The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1881-07-09
THE SUNNY SIDE OF TOLL.

The annexed extract is from the inter
esting address delivered by Col. A. X.
Mcclure before the Alumni Association
Of Lehi9h University, at Bethlehem. al
the recent commencement of that insti-
tuition:
Take the sunny side of toll 1t Is
made the inheritance of all. by law that
is universal and inexorabie. and that fear
fully avenges its violation. 1t is the COM
mand of God. and, like all His mandates,
is wise and merciful. Do not grieve be-
cause others seem more favored than
yourself, for such appearances are often
terribly deceptive. With all the varied
cares and duties and strange inequalities
of life, we are largely, if not wholly,
moulded by our own efforts, and sun
shine or shadows will predominant as we
may decide for ourselves. How often
the child of toll envics the lot of his fell
low, born to fortune and luxury; but ii
is a cruel mistake The severeSt toll of
life is To labor at nothing and for moth
ing. 1t is the one type of :oil that has
no compensation, and it is the most tire
some and e2hausting Of employments.
OF all ordinary lives that of the idler is
the saddest. 1t is ordained that labor
and content shall 90 hand in hand. and
in all the experience Of recorded civiliza-
tons, there has been no departure from
toll without decay and sorrow. There
may he great grief mingled with exact
ing or unrcQuited labor. but peace and
content are utter strangers to the indo-
lent. 1t is not only the law OF individ-
uals. but it is also the law of nations
When nations have reached the zenith
of grandeur in their achievements lux
ury and its inevitable idIeness have dated
their decline and fall. Peoples advance
only as they make industry their chief
attribute. Vice and industry are impla-
cable foes and can have no fellowship,
and when luxury begets Incidence, indo-
lence begets vice, and vice begets death.
true of communities, families, and indi-
vidnals; of political, religious, and social
circles. No community was ever pros.
porous where wealth accumulates and
men decay: no church ever advanced in
vitality, when Incidence prevailed among
its worshipers; no social circle ever i'm
,,r,ynl in, al
ness when labor was ejected as wanting
in responsibility, and no individual idler
ever made himself useful or gladdened a
home with the wealth of content 1t
often seems hard to toll through all the
changing seasons without rest, and the
laborer is many times made heavy heart
ed with the failure of his hopes: but all
the grief of cruel want and slaviSh toll
| in our civilization that ills so large a
| page in the history of mankind. is more
than supplemented by the grief of those
who are envied in their supposed luxury
and repose. The grief of wasted vigor
and health. of stated appetite. is the one
grief that claims all seasons as it's own.
Even the galley slave enjoys the luxury
of rest. and his coarse diet is made CRATE
| full by the hunger that labor quickens:
while the banquet of luxury pals upon
the taste, and sleep and rest flee from
the miserable idler. 1t was king. in
the midst of all the plenty of wealth and
power, who cried 30 sleep, o gentle
sleep Natures soft muse. how have
frighted thee Our great railway and
millions the sweet rest enjoyed by the
laborer of your mountains. and what
would they not give for the relish of the
hod- carrier at hir frugal meal: And al
the rich promises of life are to the sons
and daughters of toll. The shop and the
field are the cradles of men. while the
hot beds of ldleness and luxury give onl,
mockerics OF meu and women to dawdlt
througl ti,nlr>S and useless lives. and tc
leave behind them more helpless thai
themselves. Turn to the men Of distinc
ton in field OF forum. in science, ltera
ture or art, and only the toilers of tn,
world are there. Fortune or family ma,
now and then grasp the honors which
belong to the more deserving. but the,
turn to ashes when thus gained, and en-,
in humiliation if not disgrace. What
ever be your lot, know that it has Il sun
ny side. unless you are shrouded in, tn
gloom OF idleness. For every other clou'
there is Il silver lining and toll is the on
fountain from which wells up the count
less streams of happiness.