The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-09-22
DOES HE GAIN, OR LOSE;
Detroit Free Press.

Detroit Free Press.
 Robert Louis Stevenson, in & letter to young man, published in Scrab- ne1's Monthly for September, gives his views on the destiny of that worker in this world who concludes to relin- Quish the chase after money and to consecrate his best energies to art. Art, in this connection, does not apply to mechanical art alone, but to any of the higher intellectual walks of life, especially to literature and to music. These are the arts in MT. Stevenson's sense of the term. Here is one passage in this letter which may be taken as the text for short sermon: "What you may decently expect if you have some talent and much industry is such an income as clerk will earn with a tenth, or, perhaps a twentieth, ofyour nervous output. Nor have you the right to look for more. In the wages of life, not in the wages of trade, lies your reward. The work is here the wages" Mir. Stevenson here deals with the material phase of art life. This is proper. It is the material in life which most concerns us all. The pains of the body, the necessities of the body, the demand for food, for clothing, for shelter appeals more di- rectly to the individual than the exi- gencies of the mind itself. The great est suffering that we feel arises from our physical constitution. Hence the necessity of giving greater prominence fO hn ,otorsal ot1o Of nv sufa
 Does the man who feels that he has that quality which justifies him in reaching out after the higher rewards of life desire to become rich? Then his hope will not be realized by con- secrating his life to the service of art Nature is compensatory in all its workings. Hence it is that those who feel this inward inspiration are by that yery inspiration lifted above all sordid motives. The reward is found not SC much in the outcome of the work a' in the work itself. Gradually the hope of amsssing money, if it ever existed passes away. An inexhaustible enthu. siasm in the work for itself takes tn, place of the desire for money rewards Even as the worker progresses in hi chosen field he, little by little, give up the pursuit of the ignus fat,nls Fame, and is content to labor for la bor's sake alone. Like the oil in tn widows cruse, the inspiration is inex hsustible. Each day finds a renewal and there is to the art toiler buoy ancy in spirit and an unhaggipg in dustry which both sustains ant soothes. The art worker may not b appreciated. He may, as MT. Ste venson writes, be compelled to accep the work in lieu of the wages of tn trade as his reward.
 Does he gain or loser This is
 question that will have to be solve, largely by the individual. There ar some men who have not the slightes art instincts in their souls, or tn slightest craving for anything beyont the material. To these men the pro duct of the mighty dollar is all ar itself. It is also an inspiration. Blu these men are the exception. Tn most of humanity are cursed o blessed, just as they may take it, wit longings after the infinite. They ma not have any distinct art talent. Thei cravings may be of the vaguest kind But 1t exists; and it is that whic makes man the noblest of living thipg But it is a source of dissatisfaction al. uneasiness. He is forever longing fo that which he does not have. If thes longings have no definite form-ths is, if they do not focus themselves int particular talent-the man is neve at ease. He may not be unhappy But this longing is spur which hs been put into his soul to make hil grow better and higher. If he find that it takes definite shape and ths he can exercise his talent, Is there an mere money grubbing which is equ, to the satisfaction of doing that worh Can the money maker, with few CT captions, feel in his pursuit the grat! 6cation of every longingp If he hs an art which he zealously follows, an can make money, which is rarely don he reaches the apex of human happi ness. He has the wages of his trad and the rewards of his work. I'll poorest worker in the field of chose art. knows 6 life to which the mol lucky money maker Is total strar ger. Even under the most fortuna, conditions there arc times when Tiff itself, becomes wearisome, if not bul densome. Its very pleaeures pail upo the tastN. We become tired of tf round of gayety and of erjoymen L3ke R0ssetGs, in the Happy Valle,