San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-09-23
A KICK AT THE AGE
With a Free Hoof From Toney

Editor LIGHT:
Alas how easily things 90 wrong.
sigh too much ora kiss too long.
And there follows u mist aud II binding rain
And life is never the same again
George Macdonald.
There is not. within the whole range
of the vocabulary of any nation, a phraZe
of more significance and sadness than
that of, ait might have been" II means
entire volumes. IL tells of heart-trials,
hard to be bOrne;of ambitions, that have
been withered in bud or blOOm-of
aims that have missed the mark-Of
hopes that have been cruelty blasted by
the winds of adversely, or by ciscum-
stances that no foresight could have
avoided-Of love that has been starved
out OF the heart. it tells OF weakness
of purpose and of the power of blandish-
ment and pleasure over the heart.
These reflections were suggested to my
mind by an accidental meeting with
Lucien DOrmen on the street
few days ago. He had
prosperous launch on the sea of life and
all foretOld him brilliant success. He
was clever, sOciable and popular. But
In an evil hour for him, he became fas-
clnated bya prostitute OF more than av-
erage beauty of person and charm OF
manner, and surrendered to her enthrall-
ment as completely as If his will-power
bad been cXtinguished. After lavishing
thousands of dollars upon this heartless
and merCenary creature, he awakened
from his rose-coOred dream, one morn
ing, to find she had deserted him and
gone OIL with richer gudgeon whom
she had ensnared in her net. Lucien
succumbed to the blow. He seemed to
have lost all energy, ambition and reso-
luton; insensibly sided into habits OF
dissipation. that had formerly been alb
hOrrent to him. and he is now prema-
turely Old-in truth, n wreck. He has
lost all faith in women, just because "A
"soiled dove" deceived and betrayed
him, and it is II misfortune to
any man TO lose his faith in
the purity and loyalty of woman
Men, whose associations have, for the
most part, been with women of loose
morals, are prone to judge the entire fe-
male sex to be no better at heart than
the lewd women with whom they have
chiefly associated, and so they set them
all down rs merGenary, heartless, tickle
and full of deception and perfdy. Poor
Lucien, is drifting down the current of
the stream of time as helplessly and stol.
idly as the leaf that is borne along on
the bosom of a river.
George Bundelcund, somehow, struck
the tide in the affairs of men that leads
on to fortune" and he has never felt any
passion except the keen desire to accum-
ulate money. When he was in moderate
circumstances, he was not averse to
lending assistance to his fellows; but, as
his riches increased from year to year
his disposition changed for the worse,
and he seemed TO lose all sympathy
nd ~ Of IT,. l..
fellow men and to shut himself
up in his own egotism, like an oyster in
his shell, indifferent to all that did not
concern himself. He has neither wife
nor children, and is rich enough to do
immense good in assisting persons in
need Of temporary aid, bur, MS that sort
OF thing is foreign to his nature as well
as his habits, he does no good with his
riches. 1t Is a sad pity that riches petri-
fy the feelings and harden the hearts OF
men, and that In consequence of this
fact, none feel sorrow when they die
Rich men live in state of aloofness
from their lows and rarely slow any
disposition to help such, as from stress
of circumstances, for which they are not
at all to blame, stand in need of tempo
rary assistance. George Bundelcund
lives for himself and to himself, except
when he throws q crust to some toad
and parasite, and even this is done in
the most ungracious manner. l am glad
he does not live in San Antonio, still |
dare say there are several men OF the
same breed and type in San Antonio.
What made Bundelcund miser? Some
thrilling circumstance, doubtless, that
escaped his notice at the time; but as
Lord Dundreary says, "there are some
things in the world that no fellow can
find out" and this is one of them.
1t is bad for any man or woman to
live only for self and to feel no SYM
pathy for those around them, yet such is
the life of ninety-nine rich men out of
every hundred in the world. They
could so easily diffuse sunshine and hap
piness If they were not proof against
sympathy with their fellows and wrap
ped up in the thick fold OF selfishness.
The two terms are synonimous-selfish.
ness is heartlessness, past all doubt
The world contains many George Bun
delcund's-rich, selfish, unsympathetio,
unfeeling. ToNEY.