The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1883-04-29
oSrnr SHADY SIDE or 90.


the brief biographical sketch which fond
mother recently gave OF her son who com
mitted suicide in iii of despondercy, be !
gotten Of the reflection that his life efforts
were all failure. "He was good and de-
voted son." she said, "but our continual
drain upon him kept him 20 poor and from
succeeding, as he had been so ambitious TO
do. He struggled for twenty odd years, but
c,uld not get the headway." And thus it
is with so many OF us. We commence our
youth, that book OF beginning, story
without end, each paid heroine, and each
man friend" witRdreams all roseate, and
intentions all golden, with never the sug-
gestion of shade or shadow, And
In the bright picture even necessity
must bow before brilliant destiny, and the
age of forty looms up as n savings bank,
into which we have heaped up TO luxuriate
with, the treasures OF the preceding twenty
years, with never doubt that We will sue
coed where nearly all Others failed. But,
one by one the illusions vanish; one by one
our efforts fail one by one come surprises
In the shape OF strange disappOintments and
heart aches, and the great unexpected, so
that only too often when we thought to
pluck from out the very heart of May rich
blessings, we prckcd our fingers with the
nettle, the scented bud concealed beneath.
But we take heart aud try again. And again
we seem to be climbing the eyer'receding
wave, until after awhile we begin to feel that
o.cloudlet hangs upon every mountain-head,
and that in the oalmest sky some tempest
hides its terror. Finally, when arrived at
the age of 10, rs was the case with poor
MELVIN, We BEGIN TO review seriously the
past and ask ourselves the question, whittier
have we drifted' Then suddenly flashes
upon rs now little real progress we nave
made from our 10th year to our list. We
undertake to compare the first period when
our lille was all laughter and our days
were all a smile, to the latter and we are
astounded at the disheartening contrast,
We aimed high but We overshot the mark,
yet would In the enthusiasm of q have re-
scented any such prediction by another.
NN iA'i Ahhb NC ibhkhb VIZ htAh
and come of with broken blades
and battered banners, and our
picture perspective Is now bldrred. beauti
less and bleak. In our loves we were dis.
appointed in our aspirations We were
left FAR in the rear; friend after friend has
fallen away, and the suggestion il gray in
the once glossy black hair and the pet
b, ard one luckcss moment seen suddenly,
causes us to reflect that IL is the color OF
the evening dawn of another day that lies
on the shady side of 10. We begin to ro-
ali2e that We are no longer young, in the
matter OF years we say, but We are careful
to insist that we are still in the vigor of
physical life Again, middle age begins TO
press ", sig ct on brow and cheek, and we
begin to wish Tor tho power Of Joshua to
com mand the sun aud moon to delay their
journey as we urge that life is short at
best, and we have not yet roaped and gar
nered what we assume we are entitled to,
And here is the turning point. If
dependency and morosencss are
permitted to usurp the throne, il we indulge
only tho feelings that naught remains to
us now but the echo of the harp of the
heart in Its spring; il we allow the little
flaw in the basis to run out into an ever
widening rent, and persist that the cour-
tesy of sunlight can be extended to us
nevermore, and in the detection of the soul
conclude that the heavens have lost their
CLEAN aud all earth ia Sahara OF pure
yani,ies, then indeed is our case a sad one,
and perhaps the sooner the heroic remedy
be applied the better. But If we will but
stop to consider our status fairly, we must
concedo that we have gained much. True,
the landscape may not appear as II once did,
balls and banQuets may not excite the same
exhilarating emotions; theatres and iashoi-
able watering resorts and bridal parties may
seem changed in their styles and unsats.
factory In their effects; indeed the prospect
may be 80 altered now that what was Eden
at our Dist birthday, and what has re-
manned so as mere memory, may be u
haunting mockery when we see other occu
pants there at our list, 80 that melancholy
leans on memory and declines TO be di-
vorced, yet nevertheless have wc gained
much. We must recognize that wo are bet
ter men and women now; better for having
ordained and drank some of lile's lees. We
are cleared minded and cleaner hearted
We arc more conservative IN our views
moro charitable toward our kind II we
have at last given over tho idea of making
Il fortune, we need not BIO bankrupt in
character and worthlulness for our fellows.
II We have ceased to hope TO secure the
fame that earlier years once craved we can
do an immonsity of good for those whose
fallen leaves In the forests of effort are
greater and grayer than our own, There
are burdens that our experience can
Tighten through counsel, and there are tears
of woe that our sympathy and aid can con
vert into crystals of grace. MELVIN forgot
the injunction
Life is burden. It,
| Life Is a duty, -..darc IT.
Life is HOMEGROWN, wear Il,
Though II break your heart In twain,
Though the burden crush you down;
Close your lips and hide the pain,
First the cross-.and theu.- crown.
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