THE BOARD AND THE VELVET

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4082, 21 June 1900, Page 2

THE BOARD AND THE VELVET

“A throne/’' said Napoleon, "is a Jboard covered-witn-velvet/’'■ . . I Strip-the Vhlvet. from the' throne, an<| you have nothing left but: bare,, .vulgar boards,;, replace - the..-; velvet i . and you have the . most : coveted 'symbol of huf man power <and .glory.'-'- How* easy the transition, ,hqw,!vast:the difference! .! There is .'.no.,operation; du chemistry more sharp, hud- sudden, -than that in human life whereby extremes of feeling follow: each," other —■ tears rarefying; into smiles and smiles, condensing into tears. nirivri ■l-./) 1 t ls'ihappiness,',;or -.is.-,pow;er, 'so poor a thing, jthen,...that it drops, into Jts antithesis ~at a touch f"— at a" breath? Let us not bo too hasty with our answer, as we may, .be wrong. The great French emperor was . a .cynical fellow, and'right well he loved; ja throne, even .though /it ■ ; was (-. only, an upholstered lidard/’ '' .

Arid we. all love life ; and.-its blessings, even 1 though ' they ard uncertain and shaky. < 'S-*-’-'*} 1 '" *'! Hence,-when-) we hear a.'‘man say, "I had noploasurein life, and■ : did; no,care what 'became of -mo,” to " are interested r

The person from whom w© quote these words explains himself thus: — ; “For over two years.,” he tells us, “I suffered from loss of appetite, sleeplessness and nervousness.’ Prior to May, 1894, I had > always beeen; strong , and Hearty. At this time I began to feel that something'had come’over me— I-felt-so low and weak.. - After -eating imy face would* flush;*arid* the l food’gave me great pain across* my chest and at my left side: 1- T- had ! a - cutting pain aroimd the heart, and*‘bad-attacks of palpitation.” •■.. if. c-i*. i-iVi . ... ,

I beg- fo-interrupt-bur * good' friend a moment at this point. .The burning of a-barii : or’a'Hayrick may make, a bigger blaze 'than the ' burning of .the, cottage we' live .in.-,. But, the. latter I ,alarmsand excites us mbst" because wey'doiljve in it,. Oh fthe’sainKprinciple a very painful—ailment ..of..thel.hand—or—loot-imay cause little or no mental* anxiety, while a disturbance of the heart’s action does, for the heart is one of the three houses' which life resides in, the other two being the brain- and the lungs. ( Yet,, as generally happens* in \ * so-called heart trembles, the -worry was needless, aS 'far© shall presently see.— 1 ,, r ;,“For.:,weeks:,together,”*,eontinUes, Hie narrator, “I;got no:proper)sleep,*sand,. ’in' truth, so bad was this condition l that*l dreaded - going..tq-j bpd..; ;My',ne?yesr wpts thoroughly,, unstrung;, i andi affected the. leftside of “my_ t . t which * ; was. •, quite drawhr" I ’suffered; martyrdom *'witn facial neuralgia. J , ! “As time..went ,on I-grew to be; sd low*and miserable .that-,l;had no plea-.EUi-fi-in. care what Jecame of me. I consulted a doctor, but none of his medicines helped me. Better and worse, I continued to suffer until a friend told me, about Mother Seigel’s Curative Syrup,-and persuadeed me to try it. . I got a, bottle from, Mr. Pul-; ham', grocer, Spring: rqad', and after taking it a short time_l felt it was doing me good. I slept' well, and had less distress after meals. . )This‘ encouraged mo to persevere with'it,.and; gradually I got .stronger,,and the nerve pains, wore away. .1 now. enjoy good . health, and have "recommended • this medicine to .many—of—my—customers,—f*You* ean—pub—, lish this statement as you like. (Signed)’ Harry "Wenden, hairdresser, 171, Spring road, St. Jonh’s, Ipswich, July 17 i 1896.”

Mr Wendens explanation of his loss of life’s pleasure is commonplace after all. And yet how'; much, more important than if-it were-unique or exceptional; because the'commonplace is the universal. .It. js.' disease,j my\ gentle readers, that tears the velvet from thrones, that j’obs the cottager" of h'is'sleep, that makes; the baby' cry in its cradle, that .strips—the-- strong ■ man -of- his-vigour, that wipes the bloom from the cheeks of fair women, that hurries humanity to the churchyard. with bowed heads and bleeding feet.’ And the most pitiless ogre of.all diseases is the one from which Mr-Wendon-suffered, and from which Mother Seigel’s' Syrup cures, indigestion; dyspepsia.' ' Even‘ without- the velvet; health is the' best -of- thrones, and this) great .remedy; helps to - keep-'yoir -Eha-tfl ed safely and happily upon it. }