Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1898-11-26
The Dcscrt of sorroyv.


The fact is that as Caleb, the father
gave Achsah. the daughter, q south
land, so God gives to US his world. l
am very thankful he has given it to u.s.
But nm like Achsah in the fact that
am not satisfied with the portion. Trees
and flowers and grass and blue skies are
very we'll in their places, but he who
has nothing but this world for portion
has no portion at all 1t is q mountain
Gus land, sloping off toward the desert
Of sorrow, swept by fiery siroccos; it is
"a south land, a poor portion for any
man that tries to put his trust in It,
What has been your experience? What
has been the experience of every man,
of every woman, that has tried this
world for portion? Queen Elizabeth,
amid the surroundings of pomp, is un-
happy because the painter sketches too
infinitely the wrinkles on her face, and
she Indignantly cries out, You must
strike off my likeness without any
shadowsr' Hogarth, at the very height
of his artistic triumph, is stung almost
to death with chagrin because the
painting be had dedicated to the king
does not seem to he acceptable, for
George II cries out: WHO is this Ho-
garth? Take his trumpery out of my
presence. Z"
Brinsley Sheridan thrilled the earth
with his eloquence. but had for his last
words, liam absolutely undone. +" Wal
ter Scott, fun bling u. ound the inkstand,
trying to write, says TO his daughter
"Oh, take me back to my room There
is no rest for Sir Walter but in the
gravel" Stephen Girard, the wealthiest
man in his day, or at any rate only sec
ond in wealth, says: II live the life OF
galley slave. When 1 arise in the
morning, my one effort is to work SO
hard that can sleep when it gets to be
night. Charles Lamb applauded OF all
the world, in the very midst of his lit
erary triumph says: "Do you remem-
Der, Bridget, when we used to laugh
from the shilling gallery at the play!
There are now no good plays to laugh
at from the boxes +" But why go so far
as that? l need to go no farther than
your street to find an illustration OF
what I am saying.
Pick me out ten successful worldllngs
and You know what l mean by thor
oughly successful worldlings-pick me
out ten successful worldlings and you
cannot find more than one that looks
happy. Care drags him to business; care
drags him back. Take your stand at 2
o'clock at the corner of the streets and
see the agonized physiognomies. Your
high officials, your bankers, your insur-
ance men, your importers, your whole
salerH and your retailers as class-as
class. are they happy? No. Care dogs
their steps, and making no appeal to
God for help or comfort many of them
are tossed every whittier How has it
been with you, my nearer? Are you
more coptented in the house of rooms
than you were in tho two rooms you
had in a Lnuso when you started: Have
You not hau more care and worriment
since you won that 500 600 than you
ala before! Some of the poorest men 1
have ever known have been those OF
great fortune. A man of small means
may be put in great business straits,
but the ghastliest of all embarrassments
is that of the man who has large es-
tates. The men who commit suicide be-
cause of monetary losses are those who
cannot bear the burden any more be-.
cause they have only $780, 900 left.
The Vnnities of Life.
On Bowling Green, New York, there
is a house where Talleyrand used TO 90