The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1902-06-07
ABOUT SUCCESS.

The question propounded in this
headline is as old as the hills, and yet
an unsolved one in popular arithme-
tic, logic and convictions. Every
day we hear ringing in our ears,
nothing succeeds like success. "
This is only another way of saying
that ordinary success vindicates its
own methods. So the man gets Of
fee by money, the sycophant who
wins at the expense of a better man,
the corporation which gets rich by
plundering the public, the lion of
finance who lives off the lambs he
has deceived, the man, in short, who
wins by trickery, fraud and all the
lower and basest of human motives is
justified in his acts by the saying just
quoted. To put such maxim into
a young mans catechism and con-
vince him with the idea that if he ac-
complishes his purposes, however
despicable the means he uses, the
world will ask nothing more, it will be
just as fatal to his character as it
would be to his body to drive knife
into his heart. We know as matter
of fact that in everyday observation
there is kind of apparent success
which spells defeat and an apparent
defeat which merits the p1audits of
the living and will meet the approba-
tion of the hereafter. In the long
run, as matter of policy, if not of
heart feeling and natural incentive, it
is always best to be ma ly, bold and
honest. A lie is apt to come home to
sleep and bring with it large brood
of unpleasant memories, and the man
who cheats cheats himself out of more
than he cheats his neighbor. To be
straightforward is worth something,
and especially in times when tempta-
tions are both many and strong. 1t
is a beautiful world and at the same
time an almost cruel world. That is
to say, it is governed by law and the
law is inexorable. There are no cir
cumstances under which you can
gather figs from thistles. The uni
verse is built on the basis of honesty,
and dishonesty finds no nook or cor
ner in which to hide itself.
Many will deny this, or, rather, de-
MUIR to it, and cite the wise man of
Holy Writ-sThe wicked flourish
like green bay tree" They will
point out the fact that many rogue
is happy; that many man deals in
crooked measures, is deceitful to
friend and foe, and, by accumulating
little money, has the respect of the
community. Ali this can be we'll
doubted, disputed and even emphati-
cally denied. Men are measured
pretty accurately in the long run, and
a man is not likely to wear his heart
on his sleeve and proclaim his regrets.
The world has not yet been turned
upside down. Every man loses un-
less his life is square. Eternal logic
runs in that direction. Wrong is al
ways wrong and right is always right.
If you look at life from that stand
point you are safe if not you are in
danger. Beneath mans reputation,
which is sometimes mere mask with
false features, is his character, his real
self. If that is not upright he has a
hornets nest in his soul and he is be-
ing stung to death. He is not at
peace with himself, is not content, is
not and cannot be happy. If this is
not true, then we have false con-
ception of the universe and the Crea-
tor and it is useless to attempt any
philosophy of morals. 1t matters not
what man seems to be, nor yet what
people say he is, if he has trampled
upon the law of ethics and periured
his own better instincts and conscience
knowingly he is not satisfied with
himself, and in consequence is not a
happy man. He has not had success
of true kind.
A well-known minister, speaking
of such man, we'll remarks "Strip
off his wealth, tear down his social
and commercial position, lay bare his
inmost soul, and what do you find I
Any material on which to build a
character fit for heaven? And yet
unless man lives for heaven he does
not live at all. This little life, a mere
hands breadth of time, is as nothing.
1t is the eternity ahead of us that
gives significance to the present, and
it is mans fitness for heaven which
stamps him as real gold or counterfeit
coin. 1t is not what we appear to be,
but what we shall honestly be when
we get there, that counts. The day
after death, when we leave all these
trappings behind us, life's falsities
and wrongs will tell the story. Earth
fading away in the distance, inn
mortality looking us in the face, ask
ing us who we are and what we are
then we shall step on the scales
and be weighed. If we are found to
be just and true and loyal the angels
will be glad to welcome us, but if we