Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1905-02-10

see the people of our cites ami th0t
OF the country in their turn breaking
with the good traditions The mind.
warped hy alcohol. by tie passion f"r
gambling and by unhealthy literature.
contracts little hy little perverted
tastes. Artificial life makes Eruption
into communities once simple in their
pleasures. and ii is like plIylloXera t,
the vine The robust tree of rustic JOY
finds its sap drained. its leaves turn
ing yellow.
Compare fete champetrc 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 blackslnitl
FORCES, as the cascade tumbles over
the rocks, as the colts frisk in the
meadows. 1t Is contagious. 1t stirS
your heart In spite Of yourself you
are ready to cry: Bravo. my children.
That is fine" You want to Join In.
In the other case you see villagers dis
guised az city folk, cOuntrywomen
made hideous by the modiste, and, as
the chief ornament Of the festival. Il
lot of degenerates who bawl the songs
of music halls, and sometimes In the
place of honor q group Of tenth rate
barn stormers, imported for the occa-
sion. to civilize these rustics and give
them q taste OF refined pleasures. For
drinks, liquors mixed with brandy or
absinth - in the whole thing neither
originality nor picturesqueness. Ii
cense, indeed. and clownishness. but
not that abandon which ingenious JOY
brings in its train.
This question of pleasure is capital.
Staid people generally neglect it as
n frivolity; utllitarians. as costly su-
periluity. Those whom we designate
as pleasure seekers forage In this deli
cate domain like Wild bears In gar
den. No one seems to doubt the I'M
mense human interest attached to JOY.
1t is a sacred flame that must be fed
and that throws splendid radiance
over life. He who takes pains to fos-
ter 1t acconlplishes Il work rs profit
able for humanity as he who builds
bridges. picrces tunnels or cultivatcs
the ground. So to order ones life as
to keep, amid tolls and suffering. the
faculty Of happiness and be able to
propagate it in a sort Of salutary con-
tagion among ones fellow men is to
do work Of fraternity In the noblest
sense. To give trifling pleasure,
smooth an anxious brow. bring little
light into dark paths-what a truly
divine Office In the midst Of this poor
humanity! But 1t is only in great sim
plicity Of heart that one succeeds In
filling it.
We are not simple enough to be hap
by and to render others so. We lack
the singleness Of heart and the self
forgetfulness. We spread joy. rs we
do consolation, by such methods as to
obtain negative results. To console a
peNon what do we DO? We set to
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 I feel nothing" AS the
only human means Of soothing grief is
to share it In the heart, how must q
sufferer feel consoled In this fashion?
To divert our neighbor. make him
pass an agreeable hour. we set out In
the same way. We invite him to I'D
mire our versatility. to laugh ut our
wit, to frequent our house, to sit ut
our table. Through 1t all our desire to
shine breaks forth. Sometimes, also.
with patrons prodigality We offer
him the benencence Of public enter
tainment Of our own choosing. unless
We ask him to find amusement ut our
home, as we sometimes do to make up
party ut cards, with the arriere-
pensee Of exploiting him to our own
profit. Do you think 1t the height of
pleasure for others to admire us, to adj
init our superiority and to act as our
tools? Is there anything in the world
30 disgusting as to feel oneself patron
ICED, made capital Of, enrolled in a
claque? To give pleasure to others and
take 1t ourselves We have to begin by
removing the ego, which Is hateful
and then keep 1t in chains Us long us
the diversions last. There is no worse
kill-joy than the ego. We must be
good children, sweet and kind. buttor
our coats over our medals and titles
and with our whole heart put our
selves at the disposal Of others.
Let US sometimes live-be 1t only fol
an hour, and though we must lay nj
else aside-to make others smile The
sacrifice is only In appearance. No ont
Ends moro pleasure for himself than hi
who knows how, without Ostentation
to give himself that he may procure
for those around him a moment Of for
setfulness and happiness.
When shall we be so simply and
truly men as not to obtrude our per
sonal business and distresses upon the
people we meet socially? May we no,
forget for IN hour our pretensions, oul
strife, our distributions into sets and
cliques-in short. our 'parts"-and be
come rs children once more, to laugh
again that good laugh which does sc
much to make the world better?
Here 1 feel drawn to speak of some
thing very particular. and In so doing
to offer my well disposed readers NJ
opportunity to 60 about a splendid
business. I want to call their at
tention to several classes Of peopl,
seldom thought Of with reference tt
their pleasures.
1t Is understood that broom serve,
only to sweep, watering pot to water
plants, a coffee mill to grind coffee
and likewise 1t is supposed that &
nurse is designed only to care for the
sick, professor to teach. a priest t.
preach, bury and confess, a sentinel t.
mount guard; and the conclusion Il
drawn that the people given up to thu
more serious business Of life are dedi
Gated to labor, like the OK. Amuse
ment is incompatible with their activ
tiles. Pushing this view still further
we think ourselves warranted in be
lieving that the infirm, the afflicted