Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1905-01-26
CHATTER IL

f.tO hE considering tne question
of Il practical return to the sim
pliclty OF which we dream. 1t
- will be necessary to define sim.
plicity in its very essence, for in regard
To Il people commit the same error that
We lssc just denounced. cunfuundng
the secondary with the essential, sub
stance with form. They IRE tempted
10 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. It modest dwelling,
slender means, poverty these things
seem To- 90 together. Nevertheless this
is not the case. Just now | passed
three men on the street the first In his
carriage, the others OH foot and one of
them shucless The HhOelesS man does
not necessarily lead the least complex
life Of the three. il may he, indeed,
that lac who rides In his carriage Is sin
Cere aud unaffected, in spite of his pO-
SltiOn, and il not mt all the slave Of his
wealth. II may he also that the pedes-
rides nor dcspises him who goes un-
shOd; and laStly it IL possible that I'M
der his rags, his feet in the dust, the
third man has hatred Of simplicity,
Of labor, Uf SObrlety, and dreams only
Of idleneSs and pleasure, for among the
least simple and straightforward OF
men must bc reckoncd professional
~ ftay
and the whole tribe of the ObScquious.
and enviOus, whose aspirations are
summed UP In this--to arrive ut Selling
a mOrSel, the biggest possible, of that
prey which the fortunate Of earth con-
sumo
And 10 this same category, little
matter what their station in life, be-
long the proflgate, the arrogant, the
misery, the weak, the crafty. Livery
counts for nothing; we must see tho
heart. No class has the prerogatlve
of simplicity; no dress, however hum
BILE In appearance, Is its unfailing
badge. Its dwelling need not he II
garnet, hut, the cell Of the nscctic
nor the lOwliest tisherman's bark. Tn
der all the forms in which life vests
itself, I'm all social positions, Mt the
top ~ 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 counterfelted,
must not be COMPOUNDED with its es-
senCe and its deep and wholly inward
source. Simplicity is state of mind.
1t dwells In the main intention of our
lives. 4 man Is simple when his
chief care is the wish 10 lie what he
ought to be-that is, honestly and nat
urally human. And this is neither so
easy nor so impossible as one might
think At bottom it consists in put
ting our acts and aspirations in nc
cordance with the law OF our being,
and consequently with the eternal In
tentiOn which willed that we should
be ut all. Let a flower be n flower, a
swallow u swallow, a rock a rock. and
let q plRn be man, and not fox, IL
ubItt u uOE UT " blfn VI prey lhiS ~
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 aud energy associated for GER
tain ends. Substances more or less
crude are thus transformed and car.
ried TO II higher degree OF organization,
1t is not otherwise with the life Of
man. The human ideal IN 10 trans
form life into something more excel
lent than itself We may compare ex'
istence to raw material. What 1t II
matters less than what is made of It,
as the value OF a work OF art lies
IN the towering OF the wOrkman's
skill. We bring into tho world with US
different gifts. One has received gold,
another granite, a third marble. most
OF us wood or clay. Our task IL TO
fashion these substances. Every ono
knows TINT the most precious material
nay be spoiled, and he knows, too,
that out Of the least costly an immor-
tai work may be shaped. ART Il tho
realization d . permanent idea IN az