The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-05-12
BARNUM'S SECRET.
The Way Men May Attain Long Life
and happiness.
u. T. Barnum in the Epoch


have lived nearly 70 years in this world.
and as a result Of the experience larger than
comes to most men, have arrived at certain
conclusions on the question Of how TO iattain
long life and happiness. My ideas are not
probably new, others may have written In a
similar strain, but they should possess some
value from the fact that they have come to
me at first hand and as the result OF living.
IL a man expects to attain length Of years.
he must live life according to the laws Of
his being. You cannot coquette, you cannot
play fast and loose with old Dame Nature.
She will not be bribed, she refuses TO be
coaxed, she cannot be scared into gratifying
your improper desires. She is forever din
ming intp your ears the fact that there lis an
eternal, immutable law, cause and effect.
A man, then, had better make up his mind
in very early period Of his career, that he
will not eat too much. and, according to my
strict notions, he should never use intoxicat-
ing liquors or tobacco, particularly the for
mer. man should keep good hours. The
gay fellows who sit up till or O'Clock in
the morning. drinking wine and lager beer"
probably think they are having lots Of fun.
The fact is, they are not having real enjoy
hChe Al DCiOsAu6 ehCJ uAC BCIttuk ~
full measure Of enjoyment they are the vic
tins Of an Illusion; they see life through
jaundiced eyes. BY and by the scales will be
taken off, life will be seen as 1t truly is, the
about moderation will be demonstrated pos
sibly too late to do them any good. As Is
written in the scriptures, II have seen the
wicked in great power. and spreading him
self like green bay tree Yet he passed
but he could IL not be- s1 found IS faet that
the way Of the transgressor" of natures
laws is always hard" And one Of the old
philosophers has said, Sensual pleasure Is
pain covered with the mask Of happiness.
She strips 1t from her face and reveals the
features of disease, disquietude and remorse."
say nothing more on the SUSPECT OF the
personal habits of the man who wants to at
tain long life. The sum and substance Of
all the advice that can be given on that point
Is that man must avoid excess, he must
live nationally, according to the laws Of his
being. You cannot get two quarts of milk
in a quart jug. You can. only secure a
certain amount of happiness in this world,
and you can only secure V according to good
old fashioned notions, founded on common
sense virtue and morality. Millions have
tried their own foolish and vicious ways Of
reaching the goal, but the world has never
reported that they have been successful.
But while the natural laws should be
obeyed, above and beyond all else we must
remember that they apply more forcibly to
the brain than to sny other portion of the
body. Beyond question the mind has an
immense influence over the body. A man
should strive above everything TO keep
quiet mind. He must steer clear Of worri-
ments of every kind. He must learn TO ae-
cept the unavoidable. As quaint old Spencer
says:
1t is the mynd that maketh good or IN,
That maketh wretch or happie rich or poore.
This philosophy Of life is embodied In a
homely way in the. three sayings Of one Of
Capt. Marryatts characters, to wit: What's
done can't be helped; there's no use in cry
ing; better luck next time"
Look around you In the cars, in the theatre
in the churches, on the streets, how many
many men and women do you see, the lines
on whose faces betray worriment and unrest
A man Is worried because he can't make
more money; woman's heart Is eaten up
with envy because her next door neighbOr
dresses better than she Is able to do; the
inner nature of the dude Is stirred 70 its
foundations, because the new mustacho
forcer fails to show signs that it is doing its
burning up with jealousy at the success Of
her rival. and so on Through all classes OF
people, in every grade Of society.
Now, care and w0rriment are deadly enc
mics to long life and happiness. No man
can hope to live long, or to be even moderate
ly happy, unless he makes up his mind to
give scant welcome to these persistant visit
OrS. He must learn TO accept situations
which he cannot avoid. He can do 1t. Let
him make up his mind In early manhood to
cultivate good nature, to believe In the idea
that whoever does his duty will find that,
There's divinity that shapes our ends
Rough-hew them how we viii.
The passions must be subdued, put down
in their proper places. There are thousands
Of people in New York today whose hearts
are literally being eaten out by envy; they
feel so miserable because they cannot have
as much as their next door neighbor that
they overlook the blessings they have and
which properly used, would make them
happy. As George Sands says: 'Happi-
ness lies in the consciousness we have of II,
and by no means in the way the future keeps
its promises" No man can hope TO be hap
by who has not chained up envy, hatred,
malice and all uncharitableness, who has
not made up his mind to rule his feelings
philosopher said, pride need not always
lead man to cut Mount AthOs In two like
Xerxes nor ambition. to conquer a world,
and weep that there is yet not another TO
conquer, like Alexander did; nor vanity to
look in a stream at his own face till he fall In
love with it, like Narcissus. When we can
not cut an Athos, we may leave uncut our
beard when we cannot mount a throne, we
may crawl into a tub; and when we have inO
beauty, we may increase our ugliness."
1t may be asked how l have acted under
trying business emergencies; did l put this
cheerful philosophy into practice? answer
that did. lost, some years ago, nearly
81 ,0O0, 600 in the Jerome clock enterprise and
saw no chance to make good the loss.
said 10 myself, This experience is good for
you, it is what you needed" | had felt so
good over my possessions that | was almost
bursting with pride: had so much money,
so much life, energy and vigor. Suddenly.
Providence saw fit to take my fortune away
from me and taught me the proper lesson.
1t was the best thing that could happen TO
me- Then / went to work and tried to re-
sN..A
mind to use the money more wisely, and to
throw away all purse-pr0ud notions l be-
lieye that rich man Is only steward Of the
gifts Of the Almighty. These gifts must DO
used for the good of mankind, and II man
will not use wealth for the good of others, he
has no business to have 1t. | take great
pleasure in acquiring money, but, quite as
much In dispOsing of 1t. My plan has been,
so far as 1 could TO help those who help
themselves, but this suggestion applies to
friends and acquaintance, not to strangers.
Men are not to lie like young robins with
their mouths wide open and have someone TO
feed them; they must help themselves.
The best way Of meeting trouble In this
world was laid down by the Stoics, and to
that extent favor their philosophy. AS
Epictetus, one Of their opponents. says:
"'fhere are things which are within our
pOwer, and there are things which are be-
You'd our power. Within our power are
opinion, aim, desire, aversion, and In one,
yond our power are body, property, reputa-
tion, Office and in one word, whatever are
NOT properly our own affairs" In business
and In all the relations Of life, let a man do
the best re can under the circumstances, but
LET him not be surprised at misfortunes. for
trains bring scores Of sight-seers every day
who take dinner, hear the concerts and ex-
plore the house from the picture gallery and
Gardens to the sheltered roof below which
and far away the ocean unrolls its thunder
GUS majesty.
Mr.. Flagler said TO me: 1.-THE Spaniards
tried to do something with Florida. The
French tried Both failed. Now the Amer
lean Yankee proposes to try his hand"
And the Yankee is making things hum.
Florida never knew such prosperity-such
fulness and plentitude of prosperity-as this
season brought her. How much OF this was
due to the Ponce de Leon cannot be meas
ured. Thousands upon thousands whose
faces were set westward were tnrned south
ward by the stories of this amazing palace.
What ii has done this year 1t will double and
treble next year. For with the Alcazar added
the whole enterprise made perfeet-nO-
where else on this earth can the wayfarer
live in such absolute luxury and enjoyment.