Waterbury Democrat., 1901-02-28
DROUGHTS IN HUMAN LIFE.

The heart thrills, and the mind at- tunes Itself to the great song of the universe, as the eye looks out upon the panorama which nataure spreads before us in the flush Of early summer.
 Valleys crowned with verdure; fields of grain ready to turn to gold under the suns kiss; trees bending with the promise to be fulfilled in au- tumn; happy streams laughing and 2urgling as they leap down the hill side, and through the valleys. diffus- ing freshness and gladness in their path-make feast of lo2eliness that appeals to all living creatures.
 Too often have We witnessed the de- struction of beauty and fruitfulness like this by long seasons of drought. The Nfe-giving brooks that nourish the fields and valleys through which they passed have dried up; the grass, but short time ago so green and lux uriant, is parched and burned; the rip en1ng grain droops, and falls to the earth; the growing fruit derives no sus- tenance from the Sap1eSs branches: the song birds have abandoned the desert; and the dried-up beds Of the laughing streams wind like huge serpents through the wilderness of the disap- pointed hopes of summer.
 These droughts in nature are but prototypes of the still more deadly droughts in human life that blast the promise of springtime and summer Young men who left school or col lege in their lusty morning, strong in purpose, with ideals which, if abided by, would have hastened tho tardy steps of evolution, have become en- tangled in their own passions. and ], drought that has followed to realize the high promise of early manhood. Entering upon the great plain of life by the path of their chosen occupation or profession. they resolved to be n law unto themselves, to maintain the same high standard of honor in their dealings with other men that had in- spired the heroes of their youthful inn | aginations.
 | But. little by little. grinding contact with the world dimmed the light of |, the ideal. An ambiguous statement to one; q slight deviation from the truth | Il mere "rr-r,.A~ '--'''- --,o+har. n shrawd but somewhat questionable ''deal.'' by | which competitors were outdistanced: :: | business transaction which q court of law, sustained by some technicality or legal bubble. would declare just. but which the bar of conscience would unhesitatingly condemn-all these things. of daily and hourly occurrence in the fierce competitive struggle for existence, at first reused the indignn- tion of the youthful enthusiast Drawn into the surging whirlpool. he strug- gled for while against the adverse currents. 'r',c ts - >'o'' seemed a little muddy in complexion. the disin- genuous statement went sadly against | the grain. conscience Quailed before the questionable transaction: but
 after q time. the force of example. the ''exieencies of bnsinaSs g +r" ss"nnnire- ments of professional life,'' broke down tho barriers.
 1 Once admitted. the scorching winds of self'shnass and greed swept across the soul. shatterfng in their course the high ideals that had guarded the en- trance to the garden of the mind. The breath of nnscruDnlous ambition Dois- onad tho delicate flowers of sentiment and noble asDiratiOn +h"+ hn1 71onrnafl
 in +t,n summer morning of young man. hood. The fierce blaze of 1rrne+rn inad
 passions dried up the very wellsprings | of life. A SimoOm has passed over f he
 scene that was so fair and verdant.
 leaving in it's track an arid dnear+ The | preparation of sprino +,,o promise of
 summer. have been swallowed up in
 his drouoht in human life. more pitt less. more disastrous, than any drought in nature.