The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1905-02-16
CONTINUED from last week, !
CHAPTER II.
THE ESSENCE OF SIMPLICITY.

plic,ty IN is Te,r C'7lltsc. 10" il ''.
20 it people commit TIE same co that
we have just denounced, confounding
the secondary with the essential, sub
stance with form. They are tempted
TO believe that simplicity presents GER
tain external characteristics b. which
it may be recognized and il which it
really consists, Simplicity and lowly
station, pl"in dress, Il modest dwelling,
slender means. poyCrty-these things
seem 10 20 together. Nevertheless this
is not the casa. Just now | passed
three men on the street, the first in his
carriage, the others on foot and one Of
them shOeless. The shoeless man does
not necessarily lead the least complex
life of the three 1t may be, indeed,
that he who rides in his carriage is sin
cere and unaffected, in spite of his po-
sition, and is not at all the slave Of his
wealth. 1t may be also that the pedes-
trian in shoes neither enyies him who
rides nor despises him who goes I'M
shod; and lastly it is possible that UNI
der his rags, his feet in the dust, the
third man has hatred OF simplicity,
of labor, Of sobriety, and dreams only
of idleness and pleasure, for among the
least simple and straightforward Of
men must be reck0nel professional
beggars, knights of the road, parasites
and the whole tribe Of the obsequious
and envious, whose aspirations are
summed up in this-to arrive at Selling
a morsel, the biggest possible, of that
prey which the fortunate of earth con-
sumo.
And to this same category, little
matter what their station in life, be
long the profigate, the arrogant. tie
misery, the weak, the crafty. Livery
counts for nothing; we must see the
heart No class has the prerogatiye
of simplicity; no dress, however hum
BILE in appearance, is its unfailing
badge. It's dwelling need not be a
garnet, hut, the cell of the ascetic
nor the lowliest isherman's bark. I'm
der all the forms in which life vests
itself, in all social positions, at the
top as at the bottom of the ladder,
there are people who live simply and
others who do not. We do not mean
by this that simplicity betrays itself
in no visible signs, has not its own
habits, it's distinguishing tastes and
ways; but this outward show, which
may now and then be counterfeited,
must not be confounded with its es-
Sence and its deep and wholly inward
source. Simplicity is Il state of mind,
1t dwells in the main intention of our
lives. A man is simple when his
chief care is the wish to be what he
ought to be-that Is. honestly and nat
urally human. And this is neither 50
easy nor so impossible as one might
think. At bottom it consists in put
ting our acts and aspirations in ac'
cordance with the law of our being
and consequently with the eternal in
tention which willed that we should
be at all Let a flower be a flower, a
swallow a swallow, a rock a rock, and
let man be a man, and not fox, q
hare, a hog or bird of prey. This is
the sum Of the whole matter.
11cEG Ne are leu W lOlllulllc IllS
practical ideal of man. Everywhere
in life we see certain quantities OF
matter and energy associated for GER
tain ends. Substances more or less
crude are thus transformed and car
ried to a higher degree of organization
1t is not otherwise with the life OF
man. The human ideal is to trans
form life into something more excel
lent than itself. We may compare eX
istence to raw material. What it is
matters less than what is made of it
as the value of a work of art lies
in the Towering of the workman's
skill We bring into the world with Us
different gifts. One has received gold
another granite, a third marble, mos
of us wood or clay. Our task is tC
fashion these substances. Every ono
knows that the most precious materia
may be spoiled and he knows, too
that out of the least costly an immOr
tai work may be shaped. Art is the
realization of permanent idea in al
ephemeral form. True life is the
realization of the higher virtues-jus
tice, love, truth, liberty, moral power
in our daily activities. whatever they
may be- And this life is possible il
social conditions the most diverse am
with natural gifts the most unequal
1t is not fortune or personal advan
tage, but our turning them to ac
count, that constitutes the value Of
life. Fame adds no more than does
length of days. Quality is the thing
Need we say that one does not rise
% this point of view without a strug
gle? The spirit of simplicity is not al
inherited gift, but the result Of labo
rious conquest. Plain living, like higl
thinking, is simplification. We know
that science is the handful of ultimate
principles gathered out of the tufte(
mass of facts, but what groupings t
discover them! Centuries of research
are often condensed into a principle
that line may state. Here the mora
life presents strong analogy with thu
scientific. 1t, too, begins in certain
confusion, makes trial of itself, seeks
to- understand. itself and often mis-