News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1882-05-04
Broken Law of Life

An incident went the rounds G
last weeks papers as occurring in on
of the interior towns of Pennsylvania
which was marked with PECULIAR
dark lines of tragedy. A young cler
gyman of exceptional talent and sens
tive temperament gave himself dur
ing the last year to hard study, set
ting for himself extraordinary tasks
such as committing the whole Bible tc
memory, etc. His brain suddenly
gave way, and he became a violent
maniac and was carried to an asylum
in the sight of the sympathizing town,
manacled hand and foot, and pleading
wildly for his mother not to allow him
to be taken from his home.
This is one of the hard problems of
life which make skeptics iuveigh most
bitterly against the justice of God.
Here was man whose purpose doubt
less was to serve his Master, to con-
vert souls from death, but, because
he oyertaxed a physical organ, he
drops a useless wreck by the wayside.
There are plenty of similar instances
about US iii every day life, in the col
leges, for example. A young fellow
becomes by dint Of natural ability and
hard work a first-honor man; his
classmates applaud every triumphant
step; his family, mother and sister
perhaps, dependent on his future sue
coss for support, hang eagerly on him
with proud devotion; his life is pure,
his aims are high and pure and sud
denly he staggers and falls TO rise no
more. Four such instances VIC recall
now; two are in insane asyiums, one
is an imbecile, the other, knowing that
his brain was hopelessly diseased, end
ed his life in the waters Of the Poto-
mac. Similar tragedies go on in every
business and profession, though with
different catastrophies. y man, let
US say, is born with peculiar talent
or gift for music, art, literature; some
capacity for the high, fine expression
of truth which woald make him pow
er for good in the world. But he can
not make money enough by it TO keep
wife and children in the social rank
which he thinks they should hold
Hence he turns to some lower but
more remunerative work, or he de-
grades his art into the manufacture of
salabIe wares paints cheap, false pic
lures, writes popular, trashy books or
plays. When he grows old he tries
perhaps to take up his real work again,
but the magic power is lost forever.
1.-The mill will never grind with the wa
ter that is past" Then he himself
and all his friends bemoan a wasted
life, regard him as in some sort
martyr, and invariably, in a vague
way, hold Ged accountable for il and
for the cruel injustic Of the fact that
man cannot be Pegasus and a cart
horse at once, cannot carry grist to
the mill for his family and touch en-
pyrean heights at the same leap. God, |
too, is held responsible for the failure
of overworked brains, as in this last
pitiable case.
Each man and woman is set down |
here in the world with stock of phys
zeal and mental capacity subject to in
exorable laws to which ordinary COM
non sense will enable him or her to
submit. If he chooses to break them,
lot all the faith of the patriarchs and
apostles will save him from the pun
shment. If the son of saint tip
lies brandy every day, his fathers
righteousness and his own; late repent
nee may bring his pardon from God.
'ut will not keep off delirium tremens.
When Pattison, the African mission
ry, exposed himself to storm and
empest for years in preaching Christ,
e doubtless won a heavenly crown,
ut he was racked no less with neural
ia and devoured with fever. Gods {
lercy is infinite in dealing with the {
oul, but oddly enough, it is the skep- t
C only that expects it TO interfere /
18th physical laws which are inexor- I