The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1904-12-21
CHAPTER II.


TO it people commit the same error that
we have Just denounced, confounding
the secondary with the essential. sub
stance with form. They are tempted
to believe that simplicity presents GER
tain external characteristics by which
it may be recognized and in which it
really consists. Simplicity and lowly
station, plain dress, n modest dwelling.
slender means, poverty-these things
seem to go together. Nevertheless this
is not the case. Just now | passed
three men on the street, the first in his
carriage the others on foot and 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 sin
cere and unaffected. in spite of his po-
sition, and is not at all the slave of his
wealth. 1t may be also that the pedes-
trian i'm shoes neither envies him who
rides nor despises him who goes I'M
shod; and lastly it is possible that I'M
der his rags, his feet in the dust the
third man has a 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 in this-tO arrive at Selling
a morsel. the biggest possible, of that
prey which the fortunate of earth con-
sumo.
And to this same category, little
matter what their station in life, be-
long the prOhigate the arrogant, the
misery, the weak, the crafty. Livery
counts for nothing; we must see the
heart No class has the prerogative
of simplicity; no dress, however hum
BILE in appearance, is its unfailing
badge Its dwelling need not be a
garnet, a hut, the cell of the ascetic
nor the lowliest fisherman's bark. Tn
der all the forms i'm which life vests
itself. in all social positions. at the
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 COMPOUNDED with its es-
sence and its deep and wholly inward
source. Simplicity is a state of mind.
1t dwells in the main intention OF our
lives. A man is simple when his
chief care Is the wish to be what lie
ought TO be-that is, honestly and nat
urally human. And this is neither 50
easy nor 50 impossible as one might
think. At bottom 1t 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 a flower be flower,
swallow swallow, Il rock Il rock. and
let a man be a man, and not fox, a
hare, hog or bird Of prey. This is
the sum of the whole matter
Here we eye led to formulate the
practical ideal OF man. Everywhere
i'm 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 IA higher degree of organization.
1t 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 10 raw material. What 1t IL
matters less than what is made of Il
as the value Of a work Of art lies
in the towering of the wOrkmans
skill. We bring into the world with US
different gifts one has received gold
another granite, a third marble, 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 immOr-
tai work may be shaped. Art Is the
realization of a permanent idea in an
ephemeral form. True life is the
realization Of the higher virtues-jus
tice, love, truth, liberty, moral power
in our daily activities, whatever they |
may be. And this life is possible in
social conditions the most diverse and
with natural gifts the most unequal.
1t is not fortune or personal advan-
tage, but our turning them to ac-
count, that constitutes the value Of
life. Fame adds no more than does
length Of days. Quality is the thing.
Need we say that one does not rise
to this point of view without a strug
gle? The spirit Of simplicity is not an
inherited gift, but the result Of labo-
rious conquest Plain living, like high
thinking. is simplification. We know
that science is the handful of ultimate
principles gathered out Of the tufted
mass of facts, but what groupings to
discover them! Centuries of research
are often condensed into a principle
that line may state. Here the moral