Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1905-01-12
THE MESSAGE
THURSDAY, JAN u, 1905


become stronger than lie, and once
their slave, he loses his moral sense,
loses his energy and becomes Incapable
OF discerning and prncticing the good.
lie has surrendered himself 10 the In.
nor anarchy Of desire which i'm the
end gives birth to outer anarchy. In
the moral life we govern ourselves; In
the immoral life we are governed 10y
our needs and passion; thus, little by
little, the bases of the moral life shift,
md the law Of judgment devlates.
For the man enslaved TO numerous
md eXacting needs possession Is the
supreme good ana the source Of all
other good things. 1t is true that in the
fierce struggle for possession we come
10 hate those who possess and TO deny
the right Of property when this right
Is In the hands Of others and not in
our own Hut the bitterness Of at
tack against others possessions Is only
a new proof OF the extraordinary in
portancc we attach to possession Itself.
IN the end people aud things come to
he estimated at their selling price ~
according 10 the profit TO he drawn
from them. What brings nothing Is
worth nothing: he who has nothing Is
nothing. Honest poverty risks pass
ing for shame and lucrc, however
filthy, il not greatly put 10 it TO be
accounted for merit
Some one objects. "Thrn you make
NJ
and would lead us back TO the good old
times 10 asccticism perhaps"
Not at all. The desire to rcsuscitatc
the past Is the most unfruitful and
dangerous Of utupian dreams, and the
art of good living does not consist in
retiring from life. But we are trying
TO throw light upon ono Of the errors
that drag most heavily upon human
progress I'm order 10 find remedy for
it-namcly. the belief that man he
comes happier and better by the III
crease " outward well being. Nothing
is ralsrr than this pretended social
axiom: Ou the contrary. that material
prosperity without an Offset dimlnishes
the capacity for happiness and de-
base, character Is fact which
thousand examples ar" Hl hand to
prove. The worth OF u civilization is
The worth Of the man at Its center
When this man lacks moral rcctitudn
progress only makes bad worse and
further cmbroils social problems.
This principle may be verified in
other domains than that of material
well being. We shall speak only OF
education and liberty. We remember
when prophets IN good repute an
nounccd that to transform this WICKED
world into an abode III for the gods
all that was needed WAS the overthrow
of tyranny, ignorance and want--thoSe
three dread powers - long in league.
Today other preachers praclaim the
same gospel We have seen that tue
.mqucStiDnahe diminutOn OF want
aas made man neither better nor hap
pier. HAS hi" desirable result been
more nearly attained through the great
| care bestowed upon instruction? II does
not vet appear so, and this failure is
the despair Of or national educators.
Then shall W" stop the peoples ears,
suppress PUBLIC instruction, close the
schools: by 10 means. But cduCa.
ton, like the mass OF orr ages inven-
tons, is after all only tool; every
thing depends UPON thC workman who
uses IT, So It IS with liberty. 1t is
fatal or life giyH" according to the
use muGc of II. Is ii liberty still when
! Il Is The prcrugativc OF criminals OF
needless blundcrcrs! Liberty Is an
atmosphere of the higher life. and it IS
! only by slow ana patient inward
| transformation that one becomes Capa-
BILE of breathing It.
All life must have its law, the life Of
man so much the more than that Of in
ferior beings, in thut it is more pre-
Gious ana Of nicer adjustment This
law for man Is In the first place an
external law, but IL may become an
| internal law. When man has once rec.
Ogpizrd the inner law and bowed be-
| fore II, through this reverence and vol
untary submission he Is ripe for libep-
! ty. So long as there Is no vigorous
and sovereign inner law lie is incapa.
bic Of breathing its mir. for he will be
drunken with Il, maddcned, morally
| slain The man who guides his life
| by inner law can no more live servile
to outward authority than can the full
grown bird live imprisoned in the egg
! shell. But the man who has not yet at
tanned to governing himself can no
more live under the law of liberty than
can the mfcdgCd bird live without its
! protective covering. These things are
terribly simple and the series of dem
! onstratiOns old and new that proves
them increases daily under our eyes.
! And yet We IRE az far MS ever from
understanding even the elements of
this most important law. In our de-
| mOCracY how many are there, great
and small, who know from having per-
sOnally verified 1t, lived it and obeyed
! It, this truth without which people Is
incapable of governing itself? Libertyi
1t is respect. Liberty? 1t Is obedience
to the inner law, and this law is nei
ther the good pleasure of the mighty
nor the caprice of the crowd, but the
high and impeTsonal rule before which
those who govern are the first to bow
the head Shall liberty, then, be pro
scrlbed? Nc; but mcp must be made
capable ana worthy of 1t; otherwise
public life becomes impossible, and the
patton, undsclplined and unrestrained
goes on through ifepse into the mex
tricable tangles Of dempg0Hy,
Whom one passes IN review tho IN
! ,IfyrgInnI .ot1gaa that diqlt1ri, aud cap,