The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-12-04


 the sweat of their labor More' they have not frequented the wings they have no intrfgues with the actresses they do not see the wires puileu. 10 them 1t is all real. And so they feel pleasure unalloyed I think l see the sated skeptic, whose monoele gnstens in that box. cast a disd9nful glance over the smiling crowd.
 Poor stupid creatures ignorant and gross.
 And yet they are the true hvers, while he is an artificial product, man nikin, incapable of experiencing this fine and salutary intoxication or an hour of frank pleasure.
 Unhappily, ingenuousness Is disap- bearing even in the rural districts. We see the people of our cities and those of the country in their turn breaking with the good traditions. The mind. warped by alcohol, by the passion for gambling and by unhealthy literature, contracts little by little perverted tastes Artificial life makes irruption into communities once simple in their pleasures, and it is like phylloxera to the vine. The robust tree of rustic joy finds it's sap drained, it's leaves turn | ing yellow.
 Compare a fete champetre of the good old style with the village festi vals, so called, of today. In the one case, in the honored setting of antique costumes, genuine countrymen sing the | fn1k HanHpc gale themselves with native drinks and ! seem entirely in their element. They 1 take their pleasure as the blacksmith l forges, as the cascade tumbles over the rocks, as the colts frisk in the meadows. It is contagious; it stirs your heart. Tn spite of yourself you are ready to cry: Bravo, my children! That is finep' You want to join in. In the other case you see villagers dis | guised as city folk, countrywomen made hideous by the modlste, and, as the chief ornament of the festival a lot Of degenerates who bawl the songs 1 of music halls, and sometimes in the 1 place of honor a group of tenth rate barn stormers, imported for the oeea- sion, to civillze these rusties and give them a taste of refined pleasures. Fol drinks, liquors mixed with brandy or l absinth - in the whole thing neither l originality nor picturesqueness. Lii cense, indeed, and elownishness, but not that abandon which ingenious joy brings in it's train.
 This question of pleasure is capital Staid people generally neglect it as a frivolity; utilitarlans, as a costly su l perfluity. Those whom we designate as pleasure seekers forage in this deli cate domain like wild boars in a gar den No one seems to doubt the i'm | mense human interest attached to Joy 1 It is a sacred flame that must be fed and that throws a splendid radiance over life. He who takes pains to fos ter it accomplishes a work as profit able fNr humanity as he who builds l bridges, pierees tunnels or cultivates the ground So to order ones life as to keep, amid tolls and Suffering, the faculty of happiness and be able tc 1 propagate it in sort of salutary con tagion among cne's fellow men is tC l do work of fraternity in the noblest sense. To give a trifling pleasure smooth an anxious brow, bring a little l light into dark paths-what a truly divine office In the midst of this pool humanity But it is only in great sim plicity of heart that one succeeds ir l filling it.
 We are not simple enough to be hap 1 py and to render others so. We lacE i the singleness of heart and the sell forgetfulness. We spread joy, as wt i do consolation, by such methods as tC obtain negative results. To console z person what do we do? We set tC work to dispute his suffering. persuade him that he is mistaken in thinking himself unhappy. In reality our Ian ] guage translated into truthful speecl 1 would amount to this You suffer, my friend? That is strange. You must b, ! mistaken, for I feel nothing" AS tht only human means of soothing grief i' to share it in the heart, how must { 1 sufferer feel consoled in this fashion,
 To divert our neighbor, make hin 1 pass an agreeable hour, we set out il ] the same way. We invite him to ad mire our versatility. to laugh at oul wit, to frequent our house, to sit n 1 our table. Through it all our desire tC shine breaks forth. Sometimes, also 1 with a patrons prodigality we offel him the benefcence of a public enter tainment of our own choosing, unless we ask him to find amusement at oul home, as we sometimes do to make 1T , a party at cards. with the arriere pensee of exploiting him to our owr 1 profit. Do you think it the height oi !, pleasure for others to admire us. to ad ] init our superiority and to act as oui 1 tools? Is there anything in the world so disgusting as to feel oneself patron l ized, made capital of, enrolled in { claque? To give pleasure to others ant i take 1t ourselves we have to begin by removing the ego, which is hateful and then keep it in chains as long a: | the diversions last. There is no worse kill-joy than the ego. We must be i good children, sweet and kind, buttor 1 our coata over our medals and titles and with our whole heart put our selves at the disposal of others.
 i Let us sometimes live-be it only fol an hour and though we must lay al else aside-to make others smile. Tht sacrifice is only in appearance. No on, finds more pleasure for himself than h, who knows how, without ostentation | A. for those around him moment of for