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[fol. viii.]

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may sound to their ears like the sweetest and & loftiest strains
of heavenly music, that the words father and mother, may
may fill them with the deepest feelings of love, of reverence,
of devotion. Multitudes may embitter their New Year by
undo reflections upon opportunities neglected and lost in
the past and denied in the present. But the future is
still ours with all its hope, with all its lovely visions of
sunshine. And despite the fact that we cannot peer into the
long & mysterious vista of this mysterious future, despite the
fact that we know not what a day, aye one hour may bring
forth, nor what joy or sorrow may fall to our lot, yet
this blindness forms the very stimulus and salt of life,
for we know & should realize to the full, the glowing
possibilities inherent in man's nature. Courage, Resolution
firm determination combined with faith & hope -- these
may sterling qualities may transform the path of one's
life from one of thorns & thistle, of arid emptiness, into
one of luscious growth; they may transform a wasted
life of wretchedness into a life of true happiness, a
life of honour, integrity and uprightness.