Connecticut western news., 1894-07-26

ueSS, tuey VIII nave tO lb anu take the abuse, and the falsehood, and the caricature, and the anathema, and the caterwauling, and the filth, and they will be rolled in 1t and rolled over and over ill it until they are choked and submerged and strangulated, and at every sign of returning consciousness they will be parked at by all the hounds of political parties from ocean to ocean
 And yet there are hundred men to- day struggling for that privilege, and plere are thousands of men who are helping them in the struggle. Now, that is not life worth living. You can get slandered and abused cheaper than thati Take it on smaller scale. Do not be so ambitious to have whole res ervoir rolled over on you. But what you see in the matter of high political pref erment you see in every community in the struggle for what is called socal po- sition.
 Social Ambitions.
 Tens of thousands of people trying to get into that realm, and they are under terrific tension. What is social position? It is difficult thing to define,- but we all know what it is. Good morals and intelligence are not necessary, but wealth or the show of wealth is abso
 lutely indispensable. There are men to-
 day as notorious for their ibertinism as the night is famous for its darkness who move in what is called high social posi- tion- There are hundreds of out and out rakes in American society whose names are mentioned among the distinguished guests at the great levees. They have annexed all the known vices and are longing for other worlds of diabolism to conquer. Good morals are not neces- sary in many of the exalted circles of society
 Neither is intelligence necessary. You find in that realm men who would not know an adverb from an adjective if they met it a hundred times day and who could not write letter of accept ance or regrets without the aid of sec retary They buy their libraries by the square yard, only anxious to have the binding Russian. Their ignorance is positively sublime, making English grammar almost disreputable, and yet the finest parlors open before them. Good morals and intelligence arc not necessary, but wealth or a show of wealth is positively indispensable. It does not make any difference how you got your wealth if you only get it. The best way for you to get into social posi-. tion is for you to buy large amount on credit, then put your property in your wife's name, have a few preferred creditors and then make an assignment Then disappear from the community un- til the breeze Is over and then come back and start in the same business Do you not see how beautifully that will put out all the people who are in compe- tition with you and trying to make an honest living? How quickly it will get you into high social positiont What is the use of 40 or 50 years of hard work when you can by two or three bright strokes make great fortune? Ah, my friends, when you really lose your mon ey how quick they will let you drop, and the higher you get the harder you | will drop
 There are thousands today in that realm who are anxious to keep in it There are thousands in that realm who are nervous for fear they will fall out of it, and there are oh hanges go- ing on every year and every month and every hour which involve heartbreaks that are never reported High social life is constantly in a flutter about the deli cate question as to whom they shall let in and whom they shall push out, and the battle is going on-pier mirror against pier mirror, chandelier against chandelier, wine cellar against wine cellar, wardrobe against wardrobe, equi- page against equipage Uncertainty and insecurity dominant in that realm, wretchedness enthroned, torture at premium and life not worth living. A life of sin, life of pride, 8 life of indulgence, life of worldliness, life devoted to the world, the flesh and the devil is a failure, dead failure, an in- finite failure. care not how many pres ents you sent to that cradle, or how many garlands you send to that grave, | you need to put right under the name on the tombstone this inscription, Bet ! ter for that man if he had never been l born" | Living That Is Worth Something. But l shall show you life that is | worth living A young man says: 'I | |
 ancestry Others decided that. I am
 not responsible for my temperament; I God gave me that But here I am, in
 the afternoon of the nineteenth century,
 at 20 years of age. am here. and
 must take an account of stock. Here 1
 have 8 body which is a divinely con-
 structed engine I must put It to the | very best uses, and I must allow noth-
 ing to damage this rarest of machinery. Two feet, and they mean locomotion-
 Two eyes. and they mean capacity to pick out my own way. Two ears, and they are telephones of communication with all the outside world. and they | mean capacity to catch sweetest music and the voices of friendship-the very
 best music. A tongue, with almost in- finity of articulation. Yes, hands with which to welcome or resist or lift or
 Emite or wave or bless-hands to help
 myself and help others.
 Here is a world which after 5000
 years of battling with tempest and acoi-
 dent is still grander than any architect,
 human or angelic, could have drafted
 I have two lamps to light me-a golden
 lamp and silver lamp-a golden lamp set on the sapphire mantel of the day, a
 silver lamp set on the jet manteP of the
 night Yea, have that at 90 years of
 age which defies all inventory of valua-
 bles-a soul with capacity to choose or
 reject, to rejoice or to suffer, to love or
 to hate Plato says it is immortal Sen
 eca says it is immortal. Confucius says
 it is immortal An old book among the
 family relics, book with leathern cov-
 CT almost worn out and pages almost
 obliterated by oft perusal, joins the other
 books in saying am immortal I have
 80 years for lifetime, 60 years yet to
 live. may not live an hour, but then
 l must lay out my plans intelligently
 and for a long life Sixty years added
 to the 20 have already lived-that will l tc, QQ