The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1897-09-24


doubt about where the river empties.
but there can be no doubt about the
Tact that we are sailing on Il. SO am
not surprised that everybody asks the
question. Is life worth living7"
solomon In his unhappy moments.
says Il is not Vanity" "vexation Of
spirit" mo good" are his estimate.
The fact is that Solomon was at one
time a polygamist. and that soured his
disposition. One wife makes a man
happy; more than one makes him
wretched. But Solomon was converted
from polygamy 10 monogamy. and the
last words he ever wrote. a. far as we
can read thom. were the words noun
iains Of spices" But jeremiah says
life IA worth living In a book sup
posed 10 be doleful. and lugubrlous. and
repulchral. aud entitled "Lamenta-
lions" he plainly lntimates that the
blessing Of merely living Ia so great
and grand a blessing that though a
man have piled on him all misfortunes
and disasters be has no right to COM
plain. The ancient prophet cries out
10 startling intonatlon to all lands and
10 an centuries. Wherefore doth a
living man complaint"
A diversity OF opinion IN our time as
well as In olden time. Here Ia a
Young man Of light hair and blue eyes
and sound digestion. and generous sal
airy, and happily afianced. and on tho
way to become a partner In a CONNER
cial arm Of which he Is an important
clerk. Ask him whether lie IL worth
living lie will laugh In your face
and say. Yes. yes. yosi" Here q a
man who has come to the forties lie
h At the tlp-top Of the Hill OF life Ev-
cry step has been a stumble and a
hruise. The people he trusted have
turned out deseriers. and money he has
honestly made he has been cheated out
Of His nerves are out OF tune. lie
has poor appetite and the food he
does eat does not asslmllate. Forty
miles climbing up the hill Of life have
been TO him like climbing the Matter
horn. and there are forty miles yet to
50 down. and descent Is always more
dangerous than ascent. AJAX him
whether NE IL worth living. and he
VII drawl out In shiverlng and lugu-
brious and appalling negative. mo. no.
nor
How are We 10 decide the matter
fighieously and intelllgently1 You
Will ind the same man vaclllatlng. os-
riilating In his opinion from detection
70 exubcrance. and n be be very mer-
rurial In his temperament Il will de-
pend very much on which way the
wind blowa tif the wind blows from
The northwest and you ask him. he
VIII say. Yes" and II Il blow from the
northeast and you ask him he will say.
No" How are we then 20 get the
question rlghteously answered. Sup
pose We call all nations together In a
great convention on eastern or western
hemisphere. and let all those who are
IN the Affirmative say AYE" and all
those who are Ia the negative say mo"
While there would be hundreds OF
thousands who would answer In the AZ
hrmative. there would be more millions
who would answer In the negative. and
because Of the greater number Who
have sorrow. and misfortune. and trou-
bic. the Noes" would have Il. The
answer I shall give will be different
IRON either. and yet Il will commend
itsslf 10 all who hear me this day a.
The right answer. II you ask me, is
life worth livingi" answer, Il an de-
ponds upon the kind OF life you live.
In the hrat place. remark that a life
Of mere money getting IL always a fall
ure. because you will never get az much
a. you want The poorest people in
this country are the milllonaires. There
Il not a scissors grinder on the streets
Of New York or Brooklyn who Il 40
anxious to make money a. these men
who have piled up fortunes year after
year IN atorehouses. IN government Sc
eurltles. In tenement houses, IN whole
city blocks You ought to see them
Jump when they hear the Gre bell ring.
You ought 20 see them In their excite
ment when a bank explodes. You
ought 20 see their agitation when there
4 proposed a reformation In the tarln.
Their nerves tremblo like harp strings.
hut no music Ia the vibration. They
read the reports from Wall street "a
the morning with a Government that
threatens paralysis or apoplexy. or.
more probably. they have q telegraph
or q telephone In their own house. 80
they catch every breath OF change IN
the money market The disease Of ac-
emulation has eaten into them-eaton
Into their heart. into their lungs, into
their spleen. into their liver. into their
bones.
Chemists have sometimes analysed
The human body. and they say Il IL 30
much maEnesia. 10 much lime, 20 much
chlorato Of potassium. n some Chris
tian chemist would analyzo one OF
these financial behomoths he would
and he was made up OF copper. and
GOLD and silver. and Elnc. and lead
and coal. and iron That b not a life
worth living. There are too many
earthquakes In a. too many agonlos In
Il. too many perditlons IN a. They
build their castles. and they open their
picture galleries. and they summon
prlma donnas. and they ofier every In
ducement for happiness 10 come and
live there. but happiness viii not come.
They send footmanned and postillloned
eQulpage 10 bring her; she win not ride
20 their door. They send prlncely e.
cort: she win not take their arm. They
make their gateways triumphal arches;
she will not ride under them. They
set q golden thrUne before a golden
plate; she turns away from the ban
ouol They call 70 her from uphol-
stored balcony: she win not listen.
Mark you. this Il the failure OF those
Who have had large accumulation.