Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1869-02-12


Another man has neither the one nor the
other of these gifts, but n certain sort of
quiet persistence. Having begun thing,
he is like the instrument employed in
boring for on artesian well. that, driven
by steam, goes through dirt, and clay,
and rock. forever working, working,
working, till it taps stratum of water,
and opens an ever-howing fountain. No
stroke of genius ever does more than
move him quarter of an inch; but in
the end it can be seen that he has gained.
Some men are very luminous in their
business talents. They see everything in
business point of view. Other men
never can form conception of shrewd
management in business. a lack of
watchfulness, proneness to negligence,
social feelings, thousand things, unfit
them for being good business men.
Now, in all these cases. il YOU look ut
men. YOU shall find that they are accus-
toned to erect their strong part upon a
throne of justice. and employ il as a
measure by which 10 judge other peoples
excellence. and by which to administer
praise or blame.
Is man reasoner9 lie is condemned
by men that are not reasoners. Is there
a man that never makes mistake in
reasoning Let him find man whose
reasoning is full of mistakes and he pro
nounces him fool. Take n business man
whose hold, when he has once put his
hand to thing is like an iron clamp. and
screwed up at that, and see how he talks
about man that is loose-handei. The
man that is eloquent is apt to speak rude
words Of men that are ofhesitating speech.
Men that are firm cannot endure men that
are always whifiling. Men that are
secular and accumulatiye do not like 4
man that is like m empty bag. Indus
trious men have no patience with men
that are shittless. If man has royal
benev olence, and the means Of indulging
il, how he dcspises a close. calculating
mani On the other hand. with what con
tempt does man who carries his frugality
Ia parsimony look on a spendthritt, How
little sympathy have the old for the
~ gr'
and how the young despise the unenthu>i-
astic, unromantic temperament OF OLD
people, If man is full of imagination, he
SAWS. Il like men that are not dull and stu
pid.' That j., he likes men that have ina
gination. like himself. Another man likes
substantial men that believe in realities.
He does not believe in kite-ilying men
that are running after moonbcGHlS, rs hc
calls them.
This tendency Of men u reflect them
selves. to a great degree, in the judgments
which they form of others. is one of the
most potent principles Of life. Il is that
from which springs the unconscious selfish
ness which exists in society. And how
much pain il inilicts upon men!
Parents are perpctually liable to iniure
their children, rs well as 10 make them
unhappy. on account of misconception
of this subject. If the father is Il aud the
mother is b, the child is not necessarily
q5 and yet parents think it must be so.
There is whole generation behind father
and mother, and they are nothing, often.
but a lens that catches the scattered rays
of light, and brings them to focus. There
is the grandfather, and the great-grant-
father, and the great-great- grandfather, ,oI
whose disposition the child partakes; and
the consequence is, that it is unlike the
parents. And father and mother are both
perpetually asking, Where did that tra.'
come from?" Ii q child has strong
tendency away from business in family
where the parents are both practical, the!
set 10 work to weed il out. God has giyer
them little poet that is being hedgedto IL,
and sing and take the air for is realm ;ou
the father means that it shall be Il abankcr
and father and mother say, What Is this
unproiitable tendency in our child'" The
mother is firm and the father Is stubborn
as a mule; and they hlindly use theil
strongest faculties, or their habits, which
are like faculties. TO oppress and tyrannlzt
over the child; and if they do not ruin
him, they make his life much less happy
than il should be. Oh, that parents un
dcrstood this, 1t seems to me that the
household is Gods harp on earth, and thai
each child is one more string to give
wondrous harmony to that of which father
and mother are but the monotone oi
theme. But, alas! we do not know the
power of the string, the mode oftouchine
it nor the scale of sweet sounds which Il
is capable of producing; and that which
| God meant should De Ellie insIuiiich
of music in the household, creating JOY
therein. becomes an occasion of positive
unhappiness and displeasure. How mucl
happiness that might be experienced
in the family is destroyed because We
Judge our children. our servants, all thai
are under our roof, by that which il
strongest in US. You are shrewd an'
orderly; you understand the application
of means to ends; and if you have to III
instruct your children a slipshod anc
shiftless girl. who never saw any relation
of cause and effect, except between
ribbon and admiration; whose work Il
ov er,lone or not done at all or as familiar
expression is, all Of whose fingers ar