Morning journal and courier., 1893-11-24

address by Sir Edwin Arnold IN Lo1gmanNs Is
MAgGzine.l
Upon the face of facts, is Hfe-evsn
were It trAnsient-so bad thing as some
people make ouii Look at common mod
ern existence as We see 1t, and note TO
what rich elaboration and large degrees of
comfort 1t has come. leave aside for the
moment uncivilizsd nations, and the by
gone struggles of our race, its wars and
woes. it's tyrannies and superstitions; all
of which history has greatly exaggerated,
contentments. invite you briefly to con-
template the material side of an artisans
existence in your own Birmingham. Let
alone the greatness of being an English
man, and the supreme safety and liberty
of his daily life, what king of old records
ever Jared so roysllyE What magician of
fairy tales ever owned so many slaves to
bring him treasures and pleasures at
wishi Observe his dinner bosr6i with
out being luxurious, the whole globe has
played him serving man to spread IL. Rus
his gave the hemp. or Indiss or South Car
olins the cotton for that cloth which his
wife lays upon it. The Eastern Islands
placed there those condiments and spices
which were once the secret reltshss of the
wealthy. Australian downs send him
frozsn mutton or canned beef; the prsiries
of America meal for his biscuit and pud-
ding; and IL be viii eat fruit, the orchards
of Tasmania and the palm woods Of the
West Indies proffer delicious gifts; while
the orange groves of Florida snd of the
Hsspsrides cheaper for his use those
golden apples" which dragons used to
guard. His coffee comes from where jew
| eIed humming birds hang In the bowers of
Brazil, or purple butterflies fatter amid
the Jsvan msngroves. Great clipper ships.
| racing by night and day under clouds Of
| canvas, convey TO him his tea from China
| or Assam, or from the green Singhalsse
hills. The sugar which sxeetens IL was
| crushed from canes that waved by the Nile
/ or the Orinoco; ard the plating of the
| spoon with which he stirs IL was dug for
him from Mexican or NevRdsn mines The
currants in his dumping are tribute
1 from classic Greece. and his tinued SAL
| mon or kippered herring q token from the
seas and rivers of Canada or Norway. He
i may partake, If he will, of rice thst
i ripened under the hot skies of Pstns or
Rangoon; of cocoa, that food Of the
/ CODE" plucked under the burning blue of
the equator. For HE rssher of bacon. the
hog-express runs daily with ten thousand
| victims into Chicago; Dutch or Brittany
hens have laid him his eggs, and Danish
| COWS grszed the daisies of Eisinore to pro
l duee his cheese ard butter. If he drinkt
beer, it is odds that Belgium and BsvsIis
have contributed TO 1t the barley and tn,
hops; and, when he has finished eating, Il
will be the Mississippi fats or the gsrdenl
of the Antilles that fill for him his pip,
with the comforting tobacco.
He has Jared, / say, at home ss no He'll
ogsbalus or Lueullus ever Jared; and then
for q trifis, his daily Newspaper puts al
his command Information from the whol'
globe, the freshness and fulness of which
make the ws-besrers of Augustus Csc
ssr, throngipg hourly into Rome. ridicu
lous At work, machinery of wonderful
invention redeems his toll from servitud'
| and elevates Ii to an art. Is he fond oi
readingi There are free libraries open tC
| him, full of intellectual and imaginative
| wealth. fs he srtistici Galleries rich
with beautiful paintings and statues are
prepared for him. Has he childreni They
can be excellently educated for next tc
nothing. Would he communicate with
absent friendsi BIS messengers pass IL
the queens livery, all bearing his Letters
everywhere by sea and land; or in hour oi
| urgency the Ariel of electricity will fash
for him a message to the ends of the king.
dom at the price of quart of email beer
Steam shall carry him wherever he would
/ go for hslfpennny a mile; and when he
| Is i'll the charitable institutions he has toe
4 often forgotten in health render him such
succor as sick goddesses never got from
Esculspius, nor Ulysses at the white
hands of Queen Helen. Does he eneaun
Ter sccidenti For him, SIS for all others
tie benignant science of our time, witt
the hypodermic syringe OF . watt of chic
roform, has abolished agony; while fol
dignity of citizenship he may help, wher
election time Gomez, by his vote, TO sus
tain or TO shake down the noblest empire
ever built by genius and vAlor. Let fancy
fill up the imperfect picture with thos'
thousand helps and sdornments that civil
izstion has brought even to lowly hves
and does it not seem stupid and migrate
grateful to say, as some 60 about saying
that such an existence. even If 1t wers
trsnsitory. Is not for itself distinctly worth
possessingi