Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-01-07
NAKAMURA, ONE
HEROES.

they 90 not see the wires pulled. To
them il is al real. And 50 they feel
pleasure unalloycd. 1 think l see the
stated skeptic. whose monocle gliStens
in that box. east a disdainful glance
over the smiling crowd.
Poor stupid creatures ignorant and gross.
And yet they are the true livers,
while he is an artificial product, Il man
nikin. incapable of experiencing this
fine and salutary intoXication of an
hour of frank pleasure.
Unhappily, righteousness is disap-
pearing even in the rural districts. We
see the people of our cities and those
OF the country in their turn breaking
with the good traditions. The mind.
warped by alcohol. by the passion for
gambling and by unhealthy literature.
contracts little by little perverted
tastes. Artificial life makes Eruption
into communities once simple in their
pleasures. and it is Ike phylloxera to
the vine. The robust tree of rustic joy
finds its sap drained. its leaves turn
ing yellow.
Compare fetc champetrc of the
good old style with the village fcsti
walls, SO called. of today. In the one
case. in the honored setting of antique
costumes. genuine countrymen sing the
folk SONGS. dance rustic dances. re-
gale themselves with native drinks and
seem entirely in their element. They
take their pleasure as the blacksmith
FORCES, aS the cascade tumbles over
the rocks. as the colts frisk in the
meadows. II Is contagious: il StirS
your heart. In spite of yourself you
are ready to cry: Bravo. my children!
That is iiner' YOu want TO join in.
In the other case you see villagers dis
guiSed rs city folk. countrywomen
made hideous by the modiste, and, as
the chief ornament of tie festival. Il
lot of degenerates who bawl the songs
OF music halls, and sometimes in the
place OF honor group of tenth rate
barn storIners. imported for the occa-
sion. to civiliZe these rustics and give
them taste OF refined pleasures. For
drinks. liquors mixed with brandy or
absinth - in the whole thing neither
originality nor picturesqucness. Ii
cense. indeed. and clownishness. but
not that abandon which Ingenious joy
brings in its train.
This question OF pleasure is capital.
Staid people generally neglect il as
a frivolity; utilitarians. as costly SUI
perfluity. Those whom we designate
as pleasure seekers forage in this deli
cate domain like wild boars in n gar
den. No one seems 10 doubt the i'm
mense human interest attached to joy.
1t is sacred flame that must be fed
and that throws a splendid radiance
over life. He who takes pains TO foS-
ter it accomplishes n work as profit
able for humanity as he who builds
bridges, pierces tunnels or cultiyatcs
the ground. So TO order ones life as
to keep. amid tolls and suffering, the
faculty of happiness and be able to
propagate it in a sort OF salutary con-
tagion among ones fellow men IS 10
do a work Of fraternity in the noblest
sense To give n trifiing pleasure
smooth an anxious brow. bring q little
light into dark paths-what a truly
divine office in the midst OF this poor
humanity. But 1t is only in great sim
plicity OF heart that one succeeds I'm
filling IT.
We are not simple enough to be hap
by and to render others so. We lack
the singleness OF heart and tie self
forgetfulness- We spread joy. as we
do consolation, by such methods as to
obtain negative results. To console a
person what do we 90? We set to
work to dispute his suffering, persuade
him that he is mistaken in thinking
himself unhappy. In reality our Ian