The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1893-10-28
THE GOSPEL OF WORK
EMILE ZCLAS STIRRING ADVICE TO
FRENCH STUDENTS,

Hdcd at n dinner given by the Students
association of Paris, In the course Of
HE evening he spolo W follows;
Did science ever promise h0ppincss'
| do not think SO, Science promised the
truth, and il is questionable If happiness
can bo mado out of facts, To bo CON
tent with them even for n day one must
possess u stoiciSm, an absolute unselhsh'
ness, serenity Of intelligence possible
only to tho highest minds Therefore n
icspairing cry goes up from suffering
humanity. How, it asks, can we live
without delusions and illusions? If there
is not somewhere world where justice
reigns, whore the wicked are punished
and the good rewarded. how endure the
nominations Of human existence? M.
ture is unjust and cruel. Science ends
in the monstrous law of the survival Of
the strongest, Reasoning thus, reCoiling
from realities us vet i'll explained, they
seek dream. put confidence in the out
Of sight and hope to satisfy in the be-
yond their yearning for fraternity and
justice
This despairing appeal for happiness,
rising on every side, moves me infinitely,
Already music has responded TO it, lit
erature is trying TO satisfy the new thirst,
and art is changing to show its Sympa-
thy 1t is the reaction against natural.
ism, which is, they say, dead and buried.
At any rate the movement is undeniablc.
1t is felt in all the manifestations Of
mind, and unless it is taken into ac-
count. studied aud explained the ont.
look for the morrow is hopeless
|, being an old and rugged positivist,
see in all this only a halt in the march
ahead. Indeed it is not even that, for
our libraries, laboratories, amphithca-
ters and schools are not deserted. What
reasSures me most is the fact that the
social ground is unchanged. For new
art to flourish, for n new belief to give
humanity a new direction, there must
be new soil for them to germinate and
grow in. Ours is still the democratic
soil whence the century rose, Faiths
are not resuscitated, and only mythol-
ogy can be made of dead religion. The
next century will affirm this one What
will concede is that in literature We
brought the horizon too near, and per.
sonally regret having endeavored to
limit art to proved verities
The new men, by re-extending the
horizon, have regained possession Of the
unknown and the mysterious, and they
have done well. Between the truths ac-
quired through science, which are not to
be shaken, and the truths to be con
uuered tomorrow from the unknown,
which in their turn will become immoy-
able, there is land of doubt and inquiry.
This land belongs as much to literature
as TO science. Into it we can 90 as pio-
neers, doing the work of precursors and
Interpreting according to our talents,
its unknown forces. The ideal is ouly
the unexplained. 1t is we'll enough to
invent solutions for the unknown. but
we have no right to put in question and
so deny facts already verified. As sci
ence advances the ideal retreats, and it
seems to me that this slow conquest,
though we have the melancholy cert.
tude of never knowing all gives life its
only reason, its only JOY.
In these troublous days youth is told
to believe, out nobody tells it exactly
what to believe Believe, they say, for
the sake Of the happiness that comes
from believing, and most especially be-
lieve in order that you may learn to be-
lieve. The advice is not bad in itself. It
is certainly a great JOY to repose upon
the assurance given by any faith, no mat
ter what. The difficulty is that one can
not believe by being willing to do SO.
Faith is wind that blows where it list
eth, and there only.
In conclusion let me offer you Il creed
the creed of work. Young men. work.
| am aware that no counsel could be
more banal. In every school at the end
of every term it is given to every boy,
and every boy hears it with Indifference.
But let me, who have never been any.
thing except a worker, tell you the re.
ward | have gained from the long toll
whose effort has filled my life. Tho
world was harsh to me at first. have
known poverty and despair. Later my
existence was battle, and even now the
fight goes on and my work squestioned,
contradicted, insulted. Through it all
my support has been incessant work,
regular, daily, for an end never forgot
ten. How often have / seated myself at
my table, tortured by some great pain,
physical or moral And each time, after
the first minutes of agony, my task has
proved a solace, has given me strength |
to continue the struggle and await the
morrow.
Work is the law of the world-the |
guide that leads organized matter to its |
unknown goal. Life has no other reason
for being, and each of us is here only to |
perform his task and disappear Calm
comes to the most tortured if they will |
accept and complete the task they find |
under their hands. This to be sure, is
only an empirical way to live an honest |
and almost tranquil life, but is it nothing |
TO acquire moral health and by solving |
through work the question of how to
secure on earth the greatest happiness
thus escape from the danger of the
dream?
have always distrusted chimeras.
Illusion is bad for man or people; it +!
puts an end to effort, it blinds, it is the
vanity of the weak. To remain among
legends, to contemn realities, to believe
that dreaming of strength gives force