The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1883-07-07
Owning the Earth.


How often we hear men say II am glad
Of it," when speaking of some man who
has been at the top of the heap politically,
socially or financially, and has suddenly
dropped. Once in great while a man
says II am sorry" but that is when the
man who has fallen was the same kind of
fellow when he was on top that he was
before he got there. The trouble is that
too many men, who go to the front, get the
idea that they own the earth, and their old
friends get down on them, and they do not
make new ones to take the place of the old
ones. A ward politician who becomes a
congressman, can make no greater mistake
than to get too big for his boots when he
is elected, and forget his friends, and put
on airs. The boys who have made him
what he is, talk with each other about him,
and laugh at his greatness, and never tell
him what they think, but some day when he
comes up again they slaughter him, and he
drops on the political sidewalk and never
knows what hurt him, but he knows that
he is hurt Then he tries to smile at his
old friends, and slap them on the shoul-
ders, and explain himself, but it is ever
lastingly too late What they wanted was
to have him remain just the same when he
was on top. A man may go along, poor,
and be respected and have thousands of
friends, and he may suddenly have for
tune left him. The first time he puts on
a silk undershirt he changes towards his
friends and seems to own the earth. He
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friend of the old days, and he looks over
them when he meets them. They watch
for him to drop, and when he does 90
through his money, and gets down to earth
again, and finds that the other fellows own
some of it, he meets an old friend that he
has not noticed for years, and says "Hello,
Bill, " but Bill does not ''hello.' Bill has
wanted to "hello'' for some time, but he
didn't receive any encouragement. and now
his appetite for ''hellowing' has left him.
If he wants to ''hello Bill, he goes off and
does it with somebody whose head has not
got too big for his hat, and the man who
has been temporarily at the top of the heap
sees that he has made Beaver Dam fool
of himself. When man has been climb
ing hill all his life, and slipped back so
much that it has made his head swim, but
finally, by sticking his toe nails in, gets to
the top, he has a right to feel glad, but he
wants to be contented where he is, and not
try to fly high. When he gets to the top
of the hill he is in more dangerous place
than he was while he was climbing, because
from where he stands 1t IS doaon hill IN
ecery direction. Did you ever think Of
that, boys? Every way you look, when
you get up there, it is down hill and you
have got to brace yourself, and not lose
your head, or the first thing you know your
foot will slip, and you will go down head
over appetite. If you have kept your
head and your friends, while you were at
the top, and those who are still climbing
see that you are letting your foot slip, they
will try to brace you, and keep you up, but
if you have made an ass Of yourself, and
thought because you had got there, that
you owned the hill, and have thrown OBJ
stacles in the way of other climbers, and
you start to 90 down, as Josh Billings has
said, "All creation seems creased for the
occasion" and when you get to going no.
body will reach out to save you, 1t is
good lesson for boys as well as men to
learn, that the top of the hill is the most
dangerous place, and when they get there
they will be the same careful, sensible per-
sons that they were when they were stick
ing their toe nails in and putting. The
country is full of late politicians who would
oive all they have oot and mOrt0aoe all
they expect to have, if they had not lost
their heads when they got to the top of
the hill