The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-06-05

sumption OF luxury and magnifcence.-Th pic.
lures suggest the contrast between the highest
type OF ancient civilization and that Of our mod.
ern Christian society. With the ancien,s the end
was material grandeur; with us mental and NOR
al elevation. With the ancients. their temples
and monuments were means Of display aud de-
voted to idolstry, the Jews alone being excepted;
with us, all our elegant and grand architecture
is for use-to lessen toll and make leisure for
mental and moral culture; and our temples are
for the worship Of Our God who dweleth not
in temples made with hands, The heather past
has left Us nothing but majestic ruins and thus
is pagan selfshness contrastea with Christian
philaAtrophy.
She was followed by Miss Georgia NJ Eichel-
berger, who read very sharp essay, entitled
SPINNING STREET YARN.
After giving US a very inviting picture OF the
cosy old home OF ye old time in New England,
with its spinning wheel, strings OF dried apples,
seed corn and the like, we are reminded that,
alas! now days the wheel is long since gone out
Of sight But though the wheel is cast aside,
the yarn spinning goes on; by idle hands OF loaf
ers, congregatcd on the streets, smoking and
manufacturing scandal; and the lady proceeds to
give the men folks rub--a little rough; but with
an element of truth in it all. Scandal causes q
great deal of trouble; yet the men alone are not
10 blame, Women, too, are equally anxious to
hear and impart "the news" to their neighbors.
We need no introduction TO Mrs. Grundy. On
her mothers side shes related to Mrs. Gossip
and on her fathers TO They Say and her rela-
tons are numerous. She has no business OF her
own; she's diligen,, however; always alert; a
good listner, and knows everything from bio
graphical point Of view and is a spicy talker.
She is pcdder by professional yarn, and car.
rics an excellent stock and she spins she tray.
els But no one can come in contact with her
and escape without bruises She never speaks
well Of anyone and always behnds their backs,
over the shoulders OF They say So" always
taking care to be herself out Of harms way But
she is dying slowy-of decline. In some places
societies are being formed in which ladies meet
for culture where Mrs. g. is excluded. What a
pity that the world cannot he formed into club
in which Mrs. g., Gossip, Scandal and SANDER
might be forbidden,
After more music came Miss Katie {. Wood
with well constructed essay, cnttltG
RUINS OF TIME.
The ancents represented Time as decrepit old
man who deyourcd his own children as soon as
they were born. 1t was very fitting symbol.
The ruins Of time are everywhere seen; and even
the ruins of have disappeared. Empire af-
ter empire has succumbed to time-Assyra,
Rome even in mysterious Egypt, the everlast
ing, time has shown his power, and even in our
In, t,I, ON l,c
He spares neither the works Of man nor the
monuments Of natures work. But the saddest
of all his ruin is that he works in the family cir
ce-breaklng in ON its delight with ruthless
hand His fearful ravages with man himself.
II we are to believe our grandsres and fathers
and mothers OF generations gone, time has not
even spared either morality or religion. Yet
there are things that hall defy Tme-noble words,
noble acts, 1.-THE cup of cold water and the in
Jury forgiven. These shall not perish bat in.
merit the indestructibility of the immortal soul
which produced them; and through them our
hearts shall be fresh when our heads are grey
and our souls ready to enter Eternity.
She was followed by Miss Gondof, who took
an unusual view Of ambition for school girl,
by giving the dark side of the ambitious mans
life, her subject being
VICTIMS OF AMBITION.
Ambition is as old as man, and through it we
nave become what we as a civilized people.
To il we owe all we have. Though il has accom-
plished much good it has caused much ruin of
life, character and fortune. The ambition. man
attains his end or falls ruin. Alexander is an
example of ancient ambition, renown in war;
Hannibal another-to destroy Rome; Caesar an
other-to become king Of Rome; all falling vic
Tins to their fatal ambition. The tremendous
and fatal ambition of the two Napoleons was
then sketched, and the perils of the high ambi,
ton as shown by the lives Of Webster and Gree
y who sacrificed all 10 gain the presidency and
failed! Then there are the receptions of am
ption in social life, to gain wealth, in the strug-
lie for which man loses so often what is more pre-
cious than the gains. Last of all comes intcllec-
tual ambition, in which struggle so many end
as did poor Chattcrton, asuicide at II. All should
be ambitious-to acquire enough wealth to live
comfortably to obtain a good education, to de
sire the respect Of society, and TO do good. A
proper ambition is that of Mnesteus, ~ seek not
20 be first am ashamed to be last
The orchestra then played a gallop, after
which Miss Annie S. Megs read a well-writ.en
essay
WHAT SHALL WE READ.
Tracing the history OF the art Of printing, from
Gutenberg and the first printed Bible through
costly tones, she called our attention TO what we
see in country unheard of by CaYton-a Bible
selling for sixpence and more type set up in a
day than then in all Europe in a year. In OLD
times the question was, what can we get to
ready" Now, it is, what shall We read" where
there is so much. We should first, she tells read
famous books, Homer, Shakespeare, &c; read
ing to cultivate the taste as well as for amuse-
ment, and with q purpose. The habit of reading
may be abused. II is not by reading only but by
digestion of what they read that men become
LII L.