The Hawaiian gazette., 1900-06-29
THE BOARD AND THE VELVET.


"a throne" said Napoleon, is a
board covered with velvet"
Strip the velvet from the throne, and
you have nothing left but bare, vulgar
boards; replace the velvet and you have
the most coveted symbol of human
power and glory. How easy the tran
sition, how vast the difference!
There is no operation in chemistry
more sharp and sudden than that in
human life whereby extremes of feel
ing follow each other-tears rarefying
into smiles and smiles condensing into
tears.
Is happiness, or is power, so poor a
thing, then, that it drops into it's anti
thesis at touch?-at a breath? Let
us not be too hasty with our answer,
as we may be wrong. The great
French Emperor was cynical fellow,
and right we'll he loved a throne, even
though it tcdS only an upholstered
board.
And we all love life and it's blessings
even though they are uncertain and
shaky.
Hence, when we hear man say, 81
had no pleasure in life, and did not care
iChdt became of me-" we are interested
to know the reason why.
The person from whom we quote
these words explains himself thus:
For over two years." he tells us, 81
suffered from loss of appetite, sleep
leSsness, and nervousness. Prior to
May, 1894, l had always been strong
and hearty. At this time l began to
feel that something had come over me
i felt so low and weak. After eating
my face would flush, and the food gave
me great pain across my chest and at
the left side. / had cutting pain
around the heart, and bad attacks of
palpitation."
| beg to interrupt our good friend a
moment at this point. The burning of
barn or a hayrick may make a big
ger blaze than the burning of the cot
tage we live in. But the latter alarms
and eXctes us most because we do live
in it. On the same principle a very
painful ailment of the hand or foot
may cause little or no mental anxiety,
while disturbance of the hearts ac-
ton does, for the heart is one of the
three houses which life resides in, the
other two being the brain and the
lungs. Yet, as generally happens in
so-called heart troubles, the worry was
needless, as we shall presently see.
For weeks together" continues the
narrator, 81 got no proper sleep, and,
in truth SO bad was this condition that
dreaded going TO bed. My nerves were
thoroughly unstrung, and affected the
left side of my face, which was quite
facial neuralgia.
"As time went on / grew to be so low
and miserable that / had no pleasure
in life, and did not care what became
of me. / consulted doctor, but none
of his medicines helped me. Better
and worse, continued to suffer, until
a friend told me about Mother Seigel's
Curative Syrup, and persuaded me to
try 1t. I got a bottle from Mr.. Pull
ham, Grocer, Spring Road, and after
taking 1t short time / felt 1t was do
ing me good. slept we'll, and had less
distress after meals. This encouraged
me to persevere with it, and gradually
l got stronger. and the nerve pains
wore away. i0i0 enjoy good health,
and have recommended this medicine
to many of my customers. You can
publish this statement as you like.
(Signed) Harry Wenden, Hairdresser,
III Spring Road, st. Johns, Ipswich,
July 18th, 1896"
Mr.. Wenden's explanation of his loss
of life's pleasure is commonplace after
all. And yet how much more impor-
tant than if 1t were unique or excep-
tional; because the commonplace is the
universal. 1t is disease my gentle
reader. that tears the velvet from
thrones, that robs the cottager of his
sleep, that makes the baby cry in its
cradle. that strips the strong man of
his vigour, that wipes the bloom from
the cheeks of fair women, that hurries
humanity to the churchyard with
bowed heads and bleeding feet. And
the most pitiless ogre of all diseases
is the one from which Mr.. Wenden suf-
fered, and which Mother Seigels Sy-
rup cures-indigestion, dyspepsia.
Even without the velvet, Health is the
best of thrones, and this great remedy
helps to keep you seated safely and
happily upon IL.