The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-04-22

limited income. One or two courses il open
10 them. either to give up al! needless sS'
trav,yance and devote themselves to ba,ic-
ing ND n quiet home, or tn give up tne
blessings home life AMI hang on to ths
luxur;c. and measures OF their set. 100 OF
ten, under the spar OF social competition'
it is the latte: course that Is io.IoWeu'
Home life is deliberately. yes and cr,tiiin'
ally. sacrificed for soc:rl lie. ana soc,al nII,
60 chosen, becomes the vestihuie through
which many q young husband passes INTO
the nrison house Of debt. Unconscioasiy
often, such 4 man enters race w;th ms
fashionable associates, and they. not ms
own personal comforts. create hrs stanGaru
nj living. He must dress rs well rs they'
he must entertain as larishiy as they; ne
must keep Up the same pace as they. Ara
meanwhile these associates OF ms are con-.
netting with another set Just iittie h'gner
in the social scale, until society hSsemes =
vu,sa:. feverish competition, IN "n,sd
every bid for notoriety Is pampered. aha
evcry fine feeiin. is sacrificed. One mas hat
70 Rad the so.cal.cd society columns OF any
daily newspaper 20 witness the disgusting
spcctacle Of this competitive Sn!rlt IN 'he
struprlc for socia! supremacy. w NAT pace
undcr such conditions. is there Tor PAIN
living and high thinking.",
th:rd cause Tor the elaboration oil the
material side of life in our time - the uti'
d:,e craving for pleasure. The emphatic
words are undue craving. l am not a"'o'
eating n sour puritanlsm or cranGea ascrt'
g.. "A. Pls.. -urc has, ot course. MS csSen'.'i
place in the scheme OF righ: living. ani 10
deny that place creates 4 reaction which.
however ruinous. i. inevitable. But in Our
time Measure has become tyranny. us
desnotism has invaded every day oil the
week. II has no rcspcc: ior time or sea.
sons. 1t appeals TO every passion "i the
son,. and by veiled suggestions it desecratcs
the hol;est emotions of life. New I orr re-
comes every evening vast NaIily fair,
where irrational and too often degraded
NE. sure lures men and women by the thou.
sand to its gildcd shrine: and before that
shrine "hieh thinking and plain living are
nightly inundated.
These are some OF the things which stand
in the way OF the simple life here IN New
York. What are some OF the peri's WHICH
must inevitably result?
This life of luxury and extravaeancc in
teusifics class distinction. The poor man,
unable to share in these wanton eStrava,
rances. chafes beneath the restrictions. ana
hatred of his pampered betters bites at the
roncs OF separation. In Europe. where
certain hereditary distinction between the
rich and the poor IS recognized, this ciass
bitterness is not SO keen, but IN a repnoHc
like osrs, where every man feels himseIt as
GOOD Us another. these ostentatious di>p,ays
of luxurious extravaganza become hotoeo
of discomfort in which anarchy and com;
munish ferment.. Some years ago a ireaa
OF mine was driving past one OF the heauti'
ful o.d homes in rural England. standing IN
its stately park. He asked the driver who
lived there ooh" said the man, I'VE used
to have lots of aristocratic company there.
They had plenty OF money and they spent
it freely. We poor folks were well oil
then. But now the place belongs to
woman. and she is Methodist. and every.
thing is going to the bad" SO spoke the
countryman, and from his little view tins
loss OF luxury and extravaganza was oil
wrong, even for the poor man. Bat mean
while there was another side to the picture.
That estate also included large tenement
district j. enc OF the worst portions OF
London. IN wretched novels surrounded
by saloons and low resorts the miserable
people paid their rents, exorbltant for such
quarters, and these rents supplied the
funds for the luxury and extravaganza OF
the former owner. But now what has hap
pened? The lady who owns the estate to.
day is using her revenues, not Tor her own
luxury, but in bettering these homes. IN
driving out these saloons. and in creating
n new spirit of respect and love between
els get less to spend for drink. but great
city population has more real JOY OF living,
and the better class distinction between
wealth and poverty is at an end.
A second penalty that We must pay Tor
our estravaeant modes OF lie is that they
create unnatural appetites. The essence OF
an unnatural appetite is that it demands a
constant stimulus. Vt needs to be pamp.
cred hy new sensations, and in the effort
to satisfy this false and unnatural appetite,
we are inventing forms OF amusement so
foolish that even pagan Rome might ex'
claim with wonder. BEHOLD how these
conditions. who. cares for the simple mama
Of the wilderness, even though it come
down from God, ii he can fill himself with
the fesh-pots of Egypt, even though he
make himself Save to do so?
Once more. one other penalty must be
paid, and that is the heaviest of all. This
mode of life is absolutely at variance with
the spirit Of the teaching Of Jesus Christ.
II is pagan. not Christian; it is barbaric,
not civilized. No man who is honest in
his effort to follow in the footsteps OF Jesus
Christ can live life whose only thought
il to satisfy the merely sensuous desires.
"MI ~ tne ouc uouiiisahs noee ~, tnS
ample Of Him who when He walked this
earth had not where to lay His head. but
this: that we should live simply, that We
should deny ourselves daily, taking no
thought of what we shall eat or what We
shall drink or wherewithal we shall be
clothed, for our heavenly Father knoweth.
The way of the cross is the way OF simple
life; hot the way OF se!f.indulgence and vnl.
ear extravaganza, but the way which He
walked with bleeding feet is the path
along which we alone can find the Joy OF
plain living and high thinking.
For some Of US this secret OF the simple
life cannot be learned. We have dwclt too
long in the cellar Of our appetites. and the
reek Of the kitchen is in our brains. We
must iie as we have lived, in the tyranny
of those tastes which our surroundings
have stimulated. For such of US. plain liv.
ing ard high thinking are both alike !mpos-
sible. But there are our children. Please
God We need not. unless our imbecility
has become epidemic, condemn our Off
spring to this nightmare Of extravaganza
wh!cn has so shriveled ou- own intelligence.
We can at least ask Gods grace to help US
to train the new generations in
That homely beauty of the good old cause,
in simple innocence
And pure religion, breathing household
laws"
ror them at least we can make the beauty
Of the simple life 10 poets dream, but a
divine cvangel for the generation yet to
come.
Making . Life.