The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1854-10-20
LUCK.

The New YORK bllrror says the worst mis-.
fortune that ever befel man, is the conceit
that we are born under particular stars, that
there is fatalism in our destiny, and that
good or evil genii shape the courses and dis
tribute the fortunes of our lives. In this per-
vadng and over-mastering idea lies the secret
of the misery of thousands in our midst, and
everywhere around u.s. The notion is preva.
lent, far more so than our philosophers have
dreamed, that no matter how we exert our
selves, whether we are honest, Industrious,
temperate and religious, or not, we can make
no headway in the world until we obtain our
lift of luck. The poor cry luck, while they
gaze on the possessions of the rich, and the
idle echo luck when their rags come in con-
tact with the garments of the thrifty.
The real causes of difference in classes of
society, and between the tasks and enjoy
men!s of individuals, are overeaped by the
easier and more consoling exclamaton-"it's
all luckp' Satisfied with this explanation,
the beggar, though stout of limb and able to
cast off his mendicity, clings to lis staff and
accepts the charity of those whom he calls
the lucky. Nor the beggar alone, but men in
all the marts and professions of life, drag
themselves along, faint hearted, miserable, and
murmuring against the apparent evil destiny
that denies 20 them the prosperity, ease and
luxury of their neighbors. Processing to be-
ieve in an equitable Providence, they ascribe
the success Of those whom they envy, but
will not initiate, to some stroke Of chance,
and like the fabled teamster, whose cart ran
in the ditch, cry "Help us, Hercules" without
thinking of putting their own shoulder TO the
wheel.
Delusive and fatal idea! There is no such
thing as luck in the aggregate arrangement
of conditions; no good nor evil genii shaping
our destiny, nor 10 "particular star" full of
baleful or happy influences under which we
are born. If there are genii and stars infu-
encing us, they are in our physical, mental
and moral constitution, and the good luck of
the prosperous may be traced to industry, in
telligence, shrewdness of calculation, and a
firm faith in the omnpotence of WeH used
means! So, too, the III luck of the thriftless
comes from the absence of these creative ele-
ments. 1t is libelling the wisdom and good
ness of God to say that these contrasts in hui
1itinn bo,, I, al rap,,1f
Free society or mankind of its own articles
and it will be seen that God has dispensed
his gifts equally to all, and if one man has
managed TO convert more earth, ocean, air and
their good things to himself, than another
man has got, it is the work Of that mans
providence and not of Gods distribution
The houses and lands of the rich, if the mat
ter is slted, have been accumulated by intel
ligence and industry, upon n fixed and i'm
mutable principle, while the novels and squa-
lor of the poor, are the result of ignorance,
Incidence and their associate vices. In the
majority Of cases the "fortune seeker" might
have accomplished the position of the "for-
tune possessor," if, instead of acaiting for a
tide in his affairs, he had studied the steps by
which the fortunate man ascended, and fol-
lowed after him. But no, chance, luck must
do the work-the fortune must come.
Some men sit on logs and trust Providence
to raise their potatoes; but Providence keeps
account only with those who dig the field,
plant the seed, and gather the harvest. Less
star-gazing, searching for "gold bugs" and
murmuring at i'll luck, and more industry,
faith in self and the means at hand, and men
will find that the differences in their condition
are not natural but artificial. We have no
sympathy with the eternal grumbling about
luck Fortune is The handmade of certain
principles, and will always respond to them:
in the common sense, is the same
Until man comes to see that he is largely the
arbter of his own temporal destiny, and takes
his fortune into his own hands, he will have
both room and disposition TO find fault with
Providence and God.
.Y@ Mr. S. N. Caryalho, the artist, pub
fishes in the San Francisco Herald some ex-
tracts from his journal of his recent trip