Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1881-09-01
The Man With a Soft Place.

Not soft place in his head. necessar-
lily, nor even in his heart, but soft
place in the world into which he falls
into the cream. Pie kind of a man of
whom it is particularly true that it is
better to be born lucky than rich. Such
man comes into the world with an en-
dowmeM as serviceable as soldier in
heritance. He is not brilliant. He is
not steady plodder. He is generally
lazy. Were it not for his one talent he
would be loafer and ne'er-to-do-well.
Shiftless, he would be left to shift for
himself-a burden to his frieuds, and
liable to become so to society in general.
But, with all his defects, he has an in
describable capacity for not only deriving
support from friends and society. but
for being promoted and highly consid-
cred. This trait is not good nature,
although he may be good-natured. 1t
Is not capacity for good fellowship:
indeed he may not be capable of decided
friendship. This is simply positive
and profound conviction on the part of
the lucky fellow, that he came into this
world for the express purpose of being
taken care OF. Many, no doubt, are
born with similar feelings and hopes,
but of a weak and watery solution. They
lack that absolute and inquest oning
faith IN their destiny, of which the gem
ulne pensloner upon the general bounty
is never destitute. He asserts his BIRTH
right with tenacious and indisputable
authority, and no one even thinks of
opposing or refusing him.
His laying of hands upon what he
thinks belongs to him is not done rudely
or boisterously. If it were, it would be
the end of him. There would then be
something hard and tangible to resist
His quiet taking of what he deems his
own, conquers his place for him. His
peace, comfort and welfare seem to be a
part OF the order of nature, and would
as soon think of denying or preventing
the soil from absorbing the rain, as to
forbid his soaking up all the prosperity
coming within range of him which he
can possibly hold
Even III early life, his right to disre-
gard the family ordinances is silently
and naturally conceded. On slight pre-
text he is allowed to sleep late, to stay
home from school and church. No one
is surprised at his unrebuked raids upon
the pantry, at his lounging about when
others help with the household duties.
at his slipping off for holiday, fish
ing excursion, OF a picnic, when the
others go to counter or tocounting-room.
Patient and persistent work, application
and perseverance slide off from his daily
purposes like water from a ducks back.
For him these virtues are quite superfiu-
| GUS. He obtains all that these bring.
without exercising them. A native of the
tropics might as soon toll and sweat all
day to raise the bananas and the bread
fruit, which if he will but lie on his
back while they ripen, will drop into
his month.
His brothers grow rich only to give
| him chance, with little or no labor, to
reap by-no-means-s small measure of the
family harvest. On his chair there is
always a soft cushion; his bed is invar-
iably spread upon the newest and latest
patent springs. When he falls ont of a
situation there seems to be divinely APP
pointed person ready to catch him, and
give him more comfortable and lux.
urlous place than the one from which he
tumhled
There is a delightful mystery about
such mems success. It is impossible to
account for it in accordance with the
supposed laws which control labor.
wages, supply, demand, and the whole
| system Of political economy that insists
that no man eau get something for moth
ing. Yet these men do apparently get
good deal for nothing.