The San Antonio light. (San Antonio, Tex.) 1883-1886, 1883-04-09
THE WORLDS Wall OF SORROW.

tors, compared the happy moments in life to
nails driven here and there in blank WALL
Spread out over the wall they make great
show, but gathered together they scarce fill the
hand.
Every one at times has JOY so pure that no
faint of evil can be attributed to il, but such
joys are few and of brief duration. The pessi-
mist has much to sustain him. From the
dawn through the sunlight and the dusk till
the night of life the misery overbalances the
happiness it affords and it is one continuous
struggle against hunger, cold disease disap-
pointment, grief and sorrow.
But for the hope Of happiness in the future
few of us would care to live in the present. II
our estimate of the desirabiity of prolonged
existence would undergo considerable change
il not dissipation. That we who call ourselves
happy are but deluding ourselves is shown by
the eagerness with which we search for new
forms Of happiness-our very search for
which demonstrates our dissatisfaction with
that which we have.
Religion, social reform, scientific enlight-
ment, these and other methods are proposed
as an efficient remedy for the ills Of life but
no one-religious enthusiast, philosopher or
scientist-asserts the end desired has been
attained Their propositions are singularly
variant with logic, We argue that what always
has been, always will be, and it seems absurd
that fire will cease to burn, ice to be cold, an
empty stomach to be disagreeable, even
though such things are promised US with the
millennium of science, the millennium OF social
reform, the millennium of religion--in word,
Of Utopia. Thus far science has failed in the
effort of achievement; so has social reform; so
has religion. Each, in truth, has made some
apparent progressive are told from earliest
infancy that the world has improved-but is |
not the apparent improvement but fiction |
We have many wonderful inventions our fore |
fathers never even dreamed of, we have more |
luxuries and we have less of any one kind OF
illness; but our cup of happiness is filled no
higher, on the contrary the manner in which |
we commonly think of happiness as allied |
with pastoral life and removed, compare
lively, far from jewellers in cities, shows that
our telegraph, our railroads, our steamboats,,
our printing press, our electric light have not
brought the happiness we commonly believe
was that of the ancients.
But admitting that our happiness is greater
now than ever before have we aught in proof
that the increase will continue? There has
been retrogression in the past-why not in the
future? The world has more than once re-
versed its wheels and returned to barbarism-
who knows that as the civilization of Rome
was extinguished our civilization will not be
extinguished! The dark ages may come
again and at any time. Calamities there are
in store for us which no one pretendS to fore
see; happiness alone we anticipate in its full.
We have progressed toward perfection, we
say, but, though the progress may ever con-
tinue, it is doubtful if the perfection be attain
able. The hope of our eventual deliyerance
from imperfection, and consequently from
suffering, has but slight foundation to oppose
the force of reason with knowledge of the
many weaknesses and limitations of the
human mind.
A"S h"'S VIC huoW VI ourselves the more
clearly we see and deplore our shortcomings.
and the more we know of Nature the more we
stand APPALLED, at the infnity of her secrets"
So spoke Barron.
II this be true how ridiculous the attitude oil
the scientist and of the religious must seem
Inc one tells us we cannot look for pure hap
piness till we have conquered every impulse 10
sin; the other that 1--WE mus, be acquainted
with all the forces of matter before we can
avoid the suffering into which ignorance of
these forces now leads u.s." Truly, gigantic
But because OF the failure to discern reason
in the hope for golden age we must not fall
into the desparing thought, like the Buddhists
who maintain that conscious indivi 'ualty is
the root of all suffering and must be surren-
dered in order that perfect happiness NAV be
misery is inseparable from ex-
istence and that the only deliverance is through
annihilaton; rather let us conclude that suffer
ing is the lot of every one Of us and embitters
our existence, but that as our fathers bore pain
so may we and should we till there is revealed
to us the secret of the problem of human
misery now before us.
THE marriage Of Miss Catherine HARNESS,
a society belle and heiress with Charles Pat
ten, wealthy banker, may be attributed to
the actor Salvinfs unequalled counterfeit of