The record-union., 1896-08-16
SOME RAMBLING THOUGHTS.
BY MEMO.

(Copyrighted)
Penned by a layman in the spare mo-
ments of a busy career, and dedicated to
a better understanding of life and its
varied opportunities)
A doctor finds it comparatively pleas
ant and very easy to write nauseating
prescription, for to the patient alone
belongs the distress and disgust at
swallowing it. So it is a simple matter
to sit here in my armchair and scrawl
moral prescription for those weak and
failing ones who find themselves lack
ing in good influence over their fellows.
But the likeness to the doctor ends here,
for the writer and the reader are both
interested in the remedy. The phySi-
cian-patient writes it down, then, in
one word, a compound: Self conquest"
Such clearly defined remedy! AL
most as simple as bathing in the Pool
of Sloan for blindness or in the Jordan
for leprosy! In that compound word,
however, lies an infinitude of power,
just as within the lifeless coal lies DOR
fnant the fierceness of prehistoric sun
shine, or within the sparkling water
the energy of steam, or within the sum-
force of electricity To release the pow
er of each proper environment is needed.
70 set free the might that turks within
self-conquest, the suitable environment
is human heart; and that heart yours.
One Is tempted to indulge in the stilted
phraSeology of the quack-medicine pur-
veyor and style this remedy a panacea.
1t is heart tonic so valuable and so
lacking in harmful reactions that it
cannot be abused by too much use; so
unaffected by latitude that it's cures are
equally apparent in the snow hut of the
Laplander and under the palm thatched
home of the Carib; so adaptive that
both sexes, the old and the young, the
mighty and the humble, the well-fed
and the hungry, the wise and the fool
ish. the saint and the sinner-all derive
benefit from a free use Of this one un-
failing remedy.
With human beings, unlike the ami
mails, obedience to the dictates of in
stlnct invariably leads aStray and eX-
poses our natures to the virus of pride,
selhshness, gluttony and sensuality
While these poiSons are creeping
| through our veins and doing to death,
| as 1t were, the warriors for good, the
White corpuscles of our moral blood, we
| have no power. We may for awhile by
our fair-appearing exterior deceive our
neighbors as to our heart condition. we
| may even throw convenient dust in our
own spiritual eyes, but when some su-
preme moment of life comes then shall
we fail, and ignominiously Just when
! iC cA,.;%
mast snaps in a gale, the bridge yields
at the moment that human freight is
trusting to it.
| Reforms and churches-one needs
must mention both, since they are not
synonyms-are made up of individuals
and the altitude or degradation of those
individuals is the measure of the power
or both the reform and the church No
| Wild ylelder to lust is a gain to the mem
| bersh1p of the age of consent reform
no self-seeker is of advantage to the
bands of the wretched who are waiting
for their.rights; no church member who
with one hand grinds the face of the
| poor, and with the other applies the
moral vaseline Of a generous contribu-
ton to soup-kitchens and missions is
of value to the church that throws its
/ simple, trusting and statistically- -anx-
ious arms around him. The trite old
illustrations Of water being unable to
rise above it's level, and the chain be-
ing no stronger than It's weakest link,
apply here. Let us not be deceived!
1t is character that tells in this world,
ana no character except that of the
animals comes from yielding unques-
| tlcnlng obedience to our instincts On
our human side we have the powers of
reason, of aspiration, of DEVELOPMENT,
OF growth. But SO long as we grovel in
| mere physical impulses, whether they
be OF acquisition, of Incidence, or of
hedonlsm-pleasure seeking Of every
klnd-We turn our backs upon every
thing that is grand in human nature
and remain on the level of the monkey,
or the sloth, or the barnyard fowl. In
truth, we are worse than they because
our instincts are given US to be placed
under our feet and used as stepping
stones to power, instead of serving as
mere runways to mire.
The way to possess power without is
to have it within. The way to be strong
in sorties upon the foes outside our
walls is to be sure of the death of trait
ors within. But it is hard to deny and
deny, and still again deny oneself, -
says querulous voice. Of course it is
So is 1t harder to fight than to bend
supinely to the blow; so it is harder to
| force our way against torrent than
to yield to it's onrush and perish so is
it more toilsome to climb steep ascent
| than to glide down it corpse on the
roaring crest of an avalanche Yet who
that claims kinship to manhood would
| cease struggling in these physical di-
rections so long as a spark of life re-
mained. The feeble pen that is followed
by so many eyes halts and hesitates here
ard questions whether this may not all
be too serious and too sermonic for a
newspaper column. The answer comes
NO; for the press is called to be pow
err" And the negative is confirmed by
a growing sound that smites the psychic
ear, a murmur that swells into an in
finite agony of vain regret; it is the
voice of all, as one, whose brightest
prospects have vanished, whose powers
for good have been overcome by yield
ing to unholy ambition, to the mere
making Of wealth, to the killing of time
to the lowering of the human standard
till it became a parody and caricature
OF all that is disgusting in the animal
These are they whose bodies conquered
their souls and permitted no deeds OF
value tI our race. BY their vair
brea -1ings, by their chained and man