The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1905-03-16

ASH dClOTS WHal duuuenCe Is HdpDIt'Sl
at the play. They will tell you the pop.
ular one. The reason Is not hard tc
grasp. To these people the play is All
exception. They are not bored by it
from overindulgence. And. too. &c
them it is Il rest from rude toll. The
pleasure they enjoy they have honestly
earned. and they know its cost as
they know that of each sou earned by
have not freQuented the wings, they
have no intrigues with the actresses,
they do not see the wires pulled To
them it is all real. And so they fee
pleasure unalloyed. | think l see the
stated skeptic. whose monOcle glistens
in that box, cast Il disdainful glance
over the smiling crowd.
Poor stupid creatures. ignorant and gross
And yet they are the true livers,
Willie he is an artificial product. Il man
nillin. Incapable of experiencing this
fine and salutary intoxication of an
hour of frank pleasure
Unhapp.ly. righteousness is disap-
pearing even in the rural districts. We
see the people of our cities and those
of the country in their turn breaking
with the good traditions. The mind.
warped by alcohol, by the passion fol
gambling and by unhealthy literature.
contracts little by little perverted
tastes. Artificial life makes Eruption
into communities once simple in their
pleasures, and it is like phylloXera tC
the vine. The robust tree of rustic, Joy
finds its sap drained, its leaves turn
ing yellow
Compare fete champetre of the
good old style with the village festi
walls, so called, of today. In the one
case, in the honored setting of antique
costumes, genuine countrymen sing the
folk songs, dance rustic dances. re.
gale themselves with native drinks and
seem entirely in their element They
take their pleasure as the blacksmith
FORCES, rs the cascade tumbles over
the rocks. as the colts frisk in the
meadows. 1t is contagious; it stirr
your heart. In spite Of yourself you
are ready to cry: Bravo, my children.
That is finer You want to join in.
In the other case you see villagers dis.
guiSed as city folk, countrywomen
made hideous by the modiste. and, us
the chief ornament of the festival, a
lot of degenerates who bawl the songs
of music halls, and sometimes in the
place of honor a group of tenth rate
barn StOrmcrs. imported for the occa-
sion, to civiliZe these rustics and give
them a taste of refined pleasures. FoI
drinks, liquors mixed with brandy OF
absinth - in the whole thing neither
originality nor picturesqueness. Lii
cense, indeed. and clownshness. but
not that abandon which ingenious joy
brings in its train.
This question of pleasure is capital
Staid people generally neglect it as
q friyolity; utilitarians, as a costly SUI
perhuity. Those whom we designate
as pleasure seekers forage in this deli.
cate domain like wild bears in a gar.
den. No one seems to doubt the i'm.
mense human interest attached to joy.
1t is Il sacred flame that must be fed
and that throws a splendid radiance
over life. He who takes pains to fOS.
ter it accomplishes q work as profit.
able for humanity as he who builds
bridges, pierCeS tunnels or cultivatcs
the ground. So to order ones life as
to keep. amid tolls and suffering. the
faculty of happiness and be able t.
propagate it in sort OF salutary con.
tagion among ones fellow men is tC
do work of fraternity in the nobleSt
sense. To give a trifling pleasure
smooth an anxious brow. bring a little
light into dark paths-what a truly
divine Office in the midst of this poor
humanity! But it is only in great sim.
plicity of heart that one succeeds ii
filling it,
We are not simple enough to be hap
by and to render others So We lack
the singleness of heart and the sell
forgetfulness. We spread joy. as we
do consolation, by such methods as tt
obtain negative results. To console &
person what do we Go? We set tc
work to dispute his suffering, persuade
him that he is mistaken in thinking
himself unhappy. In reality our Ian
guage translated into truthful speech
would amount to this: You suffer, my
friend? That is strange You must be
mistaken. for 1 feel nothing" AS the
only human means of soothing grief is
to share it in the heart. how must 3
sufferer feel consoled in this fashion?
To divert our neighbor, make hin
pass an agreeable hour, we set out il
the same way. We invite him to ad
mire our versatility, to laugh at oui
wit, to frequent our house, to sit al
our table. Through it all our desire tc
shine breaks forth. Sometimes, also
with patrons prodigality we Offer
him the benefcence of a public enter
tainment of our own choosing. unless
we ask him to find amusement at ouI
home, as we sometimes do to make uI
party at cards, with the arriere
pensee of exploiting him to our own
profit. Do you think it the height of
pleasure for others to admire us, to ad.
NIT our superiority and to act as oul
tools? Is there anything in the world
so disgusting as to feel oneself patron
lied, made capital of, enrolled in n