Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1905-07-20

ciaI good are the trifling interests OF
caste, of coterie, of church, the bitter
strife for personal welfare, and, by
fatal consequence, how destructive
these things are of individual happi.
ness. A society in which each member
Is preoccupied with his own well being
is organized disorder. This is all that
we learn from the irreconcilable con.
ficts of our uncompromising egoism.
We too much resemble those people
who claim the rights of family only
to gain advantage from Them not to do
honor to the connection. On all rounds
of the social ladder we are forever put
ting forth claims. We all take the
ground that we are creditors; no one
recognizes the fact that he is debtor,
and our dealings with our fellows con
sist in inviting them, in tones some
times amiable, sometimes arrogant, to
discharge their Indebtedness to us. No
good thing is attained In this spirit
For in fact, 1t is the spirit Of privilege
thateternal enemy of universal law, that
obstacle TO brotherly understanding
which is ever presenting itself anew.
In lecture delivered in 1882 NJ. Re-
nan said that a nation is "a spiritual
family" and he added, THE essential
of q nation is that all the individuals
should have many things in common,
and also that all should have forgotten
much" 1t is important to know what
to forget and what to remember, not
ly In, In OF l,,,t nlc in Ioilu
life Oar memories are numbered with
the things that divide us; the things
which unite us slip away. Each Of us
keeps at the most luminous point of his
souvenirs lively sense of his second
AIRY quality, his part of agriculturist,
day laborer, man Of letters, public Off
Ger, proletary, bourgeois, or political or
religious sectarian, but his essential
quality, which is to be a son of his
country and n man, is relegated to the
shade. Scarcely does he keep even a
theoretic notion of it, So that what &C.
cupies us and determines our actions is
precisely the thing that separates us
from others. and there is hardly place
for that spirit of unity which is as the
soul of. a people.
So, too. do we foster bad feeling in
our brothers. Men animated by a
spirit of particularlsm, eXclusvcness
and pride are continually clashing.
They cannot meet without rousing
afresh the sentiment Of division and
rivalry. And so there slowly heaps
up in their remembrance stock OF
reciprocal i'll will, of mistrust, of ran
cor. All this is bad feeling with It's
consequences.
1t must be rooted out Of our midst.
Remember forget. This we should
say to ourselves every morning, in all
our relations and affairs. Remember
the essential, forget the accessory!
How much better should we discharge
our duties as citizens IL high and low
were nourishcd from this spirit! How |
easy to cultivate pleasant remem-
brances in the mind Of ones neighbor
by sowing it with kind deeds and re-
framing from procedures Of which In
spite of himself he is forced to say, |
with hatred in his heart, "Never in the
world will l forget"
The spirit of simplicity is a great
magician. 1t softens asperIties, bridges
chasms, draws together hands and
hearts. The forms which it takes in
the world are infinite in number but
never does it seem to us more admira-
bic than when it shows itself across
the fatal barrier of position, interest
or prejudice, overcoming the greatest
obstacles, permitting those whom ev-
erything seems to separate to under
stand one another, esteem one another.
love one another. This is the true So
cial cement that goes into the building
of a people.
THE END.