The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-11-23
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ne THE CIRCULATION or THE Dis
PATCH is LARGER THAN THE COMBINED
REGULATION OF ALL THE OTHER Dali.
NEWSPAPERS OF THE CITY. 4
From Rural Notions IN Providence Journal.
Failures i'm Life.

Tyre and Sidon perished gradually !;
Pornpeii was buried In an hour. Some men
are consiitu,ionally stumblers in the high
way OF life some, like the ambitious atb-
| lete, overtask uncommon power ana break
down on the instant with paralysis.
Whether or no man haS lalled 10 NE 0e-
pends, taking worldly view OF It, upon
what, In the first place, he has striven ior,
and secondly, upon what he ought, con-
| siderirr his relations 10 society, to have
attempted. The mere idler is failure
anywhere and everywhere and ever. NO
man has a right, however mnch OF wealth
he possesses, to fold his hands in utter IN
dolence nor are there any 80 disposed. fhe
difficulty is that most of us are ttcketed tor
| the many stations, not that we are Inclined
not to 60 anywhere. 1t takes half lifetime
10 find out that we are pursuing calling
| we have no taste or qualification lor, anu
| When we Go lind 1t out we are 100 oi0 aad
surrounded by 800 many impedfments
TO make chIngc. Parcnts are more to
blame than children Tor this. Phrenolo-
gists tell us that critical examination Of
| tho Uranium will disclose exactly the natu-
raj bent Of the mind, and tell precisely
what the boy can and cannot do in the
| worlds warfare. We see no reason why
this should not be SO; we have never had
the slightest proof that it is. But this
much is true: careful study Of youthful
characteristics and a strict adherence to
| their indications in the choice Of a business
or profession would make wonderful
change in the quality Of the "stock" of the
bar, pulpit. and medical faculty, as well as
in other aVocations. Enough; were we to
go on we might arrive at the conclusion. il
not able to appreciate the wisdom, of Plato
in his saying that "none Of the occupations
which comprehend the ordering of State
| belong to woman as woman, nor yet to man
as man; but natural gifts are to be found
here and there, in both sexes alike; and
so far as her nature is concerned, the wo.
man is admissible to all pursuits as well as
the man; though in all of them the woman
is weaker than the man." r-,ar :, .s
But, to 60 back little man may have
failed in SO far that be has not been oil
much service to the world, and yet not
have failed in respect Of his purposes OF
ianticipations. There are some who DELHI
erately refuse to scramble for high place
either in the Textbook or the official calen
dar, from an instructive and perpetual feal
Of falling. They prefer q quiet view from
Mount Hope. whence they can speedily
aud safely get home at night, to the celia
aud danger Of climbing Mount Blanc. Thi:
may be all wrong in regard TO their duty tC
the world; 1T might be the better off if suct
made tortuue OF hundred or two
thousand dollars in ten years and lost it II
one; but these people, inasmuch al
they had no choice about coming here
are determined, in spite Of the "whips
of commerce, agitators, and fashion'
70 live in some degree after their OWL
inclination. The question is whether il
this aspect Of it they have failed. A gooC
many times they will wish they had taker
the other road but they should remember
that the fellow who took 'tother track il
very likely just as uncertain as to his where
sbouts and quite as positive that he is hav
ing hard tine Of it. 1t is doubtful if any
one can satisfy himself that he has no
made failure 1t is impossible for any one
else to know that ne his. Few would tt
willing to live their lives over again !: none
would be willing to give up their persona
identity. IT we could teH how thing
would have been, had they not happened
as they have, we should have criterion by
which to Judge; but that we never Cal
know, so that In striking the balance fol
ourselves we are ever, and ever shall be, il
| the dark.