Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-05-31
the BURDEN o. TOO MUCH.
The Longing Tor Sabbalical Year IN which
10 Rest and Enjoy.

wrought it's work of exhaustion mas
recently uttered q cry for rest
He says that he has just discovered
that Lent is n blessed invention" ana
that il makes him have visions OF
what year Of real repose would do Tor
the world: an interlude in which IN
vention and restlcssness should be held
in leash. and there should be sur
cease from new things. new acquisi-
tions. fresh interests; q pause I'm which
one could catch up with the worlds
progress.
THAT would be a jubilee year indeed
in which there were no new books, no
festivals. no eXpositions. no nerve
! stirring news of wars. no new maya
zines. no epochs OF civil excitement"
/ Once in seven years the old Hebraic
still. unfurrowed by the ploughshare
and without demand of harvest Bar
gain and sale. sowing and reaping.
ceased: the land had rest"
This petitioner for a cog to check the
revolutions of life's swift wheel would
| find that many and many a responsive
nearer joined in his appeal We're it a
thing to be accomplished. From all
, the civilized world, except where youth
and over stimulated energies give the
impetus there is a deep-rooted longing
| for an interval of calm. Wherever
| thinking men and women strive to reg
ulate their endeavors and grasp the
import of life and its story. the deep
breathed sigh of safety and despair of
comprehension goes up to Heaven.
The. seems even an excess Of beauty
in the world. A days walk Is like liv-
/ ing with an eye fixed to Kaleidoscope
Color. texture. form: form. color, tex
ture. revolve in endlessly changing
shapes until only bewildered mass
lies garnered in the taxed brain. With
one hand We grasp what yesterday
seemed To us an impossibly beautiful
creation. while today we reach out
with the other for its more perfect SEC
cessor Nothing is stable. nothing is
steadfast, nothing takes root.
Amusement possible of attainment
without MISUNDERSTANDING procured
without previous effort and fatigue-a
book which satisfies, while we slowly
absorb and digest its congenial, elcvat-
ing coutentS-a home we would not al
ttr-a garden dear because the old
familiar shrubs and blossoms expand
in hooks we loved in days gone by-a
few pictures made with an art which
we do not criticise-opinions which we
hold in common with kindred minds OF
proven friends. based on the immuta-
ble laws of verify and truth--who has
such possessions?
The chiefest charm of the theatre
the opera, the author. the artist. the
very roses at our door. lies in novelty.
surprise. expense, establishment.
-Audacity. strange views. peculiar eff
fects, size. wonder. cost: these are the
clements which men use to amuse and
refresh mankind in these prolific days.
Even so small a thing as the cover
which shelters a familiar magazine
ceases to show the same quiet features
which had grown To be like those of a
well-known friend: 10 keep pace with
the times and hold it's own" you must
pick 1t up from your library table with
question. What is this?" The un-
varying tint OF one old neVer-disap.
pointing visitor is hailed with delight
among its faithful adherents You feel
on a voyage of discovery with all the
rest.
So many thousand lives lack even
the intimation of beauty and lovelness
that ii would seem a folly to inveigh
against the multiplicity of charming
novelties which are offered to those
who can buy. Yet ii is an absolute
fact that few moderately endowed
families fail to feel the burden of too
many things. Too much of adorn-
ment can never produce the inspiration
we seek for from things artistic: grace
is lost in over adornrnent, and that re-
pose which is essential TO elegance is
made impossible by incessant change.
Take the almost unique power of
music as an elevating influence. as a
solace. as an inspiration: how quickly
is its control of heart and brain
destroyed by rushing from opera to
concert. from recitals to where the
great orchestras appeal to our keenest
susceptibilities. Not from all this ex-
citing mingling of every form of the
great art comes that marvellous I'M
looSing of the bonds which undue la Dor
has fastened on mans body and BRAIN
nor can we thus through music find
freedom from burdens sorrow and
pain have laid upon us. If ever proof
was needed that this great source of rest
and consolation can increase mental
strain and contribute to even physical
unrest. the questioner need go no
futher than to follow the course of the
young women who hear everything"
go crazy over an artists technique,
and lose all sobriety on the appearance
of fashionable favorite.
That heaven-born influence which falls
on listening hearts when from his lofty
height Beethoven lets fail that ma jestIc
sweetness which soothes more surely
than those ''dews of Hermon'' which we
are told dropped balm. comes not in
haste. Those who enter the auditorium
brea thess from a morning of rush and
contention. and who consult a watch ev-
cry fifteen minutes in order to meet an
engagement elsewhere. lose all they
seek for
The mills of the gods grind slow" No
life-food falls into the laps of those who
can only tarry an impatient moment to
obtain sIStenance.
Can you not manage to get one of
Professor 5 lectures? They. are very