Poi.itioatj Like.
95
r
F'
mercy of the elements. Having no end
in viow, no lwirlior to reach, he drifts idly
down the stream, borne along by tlio cur.
rent. He has no ennobling motive impel
ling him onward, nothing dial will give
him strength to battle for the right. Can
such a one live a successful life? Will
the verdict at its close bo "well done J"
Does lie live in the true sense of the word?
Does he know what life is? For, as " po.
dry is older than criticism, so philosophy
is older than metaphysics, and these
mysterious questions of our being, our
lives and to what purpose we live are ever
before us and within us, and even the lit.
tie child, as it begins to prattle, makes in
quiries which the pride of learning can
not solve." Is not every life made broad,
er and nobler that rests upon a sure foun
dation? That has some deliuite end in
viow? something to gain or lose, some
thing in the scales which may turn eithir
way ?
History teaches us that not one of all
that brilliant coterie which site de
lights to honor ever reached their emmi.
nenco without some object in life, some
thing always above and beyond, ever
pointing upward and onward. And these
nobler "instincts ol humanity are ever the
same. Those exalted hopes which have
dignified former generations of men arc to
be renewed as long as the human heart
shall throb. The visions of Plato are but
revived in the dreams of Sir Thomas
Moore."
Then, having your own canoe, do your
own paddling; for no one bus ever attain,
ed to eminence who employed some one
else to do this tor him. Do you suppose
that Napoleon or Wellington would ever
have achieved their greai victories if thoj'
hud left tlio paddling to their generals?
And in science, no less than in tlio art of
war, must men work for themselves. New
ton would never have demonstrated to the
world the system governing tlio universe,
nor Franklin have drawn electricity from
the clouds, the world, to-day, woi Id not
cherish with so much pride all those bril
liant names that shine so brightly on the
scroll of fame, had their owners posscsed
less strength to guide in safely their pre
cious barks. There never would have
been a George Sand or Florence Nighten
gale, the Noith would never have had an
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" to aid them in their
struggle, nor Mrs. Browning or Margaret
Fuller, had these canoes been left to tloat
Idly down the stream of life without that
brave energetic paddling which made
their owners famous men and women.
The History of nations, no less than of
individuals, illustrates our subject. The
car)' annals of Connecticut in her inde
pendence are in striking contrast to those
of Virginia as a royal piovincc. The for.
mer started out upon her career energetic
ally puddling her own canoe among the
aborigines of the country. But the latter
trammeled from the first by royal govern
ors, was in a continous tumult.
So many barks starling out with every
sail spread in the brigli'mss of the morn
ing, before the meridian has been passed
are capsized in the storm and sink to the
bottom.
Life is the sea to you, but the night is
often dark, the waves high, the wind rough.
But let your canoo bo staunch and tight
and with a steady hand pilot it onward'
and you will reach, at last tlio harbor in
safety. May IV. FAiimKLO.
POLITICAL LIFE.
When a man enters political life, ho is
immediately branded ns, if not a rascal,
at least as a suspicious character, and
every one appears to think he has a per
fect right to repeat all the old charges
against a politician that ho may have
heard: and he thinks it his bouuden duty
to add a little hero and there to the old
story to round out the form, and inuko it
more prescntablo to tlio hearer. So a
man is aware when ho enters the political
arena, that iio will have adversaries on all
sides to contend against, and many who
are not particular about the weapons they