The Red Cloud chief., 1881-02-17
Things That Have Purpose.

EVERYTHING without purpose Is
without beauty" a a sensible mod
ern writer; land although" she con-
tinues, Everything that has a purpose
cannot, on the other hand, be called
beautiful, yet appropriateness forms SO
large share of beauty that everything
which frlfills its own purpose well may
be said to have some claim to beauty"
In other words, purpose is absolutely
essential to the beautiful, and even
when associated with elements ugly in
themselves, can ~cOnsecrate them and
glorify them rs with a touch of light
from above,
This is a truth of absolutely universal
application, and one which runs through
all the duties of life, all the achieve
ments of mans skill, and all the pro-
duets of his art, "What is it fdrF'
"Why does it exist?"-these are ques-
tions which we may rightly ask, in
noting every object which claims our
attention; and we should put such ques-
tions i'm no spirit of materialism or low
utility, but from a deep conception that
ii this world nothing was meant to have
no purpose or service, in Gods good
plan. So far as we turn our forces to
the making or enjoying of p~urposeless
and valueless things. we maltreat and
fritter away gifts which were meant to
have the highest use.
Net only our greatest deeds and our
most priced possessions should have
this element of purpose. but also our
lesser actions and our most ordinary
belongings. Indeed, it is in the orna-
mentS of our houses-in the objects of
art with which we like to surround our
selves, Or in the many little luxuries
which We gather about US and those
whom we love-that we should most
rigidly demand some salutary and
healthful purpose. There is a genuine
character in personal possessions, how
eve ordinary, and in that character is
no element more essential than the ele-
ment of inherent purpose. That pict-
ure on the wall-what does it mean?
was it chosen for any reason? does it
represent a place or an act which sug-
gests to the eye of the beholder some
wholesome lesson, or presents to him q
sight of that which is pure and whole
some? That parlOr Ornament-was it
bought for any inherent and soundly
pleasurable quality of its own, or was
it selected merely because yOu wanted
to buy something, and didn't see any
thing else that would answer better?
That book - why is it numbered
among your possessions? Is it
because it helps you and instructs you,
or because a book-agent at the door
wearied You with his vOluble persua-
sions? Questions like these are not
likely to be asked too often, or pressed
too strongly. Nor do they by any
means exclude that which is simply
beautiful. "A thing of beauty is q joy
forever" says one poet; ''beauty is its
own excuse for being" says another;
and so a sea-shell or q flower has as
true q purpose as an Alexandrine
library or a hospital for the insane.
But one is quite sure to find that those
who most readily excuse their mean
ingiess possessions on the o Of the
mere pleasure or beauty to be found in
them, are the one who most readily
surround themselves with objects which
are lacking in true beauty A really
beautiful thing speaks for itself. and
tells its own story is unmistakable IAN
guage. 1t needs no excuse from those !
who "just thought they would buy it;
what was the harm?' or from those who
don't see but it is as good As . great
many other things" q
The rise of a nations character is un-
erringly measured by the character Of
its products and possessions; and ana
tons decline is unfailingly marked by
the pleasure it takes in purposeless tn
fies or mere prettiness of detail. Wien
its architecture, and its art and all its
achievements are purposeful, and have
in them something to be cold. . people
il ON the upward road. But when that
people delights in whimsic3lties and
frfvoiities, in-ths eccentric and the
startling, in the artful rather than the
artistics itsdoom Is written IN the wall, |