The Brookhaven leader., 1886-02-18

|
up the tanning Of tho hides, or the turning
| of the banisters, or the building OF the
walls, and put himself in circles where he
/ has nothing to do but smoke cigars
/ and drink wine, and get himself
into habits that upset him, go
/ ing down in the maelstrom, taking
| his wife and children with him. There
| are good many trains running from earth
TO destruction. They start all the hours CT
| the day and all the hours Of the night
There are the freight trains; they go very
slowly and very heavily; and there are
accommodation trains, going on toward
| destruction. and they stop very often, aud
! let a man get out when he wants 20. But
genteel idleness is an express train; Satan
/ is the Stoker and Death is the n-in"er;
and though one may come out in front OF
( IL and living the red fag Of danger or
I the lantern OF Coils word. it makes just
one shot into perditi5n, coming down the
emhankment with a shout and a vail and
a shriek-crash. crash There are two
! ella sses of people sure of destruction-tirSt,
/ those who have nothing TO do; secondly,
| those who have something to do, but are
I too lazy or too proud to 20 il.
| have one more word Of advice tn
! give to those who would have happy
home, and that is, let love preside IN
t. When vour behavior in the domestic
circle becomes mere mater o. "3icu-
lation: when the caress Won give Is merely
the result of deliberate study Of the HpSi-
tiOn YOU occupy. happiness Hes stlrk
dead on the hearth stone. When the hes
bands position as head Of the houschcd
is maintained by illness of voice. by
strength Of arm, hy fire of temper, the
republic Of domestic bliss has become a
a despotism that neither God nor
man will abide. Oh, We who prom
iSed to love each other az the altar,
how dare you commit perjury: Let no
shadow Of suspicion come on YOUR af-
lection. 1t is easier to kill that fowe'
than it is to make it live again. The blast
from hell that puts out that light, leaves
you in the hlarEness of darkness forever.
Here are a man and wife: they agree in
nothing else, hut they gree that they viii
have home. They will have splendid
house, and they think that if thy have a
house they will have a home. Architects
make the plan, and the mechanics execute
The carpets are spread: lights are hoistcd;
curtains are hung; cards 81 invitation are
sent out. The horses in gold-platel har
ness prance at the gate guests come in
and take their places: the flute sounds; ne
| dancers go up and down: aEl with one
grand whirl the wealth and the fashion
and the mirth of the great town
| wheel amidst the pictured walls. Ha. this
/ is happiness. Float it on the smoking
viands; sound it in the music; whjrl it in
| the dance: cast it on the snow Of sculp-
! ture: sound it up the brilliant stairway;
| fash it in chandeliers! Happiness, in
deed, Let US Eaild on the center Of the
| pnrlor floor a throne to happiness; let al
the guests when they come in. bring theil
flowers and pearls and diamonds and throw
them on this pyramid, and let it be a
throne, and then let happiness, the queen.
mount the throne, and we will stand
around and, all cholices lifted, We will say,
Drink o queen! live foreverw But the
+ guests depart, the flutes are breathless the
last clash of the impatient hoofS is heard in
the distance anl.th twain Of the house
! hold come back to see the queen of hap
piness on the throne amidst the parlor
floor. But. aleS! as thav come hac,; the
flowers have faded, the sweet odors have
become the smell OF charnel-house, a I'D
instead of the queer of happiness there
sits there the gaunt form Of angui h. " ,th
bitten lip and sUnkan eye, and ashes in her
hair. The romp Of the dancers who hay,
left seems rumbiing yet Ike iarriny thun.
ders that quake the floor end rattle the
glasses of the feast, rim to rim. The
spilled wine on the floor turns into blood
The wreathes OF plush have become wrg-
Cling reptiles. Terrors catch tangled in
the canopy that overhang5 the couch
A strong gust Of wind comes through
the hail and the drawinS-room and
the bed chamber, in which all the
lights go out. And from the lips
of the wine-beakers come the words
"Happiness is not in us" And the arches
respond, at is not in usw And the ST.
fenced Instruments of music, thrummcd or
by invisible fingers, answer, "Happmes,
is not in us"' And the frozen lips Of an.
guish break open, and seated On The throne
of wilted flowers, she strikes her hony
hands together and groans, ut is not il
mep
That very night a clerk with salary O.
$1,000 q year-only $1,000-goes to hit
home, set up three months ago, just after
the marriage day. Love meets him az he
door; love sits with aim at the table; love
talks ove' the work of the day; love taRe,
down the Bible and reads of him who cam,
our s9uls TO save; and they kneel, anC
while they are kneeling-right in thai
plain roors, on that plain carpet-the an.
gels of God build throne, not ont of flow.
. prS fbet un1.i ali q nd fa1a