Health, Happiness, and Longevity Part 6

"One leaped up with the light, With the soaring of the lark; One felt it ever night, For his soul was ever dark.

One heart was hard as stone, One heart was ever gay; One worked with many a groan, One whistled all the day.

"One had a flower-clad cot Beside a merry mill; Wife and children near the spot Made it sweeter, fairer still.

One a wretched hovel had, Full of discord, dirt, and din, No wonder he seemed mad, Wife and children starved within.

"Still they worked in the same field, Toiled on from day to day, Both had the same hard labor, Both had the same small pay; But they worked not with one will: The reason let me tell-- Lo! the one drank at the still, And the other at the well."

(6) Embody in your lives the better idea of this poem, "Where Do You Live," by Josephine Pollard:--

"I knew a man, and his name was Horner, Who used to live on Grumble Corner: Grumble Corner, in Cross-Patch Town, And he was never seen without a frown.

He grumbled at this; he grumbled at that; He growled at the dog; he growled at the cat; He grumbled at morning; he grumbled at night; And to grumble and growl were his chief delight.

"He grumbled so much at his wife that she Began to grumble as well as he; And all the children, wherever they went, Reflected their parents' discontent.

If the sky was dark and betokened rain, Then Mr. Horner was sure to complain; And, if there was never a cloud about, He'd grumble because of a threatened drought.

"His meals were never to suit his taste; He grumbled at having to eat in haste; The bread was poor, or the meat was tough, Or else he hadn't had half enough.

No matter how hard his wife might try To please her husband, with scornful eye He'd look around, and then, with a scowl At something or other, begin to growl.

"One day, as I loitered about the street, My old acquaintance I chanced to meet, Whose face was without the look of care And the ugly frown which it used to wear.

'I may be mistaken, perhaps,' I said, As, after saluting, I turned my head; 'But it is, and it isn't, the Mr. Horner Who lived for so long on Grumble Corner!'

"I met him next day; and I met him again, In melting weather, and pouring rain, When stocks were up and when stocks were down; But a smile somehow had replaced the frown.

It puzzled me much; and so one day I seized his hand in a friendly way, And said: 'Mr. Horner, I'd like to know What can have happened to change you so?'

"He laughed a laugh that was good to hear, For it told of a conscience calm and clear, And he said, with none of the old-time drawl, 'Why, I've changed my residence, that is all!'

'Changed your residence?' 'Yes,' said Horner, 'It wasn't healthy on Grumble Corner, And so I moved; 'twas a change complete; And you'll find me now on Thanksgiving Street!'

"Now, every day as I move along The streets so filled with the busy throng, I watch each face and can always tell Where men and women and children dwell; And many a discontented mourner Is spending his days on Grumble Corner, Sour and sad, whom I long to entreat To take a house on Thanksgiving Street."

CHAPTER XII.

"Gold can gild a rotten stick and dirt sully an ingot."

Aids to Morality.--"Many imagine that the only ways in which public and private morality can be improved," says the Philadelphia _Ledger_, "are those definite and direct methods which appeal at once to the conscience and the heart. Preaching and teaching, persuading and warning, exhorting and encouraging, are instrumentalities worthy of all honor, and those whose abilities qualify them for such tasks should receive every possible stimulus to exert them in so n.o.ble a cause. But it is a great mistake to suppose that these are the only means to promote morality.

Every truly civilizing influence is also a reforming one. By this we do not mean that miscalled civilization which multiplies wants, and increases luxury and develops refinement in a few, at the expense of the many, but that advancement of mind and of knowledge, which is forever disclosing better methods of living and diffusing them among the whole people. Dr. Howard Crosby, president of the Society for the Prevention of Crime, in New York, and who has had wide opportunities of observing the condition of morality in that city, has recently declared that the moral condition of New York has vastly improved during the past few years, and that fifty years ago, although there was far less of the foreign element than there is now, a low condition of morality existed that would not be tolerated at the present time. What is true of New York in this respect is equally true of our other cities, and if there be any pessimist who points to the well-known corruptions and vices which still exist as a refutation of this statement, we would remind him that the very fact that such things are now brought to the light, discussed, and condemned, is a proof that they are on the decline. When a community is deeply sunk in immorality, little or no comment is made on the fact. When we come to seek into the causes of this improvement, we shall find that among the most prominent are the practical results of scientific progress and the civilizing tendencies of the age. There is no question that dirt, disease, and darkness are prevalent sources of vice and crime, and whatever influences are brought to bear against them will also press heavily against immorality. The increasing value set upon health, as shown alike in sanitary laws and regulations and in the greater willingness manifested by the community to understand and adopt hygienic modes of life, is beyond dispute. The improvements in house building and drainage; the introduction of water, pure and plentiful; the freer admission of fresh air; the better systems of ventilation; the brilliant lighting up of our city streets--all contribute to the prevention of crime and to the spread of a higher type of morality, while increasing the health, peace, and comfort of the community. And when to all these we add the better and wider education given to the rising generation than was thought possible fifty years ago, we shall find abundant reason for the moral advancement which has been made.

There are some persons who feel quite powerless to help on the cause of reform, or to improve the moral character of a single individual, because they have no gift for influencing men by direct appeal. They have, perhaps, tried and failed, and so, although they would like to do some good in the world, they are hopeless of any success. Let such take courage as they remember how many indirect, yet most effectual, methods there are of accomplis.h.i.+ng this end. Let them look over the mult.i.tudes of civilizing agencies that are silently working in the interests of morality, and attach themselves to such as most heartily engage their interest. Every intelligent individual must be in sympathy with some of them; and it is just there that his services are needed and will be most valuable. Nor let him make the mistake of supposing that he is thus working upon a lower or inferior plane. It is in works of benevolence and reform, just as in all other kinds of work--that which a man can do best is the very best thing for him to do. So, if one man is interested in sanitary schemes and another in evening schools; if one is anxious for free libraries and another for free parks; if one can help to secure good roads and clean streets and another can aid in protecting children or dumb animals from ill-treatment, let each be a.s.sured that in such exertions he is doing his share in promoting morality and in elevating character as surely and as effectually as those whose peculiar province it is to teach or to preach, to admonish or to advise."

If the butcher's trade begets in him, the butcher, a disposition to use the knife more indiscriminately, and causes him to look upon the taking of life indifferently and unconcernedly, so that in a majority of the States he is disqualified from sitting upon a murderer's jury, there then must be something not only in the a.s.sociations we keep but in the business we follow.

The average lawyer tries by every known means to clear his client. In 50% of the cases handled by 50% of the attorneys their clients are guilty and they know it. They do not break the law of their State or country simply because the laws in the main are made to screen the evil-doers and not the honest citizen. But how they can do this and affiliate with any one of the 1,100 different faiths, or attend their church organizations or services sincerely, is more than we can surmise.

In contrast, however, we must mention an isolated case that has reached us well authenticated. A very prominent and able lawyer of New York City, who had the reputation of never losing a case, was accosted by a well-known offender of the law on trial for felony before the court of Oyer and Terminer. The attorney invited the would-be client into his private office and had him state his case. He finished, and the lawyer remarked, "You are guilty." "Well, I know that," replied the culprit, "that is why I want your services--you never lose a case." "Sir," said the lawyer, "you have come to the wrong office. I have never failed in any case before the courts; I account for it from the fact that I have never espoused a cause where I knew the client was guilty. Knowing I was right, I have thrown my whole soul into it, and won."

Gossip.--There is a vast deal of unhappiness in this world caused by gossip. Dr. J. G. Holland presents helpful ideas in the following:--

"What is the cure for gossip?--Simply culture. There is a great deal of gossip that has no malignity in it. Good-natured people talk about their neighbors because they have nothing else to talk about. As we write, there comes to us the picture of a family of young ladies. We have seen them at home, we have met them in galleries of art, we have caught glimpses of them going from a book store or library with a fresh volume in their hands. When we meet them they are full of what they have seen and read. They are br.i.m.m.i.n.g with questions. One topic of conversation is dropped only to give place to another in which they are interested. We have left them after a delightful hour, stimulated and refreshed, and during the whole hour not a neighbor's garment was soiled by so much as a touch. They had something to talk about. They knew something, and wanted to know more. They could listen as well as they could talk. To speak freely of a neighbor's doings and belongings would have seemed an impertinence to them, and, of course, an impropriety. They had no temptation to gossip, because the doings of their neighbors formed a subject very much less interesting than those which grew out of their knowledge and their culture.

"And this tells the whole story. The confirmed gossip is always either malicious or ignorant. The one variety needs a change of heart and the other a change of pasture. Gossip is always a personal confession either of malice or imbecility, and the young should not only shun it, but, by most thorough culture, relieve themselves from all temptation to indulge in it. It is a low, frivolous, and, too often, a dirty business. There are neighborhoods in which it rages like a pest. Churches are split in pieces by it. Neighbors are made enemies by it for life. In many persons it degenerates into a chronic disease, which is practically incurable. Let the young cure it while they may."

Married Life.--As the family is the center about which all life revolves, it is absolutely essential to have happy relations there.

Husbands too often neglect their wives and homes. "Women are lonely,"

says Mrs. Annie Jenness. "They miss their husbands. What amount of companions.h.i.+p exists between the American woman and the man? He starts for his office as soon as his breakfast is hurriedly swallowed. He does not come home at the lunch hour. He is barely in season for a late dinner. Very possibly he belongs to a club and has an engagement as soon as dinner is done.

"If not that, his head is in bank or counting-house, and he studies the stock quotations in the night's paper, and counts, as against a possible rise of wheat, the day's gossip, with which his wife is overflowing, very small potatoes. They have callers, or they go to opera or theater.

It may easily happen that they do not spend ten minutes in conversation with each other during the day. American men are always in a hurry. They seem to live for the sole purpose of catching trains. They have no time to amuse or be amused.

"The conditions of modern life separate them from women. The lives of men grow more and more simple--business comprehends the whole. The lives of women grow more and more complex--everything which is not business is given over to them. A man past the romantic epoch, who honestly enjoys talking with women, is not an average mortal. The every-day sort of man takes pains to be detained somewhere until all the guests have departed from his wife's 5 o'clock tea. The couple live in different worlds. The world is now discussing why marriage is a failure, if it is? Then consider this collection of reasons:--

"When either of the parties marry for money.

"When the lord of creation pays more for cigars than his better half does for hosiery, boots, and bonnets.

"When one of the parties engages in a business that is not approved by the other.

"When both parties persist in arguing over a subject upon which they never have and never can think alike.

"When neither husband nor wife takes a vacation.

"When the vacations are taken by one side of the house only.

"When a man attempts to tell his wife what style of bonnet she must wear.

"When a man's Christmas presents to his wife consist of boot-jacks, s.h.i.+rts, and gloves for himself.

"When the watchword is, 'Each for himself.'

"When dinner is not ready at dinner-time.

"When 'he' snores his loudest while 'she' kindles the fire.

"When 'father' takes half of the pie and leaves the other half for the one that made it and her eight children.

"When the children are given the neck and back of the chicken.

"When children are obliged to clamor for their rights.

"When the money that should go for a book goes for what only one side of the house knows anything about.

"When there is too much latch-key.

"When politeness, fine manners, and kindly attentions are reserved for company or visits abroad."