishing
up to make it a valuable accessory to
our better qualifications. These long
winter evenings should he used to the
bes't advantage in adding to our gener
al stock of knowledge and developing
our intellectual qualities. This is the
opportunity of your life, unless you an
ticipate spending your summer vacation
here, in which event, just a “common
education” will suffice; but increase
your mental facilities, and practice the
art of breathing through your nose;
this will serve to prevent you from us
ing your mouth except at meal time.
This life has its attractions for some,
they avoid all idle gossip, are never in
terrupted by unexpected callers, have
the room all to themselves even if they
don’t carry the key. The morning-call
is as regular as the-clock, you are never
worried by thoughts of oversleeping
and getting down to your wrnrk late;
quite a contrast to the hotel caller, who
invariably allows you to sleep until
your train has left. ’ Above all, you are
free from that insufferable cad who
says: “Warm, isn’t it?” “Ground’s
dry. a little moisture would help great
ly;” etc. Thus we can view this life in
different ways; policy advises us to
employ the time we are confined, in a
useful"manner—in a way that will have
a tendency to better our condition for
the future, and which will have a re
straining influence in keeping us out of
mischief.
I am thoroughly convinced that one
application is sufficient to satisfy me.
My greatest trouble on leaving will be
to get accustomed to rooming on the
ground floor and going to sleep without
the sweet, lulling music of the gong.
ITy.
Our Nazareth.
In reading, last Sunday night, that
portion of the Scriptures assigned by
the Episcopal form for the Gospel of
the day, I found a lesson for myself
which I would like to share with my
fellow Nazarenes
Christ is found in the temple dis-
cussing with the doctors of law; but
submitting himself to parental authori
ty, returns to the humble home i»
Nazareth to prepare himself for hit
great mission, by a quiet round of every
day duties and the hard, toilsome chores
entailed on the son of a poor carpenter.
We are in Nazareth—that place from
out of which (supposedly) no good can
come. But can AYe not take a lesson by
him who, even by those who deny his
divinity, is admittedly the most perfect
of men. But Nazareth has its steady
daily routine of dull duty and life, by
rule* we live. Let us, since we are here,
benefit by this compulsory routine, and
educate our hearts and minds to live
by rule. Buie, law, order, exists through
out, nature and the life of nature is
routine. Why are we here? Because
we left the beaten path of duty in our
hurry to reach a pre-eonceived goal;
we cut across lots where land marks
and sign posts and routine were not.
Chasing will o'-the-wisps, we stumbled,
each into his little bog-hole that en
snared him hither. Admitted that we
were fools to get here, are we to write
ourselves down as fools for all time?
We surely will, if we do not profit by
the routine and dull duties of daily life
here. What better are we than the
most perfect of men -Jesus—that we
should scorn the discipline of routine.
Let us rather take that part of his life
to our inmost hearts, and from our lives
here extract an essence that shall
strengthen us in the battle of life be
yond these walls. Without a mastery
over ourselves we shall again most
assuredly go phantom hunting—per
haps not" the old phantasies but some
of equal deception. Do not let the
time put in here, be time lost. Repair
the holes and gashes in your armor now;
in this seclusion, and be ready for the
conflict. Life to us will be no merry
go-round. It will he fight from the
word “go;” and he alone will conquer
who has gained strength by the dull
routine of his life in Nazareth. R. F.
S. Mile.
The arts- of collecting provisions,
storing and preserving food, domes
ticating and managing flocks and cap
turing slaves, are quite as well under
stood by animals and insects as by man.
in the earlier stages of his civilization,
and show a curious analogy in their
development in the case of the more
backward among human communities.
Ants of the same species both have
and have not learned to keep “cattle.”
Lespes found a tribe of black ants
which had a flock of “cows” which they
milked daily. But he also discovered
a nest of the same species which had no
flocks. These he presented with some
of the aphides used by their cow keep
ing relations. The ants instantly at
tacked, killed and ate them, behaving
in the same improvident manner as a
tribe of Australian “black fellows”
when presented with a flock of sheep.
The common ants of Italy if not so
strangely ingenious as the gardener
ants of the tropics, which prepare a
particular soil on which to grow within
their nests the fungus on which alone
they feed, exhibit what is probably the
most complex form of instinctive in
dustry shown by any European animal.
They store up oats and various kinds
of grain, making hundreds of little
rooms as granaries of about the size of
a watch. But grain lying in the ground
naturally germinates. How the ant
prevents this is not known. Probably
by ventilation, as bees ventilate their
hives by artificial draught. All that is
certain' is that if the ants are removed
the grain sprouts. When the ants wish
to use the store they allowed the grains
to germinate, until the chemical change
takes place in the material which makes
its fermenting juice, food suitable for
their digestion. They arrest the pro
cess of change by destroying the sprout,
and use the glutinous sugar and starch
left as their main food in winter.—
London Spectator.
Hope is a necessity; realization a
luxury.—Ex.
Instinct or Reason