TIME AND CHANGE 
stone that is much knocked about gets its sharp 
angles worn off, asdo men. “A rolling stone gathers 
no moss,” which is not bad for the stone, as moss 
hastens decay. “Killing two birds with one stone”’ 
isa bad saying, because it reminds boys to stone the 
birds, which is bad for both boys and birds. But 
“People who live in glass houses should not throw 
stones” is on the right side of the account, as it dis- 
courages stone-throwing and reminds us that we 
are no better than our neighbors. 
The lesson in running brooks is that motion is a 
great purifier and health-producer. When the brook 
ceases to run, it soon stagnates. It keeps in touch 
with the great vital currents when it is in motion, 
and unites with other brooks to help make the river. 
In motion it soon leaves all mud and sediment be- 
hind. Do not proper work and the exercise of will 
power have the same effect upon our lives? 
The other day in my walk I came upon a sap- 
bucket that had been left standing by the maple 
tree all the spring and summer. What a bucketful 
of corruption was that, a mixture of sap and rain- 
water that had rotted, and smelled to heaven. Mice 
and birds and insects had been drowned in it, and 
added to its unsavory character. It was a bit of Na- 
ture cut off from the vitalizing and purifying chem- 
istry of the whole. With what satisfaction I emp- 
tied it upon the ground while I held my nose and 
saw it filter into the turf, where I knew it was dying 
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