The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1890-11-26
AN IDEAL THANKSGIVING.

AN IDEAL THANKSGIVING.
As there are abuses the Law cannot
reach, 30 there are people no holiday in
cludes. There is time Of the year when
ACCOMPLISHMENTS, in word, the desti-
tute as body-are feassed with good
things, and made to share the comforts Of
the rich. But as comprehensive as this
charity may be. as Minute in its search
after recipients, as thoughtful in the
choice Of creature comforts. it is pitiful to
think how many yet reh,ain in the high
way and hedges" out Of reach.
Can you imagine gathering Of such as
these? We see much Of the other side Of
the picture, but it is startling to think
that those who come to the surface are
only the minority. Beneath every sue
ces, however modest and obscure, there
is a substructure of accumulated failure /;
aud for one of ten whom We see in mod
crate comfort and unassuming ease, there
are thousand who have been too weak
to swim.
had been TO many fully spread boards
both public and private, on this day Of
typical thanksgiving for all the blessings
and good gifts Of the year.; but one to
which was acridentsHr introduced late
in the evening, proved Of much greater
interest and rarity than any of the
others
The host was gray headed man, wife
less and childless, rich, odd, disappoint-
ed. and generally supposed to be misan-
| thropic. He had no aim in life no in
terest strong enough 10 absorb him, no
viii stable enough to hold the reins. He
gave TO every one who asked. but no
work Of charity interested him. There
was no pursuit. physical or mental, which
could so sustain him as TO turn him from
vain regrets and impartial longings. He
had never found his place in life had
never known necessity, and therefore
never tasted the excitement of the race
for existence, which some time or other
gives at least dash Of interest TO the
most unsuccessful career. He was not ir-
religious, but he belonged to no religious
body, and when any one told him that
he had much to thank Providence for,
he would shrug his shoulders in amaze
ment
As the years went on this man brooded
more and more over disappointed hopes.
and took morbid pleasure IN finding out
cases Of failure in all the various ealIings
of life He dwelt on the subject until it
became monomania. One or two ac-
quaintances-he had no heart friend
out of compassion advised him TO turn
this broodiDg to practical use by benefit
ting men in situations Ike his own.
Such was the singular host. As for the
guests, they were as various in class, edo
cation, birth and appearance as they
could be, even IN a city where everything
under the sun Is more or less represented.
All who are bankrupt and ruined in rep
utation and position. or in their own es-
timation, had a representation at that
strange feast of moral equality. Every
degree of shahbiness, of dilapidation, in
face or garment. was present for no rule
was made as 70 dress, and those whom
shame or idleness made relniss were as
freely admitted as they who had made
little pitiful attempts at deceney. The
talk was mild and characteristic, chiefly
occupied with the past or the future, as
it might have been.
On the hosts right hand sat a man in
rusty black, with nervous hands that
clutched Al things. and trembled as they
held glass, or fork, or napkin. He had
never been criminal, never willingly
harmed anyone, never entertained a de-
liberately unkind thought, and yet to all
inients and purposes he was a murderer
and a suicide. His spirit was dead, or
in its last agonies, and Of this be was dim
ly conscious in a despairing sort Of a
way.
On the hosts leif, the other place Of
honor-and what significant distinction
70 occupy those prominent seats-sat the
jauntiest individual Of the whole party.
Al frst sight il would have been difficult
to say why be had his share at this ban
quet of the ruined, disappointed, bereay-
ed and afflicted. 1t was not his look nor
his dress that told the secret, but his
words. He was better dressed than any
of his fellows, and selfsatisfed ex pres
sion was upon his face. But you soon
saw blank in the midst Of taat selfszt-
isfaction-the lack of something. which
mysterious something would have Just
pot him beyond the pale of our friends
circle. He talked louder than the rest,
and held out the comfor, Of Irresponsible
iiy in the present and annihiIation here
afier-no God TO restrain Us now. and
none to Judge Us later but the lack OF
that something made his face grow
ugly and bard as be expounded bis iheo-
ries, and his own appearance was but a
poor argument in favor Of his pet theo-
rns M
A curious rivalry between many of the
guests attracted my attention. Zach