Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1880-12-15
THE BENEFACTIONS OF LIFE
The Philadelphia Record dilates upon
o,-nn., =. 4. =.

. The Philadelphia Record dilates upoi
human events in this way:
1t was observed by Solomon, the oil,
Hebrew sage, that in this world al
things come alike to oil. From the i'll
OF life no man enjoys immunity, ant
there is no lot which is not lighted by
some CLEANS of gladness To every
one of us come joy and sorrow, each il
It's season, mocking the differences o
fortune and teaching by perpetua
parable that compensation is tho one
universal law. In all our lives the
good and the evil are intermingled, the
sweet and the bitter, the light and the
darkness; and so inscrutable is the
distribution that no man can say that,
taking all in all, he is happier or more
miserable than his neighbor or his
neighbor than himself There is evi.
IDENTIFY no way by which one human
being may measure his pains or pleas
ures by those OF another; for each sep.
arate soul is a sealed secret to all its
fellows which no extent of selfrevela-
tion can disclose However full and
free the condolences and confessions OF
heart to heart, however thoroughly
two friends may try, in the yearnlng
for sympathy which is one of the
strongest instincts of our nature, to
lay bare to each other joys and griefs,
there is no common standard whereby
the relative degree Of either can be de-
termined.
1t is very generally admitted that
mere outward circumstances, while
they are Of course conducive to happi-
ness or unhappiness according to their
character, guarantee neither with any
certainty. Wealth does not assure the
one, nor power, popularity or high posi-
ton andjustas truly the prvation ofall
these advantages does not necessitate
the other. Poverty and obscurity have
at least this offset, that they relieve
him who is subjected to them from
much onerous responsibility. The man
who moves in an humble sphere has q
kind of freedom Of action and exemp.
ton from espionage that are not en-.
joyed by him whose success in life
makes him conspicuous and exposes
him to the constant exactions and to
the sharp and unintermitting censor.
ship of the public. He is not continu.
ally called upon to discharge obliga.
tions and take up burdens which the
world recognizes as the duty of the
more powerful aud prosperous
members of society. By reason of
his very disability he escapes much |
that is disagreeable, He does not ex.
perience the delight Of popular ap.
plause, but neither does he suffer from
popular vituporation and dislike. The
rewards of ambition are not for him,
nor does he on the other hand endure
the pangs Of disappointed expectations.
When we come TO compare men with |
reference TO other than exterior cir
oumstances in that wide range Of in
ward experience which depends but
upon the material gifts of for
tune, the seeming disparity is still
further lessened. Some doubtless have
a finer sensitiveness of both physical
and psyohical fibre than others, but
this difference has its compensation in
the fact that greater susceptibility to
pain is always accompanied by keen
er and more exquisite sensibility to
pleasure So with duller and less deli.
cate organizations the lower capacity
for enjoyment is balanced by CORE.
spondingly diminished capacity for
The main difference be.
tween the stolid and the sensitive man
is in the matter of nerves, and these
are the impartial Instruments and min
listers to the one of comfort or discom.
fort merely and to the other OF intense
ecstasy or anguish but in either case
a due proportion is preserved
Happiness is undoubtedly the high.
est earthly good, and those of us who
entertain proper conception of the
uses of life will diligently seek it. But,
while there can be no question that it
is more desirable to be happy than to
be unhappy, it is equally certain that
he who has never been unhappy can.
not adequately realize what happiness
is. The great beneiactions of life, such
as health, air and sunlight, can be
rightly estimated only by him who
knows what it is to be deprived of them.
TO him who has not experienced the
loss of these ordinary bless
ings, that come to all men alike, they
seem to be of a negative, or rather
of an Indifferent ard neutral character.
There does not appear to the man who
never suffered from a days sickness in
his lie to be anything to be particu.
larly thankful for to congratulate him
self upon in the fact of not being Ill
The restored, however, look at it in
o different way, and TO such as have
been tortured by disease the mere oc.
casional freedom from pain is an ines.
Unable delight. In this principle OF
reaction that renders the simple cessa-
ton of pain of itself a pleasure, the in.
tensity of which is precisely proper.
tomato to the degree Of the previous
we may see the operation Of
lha. overruhng law of compensation
that makes all this even and gives TO
every individual an equivalent for the
evils he is called upon to bear II
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