Vermont daily transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1868-1870, 1869-02-18
TAINTED. a Balance UHrtI.
BY GEO. W. BrNGAN.

-bdlaIlCe Wncel-An0 his descendants
have inherited his infirmity, so that
with many exccllencies we have our i'm
perfections. We say of this man he is
a good and generous fellow, but he
drinks; and of that man, he is correct
and honest man in trade, but he is pc
nurious; of the other, he is man of tai
ent an culture, but he does not pay his
debts. If Diogenes could rise from his
grave and rc-light his lamp he would
not he able to find perfect man. AS a
race we are better, wiser, and stronger
than we were centuries ago. We
stand in front of great events, and ma
tions as well ms individuals are arising in
the scale of higher and purer clviliza-
ton.
MIR. +. is II gifted man, q good writer
and pleasant speaker. He writes model
letters for the press, and il exceedingly
popular before an audience. In the pull
pit, on the platform, at the press, he has
few equals, and yet he fails to win fame,
and is so poor he lives from hand to
mouth. Why? He has no exl ensive
habits his family is not eXtravagant
then why is he such brilliant failure?
Because he is not well balanced. He is
not an old man. yet he has made the
tour of theology. He has be- II playing
the game of religious leapfrog for at least
a quarter of n century. Now he claims
to be the cha mpion of liberal Christian
ity, and his sermons grow into books in
defence of his creed. Suddenly ne turns
a summersault and lands upon has feet
in an orthodox pulpit. where he assails
his former arguments with all the fevor
of u new convert. His eloquence secures
him call from one of the richest
churches in B. But he becomes weary
in well doing, and seeks to crafty his
love of change by going over to another
denomination, and then to o.hcr.-
presto, CHANGE" again the Presby-
terrain becomes and Episcopalian, tn }
Episcopalian Methodist, the Metho-
dist a Baptist, the Baptist a lawyer, the
lawyer a lecturer, the lecturer n Bohe
milan correspondent and author. Now
this man SO ready of speech and elO-
quent-sO Industrious and entc prising
lis almost Il failure, because he lacks
stability of mind. His fine presence,
his magnetic utterance, and his superior
talents would have raised him to the
front rank i'll any profes sion if he had
been well poised and steadfast in his
adherence to what he lecmed to be just
and right.
When Sylvester Graham inaugurated
his dictic system of reform in the old
Clinton Hall, in this city, amo.:g other
enthusiastic friends and disciples of this
reformer was a young clergyman, whose
prospects were rOse-cOlOred and radiant.
He was fluent speaker, wrote rhythmic
lines which looked like poetry. and he
won the admiration of crowds Of deligh-
ted auditors. But he was q human
weather vane, turning whichever way
the wind bleY, and although he never
turned his back upon his religious creed,
he has been in the pulpit and out of it,
| layman and minister, over and over
again. He left the pulpit to edit news
paper he left the pulpit to accept rO-
| litical mission; and now he is in the
pulpit again at the West, where his ser
vices as a preacher and an advocate of
temperance are very popular.
Now, if this mans head could have
been trepanned 40 years ngo, and bal
aDce wheel nicely adjusted in his vast
brain, SO as to move tremendously with
his impulsive heart, he would have been
doctor of divinity in theology, or sun
crowned statesman in politics, or star
of the first magnitude in the armament
ofliterature.
| know man whose influence reaches
across the continent. He can rise be-
fore the masses and move them to tears
and smiles by the magic of his speech.
I IL ucDdtc Ills Is lOSlC a lluuic
with feeling, and Woe betide the unfor-
tunate adventurer Who crosses his path
he will be sure to be hit with the
lightning Of his eloquence. He COM
mands the pen of ready writer, and he
commands good price for his literary
labor. His name is as familiar to the
reader as household word. He has
won reputation which is natOnal and
yet this man is child in the world
of commerce. He has no knowledge of
business. can scarcely make out bill or
write receipt, or keep his bank account
correctly. He hates practical business.
His wife buys his clothes for him. She
goes with him to the tailor, the shOema-
ker, and to the butcher and grocer.
Last year 80 per cent. was added to
his taxes because he neglected to report
his income at the proper time. His dis
like of business has been shadow upon
his path all his life, and has resulted in
duns, lawsuits and misrepresentation
that would have OVershadowcd less
brilliant man.
1.-THE machinery of his brain had been
started right in the nursery, or in the
school, or in the public duties of life
even, he would have been millionaire
to-day, and he would have escaped the
veXatiOns and cares which come, like
singing flies about man when he has
no net under which he can hide from
them.
Much of the domestic discomfort which
is sucA source of pain and quarelsome
dispute in families arises fro m the want
of self-poise. The wife, perhaps, is prac-
teal, and cannot bear to have business
matters neglected, debts ignored, prom
ises unkept; and the husband, hating
the commonplace duties of every day
life, puts off the unpleasant Task until
he is spurred to it by the sharp adnoni-
tions OF a curtain lecture or the sharper
reminder of a summons from the judge
and, as Nasty would say, an =" on