Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1903-08-28
DISCONTENT.
May Be Benefit to Humanity and Con-
ditiOn Of Progress.
By Byron Millett,

May Be Benefit to Humanity and a Con-
dision Of Progress.
By Byron Millett.
"A fool in revolt is infinitely wiser than a
philosopher forging learned apology for his
chains '-kossuth.
We have heard it asserted, some
times plausibly maintained, that con.
tentment is better than riches" 1t
may serve as good subject for poets
and novelists, who love to revel in
romance and in the ideal world, but it
will not bear the test of sound reason,
when we come to consider and grapple
with the stern realities of life. Con.
tentment with ones surroundings
means stagnation and death to pro-
gress. That discomfort is one of the
potent conditions of progress. no
thinking man can successfully con-
trovert; even if we concede, if much
of this dissatisfaction with existing
conditions is unhealthful, it does not
effect the main postulate which has
its seat in the bosom of God, to which
He has affixed His eternal fiat, and
sent it forth to the children of men,
that the highest possibilities of man.
hood and womanhood may be de.
veloped and realized. If Christ had
been satisfied with the practices and
customs of His time, we would have
had no Sermon the Mount, no Chris
tian religion. Luther actuated by
similar motives revolted against the
dogma inhabiting the exercise of
private judgment in matters of re.
ligious faith; hence the Reformation.
The same principle taking another
direction prompted Columbus to dis.
cover a new world. In all ages from
the beginning OF history, men moved
by the same spirit, have traversed the
wide seas, through the burning sands
and awful solitudes of the desert, in
order to satisfy their ambition for con.
quest and power. Our revolutionary
fathers were dissatisfied with the yoke
of the mother country; the sequence
was, new republic was born and
planted on this western hemisphere
From the revolt of the barOns against
King John, came the great magma
charta. Later on, discomfort in the
colonies found its expression in that
immortal document: "The Declara-
tion of Independence" Then came
the French revolution with its scenes
of blood and carnage, which made the
world stand aghast. The philosophy
of which conflict has puzzled states.
men and wise men ever since. The
people had been contented too long
for their own good cruel customs and
pernicious laws had for hundreds Of
years borne down heavily upon them.
The causes spread out wide and sank
down deep into the roots OF human
history. Many centuries had played
their tributary parts with vengeance.
II justice travels with leaden heel,
she strikes with an iron arm" In the
world OF literature, we find the same
causes at work. Had Lord Byron
been of a contented mind, he would
have never written Childe Harold.
That restless spirit at work in ages
agone up to the present time caused
man to invent, and work for the bet.
terment of his fellow.beings. We
have plenty Of object lessons in our
own time. Old forms and customs
are passing away; they are decsying
at the heart. The spirit of innova.
ton is everywhere active; it is with
the statesman in the legislative hall,
the lawyer in the forum, the judge on
tho bench, the minister in the pulpit,
the artisan in his workshop and the
farmer at the plough. Conse rvatism,
hoary with age and begrimmed with
superstition, is powerless to resist the
oncoming tide. Wise hands imbued
with honesty of purpose aud strong
sense of justice are needed as never be-
fore to direct that force Alright, that
blessings may come instead of catas-
trophies. Our civilization is not sick !;
it is struggling for q new birth. There
are always greater possibilities in the
womb of nature. The pains and
premonitions are becoming more acute
and active as time goes on. Evolu.
ton proceeds along the line Of least
resistance. Society and government
are as much subject to law, as the ebb
and flow OF the tides. 1t does not al
ways, however, proceed in direct
line. Success may alternately kiss
the banners OF conservatism and in.
novation; then the latter takes q step
in advance, never to recede. Truth
"the eternal years Of God are hers
has no grander attribute, than her
consistency. If we but trust her, she
will tarry with us. and point the way.
that we may look out towards the fu-
ture with a hope Of grander world
and a better people.