Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-01-14

cramped, the children are many, the
father is often harsh. Make coilec-
ton Of the biographies of lowry pco-
pie budgefs .of modest family life,
loook at them attentively and long.
After that go see the stuGents. Those
who have scandalised you in the streets
are numerous. but those who labor
hard are legion. only they stay Mt
home and are not talked about. If
you knew the toll and dig Of the Latin
quarter! You find the papers full of
the rumpus made by certain set OF
youths who call themselves students :
The papers say enough OF those VIII !
break windows. but why do they max :
no mention OF those who spend thei :
nights toiling over problems? Becaus. !.
il wouldn't interest the public. Yes
when now and then one OF them.
medical student perhaps. dies victim
to professional duty the matter has
two lines in the cailies. A drunken
brawl gets half a column. with every
detail elaborated. Nothing is lacking
but the portraits of the heroes, and not
always that.
II should never end were I 10 try
to point out TO you oil that you must
60 to see II you would see oil. You
would needs make the tour Of society
Mt large. rich and poor. wise and ig-
norant. And certainly you would not
Judge so severely then. Paris is q
world. and here as in the world In
general. the good hides away while the
evil fiaunts itself Observing only the
surface. you sometimes ask how there
can possibly be so much riffraff. When.
on the contrary. You look into tho
depths you are astonished that in this
troublous, obscure and sometimes
frightful life there can be so much
virtue"
But why linger over these things?
Am not blowing trimpets for those
who hold trumpet blowing In horror
Do not understand me So My aim Is
this: To make men think about I'M
ostentatious goodness-above oil. to
make them love It and practice It.
The man who finds his satisfaction In
things which glitter and hold his eyes
is lost, first. because he will thus see
evil before all else, then because he
gets accustomed to the sight OF only
such good as seeks for notice. and there
fore easily succumbs to the temptation
to live himself for Appearances. Not
only must one be resigned to obscurity:
he must love 1t II he does not wish to
slip insensibly into the ranks Of hgu-
rants, who preserve their parts only
while under the eyes of the spectators
and put Off in the wings the restraints
imposed on the stage.
Here we are In the presence Of one
OF the essential elements Of the moral
life And this which we say il true
not only for those who are called hum
BILE and whose lot II is to pass unre-
marked; IL Is Just as true, md more
so. for the chief actors. IL you would
not be a brilliant inutility, a man Of
gold lace and plumes. but empty inside,
you must play the star role In the sim.
pie spirit of the most obscure Of your
collaborators. He who is nothing worth
except on hours OF parade is worth less
than nothing. Have we the perilous
honor Of being always In view. OF
marching in the front ranks? Let us
take so much the greater care Of the
sanctuary Of silent good within us; let
us give to the structure whose facade
Is seen Of our fellow men a wide foun-
dalton of simplicity, OF humble fdel-
ity, and then, out Of sympathy. out Of
gratitude, let us stay near our broth
ers who are unknown to fame. We
owe everything to them. do we not2 /
call to witness every one who has
found In life this encouraging expert
ence-that stones hidden In the soil hold
up the whole edihce. All those who
arrive at having a public and recog-
nized value owe 1t to some humble
spiritual ancestors. to some forgotten
inspirers. A small number OF the good,
among them simple women, peasants.
vanquished heroes, parents as modest
as they are revered. personify for us
beautiful and noble living; their exam
pie inspires US and gives US strength.
The remembrance OF them Is forever
inseparable from TINT conscience be-
fore which we arraign ourselves. In
our hours of trial we think OF them.
courageous and serene, and our bur
dens tighten. In clouds they compass
us about, these witnesses invisible and
beloved who keep US from stumbling
and our feet from falling In the battle.
and day by day do they prove to US
that the treasure of humanity 10 Its -
hidden goodness. 81