The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1896-06-03

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don't want 10 be a common soldier
carrying halberd across the stage. or
a falconer, or mere attendant, and
so they lounge about the scenes till
they shall De called to be something
great. After awhile, by some accident
or prosperity Or circumstances, they
get into the place for which they have
no qualification, and very soon, if the
man bea merchant, he is going around
asking his creditors to compromise for
10 cents on the dollar, OR, if clergy
man, he is making TRADES against the
ingratitude Of churches, or, II an at
torney by unskillful management he
looses case by which widows and
orphans are roooed of their portion,
or. if a physician, he, by malpractice,
gives his patient rapid transit from
this world to the next. Our lncom-
petent friend would have made pas
sable horse doctor, but he wanted to
ne professor of anatomy in unlversl-
tv He could have sold enough con-
fectionery to have supported his faml,
w. but he wanted 10 have sugar re-
fnery like the Havemeyers. He
could have meuded shoes, bat he
wanted to amend the constitution Of
the United States. Toward the end
OF life these people are out OF patience,
out of money, out Of friends, out Of
everything. They 60 to the poor
house, or keep out of it by running in
debt to all the grocery and dry goods
stores that will trust them. People
begin to wonder when the curtain
will drop on the scene. After awhile,
leaving nothing but their compliments
to pay doctor, undertaken and Gabriel
Grubb, the grave digger, they disap-
pear. Exeunt! Kissed off the stage.
Others fail in the drama of life
through demonstrated salhshness.
They make all the rivers empty into
their sea, all the roads OF emolument
end at their door, and they gather ali
the plumes of honor for their brow.
They help no one. encourage no
one, rescue no one. 'How big
a pile of money can get2' and
''How much of the world can l
absorb" are the chief questions. They
feel about the common people as the
Turks felt toward the Asapi, or COM
mon soldiers, considering them of no
use except to FIJI up the bitches with
their dead bodies while the other
troops walked over them to take the
fort. After awhile this prince of
worldly success is sick. The only in.
terest society has in his illness is the
effect that his possible decease may
have on the money markets. After
awhile he dies. Great newspaper
capitals announce how he started
with nothing and ended witA every
thing. Although for sake of appar-
ance some people put handkerchiefs
to the eye, there is not one genuine
tear shed. The heirs sit up all night
when he lies in state, discussing what
the old fellow has probably done with
his money. 1t takes all the livery
stables within two miles to furnish
funeral equipages, and all the mourn
ing stores are kept busy in selling
weeds of grief. The stone cutters send
in proposals for a monument. The
ministers at the obsequies reads OF the
resurrection, which makes the hear
ers fear that if the unscrupulous hnan-
cier does not come upin general ris-
ing he will try to get a corner" on
ombstones and graveyard fence: All
good men are glad that the moral null
sance has been removed. The Wall
street spectators are glad because
there is more room for themselves.
The heirs are glad because they get
possession of the long delayed inherl:
tance. Dropping every feather OF all
his plumes, every certificate of all his
stock, every bond Of all his invest
ments, every dollar of all his fortune:
he departs, and all the rolling OF
Dead March" in SAUL" and all the
pageantry of his interment, and all
the exquisiteness of sarcophagus, and
all the extravigance of fepuitap phology,
cannot hide the fact that my text has
come again to tremendous fulfllment,
MEN shall clap their hands at him
and shall hiss him out Of his place.
You seet the clapping comes before
the hiss. Tho world cheers before 1t
damns. So it is said the deadly asp
tickles before it stings. Going up, is
hee Hurrah. Stand back and let his
galloping horses dash by, a whirlwinc
of plated harness and tinkling head.
gear and arched neck! Drink deep OF
bis MADEIRA and cognac! Boast OF
how well you know him! All hats
off as he passes, Bask for days and
years in the sunlight of his prosperity!
Going down, is he2 Pretend to be
near-sighted, so that you cannot see
him as he walks past. When men
ask you if you know him, halt and
hesitate as though you were trying to
call up a dim memory and say: well
yes, yes. I believe I once did know
him, but have not seen him for long
while" Cross different ferry from
the one where you use to meet him
lest he ask for financial help. When
you started life he spoke good word
for you at the bank. Talk down his
credit now that his fortunes are col
lapsing. He put-his name on two of
your notes. Tell him that you nave
changed your mind about such things,
and that you never indorse. After
awhile his matters come to dead halt,
and an assignment or suspension or
sheriff's sale takes place: You say:
He ought to have stopped sooner.
Just as l expected. He made too big
q splash in the world. Glad the bal
loon has.bur Ha, ha!" Applause
when he went up, sibilant derision
when he came down. Men shall
clap their hands at him and hiss him
ou! of MS place" So, high up amid
the crags, the eagle hutters dust into
the eyes of the roebuck, which then,
with eyes blinded, goes tumbling over
the precipice, the great antlers crash
ing on the rocks.
Now, compare some Of these goings
out of life with the departure of men
and women who. in the drama of life,