The Indianapolis journal., 1883-05-26
MEN AND THEIR PLACES.

my place. boston HOSt,
The boys philosophy was good, though
carried to an absurd degree. The world and
its people would be better and happier but
for the desperate strain and struggle to keep
at the head of the class" To strive honor
ably for pre-eminence is commendable just
so long as it does not involve impossibilities.
elevation for which he is not fitted and for
which he can never hope to be qualified, he
is guilty of injustice to himself as well as to
the world for not doing we'll what he can do.
Many man, having insinuated his way into
position above his abilities, keeps his place
only by fever-heat struggle that costs more
than the place is worth. Better for him and
his kind if he find a niche somewhere
in life's work, into which he would fit natu-
rally and easily, and in the possession OF
which he would feel so secure in the conf
dence OF his qualifications that the enjoy
ments of life could be relished at leisure.
He who finds that his work drives him in
stead of being pushed by him, is where he
should not be. Not that men should enjoy
an impractical, dolce far niente existence,
dreaming the world away, but they should
undertake that honest and honorable employ
ment that, while yielding its proper wage,
the exertion will be compensated for by the
knowledge that the work is we'll done, and
the doing prove in the end a source of
satisfaction. The sensible farmer does
not quit his fields to plead cases
in court, nor does the attorney
abandon his books to mistake his fitness for
farming. Both would be failures, and both
correspondingly dissatisfied with the result
of the experiment The tiller of the soil
would find the tangle of legal sophistries
and mystifying technicalities a hundred
fold more burdensome than driving the
plow, reaping grain, or looking after live
stock. In the same ratio would the lawyer
suffer in the field. 1t is better to be first
class bookkeeper than bankrupt broken
be proud of his labors, while for the latter
there is nothing but flock of dismal recol-
lections to haunt and disturb what should
be the best and tranquilest days of life
In no direction is this unnatural and un-
healthy struggle manifest more than in the
rush and wrangle for riches. Thousands of
men in every walk of life are worrying them
selves to death by straining every nerve to
accumulate more wealth. Not content with
enough, they must have more 1t is the get
ting of this more that spoils the enjoyment
of that already possessed. The luxuries of
life are we'll enough in their way, but when
they cost the ease of years and come too late
to be thoroughly enjoyed, then does the vol
untary purchaser pay tco high price. 1t is
well sometimes to leave we'll enough alone,
Many a man, possessed of enough of this
worlds goods, has essayed to grasp more, be-
cause his neighbor had more or because he
wanted more than his neighbor. A large
per cent. of this class of men overreach
themselves and as a result, find themselves
at last possessed of even less than they had
MAeu IiIc IdCc DCSdus lA0(
are not conspicuous, because their failure
has relegated them to the rear. Better to sue
coed in any honorable calling than to fail in
something higher. Better to be content even
near the foot of the class, with the comforts
of life, than to attempt to go higher only to
tumble back He is wisest who measures
himself intelligently, and is a success where
he is. There ought to be less of worry and
more of contentment less unwarranted am
bition and more true merit; less false pride
and more honest endeayor to find
the natural level and then
make the most of what we may
reasonably expect of life. Forty years of
struggle to find a fortune at the end is less
desirable, less satisfactory than forty years
of tranquility. He lives best who lives best
to-day The savings for future necessities
should not be made at the expense of present
health and comfort The provident man
needs not be mser and he will not abuse
himself or those dependent upon him, by de-
nying the honest enjoyment of each day as it
passes. Men should so live that they may be
steadily at their best mentally and physic-
ally, and when age comes they can realize
that they made the most of life and did not
unduly discount the future.
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MRS. GULDAN was a hard-worlung woman
living in New York tenement house. She was
seventy years old, was feeble and the pittance