The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-11-26
THE COMFORT or LIVING.
The Nineteenth Century Nan Fares Bet
ter than Kings of Old Time.
Sir Edwin Arnold.

Sir EdW1 Arnold.
Upon the face of facts. Is Hfe-cven were
1t transient-so bad = thing as some peo-
pie make out? Look at common modern
existence as we see it. and note 10 what
rich elaboration and large degrees Of COM
fort it has come. 1 leave aside for tho No
ment uncivilized nations, and the bygone
struggles OF our race. its wars and las
woes. its tyrannies and superstitions; ali or
which history has greatly exaggerated. not
telling us OF the contenporaneous content
ments. 1 invite you briefly to contemplate
the material side OF an artisans existence
in your own Birmingham. Let alone the
greatness of being an Englishman and the
supreme safety and liberty OF his daily lne-
what king OF old records ever Jared so roy
ally? What magician OF fairy tales ever
owned so many slaves 10 bring him treas
ures and pleasures at a wish? Observe his
dinner board, Without being luxurious. the
whole globe has played him serving man 10
spread il. Russia gave the hemp, or IN
dias or South Carolina the cotton, for that
cloth which his wife lays upon II Inc
Eastern islands placed there those condl-
msnts and spices which were once the Sc
cret relishes of the wealthy. Australian
downs send him frozen mutton or canneo
peer; the prairies Of America meal Tor MS
biscuit and pudding; and If he viii eat fruit.
the orchards of Tasmania and the palm
woods of the West Indies prefer delicious
GIFTS Whiie the orange groves or ttor1da
and of the Hesperides cheaper for his use
those golden apples" which dragons used
10 guard. His coffee comes from whore
jeweled humming birds hang in the bowers
of Brazil or purple butterflies hutter amid
the Javan mangroves. Great clipper ships.
canvas, convey TO him his tea from China
or Assam, or from the green Singhalese
bills; The sugar which sweetens II was
crushed from the canes that waved by the
Nile or the Orinoc0. and the plating or the
spoon with which he stirs IL was dug FOR
him from Mexican or Nevadan mines. The
currantS In mis- dumping are a tribute from
classic Greece. and his timed salmon or
kippered herring a token from the seas ana
rivers of Canada or Norway. He may par
take. If he will, OF rice that ripened under
the hot skies of Patna or Rangoon; OF CO
Goa, that food OF the gods" plucked under
the burning blue OF the equator. For MS
rasher of bacon the hog express runs daily
with ten thousand grunting victims into
Chicago; Dutch or Brittany hens have laid
him his eggs. and Danish COWS grazed the
daisies OF Elsino-e to produce his cheese
and butter. If he drinks beer IL is odds
that Belgium or Bavaria have contributed
to II the barley and the hops; and. when
he has finished eating, il will be the Mis-
sissippi flats or the gardens of the Antilles
that fill for him his pipe with the comfort
He has Jared. 1 say. at home as no
Heliogabalus or Lucullus ever Jared; and
then, for n triflc. his daily newspaper puts
at his command Information from the whole
globe, the freshness and fullness of which
make the newsbearers Of Augustus Caesar.
II ronging hourly into Rome, ridiculous. At
work, machinery Of wonderful invention re-
deems his toll from servitude and elevateS
it to an art. Is he fond of reading2 There
are free Libraries open to him. full OF in
tellectual and imaginative wealth. Is he
artistic? Galleries rich with beautiful paint
fngS and statues are prepared for him. Has
he children? They can be eXcellently edus
Gated for next TO nothing. Would he COM
municate with absent friends? His mes
sengers pass in the Queens livery, all bear
ing his letters everywhere by sea and land:
or in hour of urgency the Ariel Of %electri-
city will flash for him a message TO the
ends of the kingdom at the price Of a quart
of small beer. Steam shall carry him
wherever he would go for a halfpenny a
situations he has too often forgotten in
health render him such succor as sick god
desses never got from Aesculapius, nor
Ulysses at the white hands Of Queen Helen.
Does he encounter accidents? For him as
for all others the benignant science of our
time, with the hypodermic syringe or a
watt OF chloroform, has abolished agony;
while for dignity OF citizenship he may
help, when election time comes by his vote.
to sustain or to shake down the noblest
empire ever huilt b. genius and valor. Let
fancy fill up the imperfect picture with
those thousand helps and adOrnments that
civilization has brought even TO lowly lives.
and does il not seem stupid and ungrateful
to say, as some go about saying, that such
an existence, even If il were transitory, is
not for itself distinctly worth possessing?