Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1905-02-01


wien now and then one Of them, a
medical student perhaps, dies a victim
to professional duty the matter has
two lines in the dailies. A drunken
brawl gets half column, with every
detail elaborated. Nothing is lacking
but the portraits Of the heroes, and not
always that
II should never end were l to try
to point out to you all that you must
go to see If you would see ALL You
would needs make the tour of society
at large, rich and poor. wise and ig-
norant And certainly you would not
judge so severely then. Paris is a
world, and here. as in the world in
general, the good hides away while the
evil faunts itself. Observing only the
surface, you sometimes ask how there
can possibly be so much riffraff. When,
on the contrary, you look into the
depths you are astonished that in this
troublous. obscure and sometimes
frightful life there can be so much
virtue
But why linger over these things
Am | not blowing trumpets for those
who hold trumpet blowing in horror?
Do not understand me so. My aim is
this: To make men think about I'M
ostentatious goodness-above all, to
make them love it and practice 1t.
The man who finds his satisfaction in
things which glitter and hold his eyes
is lost, first. because he will thus see
evil before all else, then because he
gets accustomed to the sight of only
such good as seeks for notice, and there
to live himself for appearances. Not
only must one be resigned to obscurity
he must love it If he does not wish to
slip insensibly into the ranks of figu-
rants. who preserve their parts only
while under the eyes of the spectators
and put Off in the wings the restraints
imposed on the stage.
Here we are in the presence of one
of the essential elements of the moral
life. And this which we say Is true
not only for those who are called hum
Bile and whose lot it is to pass unre-
marked; it is just MS true, and more
SO, for the chief actors. If you would
not be a brilliant inutility. man of
gold lace and plumes, but empty inside.
you must play the star role in the sim
pie spirit of the most obscure of your
laborators. He who is nothing worth
except on hours of parade is worth less
than nothing. Have we the perilous
honor of being always in view. of
marching in the front ranks? Let us
take so much the greater care of the
sanctuary of silent good within us; let
us give to the structure whose facade
Is seen of our fellow men a wide foun-
dation of simplicity, of humble fidel-
ity, and then. out Of sympathy, out of
gratitude, let us stay near our broth
ers who are unknown to fame. We
owe everything to them, do we not? !
call to witness every one who has
found in life this encouraging expert
ence-that stones hidden in the soil hold
up the whole edifice. All those who
arrive at having public and recog-
niZed value owe it to some humble
spiritual ancestors, to some forgotten
inspirers. \ small number of the good,
among them simple women, peasants.
vanquished heroes, parents as modest
as they are revered, personify for us
beautiful and noble living; their exam
pie inspires us and gives us strength.
The remembrance of them is forever
inseparable from that conscience be
fore which we arraign ourselves. In
our hours of trial we think of them,
courageous and serene, and our bur
dens tighten. In clouds they compass
us about, these witnesses invisible and
beloved who keep us from stumbling
and our feet from falling in the battle,
and day by day do they prove to us
that the treasure of humanity is its
hidden goodness.
ITO be continued.)