The Red Cloud chief., 1880-02-05

But softly the voice within ms eaiis
sWe@D NOT o'ey wus until woe tsfnlls.

But softly the voice within ms calls
Weep not DER woe until voc befais
That Is merely n p~oetieal reproduc-
ton Of the ancient and excellent advice
20 refrain from !" borrowing trouble"
In the order Of tbs world we should
have cough II that questionable prop
aty 81 inheritance, Withous re~orting
TO the burdeseome and b~ankrupiing
habit Of borrowing.
In practical affairs the habitual bor-
rover is always catching 1t s,rsws. as II
he we're never out Of desperate straiu
and "~burro~ing dufis the edge Of hos
bandry" in these telephone times no
less surely than. when Polonins offered
that sage precept 10 the ehiSslroas
II occurs TO me that a healthy state OF
mind 10 Of greater rbo,neaf than a easy
purse, which suggestion (now ! rernem-
Der I'D is only another form ut the
maxim that contentment is wealth.
At this moment / car not recall \ more
persistent aud pa~tience-kining sffiiciiou
than the man who always sees calamity
looming up; whose life is divided be-
tween furtive lodgings u possibls mis-
siles and gloomy recitals oil his appre-
tensions.
There are a few natures, however
sunny, across whose skies these Attic
| tive and afflicted victims Of the dismals
| do not cast a very somber shadow. My
own experience with them has not been
very great, but | have known something
| Of their ways in the line of observing
their influence on more susceptible per-
sons.
think that what Is called selfishness
has been very much abused because 1t
| little understood. Suppose every one
| should address himself solely 10 work
ing out the problem Of his W happi-
ness. We have all, probably, some in
dividual standard of happiness. Ia reach
which Is not u vicious ambition, as l
understand il. My Leighbor has his
standard; i have mine. II be rejoice
most in those calm joys, which revolve
around the domestic hearth (and be
could not choose a better standard),
why ia It not within the easy possibili-
ties that he may assure himself OF the
highest happinessf
If another find in travel those keen
and panoramic delights for which his
soul and sense pant, il is certainly not a
violent presumption that he may, If he
bend all his powers to the furtherance
of his projects having that end in view,
reach the summit of his desire.
If | extract from work, from books.
from companionship with men and
women who dare 90 think, those bless
ings which seem to me to be all there is
of happiness,I shall not have been put TO
excess of troublesome search TO realize
my ideal.
1 am disposed to look approvingly on
the vagabondage of Bohemia. Its soil
is favorable to the production of that
unique audacity which laughs good
humoredly at those cOnventiOnaiities
to which the most of us are vassal.
Few things give me livelier satisfaction,
or play more effectively upon my en-
thusiasm, than a bold defiance Of con-
ventionality by the man who knows his
grounl. [ would not have him blatant
or vulgar. Indeed, the man Of my
ideal in that respect could not he SO.
He would always know when to strike,
when to dig trenches, and when to re-
treat that he might choose a more adj
vantageous battle-ground.
Then, If every man deliberately
choose his own happiness, l presume he
counts the cost Of it. That he may
eventually attain it, l see no sufficient
reason to doubt. Being human Chat is
to say finite), it is not to be supposed
that he is going to invade the realm OF
the infinite for his standard of
merely terrestrial felicity; and this
again proves his power to reach his as
pirations.E e e
IL follows that one naturally inquiries
why a man should be called Odious for
seeking that which every human being
covets-his own happiness-unless, in
deed, his particular standard chance to
be the happiness Of others. The al
tentative implies the existence of men
who really seek others happiness.
l do not know just how true that
is, but l am not prepared to deny it
wholly. There have been occasions in
my own experience when l have felt q
peculiar satisfaction in seeing the other
fellow happy. To that extent l may
lay claim to unselfishness, but The virtue
is wholly a negative one. Why? Be-
cause it is an incident in my own pursuit
of happiness, like the traveller along a
hot and dusty road who Unexpectedly
finds a luscious peach, the taste Of
which is inexpressibly grateful to him.
He nevertheless has in mind . comforta-
BILE inn, some miles further 0n, in the
enjoyment of which his peach will be
quite forgotten. III
The obstacle inthe way of the trouble
borrower is his want of a reasonable
standard. 1t is true that Mrs. Gum
nudge did not have a very desirable
'thouse to live in on the beach at Var
mouth; but there were Peggotty, Ham
and Little Emily, any one Of whom
would have thought it q boon to con.
tribute to her happiness. She had no
standard, and that ..lone, lorn woman
daily borrowed trouble enough to have
broken down an ~elephantine constitu-
ton. In time her slow brain wrought
out q standard of happiness. Do you
remember what it was? 1 shall have to
ownrthatz il was another's happiness,
and that other was Dan1 Peggotty.
Now, my dear Mrs. Gummidge,
wherever you are-whether in the old
hull at Yarmouth, or in the stateliest OF
Spanish castles-stick to Danl and the
pew-found standard. Whenever you
think of yourself You are miserable, and
l name youthus parcularlys Is a very
striking exception to prove the general
rule which l have tried to formulate in
respect to individual standards Of hap
piness. You see your weakness fof
borrowing trouble subjects you to be
thus. singled out, but, in view of the
revolution we have all observed IN you,
1 am not quite sure that indirectly your
weakness was not your ultimate strength.
If you do not exactly get at the kernel
of my thought, keep on hammering out
that good Dan'l Peggotty's happiness
and you will by and by uncover it. You
shall think yourself well rewarded for
YOUR patient pains. 1t was . touch Of
Gods mercy that the good souls who
USED to hear you whine were never in
fected. l think they must have found
the key to my serene phlasoPAgi =has
when your borrowed troubles were
-- - tba acoH NJ ros1 Gals mites