The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-12-02
Next Sundays Issue Will Con- tain Famous Book Complete
SOMETHING OF THE AUTHOR
This Remarkable Man Whose Book Has Received High Tribute From President Roosevelt Is Lead
 Ing Evangelical of Paris.

recently made famous by President Roosevelts tribute to It's teachings, the Age-Herald will print the book in full in the magazine section of its next Sundays issue. December |
 Charles Wagner. the author of this remarkable little book, Is an Alsatian by birth but LOW an Evangelical of Paris. and the entire work as printed in the Age-Herald Sunday will be a correct translation from the original French manuscript
 Early in 1902 certain New York publish CTS brought out very quietly transla- tion of The Simple Life" At first the book did not attract much attention. ex- cept among the literary few, but among the literary few was President Roose- welt. On him the little volume made such an impression that he referred to 1t in one of his public addresses as follows;
 RooseveIt's Tribute.
 "The other day I picked up a little book called The Simple Life. written by an Alsatian, Charles Wagner, and he preached such wholesome, sound doc Urine that wish 1t could be used as tract throughout our country. To him the whole Iroblem of our complex, some- what feverish modern life can be solved only by getting men and women to lead better lives. He sees that the perma- hence of liberty and democracy depends upon a majority of the people being steadfast In that good, plain morality which as national attribute comes on- ly as the result of the slow and painful labor of centuries and which can be squandered in a generation by the thoughtless and vicious. He breaches the doctrine of the superiority of the moral to he material, but he insists, as we of this nation should always Insist, upon the infinite superiority of the moral and the 1ordid destruction which comes upon either the nation or the individual if 1t or he becomes absorbed only in the desire to gel wealth."
 This public commendation from the President of the United States, who was the author of book that seemed the very antithesis of "The Simple Life" aroused puhlic curiosity, and in very short time there was large demand for the volume
 Popular Minister.
 Charles Wagner Is popular evangeli- cal in Paris. and it seems the height of lncongruity that such a work should come from snch source. As Grace King says in her biographical sketch; From the great metropolis and sover- eign see of modern civilization, from the worlds heart of sophstication, from Paris. the complex city comes this vol ume of little essays upon the simple life. A limpid, blDbling spring, fresh and cool from its ,crest source, running down the bouleva1ds would hardly appear more miraculous to the eye or more refresh ing to the sense."
 Wagner Is a noted man in Paris, the kind of man whom the people stare after in the streets. Among the dapper ana undergrown Parisians he bulks large with his great height and massive chest and shoulders. There are various le- gends, constituting a sort of little myth ology, about his enormous physical strength and the feats supposed to have been achieved by him in his peasant days. For the rest he is described as man of singular sweetness and straight forwardness of character, with a strong personal charm. He has wide follow- ing, personal as well as ethical.
 Ills Early Career.
 The early career of this noteworthy man is interesting. He is the son or Lutheran minister of Alsace, born at Wibersville, in the Vosges, on Sunday morning, January g. 1852, while his father was preaching in the village church. He was only seven years old when his father died, and yet he was the eldest of five children. The family moved to Phalsbourg, and there Charles labored in the fields and studied for the ministry. He was sent to Paris at four teen and took degree at the Sorbonne in 1869. He was student of theology at the University of Strassburg during inc Franco-P Prussian war, and there he underwent SOrl VI sPhisaAi ASf ofNrO-'' | losing his religious faith. He read Spi- noza, and found In that philosopher something to compensate for what he had lost but two simple incidents led to the restoration of his religious life. One was the first sight of the Alps. The mountains seemed to him Gods wit nesses. The other event was something that has happened to nearly everybody simply the sight of his mother on re- turning home after long absence. She was there, loyal to her duty, doing her | daily work with tranquil energy, never wearied and never discouraged, and the very thought of her brought quietude, content, faith.
 Went to Alsace.
 | He went from Strassburg to Gottingen in 1s75 and from there he returned to Alsace and became assistant pastor at the foot of Ste. OdiIle mountain. His native place had been taken into the Prussian territory, his pastorate was within the new German frontier, and for the first time the political change be- gan to weigh on him. There was no sense of political oppression. but con- sciousness that intellectual independence was not possible for him in the con- quered provinces. He set to work, there | fore, to master the French language, l a accented position at RemiremOnt. in