Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-05-29
Gems from Miss MnIneh.

~ always Seemeu 10 me very lOOnSn 10
be forever defending those whose char
acter is itself a sufficient defence. If a
false word is spoken Of friend, one
must, of conrse, deny it--disprove it.
But to be necessarily battling with per
sonal prejudice or animosity, | would
scorn it Yes, as utterly as / would
scorn defending myself under similar
attacks.
am beginning to give up my belief in
the possible happiness of life. Appa-
rently, people were never meant to be
happy. Small flashes Of pleasantness
come and go; or it may be that in some
few lives are ecstatic moments such as |
have been dreaming of and then all is
over. But many people go ploddisg on
to old age in dull straight road, with
little sorrow and no JOY. Is my life to
be such as this2
While there is SO much sin and misery
in the world, man has no right to lull
himself TO sleep in paradise of self
improvement and self-ehjoyment; in
which there is but one supreme Adam,
one perfect specimen of humanity
namely, himself. He ought to go out
and work-fght if it must be-wherever
duty calls him. Nay, even woman has
hardly any right in these days to sit
still and dream. The life Of action is
nobler than life of thought.
1t is not the seeing of ones friends,
the having them within reach, the hear
ing of and from them, that makes them
ours. Many a one has all that, and yet
has nothing. 1t is believing in them, the
depending on them, assured that they
are true and good to the core, and there
fore could not but be good and true
toward everybody else, ourselves in
cluded, aye whether we deserve it or not.
1t is not our deserts which are in ques-
ton; it is their goodness, which, once
settled, the rest follows of course. They
would be untrue to themselves if they
were insincere or untrue to us.
We men are strange animals at
twenty, ready to rush into matrimony
on any prospect whatever, or not at all;
at thirty, having thought better of it, re-
joice in our escape; but after forty, when
the shadows begin to fall, when the outer
world darkens, and the ireside feels
comfortless and lone, then we sit and
ponder-and regret.
Then he spoke of the manifold duties
of life; of the glory and beauty of living;
of the peace attained even in this world,
by life, which, if ever so sad and diff
cult, has done the best it could with the
materials granted it-has walked so far
as it could see in the appointment
course, and left the rewarding and the
Frightening of it solely in the hands of
Him who gave it; who never gives any
thing in vain.
To carry into the sanctuary of a true
wife breast some accursed thing, which
must be forever hidden in his own, has
always seemed to me one of the blackest
.treasons against both honor and love, of
which man could be capable. BID
All, mel how can anybody really en-
Joy life without others to make happy,
and to draw happiness from.
make no determinations, attempt no
provisions, follow no set line of conduct,
only doing from day to day what is ex-
pected of me, and leaving all the rest
to God.
Most people have some other person,
real or imaginary, who is more com
Portable " to them than anybody else,
to whom, in trouble, the thoughts al
ways fly first, who, in sickness, would
be chosen to smooth the weary pillow,
and holding whose hand they would like
TO die.