Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-09-28
COMMONPLACE PEOPLE.
A WRITER'S SIGH FOR THE DAYS
 OF HIS ANCESTORS.

Time Was When We Nodded Our Heads
 Neighborly to Everybody-The Present
 and tho FutIre-A Foreigner in Amer
 ica-Averaging Upward.
 The commonplace person is something to us, l think, as commonplace landscape
 Travel is often most delightful when the scenery is very dull, and the land flat and smooth. This is contrary to what the tour lsts tell us, but assure you that if you are 8 nervous person you should not go the Alps, but to Holland. What can be less exciting than Holland landscape? The gardens are all alike, and the people, and the houses con- sider that there is no sin so great as originality. You may take up one Gretchen and change her for another five miles away, and she will fit exactly to the vacancy. It is difficult to understand
 how these people can possibly know them selves without a label to look at There is not an original in ten thousand. It is de- liciously restful in such land; but If you travel in any part of our own land you are sure to get constantly interested in some one or some thing. There are points to every character. They not only flash lightning, but draw lightning, and it is destructive to | all pleasure in travelling in the long run, but
 assure you you will travel in Holland for one month with your eyes only one-quarter | open, and there will not be a start or jar | given you all that time 1t is a country of | delicious commonness
 am fond of my ancestors and of the last | century because people lived averaged lives,
 do not remember that any one was so un-
 like his neighbor, Among 200 towns people
 any one was as likely to be selected for jus l tice of the peace as another. lean remember | when every one grew marigolds, bachelors | buttons, and saffron, and caraway: and | every one not only went to church. but to l the same church; and there was quiet uni | formity of faith and deed that, if it did not ! merit heaven hereafter, at least made sem
 blance of heaven here. think I should like
 to get back to the days when ran about l bare footed and bare legged, and every other l boy did just the same. 1 can not imagine
 any one in those days who did not eat dough-
 nuts and there was not one boy who did not l drive COWS to pasture and go for them at 1 mght. cannot think of a single startling 1 event for whole years at times It was | sunny land Of common folks, and average
 good things, No ore was very poor and no 1 one was very rich. Our homes were always | open to the poor, ant to the stranger; and our lots averaged up far as possible
 What fellowship was that compared with our nowadays greatness and lowliness
 We did not know how to waste Every
 thing lad it's waite. Pcrha ps we had no i greet ro.ions; oEr small ones were useful i Sn"' 3l"':on had only been heard of at a great C stance. We a!l Drlleved ia work -'ot F. WC"n >ec::2c,l t' 'r.s t!c :. ;s very
 restl;:l to. 7 tol~.- >c}<..Gr:, ..o those days. I Hii = ;:',j,n> =. a-.' crate rest | ahead. Tn""- -..Eort i! those ! '4&. We "> T. '' -0 -.Lsv to all ] e-low eac!, .,' re ate t.7lk
 fI,J
 one was oi-o ul s..eaE!n, rage and We nod
 ded our heads ne ghoorly to all the world have been looking backward; but it will
 not do to look too far backward or we shall
 come upon the high mightiness of old royal
 ties. The declaration that ''All men are
 born equal" is only 0 century old. There is
 no doubt but the day of equality is rather
 ahead than behind. By and by everybody
 will have his own private balloon, which
 never yet came true of horses and carriages,
 and we will all be averaged up to the tele-
 phone, and telegraph and heaven knows
 what else, as we have all got averaged up to
 the postoffice and railroad.
 do not wish to advocate averaging people
 downward on any occasion, but averaging
 them upward. person who may be set
 down as thoroughly commonplace now, 100 years ago would have passed for 8 scholar, if not a genius. If this world goes on, and what reason have we for supposing it will ) nots the genius of today will be but an or , dinary person in another fifty years When GeoEge William Curtis tells us that immigra-
 tion is "watering the life blood of the na-
 tlon," it sets me thinking very soberly, for it
 seems to be true.
 Hans has been over here three years. He
 has learned to write and to speak English
 with twang and twist but he has learned
 something else, and he did not learn it all over here. He has learned to abhor being
 lost in the crowd. He must be individuated.
 He wants to be a marked man. Hans does not have much moral force, but & good deal of physical grit he certainly does
 possess. He naturally turns to physical
 force as his lever. When he looks around,
 with his passion to be free, he kicks l and storms. Hans has been under 8 good deal of repression abroad, but here he enjoys
 what he calls being free-that is free to be himself, all over and over, and everywhere. He does not see that be cannot be quite him. 9 self without preventing others from being 3 quite themselves, and if they are quite unre- l strained it will encroach on him. The pas
 sion of individuality is abroad. It is the
 spirit of the air we breathe. Hans revels in it. t said we shall, by and by, average up, and t up to level vastly higher than that of to- day, where our present genius will be very ]; commonplace, and where our present mira cles will be every day affairs, and our present luxuries will be common comforts This will surely come about, for we shall be wise n enough to let it come about, and, If t need be, to make it to come about. @ We are too far gone to go back l. and give up our love for being dis :, tinguished We must all do something; all be marked by achievement This will q work right if we can keep the average d ambition for what is intelligent and moral ; and not let it point for brute force distinc ., tion.-''E. P F." ill Globe-Democrat.
 :, Necetah.e YYnr in .Iar,an