The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1889-07-25
Happiness.

1t is claimed there is a natural longing i'm
the heart of man for happiness that
reaches above all earthly power to satisfy
That this claim is true we are best able to
Judge individually. have no doubt but there
are times when we all feel this supermundane
longing more etfectually than words can con-
vey it to our senses, times when the harmo-
nizing of our mental faculties raises us above
the dreary routine of ordinary life. Every
surrounding feature of our life tells us that
we were made to be happy, There is no
period of our life in which we could say we
had reached the acme of possible happiness.
At some particular time we may have felt
that we had gained the ideal point above
which no greater happiness could be at
tanned: but it was only momentary feel
ing, and after events showed us that it was
but like the grateful breeze on a sultry day
that cOOls us for the moment and then VAN
ishes. We will always have that supernaI
longing for a something more satisfying
than visible nature or the ingenuity of
man has yet been able to provide. This
strange Unsuitable longing is one of the
most forcible arguments in proof of a fut-
ure existence.
! In strange cOntradiStinctiOn to this yearn-
ing for higher state. there would seem to-
be implanted in man natural affinity for
what is base and will make him unhappy.
| Whether this attraction for evil is born
with us or acquired makes but little differ
ence. 1t is there like a weight that is for
| S h0 20 foo in,
self. and you can feel it in yourself. The
believer in the Darwinian theory of evOlu-
ton would trace it to the lower or brute in
Stnct that still clingS to us. Certain it is
| that 1t grows upon us from our youth and
is checked or increased according to the
training or education we receive.
Practically speaking. no one has been
able 20 entirely eliminate this connecting
link. if | may SO call it. between man and
the brute creation. If we could do so we
would be perfect. But we are able to stop
its growth, and clear its traces from our
character to considerable extent and it is,
a duty we owe to ourselves and associates.
to do so.
You will ask what this is we are to SUBJ
due? Did you ever see two hungry beasts
eat out of the same trough? If you have
you noticed that the stronger one,
chased the weaker away even though
there was enough food to satisfy dozen.
There is seltishness of a similar kind among
men. 1t is this selfish, angry, vicious nat
ure that we must subdue before we can be
truly happy. How many of us there are
that fret and fume and make life miserable
for ourselves and friends? The loss of a
trife or the slightest mishap will set us to-
curSing all creation in general and ourselves
in particular. Now, is there any sense or
satisfaction in this useless waste of energy?
None; it does not help us to right any mis-
take we may have made, nor does it faci-
itate our labor There is saying that
runs. "A poor workman QuarrelS with his
tools" How many poor wOrkmen there
are in the world. l have seen men myself
in particularly throw hammer against the
ground as violently as they could simply
because they, not the hammer. miStOOk a
finger for the nail they were driving. These
incidents are all OutcrOppngs OF our brute
nature, and leave an impress on us that
others may read as the index to our charac
ter These are but slight examples of our
lower nature but they are the ones which if
not Immediately controlled will blossom out
into greater evils. Sullivan, the tistic artist,
claims that he had no full idea of his fight
ing abilities until one day while at work the
foreman so angered him that he pitched
into him with great success 1t is not at
all unlikely that a great many aspiring
youths would be willing to be angered sew
eral times day if they thought that some
particular tit of anger would develop pu-
gilistic tendency. We all find it easier to
acquire evil habits than good ones though
we know that these very habits will make
us miserable rather than happy. We find
the dme-nOvel hero easier to emulate than
the thrifty. honest man.
| We must follow one of two courses. Our
higher nature points out a road to true hap
piness, or as much of it as we can enjoy IN
this world. Our lower instincts point out a
road to physical and mental ruin and mis-