The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1895-11-07

Harpcr's Bo-ar.
/ There are such degrees anI grade In
everything that ore is sometimes tempt
cd - ihink nature doc no; laoa af.o
getLer with reproha;ion Oh the prc.cn.
,ions of tAe cii,nhce or. at any rate, oa
those who aspire towards eminemce %
one sort or another. 70. aspiration
seems To bc normal state. The iifst
cell needs add another - Itself. uat he
come a finer thing than the single
cells swimming round in M unchanged
condition. The mineral must needs
di>!ntegrate and become the vegetable
the vegetable here and there aSpires u
become the animal. scientists telling
Us OF certain ones which move and
breath and have their being after the
nature Of animals there are certain Of
the orchids which, if they do not aspire
to be pees and butterflies, yet have all
the appearance Of such effort and Ger
I'd II IL ~ bC iipl'Ni vi man IiIIiINt4i
that aspires TO the plane of the angels
Why, then, should we look with
Scorn on the attempts of individuals to
lift themselves in the social scale
Why should not the young tyro IN art
look at the one whom Du Maurier des-
cribes as the real aristocrat, with the
determination some day to be his fel-
low? Why should not the young girl
look on the grande dame and resolve
to model herself on that lady's perfec-
lions? Why should not the new poet
be filled with divine despair over the
music of Milton yet pour out his own
song with an effort the while to draw
into himself the higher inspiration !
It is all in the llne of development, of
eyolution--the desire OF the moth for
the star, the wish to reach the heights
which we feel belong to us, however
humble and common we may be, and
which eventually, IN the eternal years
Of God, are to be ours.
We do not associate this desire of the
moth for the star with Mrs. Wilfer's
delight IN the confusion OF the neigh
bors but after 4 very poor and dim
fashion, perhans, it was there, for IT
was the desire to have the neighbors
think she was all she fancicd it might
be fine to be, and that is the first step
usually in becoming all that it is fine
to be. When Nora leaves the work to
90 to a funeral III her family, even
althaNgh you find the relationship was
very distant, YOU can not but regard
kindly the ambition that will let her
try to do nothing unworthy OF the sis
ter-in-law of the sister-in-law OF tie
sister-in-law of the priest, let domestic
matters suffer from her absence on this
especial occasion as they may.
But in fact all ambitions are growth
The climbing plant teeIs support In
its neighborhood, and puts out its ten
drills and clasps it, md straightens itself
for further length OF stem. instead OF
idle wandering on the air and ambi-
tons and aspirations are like the clasp
Of that tendrll the push of that sap into
higher ligh,. Nora's pride in her con
nectiOn makes her cultivate in herself
the manners of her superios, If nothing
more, and when she has children it
makes her strive to give them the edu-
cation which levels upward And the
painters and the poets ambition, even
when it is merely the poor and person
al desire to excel, is better than sluggish
content, tor the effort opens thousand
avenues that may be followed up if one
will. To be devoid of ambition is to
sink. To have ambition and TO eXer-
else it is to rise by so much even a low
ambition being better in its effect on
character than no ambition at all for
if the unworthy ambition i9 merely
the desire Of the unworthy nature, it i
still the desire to rise from low estate
TO one that is better and therefore
higher, and j perhaps the first step OF
that poor nature IN the path OF true
advancement.
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