Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1884-08-16
TRUE LOEr-wHAT is Irr

The following is an extract from
one of Robert G. Ingersoll's lectures
on The Liberty OF Man, Woman
and Child" which is well worth
reading and preserving as a rare
gem:
"Some people tell me your doc
trine about loving, and wives, and
all that, il splendid for the rich, but
il won't do for the poor. tell you
tonight there Is more love in the
homes OF the poor than in the pala-
ces of the rich.
1.-THE meanest hut with love in it
is q palace for the gods, and palace
without love is a den only fit for
wild beasts. That is my doctrine.
You cannot be so poor that you can
not help somebody. Good nature is
the cheapest commodity in the
world and love is the only thing
that will pay 10 per cent. TO borrow
er and lender both. Do not tell me
that you have 10 be rich. We have
a false standard OF greatness in the
United States. We think here that
q man must be great, that he must
be notorious, that he be extremely
wealthy, or that his name must be
upon the putrid lips OF rumor. 1t Is
not necessary to be rich, or TO be
great, or to be powerful, to be happy.
Happiness is the legal tender oil the
soul. Joy is wealth.
"a little while ago stood by the
grave OF the old Napoleon-a mag
nificent tomb OF gilt and gold, fit
almost for dead deity-and gazed
upon the sarcOphagus OF black Egyp-
tian marble, where rests at last the
ashes of that restless man. i leaned
over the balustrade and thought
about the career Of the greatest sol
der OF the modern world. l saw
him walking upon the banks of the
Seine, contemplating suicide. l saw
him at TOulOn. | saw him putting
down the mob In thestreets OF Paris.
/ saw him at the head OF the army
of Italy. i saw him crossing the
bridge OF Lodi with the tri-color in
his hand. saw him in Egypt In the
shadow OF the pyramids. / saw him
conquer the Alps and mingle the
eagle of France with theeagle OF the
crags. / saw him at Marengo, at
UlIn and at AusIerlitZ. l saw him
i'm Russia, where the infantry OF the
snow and the cavalry of the Wild
blast scattered his legionS like win
ter's withered leaves. saw him at
Leipsic in defeat and disaster, driv-
EN- by a million bayOnets back upon
Paris, clutched like wild beast,
bahished To Elba. saw him escape
and retake an empire by the force
of his genius. saw HIM upon the
frightful field OF Waterloo, where
chance and fate combined to wreck
the fortune of their former king, and
/ saw him at St. Helena, with his
hands crossed behind him, gazing
out upon the sad and solemn sea.
"I thought OF the orphans and
widows he had made, of the tears
that had been shed Tor his glory and
OiIhe only woman who ever loved
him, pushed from his heart by the
cold hand of ambition, and ! said
would rather have been a French
peasant and worn wooden shoes; L
would rather have lived in a hut
with vine growing over the door
and the grapes growing purple in
the kisses of the autumn sun;
would rather have been that poor
peasant, with my loving wife by
my side, knitting as the day died
out of the sky-with my children
upon my knees and their arms about
mel would rather have been that
man, and gone down to the tongue
less silence of the dreanless dust,
than to have been that imperial inn
persOnation.
at is not necessary to be great to
be happy, IL is not necessary TO be
rich TO be just and generous, and to
have heart filed with divine affec-
ton. No matter whether you are
rich or poor, treat your wife as tho
she was a splendid flower, and she
will fill your life with perfume and
with joy.
"And do you know it Is splen-
did thing to think that the woman
you really love Will never grow old
to you? Through the wrinkles OF
time, through the mask of years, II
you really love her, you will always
see the face you loved and won. \
woman who really loves a man
does not see that he grows old she
always sees the same gallant gentle
man who won her heart and hand.
i like to think Of it in that way;
like to think that love is eternal.
And to love in that way, and then
go down the hill of life together,
and MS you go down hear perhaps
the laughter of grandchildren, while
the birds OF Joy and love sing once
more in the leafiess branches OF the |
tree Of age. / believe in the fireside;
/ believe in the democracy of home;
l believe in the republicanism of the |
family; l believe in liberty, equali-
ty and love-"