Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1869-03-10
CLEARFIELD, Pa.
WANTED--A BALANCE WHEEL
ny GEORGE W. BuNaAY.

E imperfections. We say of this man
r he is a good and generous fellow, bu
he drinks; and Of that man, he is {
correct and honest man in trade, but
he is pcnurious of the other, he is 9
f. man OF talent and culture, but he does
Z not pay his debts. If Diagones could
rise from his grave and re-light hi'
lamp he would not be able to find q
+. perfect man. Asa race we are bet
ter, wiser, stronger than we were cen
turtles ago. We are apt scholars, and
we are approximaling the good time
We stand in front Of great events, and
nations as well as individuals are
rising in the scale of higher and
purer civilization.
Mr.. 7. is gifted mana good writer
and pleasant speaker. He writes
model letters for the press, and is ex.
cecdingly popular before an audience.
In the pulpit, on the platform, at the
Dress, he has few equals, and yet he
fails to win fame, and is 50 poor he
lives from hand to mou;ss why he
has no expensive habits his family ;s
not cxtravagant then why is be such
Il brilliant failure Because he is not
well balanced. He is not an old man,
and yet he has made the tour of the.
ology lie has been playing the game
Of religious leapfrog for at least a
quarter Of century. Now he claims
TO be the champion Of liberal Christi
anity, and his sermons grow into
books in defence OF his creed Sud.
denly he turns a summersaut and
lands upon his feet in an orthodox
pulpit, whore ho assails his former
arguments with all the fervor of a
new convert. His eloauence secures
a call from one Of the richest churches
ia 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 another.
Presto, change, again the Presbyte-
rian becomes an Episcopalian, the
Episeopaian a Methodist, the Metho-
dist a Baptist, the Baptist a lawyer,
the lawyer a lecturer, the lecturer a
Bohemian correspondent and author.
Now this man, so ready of speech and
eloqueut-so industrious aud enter
prising--is almost n failure, because
he lacks stability Of mind. His fine
presence, his magnetic ulterance, and
his superior talents would have raised
him to the front raik in any proies
sion if he had been well poised and
sleadiast in his adherence TO what be
deemed to be just and right.
When Sylvester Graham inaugura-
ted his dictic system OF reform in the
old Clinton Hall in this city. among
other enthusiastic friends and disciples
Of this reformer was a young clergy
man, whose prospects were rose col
ored and radiant lie was fluent
speaker, wrote rythmic lines which
looked like poetry, and he won the
admiration Of crowds of delighted au-
ditors. But he was human weather
vane, turning whichever way the wind
blew, 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. Ilc left the pulpit TO edit
newspaper; he left the paper to ac-
cept a political mission and now he |
is in the pulpit again at the West
where his services as preacher and /
an advocate Of temperance are very |
popular.
Now, if this mans head could have
been trcpannod forty years ago, and a
balance wheel nicely adjusted to his
vast brain, so as 20 move harmoniously |
with his impulsive heart, no would /
have been doctor Of divinity in the
ology, or a sun-crowned statesman in
politics, or star Of the first magni
tudc in the armament Of literature.
know man whose influence
reaches across the continent lie can
rise before the masses and move them
10 tears and smiles by the magic of
his speech. In debate his argument
is logic, anamc with feeling, aud voc
beiidc tho unfortunate ndventurcr
who crosses his path-ho will be sure
to be hlt with tho lightning Of his elo.
quencc lie commands the pen of a
ready writer, aud he commands a
good price for his literary labor His
namc is rs familiar TO the reader MS a
household word. lie has won a repu-
tation which is national and yet this
man is a mere child in the world of
commerce aud finance lie has no
knowledge Of business, can scarcely
make ont bin or write q receipt, or
keep his bank account correctly. lie
hates practical business. His wife
buys his clothes for him. She goes
with him TO the tailor, and 10 the
shoemaker, and TO tho butcher and
grocer Last year twenty per cent
was added TO his taxes because he
neglected to report his income at the
proper time. His dislike of business
has been shadow upon his path all
his life, and has resulted in duns. and
lawsuits, and Misrepresentation, that
would have ovorshadowcd less bril-.
liant man. If the machinery OF his
brain had been started right in the
nursery, or in the school room, or in
the public duties Of life even, he would
have been u millionaire TO day, and he
would have escaped the vexations
which come like stinging flies, about
a man when he has no net under which
he can hide from them.
Much Of the domestic discomfort
which is such source OF pain and
quarrelsome dispute in families arises
from the want of selfpoisc. The wife,
perhaps, is practical, and cannot bear
to have business matters neglected,
debts ignored, promises unkcpi and
the husband, hating tho common place
duties Of every day life, puts on the
task until he is spurrcd to
i by the sharp admonitons Of n cnr-
tain lecture, or the sharper reminder
Df o summons from the judgc--and, as
Nasty would say, an 'unpleasantnoss