"I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this, if I am past all hope!... Good Spirit! Your nature intercedes for me! And pitys me! Assure me that I may yet change these shadows you have shown me, by changing my very self! I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!”