The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1884-05-01
Common Life.

proposition, that there i /" soOd
health, more genuine comfor. 'a ns
more means of enjoyment in % ,a
homes Of the middle.class than o aue
be found in most ofthe places rh eah
praises are trumpeted SO much oma
so'loudiy. The mansion with 81" !.
swelling towers and arrow n;n -
rets, its splendid rooms and % n,o
nifcent furnishings, may be Of ras,
home,ilfe as empty as death Will MI
the modest dwelling house NAV hr;m
over with the choicest and dirinas.
life. Not 10 the Christian 81 n ,aess
sense only, but a purely seepIar
character; as we speak of snoa
things. The noble assurances e"t L
life do not always lie in the natb e
wealth and fame. The greats.
singer the world ever heard al wss
a shepherd-the Man of Nazarots
was a carpenter and builder. and
from that thirty years Of his Gfa
drew the most splendid lessons
of his teaching. And so in tho;s
way these humber spheres are nobla
in a way to which the nobility 81
rank and title or a Vander6ilts
wealth, may be mere paste or CANDY
tinsel.
We understand, clearly cnoupb
that the world of to day stands m
alive to the idea of making 4 small
thing large, or an untrue thing trna
by the aid OF false ornament: that
it stands pledged to an insane haste
to be rich; that much of Significance
is attached to wealth, and that men
with nimble brains and determined
wills coming into the perception Of
this, are set on fire by it, and mako
every effort tell toward mere aeon.
mutation.
Your mammon-loving citizen has
great wealth, and so he moves al,out
imagines that he not only possesses
that to which all things constituting
happiness must yield, bnt commands
the esteem, and envy of his fellows
They do not love him probably half
so much as some luckless, lovable.
sinful Lazarus starving at his gate,
who has not the crumbs from tho
rich mans table, and is not at an
sure of Abraham's bosom in the
hereafter. But what of that? The
rich man has been shrewd, rational.
practical. lie has sought the solid
goods of this world, and he has
gained them. What cares he for
that element of love, friendship, and
kindred things. He took no stock
in that sort of thing, and gets no
dividens. God and heaven and love.
and friendship for sweet friendships
sake, are to him only poetic names.
And yet he will live to know that
there are certainties which outlasts
money, and upon which he has set
no hand. In that day the withered
atom of heart within him will
crave for that love, aud sympathy
and tenderness, which be has so
often thrust aside. 1t is not often
given. He lies down in the midst
of his great wealth and goes out
His neighbOr, whose humble home
was quite over-shadoWed By the
palatial; he too passes away. The
first goes empty handed, and M
wept. OF the other, people talk
with smile; one whose path of life
was rosary gemmed with good
deeds; strung like beads upon the
necklace of eternity.
To day we are face to face withan
age, experience and a progress, when
it is safe, and it means something to
say, that a man who does not give
the world more than the world gives
to him, is failure, has failed of the
real happiness of this life. The man
who thinks SO much of himself, that
be refuses to stretch out husband
with his heart in it to cheerfully
contribute to the common welfare of
Of mankind has failed, even in his
small and narrow purpose. The
notion of a moral and intellectual
Arcadia deeply colors the ethics of
all mankind today. 1t is no longer
4 beautiful trust, cloud city dream
Of Summer afternoon which tho
sentamentalists stretched the pin
ons of his love. but a tangible
shape, an everyday principle to
which the fullest and best faculties
If mankind attract with a strength
.ning hold.
Do you remark that it is difficult
o find a man in rut9-how really
men are, that they may
become honorably useful9 There
S today a new lodging Of more
oower with the real people, move
nent which has for its object the
Elevation of society, an invitation to
make more out Of life's career
)ant is going down before Common
sense and human duties, for tho
ace rise in the place of ideal politl.
al perfection. The men and women
rho work at the poor and commoner
4 IL Z. 49, 1FH