The Washington herald., 1916-04-18
The Things Unseen.
BY JOHN ID. BARRY.


known as the Arc de Triomphe.
If you have been in Paris you must remember
very clearly that arch. And if you have not been
in Paris, you doubtless know the arch from photo
graphs.
There it stands at the head of one of the mos,
magnificent avenues in the world, the Champs
Eiysees. AS you go up the avenue, hardly steep
enough to be called hill and yet steep enough
to give the effect of decided rise, you face the
arch, nobly imagined, finely proportioned rare
example of genius in conception and in design.
Once, with American lady, Just arrived in
Paris for the first time, went up the avenue and
under the arch. At sight of the arch she was
thrilled "Oh, how good not to be disappointedl'
she said. at is ever so much more beautiful than
| thought it could possibly be-"
Nevertheless, so great man as Edison, a
genius keenly alive to the work of other geniuses
was disappointed. And the reason was that while
he was looking at that arch, he saw another
arch, made of the bones of the soldiers Napoleon
had sacrificed
When heard of Edisons disappointment
wondered which of the two arches was the real
arch, the arch of stone or the arch of bone
So often the things that seem real are the
most unreal of all things, AS a matter of fact
when think that we see things clearly, we
often very imperfectly or we see not at all
For, as the religious people say, the highest
reality is the reality of the things unseen.
Observe, for example, one of the richest men
of the world, as he goes through his day. From
the moment he wakes in the morning till he goes
to sleep, he is surrounded with servity and honor
People think that they are honoring the man
They are doing nothing of the kind. They are
honoring his possessions, 1t is to these they are
servile
And how does the man feel?
Very naturally he feels that these people are
servile to him and paying him honor. He
is his own Arc de Triomphe. He prides hmse
on being self-made. He also prides himself on hi.
millions. He doesn't stop to consider that hi.
millions have been made, not merely of bones
like the Napoleonic Arch but the living flesh and
blood of those who, dnderpaid, -elad, contributed
to his profits.
Walk about in prosperous city. Observe how
fine the buildings are, how clean the streets how
we'll dressed and eager the people as they dart
here and there.
Surely there is prosperity here, and happiness
Here is one of the most blessed cities in the
world.
We may pride ourselves on having good eyes
Yet our eyes may deceive us. They are telling
only part of the truth And you know just as
we'll as l do, part of the truth can be more de-
ceitful and more misleading than an out-and-o -out
lie.
For the prosperity and the happiness that you
see may hide vast amount of squalor and misery
Moreover. the prosperity and happiness are
direct expressions of this squalor and misery
They have reached their highest beauty by making
the squalid misery more miserably squad
Here is the expression of unfair competition
the strong preying on the weak because the weak
arc helpless.
1t is very unpleasant to fall into the habit
of seeing things of really seeing, of distinguishing
between what is partly true not true at all and
what is wholly true.
For time you may be amused by experiment.
ing. Just try to think straight and to see clear
You'll discover how interesting the game is. how
exciting
But beware If you keep at the game you will
lose your peace of mind. You will be continually
tormented. You will live in two worlds And YOU
will find yourself at odds with the world of af-
fairs, with the particular world that we consider
so important.
Perhaps the best way, surely the most COM
Portable way, is to take the attitude of the friend
l have referred to, who was not disappointed in
the Arc de Triomphe. Perhaps it is we'll for our
serenity that can't all be Edisons, with the
power to light up the world, even the world of the
unseen.
But il, even at the cost of our serenity, we wish
to see the whole truth, we shall see all that the
friend saw and all that Edison saw.
We shall miss neither the seen nor the unseen
Then and then only shall we understand the
meaning of things and acquire balance and judg-
ment.