The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1889-04-06
The Joy of Pursuit.
PHILADELPHIA Ledrer.

1t is natural for man to be always look
ing forward to something beyond the pres
ent, hoping for something he does not
possess, expecting something that has not
yet appeared, pursuing something that is
not yet attained. Naturally, too, happi-
ness seems to him to be centred in this
future attainment or possession. He is
always going to be happy bye-and-bye,
when this or that hope is realized. Mean
time he is content to labor and strive for
it, and endure as patiently as may be the
present hard work or self-denial in the
anticipation of what is to come Pope
says truly
Hope springs eternal in the human breast,
Man never is, but always to be blest."
Yet, whatever pleasure may reasonably
be attached to success, there is still greater
and far more lasting one connected with
pursuit Every one with normal abilities
is striving for something, and it is in this
very striving that he gains the most real
happiness. This is seldom realized. The
sportsman will probably admit it What
ever be the pleasure with which he bags
his game, he knows it is not for its own
value chiefly, but for the excitement of the
chase, that he has followed and taken it.
The same may be said of all amusements,
without fear of dissent. The success lies
not merely in any point to be attained at
the last, but in the interest and enjoyment
of the whole, as it goes on. The means
and the end are the same. But when it
comes to the serious business of life, most
persons would scorn the idea that it is in
the pursuit more than in the objects pur-
sued that his welfare is to be found. 1t is
the wealth, the honorable name, the official
station, the public tribute of applause, the
'swelI DONE" either from the lips of others
or in secret consciousness, which seems TO
most people to contain the essence of hap
piness. It is when the physician has cured
his patient, when the lawyer has won his
case. when the architect has finished his
structure, and the artist has put the last
touches to his beloved picture, that each
conceives his pleasure must begin. And
those who toll chiefly or only for the live
lihood it affords them, or for the comfort
of their families, or for the pleasures of
accumulation, would, perhaps, most of all
resent the idea that their happiness lay
more in the pursuit than in the attainment
of these things Only when they receive
their daily or weekly wages, their monthly
or quarterly salary, when they spend what
they have earned, or put it into some safe
investment or promising speculation, do
they imagine themselves really happy; and
were these motives Withdrawn many would
Law down their instruments of toll forever.
Now all these things do bring much con-
centrated pleasure, more or less intense ac-
eording to the strength of the desire thus
gratifed. Yet the activity, the energy,
the striving, the very toll itself which has
led to these results, are more essential to
the true and permanent happiness of the
toiler than the prizes which he so eagerly
grasps No other proof of this would be
needed than the experiment (were it pos
sible) of gathering these prizes without the
preceding effort. Speedily would they
lose all their preciousness, partly because
they had cost nothing, and partly because
the unused faculties had infused their dull
ness into the whole nature. If diamonds
were always under our feet We should soon
cease picking them up, and if the prizes
of life were to be had for the asking, the
time would soon come when they would be
no longer asked for. 1t is a great mistake
to imagine that success without effort will
ever make man or woman happy
What we cease to strive for ceases to be
success, and gradually becomes more and
more worthless Suppose the same wages
to be paid for nothing that are now rend-
cred for skill and energy aud persevering
work; or the same applause to be showered
on the mere trifer that is now given to the
public benefactor, could they possibly kin
die the same Joy in the heart of the re-
ceiver that they now do They would
mean nothing, stand for nothing, and in a
short time would be nothing. No 1t is
the pursuit which gives all the zest to life;
the toll, the energy, the perseverance, the
eudeavor that bring the JOY both in It and
after it. These strengthen the faculties,
whet the desires, invigorate the whole ma
ture and make happiness possible. With
out them we should sink into the hopeless
misery of inertia No failure, no adversely
can be half so disastrous as the ennui, the
discomfort and the vacuity of the idler.
We all need to honor our daily pursuits
more than we do-to realize that if We
follow them honestly and earnestly their
best results can never be taken from rs.
This would lake the sting out of much that
we call failure. No one who has done his
best can ever wholly fail. He has that
stored up within him which is of more value
than many transient successes. If, as By
ron tell us, @They never fail who die in
great cause" certain it is that they too
never fail who live in the energetic and
persevering pursuit of whatever is good, or
true. or useful to mankind.