News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1894-07-26

And yet there are hundred men to-
day struggling for that privilege, and
there 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
thatl Take it on a 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 i'll
the struggle for what is called social 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 libertinism as
the night is famous for it's darkness who
move i'll what is called high social posi-
ton. 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 nec&g-
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 hundred times day and
who could not write a letter of accept
ance or regrets without the aid of sec
rotary. They buy their libraries by the
square yard, only anxious to have tho
binding Russian. Their ignorance is
positively sublime, making English
grammar almost disreputable, and yet
the finest parlOrs open before them.
Good morals and intelligence are not
necessary, bnt wealth or a show of
wealth is positively indispensable. 1t
does not make any difference how you
got your wealth if you only get it. The
best way for yon to get into social posi-
ton 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 UNI
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 IN
honest living? How quickly it will get
you into high social position! What is
the use of 40 Or 80 years of hard work
when you can by two or three bright
strokes make great fortune? All, 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 changes 60
ing on every year and every month and
every hour which involve heartbreaks
that are never reported. High social life
is constantly in 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,
wretchednGss enthroned, torture at a
premium and life not worth living.
A life of sin, life of pride, life of
indulgence, a life of worldliness, life
devoted to the world, the flesh and the
devil is failure, dead failure, an in
finite failure. | care not how many pres
ents you cent 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
born.
Living That Is Worth Something.
But | shall show you a life that is
worth living. A young man says: 81
am here. am not responsible for my
ancestry. Others decided that. l am
not responsible for my temperament;
God gave ne that But here | am, in
the afternoon of the nineteenth century,
at 20 years of age. | am here, and
must take an account of stock. Here
have body which is divinely con-