There is something truly startling in this irreparableness of the past,
this irrevocableness of the losses which we have suffered through our
follies or our sins. About two centuries ago a great sun-dial was
erected in All Souls' College, Oxford, England, the largest and noblest
dial, it is said, in the whole kingdom. Over the long pointer were
written, in large letters of gold, the Latin words, referring to the
hours, "_Pereunt et imputantur_." Literally, the meaning is, "They
perish, and are set down to our account"; or, as they have been
rendered in terser phrase, "They are wasted, and are added to our debt."
It is said that these words on the dial have exerted a wonderful
influence on the boyhood of many of the distinguished men who have
received their training at Oxford, stimulating them to the most
conscientious use of the golden hours as they passed, and bearing fruit
in long lives of earnestness and faithfulness. The lesson is one that
every young person should learn. In youth the hours are full of
privileges. They come like angels, holding in their hands rich
treasures, sent to us from God, which they offer to us; and if we are
laggard or indolent, or if we are too intent on our own little trifles
to give welcome to these heavenly messengers with their heavenly gifts,
they quickly pass on and are gone. And they never come back again to
renew the offer.
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