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AUGUST 10, 1906
The Commoner;
,7
"My Mind to Me a Kingdom Isr
P. S. KIrby, 331 W. Huron street, Chicago,
writes: "This philosophical song appears to have
been famous in the sixteenth century. It is quot
ed by Ben Jonson in his play of "Every Man
Out of his Humour,' acted in 1599. I send it to
The Commoner, as it may be interesting to its
readers:" . "
' My mind to me a kingdom is; -
Such perfect joy therein J find
As far exceeds all earthly bliss ; ?
That God or Nature hath assigned. ' ' -'
- Though much I want, that most would have '
Yet still my mind forbids to crave. . --
. Content I live, this is my stay;
I seek no more than may suffice: -
i : I press to bear no haughty sway;
Look, what I lack my mind supplies,
Do l tlius I triumph like a king, " V
- Content with that my mind doth bring;" i
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I see how plenty surfeits oft, - -
And hasty climbers soonest fall;
I see that such as sit aloft
Mishaps doth threaten most of all;
These get with toil, and keep with fear;
. Such cares my mind could never bear;
No princely pomp, nor wealthy store,
No force to win the victory;
No wily wit to salve a sore,
- No shape to win a lover's eye;
To none of these I yield as thrall,
For why, my mind despiseth all.
Some have too much, yet still they crave,
I little have, yet seek no more;
They are but poor, though much they have;
And I am rich with little store;
They poor, I rich; they beg, I give;
They lack, I lend; they pine, I live.
.
,
I laugh not at another's loss,
I grudge not at another's gain;
No worldly wave my mind can toss,
I brook that is another's bane,
I fear no foe, nor fawn on friend
I loath not life, nor dread mine end.
I joy not in no earthly bliss;
I weigh not Croesus' wealth a straw';
For care, I care not what if 1b;
I fear not fortune's fatal law,
My mind is such as may not movd tt
For beauty bright or force of love.'
I wish but what I have at will; " J
I wander not to seek for more; "
I like the plain, I climb no bill;
In greatest storms I sit on shore
And laugh at them that toil in vain'
To get what must be lost again. " "
I kiss not where I wish to kill;
I feign not love where most I hate; ,
I break no sleep to win my will;"
I wait not at the mighty's gate;
I scorn no poor, I fear no rich,
I feel no want, nor have too much. ?
4
The court, no cart, I like ne loath;
Extremes are counted worst of all;
The golden mean betwixt them both
Doth surest sit, and fears no fall;
This is my choice, for why, I find
No wealth is like a quiet mind.
My wealth is health and perfect ease.
My conscience clear my chief defense;
I never seek by bribes to please,
Nor by desert. to give offense;
Thus do I live, thus will I die
Would all did so as well as I.
XH& Evolution of a Language
,.i'it.,was Wellington; who said "The Lord's pray
er contains the sum total of religion and morals."
- 'A writer in the Houston, (Tex.) Post, say
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force of this receives oft illustration in daily
t. life.. A quarter of a century ago the religious
world devoted n large part of its energies to con
troversies touching the meaning of scriptural
terms and phrases. Happily that day is passed
.and nobler missions now engage the activities
of Christianity. The evolution of governments
has been characterized by an evolution of ideas
which was symptomized by an evolution of words.
The term democracy had a meaning to Cicero
which would not be recognized by a disciple of
Jefferson. Language, itself, ia ever in a state
of turbulent evolution and each generation de
lights in setting at defiance the cherished gram
mar of its immediate predecessor. An English
man of the middle ages could not make himself
understood by his descendants of today, and a
Celt of the same period turned loose now in Ire
land would not be able "to secure a drink of water,
unless he got it through pantomime. No better
' illustration could be given of the evolution of
language than is furnished by the various forms
in which different ages have translated the
Lord's prayer. The earliest . Saxon version, of
which we have any record, runs as follows:
Fader ure, thu the eart on Hoefenum,
So thin nama gehagod; M
To-becume thin Rice; .
. Gewordhe thin Willa on Eorthenswa swa on
Hoefenum. -
. Uurne ge flagwanilican Hlaf syle us.todag; .
And forgyf us ure Gyltas swa swa we forgifadh
urun Gyltendum;
And ne gelade thu us on Costnunge.
. Ac alys us of Yfle. Sothlice. , .
Several hundred years later, and about A.
D. 900, the evolutionary process brought forth the
. following:
Fader unser es the is on Hoefnum, ....
Gihalgod bith Noma thin;
. To cymeth Bice thin; . .
Sie Willa thin sie swa on Heafne and on-
. Heortho;
. Hlaf userne dagbwamlice sel us to Dage;
'And forgef us Synne use swa fastlice and ec we
forgeofas eghwelce Scylile user;
And ne usih on lad thu in Costhungo;
Ah afria usih jfrom Yfle.
Three hundred years more had passed bo
fore the prayer whicli Christ gave to-men as
sumed a form that would be understood by an
English child of this generation, and then it ran
as follows:
Oure Fader, that art in Hevenes,
Halewid he thin Name;
Thy kingdom come;
Be thi Wille done as In Heveno arid in Ertbe.
Gyff to us this day our Bredo over other sub
stance; - '
And forgyue to us our Dettis, as forgyuen to ouro
Dettours; "
-And lede us not Into Temptation;
But delyue us from Yvel. Ameti, that Is, so belt.
When Columbus came to America he rendered
it thus:
-Oure Fadir that art in Hrvenls,
Halewid be thi name; J'
Thi kingdom come to thee;' ' '"
Be Thi Will done in Eerthe as in Heverie; '
Glue us this day oure Breed over, othre sub
stance; -
And forgive to us Dettis, as we forgiven ouro
Dettours; ' '
And lede us not into Temptation;
But deliver us 'from 'Iyel. Amen.
No classic of all the ages has breathed
through as many human hearts as the Lord's
prayer. No sentence ever framed has passed as
many childrens tongues. A well-known preacher
of the Methodist connection made this the theme
of a sermon preached -at Cleburne many years
ago and toOk the entire prayer for his text. He
spoke of the world-wide familiarity with the text
of the prayer and by way of illustration, In the
middle of his sermon, essayed to recite It. At
the third verse be stalled, as the result of sud
den nervousness and the harder he strove to get
his bearings the worse his memory balked. The
audience tittered and no avenue of escape was
presented but to turn to the concordance, open
his Bible at the prayer and read it off. Tbat min
' ister Is stfll in active work and it Is a safe guess
that he Is now so familiar with the prayer that
he would recognize it in any of the forms In
which it Is presented above.
THE DISTANT CARES
Happy little boy, playing all day long, v.
Thoro are troubles waiting patiently for you!
Gleeful little minstrel, sing your merry song v
While tho winds are balmy and tho sky is blue!;k
Shamo on him, oh, rosy, laughing little boy,
Who sits down to tell you in a dismal tone
That tho world has troubles, that not all is joy,
And that gladness cannot always bo your own,'
Happy littlo maid, slnelnr all thn dnv.
Many aches aro wplting to assail your heart;
You will some day wonder, sitting In dismay,
Why the fates have cast you for Vour bitter
part.
Shame on thorn, oh, lovely, laughing littlo maid,
Who attempt to rob you of your present glee;
Play away untroubled, laugh on unafraid
Through tho careless childhood God has glvon
thee.
When my heart Is glad, let my joy remain! '
If you know that trouble waits to cloud my brow,
'.If you know tomorrow is to bring mo pain,
Do not come to rudely tell me of It now.
'ir my hopes aro futile, seek mo not in haste
To impart tho sorrow I will have to bear;
On, the precious, priceless moments that
waste
Looking sadly forward to a disfantcaro!
S. E. Kiser, In Chicago Record-Herald.
,
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-V
OVER THE HILLS
Over the bills and far away
A little boy steals from his morning's play, ,
And under the blossoming applp tree
He lies and he dreams of tho tilings to be;
Of battles fought and of victories won,
Of wrongs o'erthrown and of great deeds' done
Of the valor that he shall prove some day,
Over tho hills and far away A .'
Over tho hills and far away! . . '
4
Over the hills and far away
It's, oh, for tho toll the livelong day!
But it mattered not to tho soul aflame ' -v. V'
With a love for riches and power and fame! .".
On, oh, man! while tho sun is high
On to tho certain joys that lie - ,u '
Yonder whore blazeth the noon of day! -r
Over tho hills and far away '
Over the hills and far away!
t '
Over the hills and far away
An old man lingers at close of day;
Now 'that his journey Is almost done,
His battles fought and his victories won
The old time honesty and truth, ....
Tlie trustfulness and tho friends of youth, ,
Hxme,and mother where are they?
Over the hills and far away?
Over the hills and far away!
Eugene-Field.
WHEN WE GROW OLD
4
The tallest lilies droop at eventide,
The sweetest roses fall from off the steam;
The rarest things on earth can not abide,
And we are passing, too, away like them;
We're growing old! '
We had our dreams, those rosy dreams of youth!
They faded, and 'twas well. This afterprime
Hatli brought us fuller hopes; and yet, forsooth,
We drop a tear now In this later time
To think we're old.
We smile at those poor fancies of the past
A saddened smile, almost akin to pain;
Those high desires, those purposes so vast,
Ahour poor hearts! They can not come again!
We're growing old!
Old? Well, the heavens are old; this earth Is,
too;'
Old wine Is best, maturest fruit most sweet;
Much have we lost, more gained, although 'tis true
We tread life's way with most uncertain feet.
We're growing old!
We move along, and scatter as we pace
Soft graces, tender hopes on every hand;
At last, with gray-streaked hair and hollow face,
We step across the boundary of the land
Where none are old.
v British Weekly,
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