The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-10-21
THE BLEssEDNEss OF BEING LITTLE

1
| Insignifcsnce is some times so intense
as to be painful. There Is such a thing
as positive negatiyeness land we all
know, about dinner time, what an zach
| ing void" IT, Littleness-which is TIE alb
sence OF lustre or distinction, owned or
borrowed; the opposite of bigness; the
livery reverse of leading citizenship mud
| ity OF title as well as badges-is regarded
by the general world as cheap transporta-
ton to the lower regions. Another case
in which the profane rabble shows how
little sense 1t has.
| Cromwell makes the great lesson Of
Cardinal Woolsey's life to have been that,
having been tumbltd by an unlucky mis-
take-ft for fool to fall by-out of his
nest among royal branches, he learned
the blessedness of being little. That was
lesson every small boy could have
taught him.
Littleness from some points Of view,
and to some people, is uncomfortable
nay bore Especially so when mag
niico, with unseeiDg eyes, says to US,
"Smsll man, if your existence depends
on my notice of you, consider yourself
anihilated." That is horrid, or ridicu
lous, as the object chooses TO take It.
But to come back 10 our small boy
Who can testify like him to the extreme
convenience Of being an unregarded
iri1e-and being small
On great occasions, and in big shows,
no one enjoys privileges like his. Now
on his knees he creeps through the crush
ing crowd, and he appears where he can
hear and see everything. And the peo-
pie wonder
Not that the thing is rich and rare,
But how the devil he got there"
Now he is sitting right under the
speaker; now he is on the lamp post;
now up on tree, or gaily basking on
chimney top; and now Buffalo Bill and
the Indian chiefs are fondling him aud
giving bin gifts And all has come Of |
his good nalured, unambitious nothing
ness.
The philosophy Of the small boy is
large and profound. The inconvenience |
of large stomach hardly involves |
greater inconvenience TO locOmotion |
than the big fortune and patronage |
of money king or minister Of |
state. To say nothing of the oppression |
of conscious bigness or sufficient wealth |
which is often, as over reaching and |
obtrusiye as the fat mans paunch before |
the peopie-the very necessity Of holding |
or distributing is dreadful burden
MAGMA f0rtuna, magnn serritw is Old !
Worlds wisdom. Then comes the hor-
rid bore of beggars, boot ticks and syco- /
plants, and the multitudinous require
menls Of office and place and leadership
TIE contemplation of all this almos,
makes one scream-O, for the nothing J
ness OF small boy
ANY one can plilosophise on this
theme And yet nobody wants to be
small Isaac Walton says truly, that the /
best end of the table is often the lowest, |
but everybody enyies the honored guest /
at the right hand of the Governor-stiiT. |
solemn, stupid and heartless though The |
honor may be.
ANYHOW, there will always be great |
and cOmpensaiions for the two |
priyates in spite Of the seven
teen officers And we on the /
curbstone will have our good time
if we are not among the marshals or in
the carriages. Wen just not know how
insignificant we are. Wen enjoy all the
shows that are gotten up for our enter
tainmeni, and if we are compelled to
gaze al servants on horses, and see the
honorable like ourselves disregardod. If
folly Is set in authority and wisdom in a
low place-we'll remember that the abuse
is an old one, for the poet long since
said, and the people believe ii
To well bred, honest, decently edu-
Gated, self-respecting man, who values
life and its privileges, freedom from re-
sponsibilty and tree, hearty and unem
barrassed Intercourse with good people
Is an Undesirable happiness, glorious
liberty. The distinguished Burns made
one OF his grandest ulterances in his Of
fering to his undistinguished father when
he inscribed on his tomb
"Piginies are pigm.cs stili though perched on
Alps,
Ana pyramids are pyramids in wales"
But thou OF Independent mind,
With soul resolved. with sOul resigned
Prepared powers sterncst frOwn To brave
Who will not he, nor have a slave;
Virtue alone who dOst revere Il
Thine own repYoach alone d0st fear:
pproach this shrine and worship berel