NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
RANDOM THOUGHTS 
BY D. F. LAMSON. 
No. XLIX. 
A clear distinction ought to be made 
between lavish expenditure and waste; 
the former is not to be entirely con- 
demned, if the man or community can 
afford it; it keepsmoney in circulation, 
it promotes business, it helps in many 
different ways; but when it comes to 
needless extravagance and waste, that is 
another thing altogether, something al- 
ways to be condemned, never condoned, 
in the individual, the town and the na- 
tion. 
wow 
To batter down the Bastile, with its 
walls nine feet thick, was no easy job; 
but as Carlyle thought, to destroy what 
the Bastile stood for—kingly tyranny, or 
any misgovernment for that matter, is a 
far more difficult task; we wonder some- 
times whether it will ever be brought 
about by human might or power. 
w W 
We say ‘‘divers’’ when we mean 
many, and “‘diverse’’ when we mean 
different; how instructive is it that these 
words were once the same; diverse, be- 
cause divers; many, and so of course 
different; as if no great number of peo- 
ple can be expected to act and think 
alike, any more than several clocks can 
possibly be made to keep time with each 
other. 
Ww Ww 
Wendell Phillips and his colaborers in 
the antislavery cause were sometimes im- 
prudent, they sometimes overstepped the 
mark and hurt their own cause more than 
that of their enemies; but for thirty 
years their voices were a trumpet note 
that rallied the sometimes disheartened 
friends of freedom, and again and again 
carried dismay into the braggart ranks of 
slaverydom; and it never sounded re- 
treat. ieee 
Ww WwW 
It is reported that the new President 
of Harvard will attempt to make the in- 
stitution a ““seat of leatning;’’ and _ this 
after the long administration of Eliot and 
the reign of Boston ‘“‘culchah;’’? what 
shall we say to these things? 
wow 
Carlyle was long wandering in a wild- 
erness of negation and doubt; he faced 
and fought his doubts like a man, and 
laid them, though they lefttheir mark on 
his involved, impetuous and dogmatic 
style; and it was along and dismal way 
through fog and fen and brake; there is 
a shorter and easier path for those who 
will take it; philosophy and German 
mysticism are not the surest and quick- 
est guide to faith. The experiences of 
men like Carlyle may serve as a beacon, 
but hardly as a Pharos. 
In olden time men did agree 
To love their neighbor, hate their enemy. 
Behold, my word is, Love your enemies; 
Bless him that curseth, him that hateful is; 
Pray alway for them; do them good 
Who persecute you in despiteful mood, 
That when ye thus have mercifully forgiven 
Ye may be children of your Father in heaven, 
Who unto good and evil, as it seems, 
Impartial sheds the sun’s life-giving beams, 
And ever, through benignant Nature’s powers, 
Upon the just and unjust sends His showers. 
If we give for love, where the reward? 
Thou with the Publicans art in accord. 
If ye salute your brethren only, know 
The selfish Publicans do even so. 
Be perfeet, as ye hope to be forgiven; 
Be perfect, as your Father is in Heaven. 
Happy the bark that creeps into  har- 
bor at last, battered and jury-rigged, 
with signals of distress flying; but hap- 
pier the voyager who, however tempest- 
tossed, is able so to shape his course as 
to keep clear of reef and breaker, and 
sail securely and safely reach port with- 
out loss of steering-gear, and without 
jettisoning the cargo. 
WwW Ww 
No one cares to feel that he “‘lags 
superfluous onthe stage;’’ but on the 
other hand we can trust that there is a 
Pearls from Palestine. 
(Matt. v: 33.) 
The law of old time saith, Thou shalt not kill, 
And whosoever killeth he shall be 
In danger of the Judgment. 
Whoe'’er is angry without cause shall be 
In danger of the Judgment. 
Unto his brother, Raca, he shall be 
In danger of the Council. 
Thou Fool, in danger of hell-fire. 
If then thou bring thy gift unto the altar 
And there rememberest thy brother man 
Hath aught against thee, leave thy gift 
Before the altar and retrace thy way. 
First to thy brother be thou reconciled, 
Then shalt thou, blameless, lift 
Upon the altar thine accepted gift. 
(38—42.) 
Eye for eye and tooth for tooth! 
This the old rule void of ruth. 
I say, Resist not evil. 
Smite thy right cheek, turn the other; 
If any sue thee and thy coat bereave, 
Let him thy cloak confiscate by your leave; 
Or force thee to companion him a mile, 
Yield and go with him twain the while; 
Give unto him that asketh or would borrow; 
Turn not coldly from his sorrow. 
—JosepH A. Torrey. 
But I say, 
Who shall say 
Or in ire, 
If thy brother 
““ power not ourselves’? that plans our 
exits and our entrances better than we 
could do it, or any other even our dear- 
est friend could do it for us. The be- 
lieving and devout soul can say, ‘*My 
times are in [hy hand,’’ and be thank- 
ful that it can leave them there. 
** When fiction rises pleasing to the eye, 
Men will believe, because they love the lie; 
But truth herself, if clouded with a frown, 
Must have some solemn proofs to pass her 
down.”’ : 
—Churchill. 
