The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1883-05-03
nsrnrsilAnn alpr OF 30.

mother recently gave OF her son VINO conn
mittcd suicide In a NJ Of dependency, be
gotten Of the reflection that his lie efforts
were all failure. "lle was q good and De |
voted SON" she said, "but our continual
drain upon him kept him so poor and from
succeeding, as he had been so ambitious TO
do. He struggled for twenty odd years Du'
could not get the headway," And thus IL
is with 80 many of US. We commence our
youth, that "Dook of beginning, story
without end, each maid heroine, and each
man a friend with dreams all roseate, aho
intentions all golden, with never the suS.
gestion Of shade or shadow Anu
in the bright picture even necessity
must bow before brilliant destiny, and the
age of forty looms up rs a savings BANK,
| into which we have heaped up TO luNuriate
with, the treasures the preceding twenty
wears, with never a 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 ana
heart aches, and the great une pected' so
that only too often when we thought 10
pluck from out the very heart of May rich
blessings, we pricked our fingers with the
nettle, the scented bud concealed beneath
But we take heart and try again. And again
we seem to be climbing the ever-recedlng
wave, until after awhile we begin to feel that
acloudlet hangs upon every mouhtalh-heau'
and that in the calmest sky some tempest
hides its terror. Finally, when arrived al
the age of 10, as was the case Win poor
MELVIN, we begin to review seriously the
past and ask ourselves the question, whittier
have we drifted? Then suddenly flashes
upon us now little real progress we nave
made from our Goth year to our 4lst. we
undertake to compare the first period when
our life was all laughter and our days
were all smile, to the latter, and we are
astounded at the disheartening contrast
! We aimed high but we oversize the mark,
vet would in the enthusiasm Of = have re-
sented any such prediction ~ another.
We feel that we have fought the fight
and come off with broken blades
and tattered banners, and our
picture perspective is now blurred, 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 II gray IN
the once glossy black hair and the pet
beard one luckless moment seen suddenly,
causes US to reflect that it is the color OF
the evening dawn of another day that lies
on the shady side of4O. We begin to re-
alize 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 its sigret on brow and cheek, and we
begin to wish for the power OF joshua 10
command the sun and moon to delay their
journey as we urge that life is short al
best and we have not yet reaped and gar
nered what we assume we are entitled TO-
And here is the turning point. Ii
despondency and moroSeness are
permitted to usurp the throne, if we indulge
only the feelings that naught remains to
us now but the echo of the harp OF the
heart in its spring; if 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 and all earth is Sahara of pure
vanities, then indeed is our case 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
concede that we have gained much. True,
the landscape may not appear as it once dld;
balls and banquets may not excite the same
exhilarating emotions; theatres and fashion,
able watering resorts and bridal parties may |
seem changed in their styles and unsatis- |
factory in their effects indeed the prospect |
NAV be so altered now that what was Eden /,
at our Dist birthday, ana what has re- |
manned so AS mere memory, may be a
haunting mockery when we see other occu,
PANTS there at our dist, so that melancholy
leans on memory and declines to be d.
yorced. vet nevertheless have we gained
much. We must recognize that we are bet
ter men and women now; Better for having
and drank some OF LIES lees. we
are cleared-minded and Cleaner-hearted !
We are more conservative IN our views
more charitable to ward our kind. II we
have at last given over the idea of making
a fortune, we need not be bankrupt in
character and worthfulness for our fellows. |
If we have ceased to hope to secure the
fame that earlier years once craved, we can
do an immensely 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 gract. MELVIN forgot
the injunction
Life Is a burden,-bear IT.
Life Is a duty,---dare H.
Life is a HOMEGROWN. wear It.
Though It break your heart In twain,
Though the burden crush you down; |
Close your lips and hide the pain
First the cross--and then---the crown.
tn. FLORAL SEASON, ANDTHE LESSON