Delaware Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1843-1874, 1873-06-19
For The Deiaedre Republican.
The Law Of Compensation,

TWAS said by one of the ancients that, "bad
as the world is, respect is always paid to vir-
tue;" and it may be truthfully added that
consistent life on harmony with teachings
grounded Ia the eternal principles of truth,
however distasteful or unpopular for time,
will finally insure the respect il not even the
commentator Of the more intelligent and yir-
tuous among those with whom we may he call
ed upon to ASSOCIATE"
If the young person shall by over persuasion
or even well-meant advice, be induced to yield
an opinion or a course of action grounded in
reason and his own conscience, o. him 10 made
certain at the outset, that he cannot thereby be
otherwise than a loser. By such a course of
action he will Immediately lose his own selfre-
sDect which is the foundation of virtue, and in
the end, also, the respect Of those for whose
praise or good opinion he was induced to make
the tremendous sacrifice. Let the truth be
firmly impressed upon the youthful mind that
such sacrilices never pay, in any true sense of
the word, what they cost. The inevitable law
of compensation, connecting as by an invisible
chain every cause to its legitimate effect forbids
the contemplation for one moment, Of the pay
! ment of such price for the passing breath of
approval from those, like ourselves, frai, erring
mortals who to-day are, and tomorrow are
not No let it never be forgotten that persist.
! tent adherance to well-grounded principles Of
| act ion having their base in thoroughly en-
| lightened conscience, is the only sure means
| of gaining the permanent respect Of man, much
more of the Searcher of hearts who looks be-
| yond the action back to the motive which was
| its impelling cause.
Let us glance at another phase OF the law of
| compensation. The remark is often heard
| from the Young and inexperienced, upon an
occasion when some rare Intellectual or artistic
| culture is brought to view, show much | wish
"tllat such attachments as we have just witness
"ed were mine; it seems to me they would be
.the OCCASION Of unalloyed happiness But
| my young friend are you aware that no real ex-
| cellence is ever attained without great labor;
| that in what you have beheld, you have but
witnessed results, while the processes by which
those results have been attained lie hidden from
| your sight? DO you realize that the straight
and narrow path to the mount of your ambi-
| ton is still open; that If you VIII you may reach
forth your hand and grasp the coveted
! prize? Ate you willing to pay the inevitable
price necessary to lis attainment? Or do you
81 i'll prefer to stand gazing up TO the summit Of
the mountain, on which stand those crowned
with honor reckoning you upward, because
you do not like to put forth the effort necessary
| to the scaling of the anxious heights? If such
| be the case to You as well us to every human
being does the inevitable law OF compensation
proclaim the eternal tru:h-"idb0r dhd attain;
| neglect and suffer-
| Again we look and behold man in the full
tide Of health and strength in the enjoyment of
every worldly comfort. We note his passage
gradually down the declivity of life until the
sun OF his ex.stence is gliding the western tree
tops, and as fitting close to such a life, we
see him quitely yielding up his last breath, re
Winding one Of the distinguishing Of the lamp
| flame when the oil shall all have been consum
| ed. We reflect upon the life Of such one only
to admire; there is something grand and beauti
In such a passing away, and in contrasting
such life, and such a death, with the scene Q
suffering and misery around us on every hand
We almost Involuntary exclaim: 80 tha
such life and such death may be mine
But, my dear young friend, are you aware that