Sharp County record., 1880-05-27
Hard-Headed People.

THE hard-headed man IS alillosV III
variably successful. "Luck!" ne says
"There's no such thing as luck I
built nv own fortune brick by BRICK; l
simply took no steps backward P9I
the truth is that Fate gave him in his
cradle sharper sight and cooler 3raln l
than the rest Of us, and he has been
cooling and sharpening them ever
since. No nurse could trghten hiln
with bugaboos or the. dark; anu no
clercyman's talk of remorse or tne
iudgment-day affects him now. ne
has never done wrong; why should ne
be afraid? Nobody eyer mlStooK MS
character. He was known as a long
headed fellow" when he played mum
ble-the-peg and wore petticoats. MS
father never romped with him; and ms
mother, telling the dear ola blple
stories, stammered when she caught
his keen, incredulous eye. Angels, S1e
remembered, did seem, so very unlikely
after all, when one looked at things IN
common-sense way and as for the
old heroes and martyrs she was
ashamed to let him see the glow OF SouI
with which she thought of them. Could
they have really found no more practl,
cal method of introducing the Gospel
than by going through the rack anu
fire?
He was a cynical little doubter as a
bov. hut now, as a man, he IS well
known as Christian to all his custom
ers and as a tradesman to all Chris
tians. Not that he tita hypocrite.; But
he prefers church, Oing people as
patrons; they pay their bills promptly.
And he thinks that the Christian rell-
gion teaches sound Business principles
It is honesty that wins in the long run
in the market; and it is the fair dealer
whose profits are the'biggeSt. He is so
successful a man that the public always
give him credit either for genius OF
luck; but he has neither the one nor
the other. He simply knows the mar
ket. and has no higher aim than to
please it. If he is tradesman, ne
catches the farthest glimpse of the
coming whim of fashion and fills his
shop with it. If he is an author, his are
the made" books, which nobody can
do without; his pictures, if he has
given himself to art, are those pop
Tlar studies of babies and young
mothers at prayer which are first
marked "sold'' in exhibition rooms.
If he has devoted his life to science, he
seizes the crude invention of some Wis
ionary fellow, gives it practical use,
patents it, and makes his fortune. II
he is a physician, he is always at hand
as an expert on trials; you will seldom
miss his name out of the papers. II ne
is a clergyman, he is always master OF
the sensation of the hour, ready to
preach upon any subject upon which
the public has temporarily gone mad.
It really does not matter to him where
the horse goes, sotthat he sits astride
it, Otner men; fffa turible come
times upon good fortune hiding in the
field; he lies in wait for it, catches 1t
when it is fattest. He knows how to
bide his time; he is le chat qul dort.
If he happens not to be a man, but a
woman, YOU usually find this shrewd
hard-headed citizen a thin-ipped, pale
eyed leader of the "best society, "
whether fast and fashionable or sternly
pious depends altogether on the accl-
dent of her position. She is usually,
however, so immaculate as to her own
morals as to have no mercy for any
shortcomings IN others. The New Test
ament system of charity, in her opln-
ion. is crude and lax. If she hao been
there she would have given the man
beset by thieves ticket for work to a
ward committee, instead OF oil and
vine; and she would have handed the
Magdalene over to a policeman, to
make sure that she sinned no more:
This lady is always known as capital
manager of servants, seamstresses,
church suppers or her sons wives' She
can oct an incredible amount of work
for small wages out of the people in her
kitchen. Her neighbors (easy, thrift
less creatures, to her mind) look on
with envy. Neither she nor hermascu-
line congener has, at heart the slightest
faith in any man or woman but them
selves. 1t is they who can lay an un-
erring finger on the one black spot OF Of
character which your friend keeps hid
den, be it freckle or bloodstain. They
know human nature. You shall not
humbug them!
The possessions of wealth, OF publlc
esteem and of ideas of this hard-head-
ed citizen are all so substantial that ne
is the man whom the world always en-
vies most. 1t does no5 love him prob
ably half so much as some luckless,
lovable, sinful Lazarus starving at his
gate, who had not the crumbs from
the rich mans table here, and is net at
all sure of Abraham's bosom hereafter
But what of thatP He has been shrewd
rational, practical. He has sought solid
IL. ,..u,..