The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1879-11-07
SOMEBODY ELSE.

II Ao frequently asserted that the Hu.
man being does not exist who would ex.
chanSe his life with that of any one of
his neighb0rs. We cannot think the
assertions would be borne out If q real
exchange and mart Of mems individuaIi.
ties could be set up. That IA confirmed
Invalid should refuse to exchange places
with beautiful athlete in the full yipor
OF his powers, and with no apparent
drawback 10 his robust and cXu!taut con.
dltion; that tOothless and incredglous
old crone, trembling on the brink of a
grave which has for her no promise of a
blessed resurrection, should be unwill-
ing 10 barter her state for that of sweet
seventeen, radiant in conQuerinr smiles.
fair as the dawn, and as full of promise
that "a decrepit and tottcring statesman
with just enough brainpan left to com.
prehend protocol, and lust
enough manual capacity left to sign it.
should shrink from the loss OF his
own personality, il order to assume that
OF the coming man whose oratorv is be-
ginning 10 thrill and whose penetration ia
assure his country-Gll these things are as
Uncomfortable as that Faust should have
refused the offer of Mepiistophe!es and
the embraces of Marguerite No doubt
Faust, in becoming young again, still re-
manned Faust, and did not lose his con
sdiousness of the benefits he had reaped
by his bargain with the welcome visit.
ant from below; whereas, if one had 10
change places entirely with somebody
else, one would have to forget that one
had ever been any one save that somebody
else. Loss of conscious memory-in
other words, loss of idcntity-is practi
cally death; and therefore the strict car.
rying out the idea is impossible, and
runs counter to the laws of thought
Bat if the condition of the metamor
phosis were simply that man would
retain nothing of his former self save the
the recollection of his woes, then it can
hardly be doubted that the majority OF
mankind would find some happily cir
cumstanced mortal into whose shoes they
would he delighted to Jump
As Il rule, however, people confine
themselves TO desires which appear more
reasonable, because more capable of full
filment, and we suspect there are few
who do not contemplate one or other
of their neighbors with longing envy
Indeed the existence of the sentiment is
hourly confessed, and il is to be found al
work in bosoms which one might have
supposed 10 be safe against il. Behold q
lovely creature, whose beauty is not hid
den under bushel, but which shines al
least four days out of the seven at the
board of the hOspitable and the distin
guished. Women admire and men court
her, and wherever she goes the company
grows brighter at her approach She
has the best and most devoted of hus
bands, a gentleman, friend, an infalli
bic adviser and helpmate. She has &
couple of children of angelic loneliness
and the doctor never passed her thresh
hold Can she envy any one in the
world Alas she does. She envics
her friend with the rich, stupid and no
over attentive husband. Is her own hus
band poor Not particularly; but he i:
not opulent. She has raiment ahundan
and beautiful, a comfortable bed, an am
pie board. But she cannot give dinner
party on the grandiose scale as often a,
she wishes; and before she does anythin.
she must count the cost. She thinks tina
very hard. Is she really TO be compass
sionated b No doubt she is, bu! hardly foi
the reason she suppOses. Yet, before W.
condemn her, let us take another lool
round. Here is another woman, alst
lovely, bat opulent as well, and who car
spread the banquet three hundred an(
siXty-hve times in the year, should i
please her to do so. Her table is fl
nous one; and there the great, the wit
u. ana the wise continually congregate
What more can the heart OF woman de
sire? ifyou happen 10 know this charm
ing and popular hostess familiarly, YOU
will probably find out. Her lord Is NO
bad sort; indeed, he is rather good
sort. But lie does not hold converse with
the skies; and periodically, she has
soul above fashionable dinners. Why
cannot she have a companion like tht
husband or the lover of her friend, one
whose eye is always in Il fine frenzy roll
ing, one of whom the world is perpetu
ally saying flattering things, the delight
of his time, the hairlOom of posterity
He, too, comes and dimes ever and anon
and ELIMINATES the table with the charm
of his voice, his manner, his subtle and
never exaggerated sentiment. Then he
goes; and a worthy clodhopper remains
in his place. He has gone to somebody
else; and perhaps next week somebody
else is going to appropriate him for life
How unjust it isl