Litchfield enquirer., 1875-11-25
Concerning man's Deslre for rams.
BY REV. rRIAH xERxEs BUTrLEs
.sxo man ia lord osanvthsng

SVtbSGNbasBbNS bWB&bt - SCStB0 toE F 2tt10s
 BY REV. rRIAH xERxEs BUTTLEs
 sNo man is lord of anything.
 [Thoush in and of him there be much consissing). m hs communicates his parts to others: Nor dJth he of himself know them for aught
 Til he behold them formed in the applause
 Where thsy gre extended. while like an arch revsr 1As vGiee seuin or. iks . gate yf meea Tss 9 IrOetng the ann. receives and renders back % Eis AaHfe and his heart" r- &
 '.Why is this thus? Why cannot he begin without quoting Shakespeare?" some one may exclaim after reading the above. My reason is this: quotation is to an essay. as the cornice and cupola are to a house. a neat and appropriate finish, but not nec- essary part of the structure; therefore. when I give my thoughts to the public in that form, I think it in good taste to com. mence with few sentences from some we'll known and admired author.
 Philosophicaily considered, mans desire for fame is but an evanescence of his in- stinct Of self-preseryation. There are a class of moralists who declaim against this desire. but they might with equal propri- sty preach against all mans primal pas siOus. The desire to be thought well of, and to receive praise for good performance of good work, IS as natural as the desire for food. and is as different from that wild and unbridled ambition, which is vanity and selfshness gone mad, as the healthful hunger of child is different from the de- prayed cravings of a debauchee. Legiti- mately exercised, this desire leads to most excellent results, and so far from decrying if, hold it to be commendable, and I think my opinion is entitled to considera- tion.
 It is common to think people in high places ambitious, and people in lowly sit- uations contented and unaspiring, but it has been my experience that the desire of fame is as strong in one class as in the other, and that It's exaggerated and morbid forms are oftenest developed in persons of mediocre talents. occupying obscure pia- ces. A thoughtful observer finds. on in- spection, that each human being plumes and spreads himself for a group of admir- ers; and, that he in turn is an admirer, ,obse- quiOus and attentive, before some greater P0tentate; and if the observer be inclined to examine his own acis, he will find that he is no exception to this rule. aud that desire for fame leads even him to pirOu. cite for the edification of select few.
 Working upon different minds. rousing varying abilities into activity, this desire produces widely varying results. To illus trate:
 The Hon. Silas Vandercook felt this de- sire burning within him, and in conse. quence he became prince of the people, s Senator of the United States. Dr. Blin- ker, animated by the same desire, experi- nented Tn syrups until he hit upon the far-famed Pulmonic Syrup bearing his his name. and better known as t'Blinker's S Compound Extract of Enpatorium ct Me laceas." which reads in English, "Boneset and Molasses, 'and the Willow Short, em- ulous of fame, has so labored nights and days that no laying-out or lying in, within ten miles of Griggsville, is considered a success without her. I might give countless number of Illustrations of this point. but space forbids.
 It is common to speak contemptuously of second class work and places, but can not see why he who whistles correctly aud with good taste, is not fulfilling the law, as well as he who blows a silver trumpet in the courts of the Lord, provided each ODs does his best If desire to excel and to receive praise culminates in whistler in one case, and trumpeter in the other, and each has exhausted his possibilities, who shall say the one IS greatest who holds the highest placel
 The high places are few, the low places are legion, and it is far more necessary to the world that the low places be we'll filled than that the high places be filled at all. Desire for fame wisely directed, impels us to perform our work well, even though our place in life is obscure; the same de- sire unwisely directed, only makes us dis AnI xwvskE follow it's leadings. we will bring up in a bog to our own chagrin and the mortifca- tion of our friends. As there Is no rule by which a man can judge of his brain power as he judges of the strength of his legs and arms, We all run risk of making this fatal mistake, viz: an undue estimate of our powers, and consequently unwise ambitions.
 have in my minds eye n young man whUse life precisely illustrates this point. Five girls preceded his advent into this life, and his father had about given up laying plans for a son when the boy arriv- cd. Before the baby was 6 day old, the father, who was farmer in good circum- stances, resolved that his son should re- ceive a collegiate education and enter profession. The boy grew up the pride of his parents, the tesse of his sisters and the torment of the neighborhood, and in due time entered college.
 The father spent all his leisure arguing the relative merits of law and medicine. and deciding that his son should ornament now one profession and now the other. His mother cherished a hope that he would turn his thoughts toward the church for she thought he would look lovely in a gown, and his sisters were certain he was the flower of the family and could be any thing he pleased.
 At the age of twenty. three the young man graduated and came home with a wonderful parchment, by whose authority he wrote "Artium Baccalaureus" after his name.
 Not being able to decide at once which profession he would condescend to adorn. our A. B. concluded to teach at Madame Flourishings finishing school for young ladies. for one year. While there he feli in love.
 Whether 1t was love, or a hereditary weakness derived from some remote an- cestor, that caused his next misfortune, cannot say but about this time (as the story reads in the almanas), he began to write poetry. A disastrous ending to his love affair made matters worse He neg lccted his classes to write stanzas in which heart and dart and dove and love rhymed dehghttuliy, till madame wrote him po- lite note requesting him to resign.
 He then determined to make poetry his profession. ''Surely," he said to me. II have soft nature. and what so soft as poetry We were made for each other The muse shall be my mistress. Mir. But. ties. have suffered the panes of yunre. quilted love have fathomed an abyss of woe. Who so we'll prepared.as I to sing the sorrows of the hnmani | shall give mY days and nights to eontemplation. I shall study Walt Whitman. and feel it within me. that one day my name shall appear beside his, the author of something even greener and more vigorous than. Leaves oi Grass."
 ventured to ask, how he intended to meet current expenses {; and remarked taat bread and beef were necessarv and new coats and neckkiea nYs;ta das;ralta