Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-01-14

men. When this intimate life loses in
intensity, when man neglectS il for
what is superficial. he forfeits in worth
all that he gains In appearance. BY a
sad fatality il 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 ii,
and if they speak of II 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 bird
build its nest or brood over It's young
or some little grounding ut its gra-
cious play. So to seek the good within
himself one must go where lie 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 it
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 Vosges. there is a stonebreaker
whom l have seen at his work for
thirty years. The first time 1 came
upon him 1 was young student set
ting out with swelling heart for the
great city. The sight of this man did
me good, for he was humming Il song
as he broke his stones. We exchanged
n few words. and he said at the end ::
well. goodby. my boy. Good courage
and good luckr' Since then l 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 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
broken over his bent back. how much
adverse fate has fallen on his head,
on his house. on his country! He con-
times to break his stones. and coming
and going find him by the roadside,
smiling in spite Of his age and his
wrinkles. benevolent, speaking
all in dark dayS-thoSe simple words
of brave men, which have SO much eff
feet when they are scanned to the
breaking of stones.
1t would be quite impossible to ex-
press the emotion the sight of this sim
pie man gives me, and certainly he
has no suspicion of it. / know of moth
ing more reassuring and at the same
time more searching for the vanity
which fernents in our hearts than this
coming face to face with an obscure
worker who does his task as the oak
grows and as the good God makes his
sun to rise, without asking who Is
looking on.
I have known, too, Il number of old
teachers, men and women who have
passed their whole life at the same &C.
cupation, making the rudiments of hui
man knowledge and a few principles
Of conduct penetrate heads sometimes
harder than the rocks. They have done
1T with their whole soul throughout the
length of a hard life In which the at
tention of men had little place. When
they lie in their unknown graves no
one remembers them but few humble
people like themselves, but their rec
Ompense is in their love. No one Is
greater than these unknown.
How many hidden virtues may one
not discover-if he know how TO search
among people of n class he often rid
icules without perceiving that in SO do
ing he is guilty Of cruelty, ingratitude
and stupidity! / mean old maids. PEG
pie amuse themselves with remarking
the surprising dress and ways of some
of them-things of no consequence, for
that matter. They persist also in re-
minding us that others. very selfish.
take interest in nothing but their own
comfort and that of some cat or canary
upon which their powers Of affection
center, and certainly these are not out
done in egOism by the most hardened
celibates of the stronger sex. But what
we oftenest forget is the amount of
self sacrifice hidden modestly away In
so many of these truly admirable lives.
Is 1t nothing to be without home and
its love, without future, without per-
sonal ambition? to take upon oneself
that cross of solitary life so hard to
bear, especially when there is added
the solitude Of the heart? to forget
oneself and have no other interests
than the care of the, old, Of orphans. !
the poor, the infirm-those whom the
brutal mechanism of life casts out !
among its waste? Seen from without |
these apparently tame and lusterless |
lives rouse pity rather than envy. |
Those who approach gently sometimes |
divine sad secrets. great trials under
gone. heavy burdens beneath which |
too fragile shoulders bend; but this is
only the side of shadow.
We should learn to know and value !
this richness of heart. this pure good