Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1905-02-24
CHAPTER IN.

oar tine i the love, of :IiXcr-
J ti>rH"nu TO ,lnrr-;" from
~ ohScuritv. Ia hc in the public
eye To make Oneself talked of some
people ar. so consumed with this desire
thai We are justified in declaring them
attacked with an itch for publicity. In
their eyes obScurity Is the height Of ig
nominy so they do their best to keep
their names in every mouth. In their
obscure position they look upon them
selves as lost. Ike shipWreck@l sailors
whom Il night of TEMPEST has cast on
some lonely rock and who have re-
course t. cries. volleys. fire. al the sig
nails ina Ginahlc, to let II be known that
they ara there. Not content with set
ting off crackers and innocent rockets.
many, to make themselves heard at
any cost. have gone to the length Of
pcrfidy and even crime. The incendl-
airy Erostratus has made numerous dis
ciplcS. How many men of today have
become notorious for having destroyed
something of mark, pulled dOwn-Or
tried to pull dOwn-sOme mans high
reputation; signaled their passage, In
short. by scandal, meanness or an
atrocity!
This rage for notoriety does not surge
through cracked brains alone or only
in the world Of adventures, charla-
tans and pretenders generally. 1t has
spread abroad in all the domains of
life, spiritual and material. Politics,
literature. even science, and, most obi
GUS Of all. philanthropy and religion
are infected. Trumpets announce
good deed done, and souls must be
saved with din and clamor Pursuing
its way Of destruction, the rage for
noise has entered places ordinarily ST.
lent, troubled spirits naturally serene
and vitiated in large measure all activ-
ity for good. The abuse Of showing
everything, or, rather, putting every
thing on exhibition, the growing inca
pacity to appreciate that which chooses
to remain hidden and the habit Of esti-
mating the value Of things by the rack
ct they make have come to corrupt the
judgment Of the most earnest men, and
one sometimes wonders If society will
not end by Transforming itself into
great fair, with each one beating his
drum In front Of his tent
Gladly do we quit the dust and din
Of like exhibitions to go and breathe
peacefully in some faroff nook of the
woods, all surprise that the brook is SO
limpid, the forest SO still, the solitude
so enchanting. Thank God there are
yet these uninvaded corners! How
ever formidable the uproar, however
deafening the babel Of merry andrews,
it cannot carry beyond a certain limit
1t grows faint and dies away. The
realm Of silence is vaster than the
realm Of noise. Herein is our consola-
ton.
Rest a moment on the threshold of
this infinite world Of ingloriOus good,
Of quiet activities. Instantly we are
under the charm we feel in stretches
Of untrodden snow, in hiding wood
flowers. in disappearing pathways that
seem to lead to horizons without bourn.
The world is so made that the engines
of labor, the most active agencies, are
everywhere concealed. Nature affects
a sort Of coQuetry in masking her op-
erations. 1t costs you pains to spy her
out, ingenuity to surprise her, II You
would see anything but results and
penetrate the secrets Of her laborato-
ries. Likewise in human society the
forces which move for good remain in
visible, and even in our individual
lives; what is best in us Is incom-
municable. buried in the depths Of US.
And the more vital are these SENSIBLE
tiles and intuitiOns, confounding them
selves with the very source of our be-
ing, the less ostentatious they are.
They think themselves profaned by ex.
posure to the light Of day.
There is a secret and inexpressible
Joy in possessing at the heart Of ones
being. an interior world known only
to God, whence, nevertheless. come i'm
pulses. enthusiasms, the daily renewal
Of courage and the most powerful mo-
lives for activity among our fellow
men. When this intimate life loses In
Intensity, when man neglects 1t for
what is superficial, he forfeits In worth
all that he gains in appearance. By
sad fatality it happens that In this
way we often become less admirable
In proportion as we are more admired.
And we remain convinced that what Is
best in the world Is unknown there,
for only those know It who possess IT,
and II they speak Of 1t in so doing they
destroy its charm.
There are passionate lovers Of nature
whom she fascinates most in byplaces,
in the cool of forests, in the clefts Of
canyons, everywhere that the careless
lover is not admitted to her contempla-
ton. Forgetting time and the life Of
the world they pass days In these in
violate stillnesses, watching a bird
build its nest or brood over it's young
or some little grounding at its gra-
cious play. So to seek the good within
himself one must go where he no Ion
ger finds constraint or pose or gallery"
of any sort, but the simple fact Of a
life made up Of wishing to be what 1t
Is good for it to be, without troubling
about anything else.
May we be permitted to record here
some observations made from life? AS
no names are given they cannot be
considered 'indiscreet.
In my country Of Alsace, on the soil
tary route whose interminable ribbon
stretches on and on under the forests
OF the Fosges. there is q stonebreaker
whom I have seen at his work for
thirty years. The first time came
upon him was a young student set
ting out with swelling heart for the
great city. The sight of this man did
me good, for he was humming a song
as he broke his stones We exchanged
a few words, and he said at the end:
"Well. goodby, my boy! Good courage
and good luck.' Since then I have
passed and repassed along that same
route. under circumstances the most
diverse, painful and joyful. The stu
dent has finished his course, the break
er Of stones remains what he was He
has taken n few more precautions
against the seasons storms, rush
mat protects his back, and his felt hat
Is drawn farther down to shield his
face. But the forest Is always send
ing back the echo Of his valiant ham,
mer How many sudden tempests have