New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-07-23

dels, who, while they spurn the starving
beggar as an impOster, feed their minds
with visions of vast treasures poured out
lavishly to clothe the Sandwich Islanders,
and bring blessings of civilization into the
! huts of the Esquimaux. They are followed
by the devout matron who, after having ap-
preached the altar with all the veneratiOn
and love inspired by faith, can SO far fol get
the requirements of modern Chris stianity
as to attend the duties of the house
wife, instead of gracing with her
presence the conference at which the emf
nent and talented Miss Tabitah Jones dis
courses with all the eloquence and modest
| grace that thirty years untiring prepara-
ton could produce. One round higher, we
reach the minister passing rich at forty
pounds a year." whose every faculty is di-
rected to relieve the sufferings of the poor,
to inculcate lessons of purity and devotion,
and to improve the intelligence, and sane
tify the hearts of his congregation. Still
above we find the model of the Christian
woman-a woman whose religious impulse
causes her to accept position as president
of the association for the distribution OF
tracts; to publish her charities in public
print, give evidence of her ability in as
Stunning place among the lady managers of
fair and fetes champetre. taking full con-
| troll of the funds, and sacrificing
the character and future of her
child to a vain desire to teach
the untutored savage the ways of wisdom,
and to chant loud hOzanahs to her praise.
Upon its summit rests the foot of the
wealthy rector, whose sole idea of the life
to come is centered in the necessity of pre-
| pairing sermon eminent more for the beau
| ty of its periods, the wealth of its language,
and the poetry of its conceptions, than for
its earnestness, elevated sentiments and
moral worth; a sermon declaimed from his
cushioned pulpit to an aristocratic congre-
CATION, who, attired with all the extrava-
gance of fashion, gather beneath the roof OF
Gods temple only TO comment upon the
different styles, and praise the handiwork
of the tailor and the seams tress; and re
ceive the divine word falling from the lips
Of the handsome minister. merely as an ora
ton offered to them for criticism and ap-
proval.
Who knows but that in the next world
the order may be reversed Who shall
have the greater claim for divine mercy and
eternal reward, the pure hearted child. the
repentant sinner, or the religious aristocrat;
the Christian matrOn or the affected de
votee the pious pastor or the wealty rector I!
The ladder of fame is a regal structure
Upon every round of FURNISHED gold we
read the name of poet, an orator, an au-
thor, or a warrior-men whose genius has
ever been faithful theme for admiration
and amazement. Ascending the scale round
after round becomes more dazzling and
more beautiful; on some the names are so
blurred and worn as TO be illegible, on
others names once priced and spoken Of
with veneration have been replaced by
those of the new victors in the contest for
glory; as we mount higher, the names grow
few and long spaces follow bearing no
name, and free from the wear of ascending
feet. The summit rests upon the hill of
vanity, and he who shall have reached that
giddy height, will become blind to every
thing save sense of his own greatness, ever
delivering panegyrics upon himself, and con-
tinuing to grow stronger and more intelli-
gent in his own cOnceit, until the world
and all in it contained shall have passed
away. Such is the visionary greatness
which lures us on in the schemes of life.
The ladder of knowledge is presided over
by three deities. The Past, who, seated far
below, ever traces upon his records the his
tory of kingdoms, empires and republics,
and sketches every important feature in the
lives of men who have lived in power, or
deserved eminence on account of their
genius or their virtue. Youth, according
to its impulses, studies each character, and
ponders over the lessons written upon that
book, or sleeps listlessly and lazily, while the
years roll on, bringing no pleasure to the
heart and no food to the mind.
At the foot of the ladder in the realms of
the Present, there dwells grave and ven
cradle sage and beautiful and fascinating
virgin. The sage is called Advice, the
maiden Temptation. The former tells the
traveller of his duty; he teaches him the nee
essity of charity, of virtue and of faith; he
proclaims the benefits of a righteous ex-
istence, and points to the heavens above us
as the reward which awaits the good and
brave. The latter lures him on to pleasure,
to life of comfort and of ease; she capti-
Yates him with dreams of power and great
ness obtained by one. false step; she con-
iures up diadems and thrones obtained
by misguided ambition; her voice grows
sweeter, her gaze more fascinating, her
form more lovely, as she speaks of amours
and of pleasure; and, like the afrighted
bird that gradually circles nearer, its power
OF resistance gradually lessening before the
ardent fascination of the serpent, until it
falls victim to his seductive influence. So
the eincautious youth, having once listened to
the voice of the tempter, weakens in his oppo-
sition, and yields to her allurements. On
each round is traced some new duty to per-
form or some new pleasure to enjoy until
reaching the summit, the pilgrim on his way
to the tomb beholds a deep mist through
which he discerns the dim outlines of tall,
spectral form towering in mid air. 1t is
conjectured that this misty form is the Fu-
ture, and that step after step of his ladder
becomes a part of the Present, while the