Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1894-01-11

To prune anu train II To its proper shape
and place. In spite of this tendency to-
| ward Individual or selfish ends the stu
dent of history finds through all ages that
| men do not like to live alone. They need
and seek the society of their kind Tribes.
armies, cities, nations, federations, cor
porations, syndicates. are the different
| forms which this trait of gregariousness
has assumed at different times.
For this reason. men leave the country
and crowd to the cities. Human nature
seeks sympathy in all its individual expert
ences, which is attested hv the numerous
associations which are formed to help
those in need as well as by the clubs for
pleasure and for study. II one has
| pleasure In anticipation or II a great sor-
row Is overhaDgiug ones life, how ma
tural to seek sympathy. But how much
more rare is the ability to give sympathy
That is one of the traits which needs cul-
tivstion.
A love Of the beautiful seem. innate to
all human nature and the effort to attain
their ideal of beauty is universal The
standard Of beauty varies among different
people. but everywhere personal adorn-
ment and striving for beauty In homes
and all pertaining thereto are seen In one
place the ideal of beauty leads a woman
to wear jewels In her nose and ears; In
another in ears only, but both seek there
by TO render themselves beautiful Chill
dren always respond to pretty things, aud
their love of the beautiful is a factor
which may be surely counted upon TO Sc
cure definite ends.
Perhaps | should have placed even be-
fore selfshness a desire for knowledge for
!, was the fruit of the tree OF knowledge
which tempted Adam TO disobedience
Since then how diligently has mankind
sought knowledge upon subjects which
have lain within his observation. How
soon do children become animated iu-
terrogation points. and how thoroughly do
they carry on their Investigations Il
seems to me that this desire of knowledge
includes several other traits which this Is
means Of gratifying; love of ease of
power II We know how, We can adi
much TO our ease aud comfort. The man
who has knowledge Of people. of place of
circumstances, has power and it takes hot
moments thought To realize what a
mighty factor this love Of power ha, te.n
In the worlds history. II has caused war
and bloodshed. has made and unmadc
governments. has been felt in church and
State. among savage and civilized nations
Everyone knows the satisfaction which
1t Is TO feel that one has power over some
thing. IL may come from guiding a strong
horse by the movement of a finger. by set
ting In motion some powerful machinery
or by some quieier means, but the desire
for power is the same. How many men.
and women too, have parted with eyery
thing but life (and have even risked that
IN the struggle 70 gain power over Others
l. 1t not for the sake OF gaining the re
spect Of our fellows that we desire b VA
knowledge and power l. not the d,.,ir,
for h.
veloped trait In our human nature that W.
may attain 10 something which they sha
hnd worth sdmiring;
one man develops his muscle. to thrir
utmost that be may be y strong man physi.
cslly, that he may endure in 4 boat or In I,
running race, and stand above hi, com.
petitors. | have read that cultivated men
who were Isolated from their kind for
period OF years-hy the call OF duty tx
pedlenCy-hud themselves revertipg tp
savage manners In short time. when
the stimulus which comes from knowing
that Others ATE observing them and from
their wish tor their good opinion Is le-
moved they quickly tind what a strong ia- /
huence II had over them.
Akin TO this IL the love OF praise or
commeudstiou which exists in the hearts
OF Older people a. well s. OF children
- a
appreciated. A few words OF praise tp
child will stimulate him to rcdouble his
efforts = please; 80 much 50 that older
ones sometime. smile ut the simplicity /
which gives 50 much for word. But are
not older ones just a. susceptible 10 CON
mendation of their own atfairsf
Another develops his brain that hi- miud
may be more acute than others with whom
he comes In contact, so that he msv excel 1
them sill In scholarship, or in money-In4k- !
ing. and stand resp -ctcd by his associates
Another builds for himself elegant house.
and surrounds himself with all the luxure,
that wealth can obtain, that others NAV
esteem him entitled t. their respect. II
each were alone upon q desert island would I
he try to do ali this for his own sake? | |
do not mean to imply that il IS a weakness /
(although It Is sonnet times taken advantage
of by INSCRIPTIONS persons | think 1t Is
something which we should indulge our
friends to oftener than we do for honest
discriminating praise mot unrea ,onabe /
nattery) can only prove helpful
Sometime 1t seems if there were In I
the human breast positive craving for !
novelty Anything new; it matters not /
what aud everyone wants to have 1t or /
do 1t. Once attained or accomplished he /
reaches out for something else )mething
newer. But for th~ moment everyone +
wishes to follow in tae footsteps of the /
fortunate discovcrer; everyone wants To /
try for himself the advantages or the pos |
SHY disadvantages OF the new method. |
Ana then. besides, what horror one has |
for being peculiar in any way of attract
ing the attention, inviting the criticism or |
perhaps the ridicnlc of others, By dress !
or manners which differ from those !
about US.
One of the most striking traits of hu- |
man nature Is that a great difference Of |
opinion is more often forgiven than |
small one. There Is less bitterness be
tween people holding radically different
views than between people llding slight |
Iy differing ones. This | believe 10 be
true of all questions which admit Of ar
gument. | remember my attention was
first called TO 1t some years ago by beiog
told of some of the Southern women
Directly after the war they We're SO bitter
against the Northern people a whole
that they refused to look upon Yankee
making exceptions, however, Of the most
active anti slavery agitators, William Lloyd
Garrison and LovejOy.
More recently nave been reminded as
illustrating the same point. of the ancie 1t
intense hatred between jew and Samsri
tan far more intense than between the
jew and the heather nations, Vet the two
people had the same tradi ions and the
Samaritan rel gion was meant for copy
of the Jew. ! suppose the fact of its
being poor imitation made 1t seem a sort
of sacrilege to the strict Jew.
The only explanation of this trait which
| have been able to make is this: One
who differs from ourselves very strongly
we fe-l that we can respect. as looking
from very different point Of view. ard so
naturally arriving at different conclusions.
| But one who comes very near to us, but
| not quite. we feel has made failure, and
we mingle contempt with disappointment.
| When family differences arise is it not
| often the case that great bitterness S
caused by acts which would not have been
| considered unforgivahle If perpetrated by
stranger? Simply because more is ex-
pected of ones own, and the dssppoint-
| ment is proportionately harder To bear
| | have somewhere read that those traits
which we condemn in others are apt to be
| exaggerations of our own weak points;
| circumstances have been such as to bring
them forward in one and retard their de-
| velopment in others / cannot believe
| that this is an invariable rule, but am re-
| minded Of a very small boy whose hair
was the most brilliant red | ever saw who
gave as good and sufficient reason for a
violent dislike for a little girl of his ac-