The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1882-07-21
); He Knew it All.

He rays did No one could ever
teach nsRanything. The first words he
tispea 1nen baby were, 30 yes, |
know, Ihe first words he will speak
whe1ae<u ushers him into the Presence
when s eternal glories are revealed
will e; II esl yes! | understand He
nevef opened his eyes with wonder.
He Esysfasked troublesome questions.
Whes ppy, neither father nor mother
could 5*H him anything He would
rathq af1* day pound his fingers than
sutfethiS tRiher TO tell him how TO drive
nail lecould milk a COW better than
the hNNman;. and was not in the least
dlscoL ed that the udders gave not a
drop hlk; it was obstinate Polly 5
fault; &4ver saw such a cow His
mothe vain endeavored to teach him
some about dress He wore the
loudt 3l seel<ties, aud, as soon rs he
had u stssbags. the most extra
sorSiifi + .ssySsses.lletl f,aft'fGo5Gs and
laugh& &3tthe '.old woman 81 notions.
His NJ, was always the cold woman, .
his faVSflWays an cold fogy.'
At l4 they sent him to boarding
/ school. The father said, hopefully:
"SchoAin knock some of the conceit
out of But the father either had
not ready had not Needed Solomon )
wise sayR: Though thou shouldst
bray fol in mortar among wheat
with pele, yet will not his foolishness
depart frn him Poor solomon evil
IDENTIFY nd sorrowful experience with
men that new it all The school was a
mortar; al the teacher and all the boys
were peses; but not even continued
poundingIid any good. The boy knew
how to lhd his pen better than the
! writing mater, and how to manage his
voice betteahan the singing master. and
/ how TO tralslate better than the Latin
teacher, aul how to bat and catch better
/ than the ml-captain, and how to handle
1 his knife asd fork better than the moth
4 erly matra who made table habits her
/ special car The boys called him iron
| icallv "tht boss" He took it as a com
! pliment, sh it added an inch to his
height Al the end of year he came
back from shool with a bigger stock of
| assurance nan he had when he went
there. Bs genius for eoneeit was
amazing; idmirable.
He wenito college. He was at first q
little takel aback that he had dozen
conditions to work out in the summer
vacation: and for once in his life he
really did work hard. for he was
ashamed TO fail of. entrance. But
he attribfed his conditions wholly to
the STUPIDITY of the professors; and after
le gotin le faithfully fulfilled one-haif
of one ofPaul's exhortations; he dill
gently fogot those things that were be-
hind. No secret society would have
him; he assured himself and friends that
he wouldhave no secret society. The
prayer-nbting could not shut him out,
and he attended regularly and spoke al
ways. Hs flunked with greater grace
and se4than any fellow in the class and
said '.not.prepared' with as smiling self
Assurance as if he had made the best
recitation of the day. He did not get
on the baseball nine, owing to the pre-
ludice OF the captain, nor take an oratori-
cal pgize, thepsh ne qqpea. .copYld ,dsnlv tR9t
ought TO nave been vaTe1icforiane b,,f ba
did not even get part. He saved his
diploma by the skin of his teeth
carried himself so loftily on gra Eating
day that some sub-freShme-' who had
come up 10 see how the sollege looked.
thought he must be President OF the
Faculty.
He went into. business. His father
had some influence and got him place
as clerk in a wholesale dry-goods house.
He did not know cotton, wooden and
linen apart, nor ledger from journal;
but he was graduate of --- Uniyer-
sity, and from his pinnacle of lofty emf
nence he looked down with a serene and
lofty self-complacency upon the mem
bers of the entire establishment, from the
principal 10 the errand boy. He came
late and went away early; and always
wore irreproachable kid gloves, and car
ried delicate little cane. He talked OF
..our house so largely in evening gath
eringS thatthe girls supposed him to be
a partner. and even practical men. after
they had made large discounts, still esti-
mated hinat one hundred per cent. more
than his real valuation. He married, of
course. and his wife thinks that loyalty
to her husband requires that she should
think Of him as highly as he thinks of
himself She tries faithfully to be loyal,
but she is a sensible woman, and it is
very hard work He is now man in
middle life. He has shifted from place
to place a dozen times, and has gone
down a step or two at every shift. He
now stands at the door of retail store
in Rroadwav and bows the customers in.
He performs this service with such a
lovely air that country shoppers suppose
him to be the proprietor, and always ad-
dress him by the name upon the sign.
He acknowledges the compliment with
a gracious smile, but in truth counts it
no compliment at all. He assures his
wife that if he and the head of the house
could only change places he would make
things buzz, for he knows a thing or two
and the head of the house is a fool. But
he stil. wears the unreproachable kids,
and walks to church on Sunday morn
inc i his wife, who has earned her
own sss by furtive services for a com
pass ate uncle, with such lordly air
thaS sexton pays him as much defer
ence though he were a millionaire.
and ,Sry Sunday afternoon puzzles his
head I NV over the insoluble problem
why srlch gentleman should take a
pew in the gallery instead of the center
aisle.
''Seest thou man wise in his own
conceit? there is more hope of an idiot
than nf him - Tb,-s.fs0., IToSa,3