Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-03-01
Soured Men and Women.


And the brooches. and all that
Are so queer,
Yes. blithe. twinkling Oliver Wendell
Holmes. II would be sin Tor you TO
sit and grin" at the shattered wreck
az an old man who was once inc I"tr
in beauty ana manly courage 81 the
best-that is. II all you did was To sit
and grin at him Never on any su'h
score would YOU hay" com" ~ h"s'I"
50 close as poet Ia tn" hearts ~ th"n-
sands But ever in close contact with
your humorous smile. there lurk"d a
tear through which coruscai"d from 4
spiritual sun the beams ~ love. ply
and the sense Of pathos In your case.
as in all. Il holds true how equally a
transient Jest may be the settled marx
IF a shallow and barren heart ~ the
Instructive relief ~ 4 heart sufus"d
with rity In the first case IL hardcnS
ana degradcs the mind. in the second
1t uuickens and in the end enrlchcs.
the mind. For
The messy marbles rest
On the lips that hr has prrst
In their bloom.
And the names he loved t. hear
Have been carved for many year
On the tomb.
Without quip. crank ana humor hu-
man life would become intolcrahl'
With nothing but them 1t would be-
come more unbearable than an idiot
asylum, Terrible as 1t il I" have 70
live with Il confirmed melancholiac, TO
live with an everlasting jester sinks
the mind to a deeper abyss Of gloom.
Pleasant enough Ii may be to look for
an idle hour at the antics Of monkey
cage. But. heavens, what would il
prove to be shut up. month in. month
out. with it's cternally friskv inmates
by night and by dav, in interminahlc
jocosity, subjected to being twcakcd all
over in ears and tail and fur. with
never moment for quiet contempla-
ton or an hour Of effusive tenderness
The sole reason why monkeys are 50
shallow. heartless. gibbering and ma
licious is that they are never capab
Of a serious thought. High geologic
and biologic time was il that some OF
them should be evolved into les ever
lasting larking beings-in fine. into
man.
That pendulum between a smile and
tear"
In view of all this, therefore 1t be-
comes a problem Of vast practical i'm
port to all. on their journey through
life to settle the question of what they
ought to laugh at and what they ought
to cry over Neither Democritue. the
laughing philosopher. who spent his
whole life in guying the Thracians for
ii pir StuniIitT tho u.pf,inu r,hilpG
opher. Heracltus. who spent his in
hysteric tears over the absurdity of
man in thinking to measure the inf
mite with his odd little inch worm OF a
mind. are satisfactory guides for us.
What We crave is "A judicious mixture.
a sort Of "arf and arr Of the two We
do not want to laugh at funerals. nor
cry at weddings-even though these
last are sometimes anything but hilari-
Gus affairs.
Only the other day The Boston
Herald called attention to a brilliant
article of Senator Beveridcc in the
Saturday Evening Post on the subject
Of facing the world at 80 and that. too.
after crushing rcverSes of fortune and
bitter sense of past failure. Above
all, don't get soured." was the sena-
tors earnest plea. THAT attitude OF
character is an acid that will destroy
all hope of success Keep Yourself
sweet. no matter how paltry your APP
parent achievements"
II know il is sin
For me to sit and grin
At him here
Alas! how many people are there in
: h, "A
when they come in contact with a man
or woman whom the sharp fate of life
has thoroughly soured? How many
take in the tragic side Of the case? In
all ages soured people have been the
favorite butt Of the stage at whose
appearance the many headed pit would
be sure to rise in tumultuouS acclaim.
Even Rip Van Wrinkles wife, the very
mothers milk in her breasts turned to
sour whey as she looks at her ragged
unkempt children. at the farm all gone
to hriars and thistles. and at her do
nothing. drunken husband is only as
fair game for the theatres sport as for
the mob bear baited to impotent fury
by yelping dogs. What fun to hear
her TRADES. Let her rip, Nancy.
Yes. there is a comic side to Sourei
people. Just as much as there is to an
ante drunken fellow or to an insan.,
man seriously persuaded that he is il
fragile glass bottle or Julius Caesar in
person. 1t is sin TO laugh at either
But the old three cornercd hat,
And the breeches and all that.
Are so queer"
SO Let poor human nature have its fair
range Of tethcr. and enjoy the tickle OF
the iopsided attempt at impressive dig
nifty OF gait. or of the topsyturvy alb
surdity of the odd dclusion.