The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1905-02-16

away from scrupulous research Int
the foundations Of morality. N
thought which leads men TO concer
themselves once more with these grav
questions could be useless or indiffel
ent. We simply challenge the thinke
to find a way to wait till he has uH
| earthed these foundations before b
does an act Of humanity, of honest,
or dishonesty, of valor or cowardice
And most Of all do we wish to formu
late reply for all the insincere VIII,
have never tried to philosophize and 70
ourselves when we would offer ou
state Of philosophic doubt In justiflca
ton OF our practical omissions. From
the simple fact that we are men, be
fore all theorizing, positive or negative
about duty, we have the peremptor,
law to conduct ourselves like men
There Is no getting out of it.
But he little knows the resources oi
the human heart who counts on the
effect of such reply. 1t matters moi
that 1t Is itself unanswerable. 1t can
not keep other questions from arising
The sum of our pretexts for eyading
duty is equal to the sum of the sands
Of the sea or the stars of heaven
We take refuge, then, behind duty
that Is obscure, difficult, contradictory.
And these are certainly words to call
up painful memories. 10 be man of
duty and to question ones route, grope
In the dark, feel oneself torn between
the contrary solicitations Of conflicting
calls, or, again, to face duty gigantic,
overwhelming, beyond our strength
what is harder! And such things hap
pen. We would neither deny nor con-
test the tragedy in certain situations or
the anguish Of certain lives. And yet
duty rarely has to make itself plain
across such conflicting circumstances
or to be struck out from the tortured
mind like lightning from storm
cloud. Such formidable shocks are ex-
ceptional Well for us If we stand
stanch when they come! But IL no one
is astonished that oaks are uprooted
by the whirlwind, that a wayfarer
stumbles at night on an unknown road
or that a soldier caught between two
fires Is vanquished, no more should he
without appeal those who
have been worsted In almost superhu-
man moral conflicts. To succumb un-
der the force of numbers or obstacles
has never been counted a disgrace.
So my weapons are at the service of
those who intrench themselves behind
the impregnable rampant of duty i'll
iefined, complicated or contradictory.
But 1t is not that which occupies me
Today; 1t is Of plain--I had almost said
easy-duty that wish to speak.
We have yearly three or four high
FEAST days and many ordinary ones.
There are likewise some very great and
lark conbats to wage, but beside these
$ the multitude of plain and simple
luties. Now, while in the great en-
our equipment is generally |
adequate, 1t is precisely in the little
that we are found want
ng. Without fear of being misled by
paradoxical form of thought, l af-
lrm, then, that the essential thing is
0 fulfill our simple duties and exercise
lementary Justice. In general, those
Who lose their souls do so not because
hey fail to rise to difficult duty, but
ecause they neglect to perform that
which Is simple. Let us illustrate this
ruth.
lie who tries to penetrate into the
umble underworld of society is not
low to discover great misery, physical
nd moral. And the closer he locks
ne greater number Of unfortunates
oes he discover, till In the end this
ssembly of the wretched appears to
i'm like a great black world, In whose
resence the individual and his means
relief are reduced to helplessness
Is true that he feels impelled to run
the succor of these unfortunates
ut at the same time he asks himself
What is the use?" The case Is GER
lnly heartrending. Some, in despair,
I'd by doing nothing. They lack
either pity nor good intention, but
lese bear no fruit They are wrong.
ften man has not the means to do
'od on a large scale, but that is not
reason for failing to do 1t at all. So
any people absove themselves from
" action on the ground that there Is
o much to do! They should be re-
lied to simple duty, and this duty
the case of which we speak is that
ch one, according to his resources,
sure and capacity, should create re-
lions for himself among the worlds
'lnherited. There are people who by
exercise of little good will have
eceeded In enrolling themselves
long the followers of ministers and
We ingratiated themselves with
nces. Why should you not succeed
forming relations with the poor and Z
making acqualntances among the |
'rkers who lack somewhat the ne.
isities of life2 When few families
known, with their histories, their
tecedents and their difficulties, you
y be of the greatest use to them by
ing the part of brother with
} moral and material aid that Is g.
lrs to give, 1t is true you will have
acked only one little corner, but !
will have done what you could y
perhaps have led another on to -
low you. Instead of stopping at
knowledge that much wretched-
IS, hatred, dlsunion and vice exist
society you will have introduced a /
lie good among these evils. And by
vever slow degrees such kindness as -
lrs is emulated the good will sensi- -
increase and the evil diminish.
en- were you to remain alone In this
lertaking you would have the as H
ance that in fulfilling the duty, g
In as a child's, which offered itself 3
were doing the only reasonable
1g, If you have felt it so, you have
nd out one of the secrets of right 8
ng. q
A.