Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-04-06

without s1crlnce or Soll-rcspect, lnde-
pendence or happiness2 Men, who
have finally occupied the highest po-
sition that nations could give, were in
youth and young manhood poor and
uneducated. Many Of The worlds
renowned heroes have risen to the
pinnacle of fame amidst the jeers and
ridicule of those to whom, or TO whose
p0sterity, they afterwards proved a
lasting benediction. We might cite,
almost without exception, the in
Vulnerable great headlights Of
science.
There is much instructed effort.
We are certainly not omniscient; we
are finite creatures in every respect,
but we should endeavor, with the
aid Of all the lights possessed and
available, to learn Ourselves-our
probabilities and possibilities -and
then set up our standard, and endeayor
By intelligent and unremitting effort,
to reach It. five cannot attain to that
state or position to which our ambi-
ton, CT imaginary qualifications point
US, we may fill more efeetuslly and
usefully lower one,
Again, one docs not always succeed
OF fail as men count success or failure;
if so, what would we think to-day, not
only Of the many whom, since their
death, the profane world has learned
to appreciate, but of the noble army
Of apostles aud myrtyrs, and their
great leaders? Men who suffered from
the malice, combined with the mate
rial force or physical power, Of their
enemies: that which can manacle the
limbs; which can close strong prison
doors and erect unyielding prison bars;
which can subject to inquisitorial tor
ture; which can plant the stake, bind
the victim and pile the fagots high;
then dance around the suffering, tor
tured one with the malicious grati6-
cation OF fend incarnate. The world
is now in advance Of that age OF gross
superstition, Of diabolical cruelty, and
this our land is one of hberty-of
perfect freedom. But there is sill
much for man or woman with an
honest purpose TO encounter.
There are many whose sensibilities
are so refined, whose mental organiza-
ton is such that they shrink from the
opposing or aggressive impotence of
the coarse and vulgar. Even the
sinister touch of an enemy may leave
with a person OF extreme refinement
and senIbility, an abrasion that ever
afterwards shrinks, quivering and
trembling, for fear Of a similar touch.
Often has the venom of the slanderer
proved deadly, and the instances are
not wanting where life has suecumbed
to the harshness and severity Of the,
perhaps, honest critic and reviewer.
Who that has read the works Of John
Keats, the English poet, has enjoyed
at once the delicious sweetness, the
rich delicacy, the cold chasteness and
purity Of his Saint Agnes Eve, with
out feeling as be himself has elsewhere
said. "a thing of beauty is a joy for
ever" And yet, who killed John
Keats 2The reviewers.
We should not forget, however,
that, notwithstanding all the poverty
and illiteraey Of our land, the most
pressing demand Of the day is for
manual labor. Not long since a con
tractor in one of our Southern cities
renarked to the writer, I'VE need
mechanics; there is room to day in our
city for forty more briekmssons at five
dollars per day, and one hundred
more carpenters, at from two dollars
aud a half to four dollars per day.
This may be true Of all large cities,
and Of trades and industries that give
employment to women as well as men.
Finally, if we cannot I'll one station
and do one work in life. We must be
content to try another, and whatever
our hands Gad TO do do il With our
might" remembering, as Carlyle says,
THE race Of life has become intense
men are actually treading upon one
another's heels, and woe be TO him
who stops to tie his shoe string"
1t will be said Of many a conqueror,
scanned and scarred in the conflict,
he has striyen unlawfully." In the
language Of Adelaide Proctor
Judge not the working Of hiE brain,
And o. bis heart thou eangt not zee
| What looks 10 thy din eyes q stain,
In Gods pure light, may only be
A scar brought from come veil worn field,
Where thou Wouldsi only faint and yield"
When one falls, overcome by the
heat Of tie battle, there will not be
wanting some one TO utter the little
wall OF lamenfatiOn, IAN incapable has
fallen TO day" but the plaudit Of
those who judge justly may be, well
| done. Aud when one eDdesvors 10
move with smiling superiority" 10
use the metaphor Of a late writer,
above the din and strife that the
malicious aud contentious succeed 10
creating, or other ills Of life, how
often Is that one sssailed BY the same
vail Of lamcntation, or any other
weapon that the enemy can bring 10
bear upon his target
Let ~ then, be ~ and doing,