Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1904-12-08

EFORE considering the question
* Of practical return to the sim
plicity Of which we dream, 1t
H. will be necessary to define sim
plicity In its very essence. for In regard
to 1t people commit the same error that
ye have Just denounced, confounding
Me secondary with the essential, sub
stance with form. They are tempted
to believe that simplicity presents GER
tain external characteristics by which
1t may be recognized and In which 1t
really consists. Simplicity and lowly
station, plain dress, modest dwelling,
slender means, poverty-these things
seem to 60 together. Nevertheless this
Is not the case. Just now / passed
three men on the street, the first in his
carriage, the others on foot anG one Of
them shoeless. The shoeless man does
not necessarily lead the least complex
life of the three 1t may be, indeed,
that he who rides In his carriage is sim
cere and unaffected, In spite Of his po-
sition, and is not at oil the slave of his
wealth. It may be also that the pedes-
rides nor despises him who goes I'M
shod; and lastly 1t Is possible that un-
der his rags, his feet In the dust, the
third man has hatred Of simplicity,
of labor, OF sobriety, and dreams only
of idleness and pleasure, for among the
least simple and straightforward OF
men must be reckoned professional
beggars, knights of the road, parasites
and the whole tribe Of the obsequious
and envious, whose aspirations are
summed up I'm this-to arrive at selling
a morsel, the biggest possible, OF that
prey which the fort,ins' ( csEsh con-
sumo.
And to this .te~o' Gstte
matter what IT, .a.'ol .e. be
long the profigat i, t''c .ant TIE
miserly, the weak, - =. Icy
counts for nothing; ~ rnrst - ;hc
heart. No class has tho J -rn .1tlyo
of simplicity; no dress, hoNos i f'i-i-
BILE in appearance, is its unfai''ag
badge. Its dwelling need not 6s !;
garret, a hut, the cell of the e
nor the lowliest flsherman's bark.
der all the forms In which life We,
itself, in all social positions, at tn,
top as at the bottom of the ladder,
there are people who live simply and
others who do not. We do not mean
by this that simplicity betrays itself
In no visible signs, has not Its own
habits. its distinguishing tastes and
ways; but this outward show, which
may now and then be counterfeited,
must not be confounded with Its es-
sence and its deep and wholly inward
source Simplicity is state of mind.
II dwells In the main intention OF our
lives. A man Ia simple when his
chief care is the wish to be what he
ought to be-that is, honestly and nat
urally human. And this is neither so
easy nor 80 impossible as one might
think. At bottom II consists In put
ting our acts and aspirations In ac-
cordance with the law Of our being,
and consequently with the eternal In
tention which willed that we should
be at all. Let q flower be flower, n
swallow swallow, rock rock, and
let a man be a man, and not fox,
hare, a hog or a bird Of prey. This is
the sum OF the whole matter.
Here we are led to formulate the
practical ideal Of man. Everywhere
in life we see certain quantities OF
matter and energy associated for GER
tain ends. Substances more or less
crude are thus transformed and car
ried to a higher degree Of organization.
It Is not otherwise with the life OF
man. The human ideal is to trans
form life into something more excel
lent than itself. We may compare ex'
istence to raw material. What IL In
matters less than what is made of 1t,
as the value OF q work Of art lies
In the Towering of the workman's
skill. We bring into the world with US
different gifts. One has received gold,
another granite. n third marbles most
of us wood or clay. Our task Is to
fashion these substances. Every one
knows that the most precious material
may be spoiled, and he knows, too.
that out Of the least costly an iwmQs-