There is no field where I may sow my seed
Beyond the reach of evening's setting sun.
If to this soil to-day I pay no heed,
The future's fertile fields may ne'er be sown.
The age of iron, of bronze, they are not now,
The bright-gemmed present is my golden age,
In which I think and live and love and do
What deeds are worth life's brave and noble wage.
And finding in to-day my age of gold
To-morrow glows with promise and delight,
As if the happy isles oft dreamed of old
Were dawning now upon my blissful sight. (Text.)
(1264)
Golden Rule, The—See Circumstances. Taking Advantage of; Considerateness.
Good and Evil—See Nature, Dual, in
Man.
GOOD DISPLACING EVIL
The headquarters of the George Yard
Missions, London, are pitched on an extinct
volcano; the main block being built on the
site of an ancient distillery, and the shelter
on the ground formerly occupied by the infamous
"Black Horse"—that rendezvous of
highwaymen, robbers, and murderers.—Pierson,
"The Miracles of Missions."
(1265)
GOOD, FAITH IN
In the following verse Eugene Lee-Hamilton shows the result of losing faith in the good:
There is a tale of Faustus—that one day,
Lucretia, the Venetian, then his love,
Had, while he slept, the rashness to remove
His magic ring, when fair as god he lay;
And that a sudden horrible decay
O'erspread his face; a hundred wrinkles wove
Their network on his cheek; while she above
His slumber crouched, and watched him shrivel away.
There is upon Life's hand a magic ring—
The ring of Faith-in-Good, Life's gold of gold;
Remove it not, lest all Life's charm take wing;
Remove it not, lest straightway you behold
Life's cheek fall in, and every earthly thing
Grow all at once unutterably old.
(1266)
GOOD FOR EVIL
Mr. Lincoln took from his pocket a paper
he had prepared in the case, which comprized
eleven reasons why he should be appointed
commissioner of the General Land
Office. Among other things, Mr. Lincoln
presented the fact that he had been a member
of Congress from Illinois two years;
that his location was in the West, where the
Government lands were; that he was a
native of the West, and had been reared under
Western influences. He gave reasons
why the appointment should be given to
Illinois, and particularly to the southern part
of the State. Major Wilcox says that he
was forcibly struck by the clear, convincing,
and methodical statement of Mr. Lincoln as
contained in these eleven reasons why he
should have the appointment. But it was
given to his competitor, Mr. Justin Butterfield.
After Mr. Lincoln became President,
a member of Congress asked for an appointment
in the army in behalf of a son of the
same Justin Butterfield. When the application
was presented, the President paused,
and, after a moment's silence, said: "Mr.
Justin Butterfield once obtained an appointment
I very much wanted, and to which my
friends thought I was fairly entitled; and I
hardly ever felt so bad at any failure in my
life. But I am glad of an opportunity of
doing a service to his son." And he made
an order for the commission. The son was
General Dan Butterfield, afterward the
dashing and efficient chief of staff of the
Army of the Potomac. (Text.)—Browne,
"Everyday Life of Lincoln."
(1267)
GOOD, IMMORTALITY OF
Over one of the town-gates of ancient
Warwick, in England, stands a home for
old men, known as the Hospital of St. John.
It was founded three centuries ago by the
ambitious Earl of Leicester and Lord of
Kenilworth Castle. That castle is now in
ruins, and for his perfidy the name of the
earl is a byword and a reproach; but this
endowment, after long centuries, still remains
living and beneficent, shining through
the dark to show for future ages that
"So shines a good deed in a naughty world."
(1268)
