Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1904-12-29

I of relief are reduced TO helplessness.
| 1t Is true that lie feels impelled TO run
! to the succor of these unfortunates,
but at the same time he asks himself.
What Is the use?" The case is GER
tainly heartrending. Some, In despair,
end by doing nothing. They lack
neither pity nor good intention, but
these bear no fruit. They are wrong.
Often man has not the means TO do
good on a large scale, but that is not
reason for failing to do 1t ut all. So
many people absolve themselves from
any action on the ground that there Is
too much to do. They should be re-
called to simple duty. and this duty
In the case of which we speak is that
each one, according to his resources,
leisure and capacity. should create re-
lations for himself among the worlds
disinherited. There are people who by
the exercise of little good will have
succeeded In enrolling themselves
among the followers of ministers and
have ingratiated themselves with
princes. Why should you not succeed
in forming relations with the poor and
in making acquaintances among the
workers who lack somewhat the ne
cessities of life? When few families
are known, with their histories, their
antecedents and their difficulties, you
may be of the greatest use to them by
acting the part Of n brother with
the moral and material aid that is
yours to give 1t is true you will have
attacked only one little corner. but
you will have done what you could
and perhaps have led another on to
follow you, Instead Of stopping at
tho knowledge that much wretched-
ness, hatred, disunion and vice exist
in society you will have introduced
little good among these evils, And by
however slow degrees such kindness as
yours IL emulated the good will sensi
bly, increase and the evil diminish.
Even were you TO remain alone in this
undertaking you would have the as
surance that in fulfilling the duty.
: plain as a child's, which offered itself
/ you were doing the only reasonable
thing. If you have felt II 80. you have
found out enc OF the secrets Of right
llving,
! In its dreams mans ambition en-
! braces vast limits, but 1t is rarely CIV
! en- us to achieve great things. and even
then n quick and sure success always
| rests on groundwork Of patient prep
aration, Fidelity In small things is Mt
! the base OF every great achievement.
! We too often forget this, and yet no
truth needs more to be kept In mind,
| particularly In the troubled eras of his
tory and In the crises Of individual life.
In shipwreck splintered beam, an
! gar, any scrap of wreckage, saves us.
! on the tumbling waves of life. when
everything seems shattered to frag-
ments. let us not forget that single
one of these poor bits may become our
plank of safety. TO desp!se the rem
pants is decentralization.
You are n ruined man, or you are
stricken by n great bereavement, or,
ngain, you see the fruit OF toilsome
years perish before your eyes You
cannot rebuild your fortune, raise the
dead, recover your lost toll. and In the
face Of the inevitable your arms drop.
Then you neglect 10 care for your per
son TO keep your house, to guide your
children. All this is pardonable, and
how easy to understand. But 1t IL ex-
ceedingly dangerous. To fold ones
hands and let thugs take their course
is to transform one evil into worse.
You who think that you have nothing
left to loSo Will by that very thought
lose what you have. Gather up the
fragments that remain to you and keep
them with scrupulous care In good
time this little that Is yours will be
| your consolation. The effort made will
como to your relief, as the effort miss
! cd will turn against you. II nothing
! but branch is left for you to cling
to, cling to that branch. and IL you
stand alone In defense Of a losing cause
do not throw down your arms to join
the rout After the deluge few sur
vivors repeopled the earth. The fu-
ture sometimes rests in n single life
as truly as life sometimes hangs by a
thread For strength go to history and
nature. From the long travail of both
YOU will learn that failure and fortune
alike may come from the alightest
cause that II IL not wise to neglect
detail and, above all, that we must
know how to wait and to begin again.
In speaking OF simple duty l cannot
help thinking Of military life and the
examples It offers to combatants In this
great struggle. He would little under
stand his soldiers duty who, the army
once beaten, should cease to brush his
garments, polish his rifle and observe
discipline. "But what would be the
use?" perhaps you ask. Are there not
various fashions of being vanquishedf
Is II an Indifferent matter to add to de-
feat encouragement, disorder and de-
moralizatlon? No; 1t should never be
forgotten that the least display OF en-
ergy In these terrible moments is
sign of life and hope. At once every
body feels that all Is not lost.
During the disastrous retreat of 1913
Il. I'm the heart Of the winter, when II
had become almost impossible to pre-
sent any sort Of appearance, general
l know not who one morning present
ed himself to Napoleon In full dress
and freshly shaved Seeing him thus,
I'm the midst of the general demoraliza-
uon, as elaDoTuteiy "tthSu "S "
parade, the emperor said, MY general,
you are brave man!'
Again, the plain duty is the near
duty. A very common weakness keeps
many people from finding what IL near
them interesting; they see that only on
Its paltry side. The distant, ON the
contrary, draws and fascinates them.
In this way fabulous amount OF good
will IL wasted. People burn with ar
dor for humanity. for the public good,
for rlghtlng distant wrongs; they walk
through life, their eyes fixed on mar
velous sights along the horizon, tread
ing meanwhile on the feet of passers'
by or Jostling them without being
aware OF their existence
l.... 4i..a4 l-aaxas fEAnl