Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1904-12-02

server INTO tnls--to De able to seize
the largest possible morsel of that
prey which the fortunate ones of the
earth consume. And in this same
category, no matter what their sta
tion In life, belong the ambitious, the
crafty, the effeminates, the misers,
the naughty and the refined. The liv-
cry counts for nothing. We must see
the heart. No class has the sole privi-
lege Of simplicity. No costume, how
ever humble it may appear, is it's as
sured badge. Its habitation is not
necessarily the attic, neither the hut,
nor the cell of the ascetic. nor the
poorest fisherman's cabin. Under all
forms that clothe life. in all social
positions, at the lowest as well as its
topmost rung of the ladder, there are
beings who are simple and others who
are not. We do not wish to claim by
that that simplicity has no outward
signs, that 1t has no habits, its own
distinguishing tastes and manners,
but must not confound those forms
which could In case Of need be Dor
rowed, with its own essence and its
profound depths. This source is al.
together interior.
Simplicity is state of mind. 1t
dwells in the main intention that ami
mates us. A man Is simple when his
hghest desire consists in wishing to be
that which he should be; that is to
say, a true and honest man. This Is
neither as easy nor as impossible as
one might imagine. At the bottom
1t consists in putting his aspirations
and his acts in accord with the very
law of our being, and in consequence
with the Eternal intention which will
ed that he should beat all. Let flow
or be a flower, a swallow a swallow,
a rock a rock, and a man be a man,
and not fox, hare, bird of prey
or pig. All is summed up in that.
We are therefore here led to formu
/ late the practical ideal of man. In all
! life we observe a certain quantity OF
| forces, and substances associated for
/ one aim. Materials more or less
crude are there transformed, and car
ried to a higher degree Of organism
/ 1t Is not otherwise with the life Of
man. The human ideal will be the
| desire to transform life into something
/ better and grander than itself. One
could compare life to raw material.
what it is matters less than what they
make of it. AS in a work of art, what
should be appreciated is what the
worker has known how to put in IT.
We bring with our birth different
gifts. One has received gold, another
granite, a third one marble. and the
most just wood or clay. Our task
consists in fashioning these materials.
All know that they can spoil the most
precious substance but also that they
can wrest an immortal work from d
valueless material. Art consists in
realizing a permanent idea, in an eph-
emeral form. Real life consists in real
ization Of the higher virtues, which
are Justice love, truth, liberty, and
moral energy in our daily activities,
whatever may be their place or their
exterior forms. And this life is posi-
BILE in the most diverse social condi-
lions, and with the most unequal ma
tural gifts. 1t is not fortune, or per-
sonal Advantages, but the turning OF
them to account which constitutes the
value OF life. Renown adds no more
than does the length of days. The
quality is the principle.
1t Is necessary to say that one does
not reach this point of view without
a struggle and some effort. The spirit
of simplicity Is not an inherited gift,
but the result of laborious conquest.
To live we'll, as to think well. is to
simplify 1t Every one knows that
science consists in bringing some gen.
eral rules out Of a bunch Of divers
things. But how many dark places
and readings out and touchings to
finally discover those rules! Centur-
les of research are often condensed In
a principle that is held in one line.
Moral life offers on this line great
analogy with scientific life. 1t, too,
begins in some confusion, tries, seeks
to know itself and is often deceived.
But by continual action, and render
ing account to himself of all his action
in strict sincerity man at last comes
to understand life better. The law
appears to him, and law Is this, &C
complieh your mission. Whosoever
: applies himself to other things than
| Iuc TbhllZdllOu VI ILLS ain iOoCo III
living the very reason of his being IN
life. Thus are cyclists formed, the
pleasure seekers, and the ambitious
They consume their existence as one
might eat his grain still in the tender
grass. They hinder it from It's natural
fruition. Their vices are lost lives
On the contrary, he who makes his
life serve a good higher than itself
saves it in giving it. Moral precepts
which seem arbitrary in the eyes Of
the superficial and made for the pur
pose of vexing us into spelling oul
zest for life. have but one object. after
all, and that is to preserve us from
having lived in vain. 1t is for thai
that they always lead us in the same
direction and that they have the same
eapca "Do NOT waste VOur life Fruc