VOL. XXXXI. rmsßSr-:?? ~a■) Holiday Goods Now on Display j The Largest Assortment we Have Ever Shown "Bonny Blossom" the Shetland Pony, on Exhibition Daily THE MODERN STORE- This store offers the largest and best assortment of fancy and staple Holiday goods at lowest p-igsible prices. We have eifts suitable for e\erj member of the family. aDd joo will be snre to find here what yon war Come in early and look anund. See Our 001 l Display in the Basement Wa have a Layout That Will Interest You All TRIMMED HATS AT GREAT REDUCTIONS in prices dor ins: this month. Now ?s the time to bny your Christmas Millinery. "Bonny Blossom," the Shetland Pony and Children's Pet- Every one who has wen the little midget pronounce* it the finest pony in the land. There is not a child in Butler that would not welcome such EISLEK-MARDORF COHPANY, SOUTH HAD! STKIKT I f\f\4 wromCT*S&" D I Send in Your Mail orders - OPrOSITE HOTEL ARLINGTON. BUTLER. PA. Bargains In Boots, Shoes and Rubber Goods At Bickel's. aMf) If you want the biggest values for the fj \ ®|»/ money ever offered come to this sale. n \ ®| tir A grand opportunity to get good solid footwear at a big saving. Ladies' fine Dongola patent tip shoes sl-00 I Misses' fine Dongola pateDt tip shoes 85 % gj\ Ladies' warm lined shoes 85 vk Infants' fine soft sole shoes 18 M\ \\ Boys' every day shoes 90 wX i \ Hen's good working shoes 1.00 Men's fine Patent Leather shoes 175 1 Ladies' fine Patent Leather shoes • ■ ■ 1.75 /I Children's fine Dongola shoes 35c, 50c, 75 Ladies' warm lined slippers 45 Extremely large stock of Rubber & Felt Goods of all kinds. Ladies', Gents', Boys', Misses' and Children's felt Boots and Stockings with good heavy overs. High cut arctics in all sizes. Large assortment of Ladies', Gents', Misses and Children s Leggins and Overgaiters at prices sure to interest you. At all times a full stock of Gokey's hand-made box-toe and plain toe shoes. Gokey's high-cut copper-tipped shoes for boys and heavy school shoes for girls. See our line of Men's high-cut shoes. Just the kind for winter wear. JOHN BICKEL, BUTLER. PA. jl Fall and Winter Millinery. || |i » i 31 Arrival of a large line of Street Hats, Tailor-made and ready-to-wear Hats. All the new ideas and II designs in Millinery Novelties. Trimmed and Un ••»' trimmed Hats for Ladies, Misses and Children. All | £ the new things in Wings, Pom-pons; Feathers, *£ 11 Ostrich Goods, etc, etc. g * <! Rockensteln's j; •« 8 Millii\ery Emporium,^ jfc M 8 South Main Street, Bntlar, Pa. jji a?iH ip gl tgas iP'-PiggiO'-lHli ilitli »I» »Ii >li ili I $75 to $l5O I lFor Fifteen Minutes Timel I Pretty high wages, Eh? That's what people are I ■ making who take abvantage of ■ I INEWTOIN'S I I Price Sacrifice Piano Salel I On account of cleaning out my store in order ■ H to get it finished for Christmas trade. It will sell B I Pianos at factory prices, and many less. I will I I quote you a few of the bargains I have for you: I ■ Upright Piano, fully warranted, retail price, $275.00. H ■ Sale Price $lB5 00- H ■ Upright Piano, fully warranted, retail price, $375.00. S ■ Sale Price $225.00' Ej I Upright Piano, fully warranted, retail price. $575,90. H H This piano has been used, but is a bargain, $250 fi ■ Squre pianos from $25.00 to "$125. Organs from- H ■ SIO.OO up. 10 per cent, for cash. M I There are 24 of these Pianos to select from—new g| ■ and used—so you certainly ought to make a selec- n ■ tion. Bring this advertisement with you. fl I NEWTON'S I I 317 South Main. Open Evenings. I B • M jj Jewelry, Silverware. g $ j Now is the Time to select Holiday Goods. Ip \ 1 CALL AT | j*Cleeland's Jewelry Store g | ; and look over a very fine stock of Watches, Solid !p r ? Silverware, Hand Painted and Imported China, Gold jj * Jewelry, finest plated ware and many other new and 4? ]; up to date goods suitable for a nice wedding or tit Christmas gift. *£ | D. L. CLEELAND, | i i 125 South Main street, - . - Butler, Pa. THE BUTLER CITIZEN. jfsay,XmasisNeail§ YOU WILL BUY SOMETHING \ \| Useful f(ir the Home f This store has the kind of Useful Presents | that lasts for years. Why not buy Furniture? A v Our stock is large and assortment fine. Better k" take a look at us before buying. J ? How About A Rocking Chair j h .One of the most useful and pieasing articles of the « M home. Never canjiave too many comfortable Rock- ing Chairs. We are showing at least 100 di!;erent * M patterns —all kinds —inexpensive —at $2.00, 2.50, " h 3.00, 3.so—comfortable—durable. Parior Chairs— m Fi( polished —odd patterns at $5.00, 6.00 up to 10 00. >1 l %> Fine Leather Rockers for sl2 to 20.00. v '\\ PARLOR TABLES S f { We are showing a large assortment. Neat polish- kj ed patterns in small sizes at $1.50, 2.00 and up to FA 5.00. The better ones—in mahogany and oak from fcl kJ SB.OO to 20.00. 14 J ODD PARLOR PIECES N M In gilt, oak, mahogany—artistic pieces to tone up —make home look beautiful —inexpensive, it you k* wish, or more elaborate, as you please. W Music Cabinets here from SB.OO to $25.00. k WRITING DESKS for the Ladies—in oak or ma- k^ Ihogany —bird's eye maple—from $5.00 to 15.00. How about a fine Bug or Carpet for your best k room? We have them. M COME IN AND COMPARE. M BROWN &• CO. | No. 136 North Main St.; Butler. 9 Kelsey, Crown, Boomer |$ I FURNACES. I H Coal and Slack Heaters, Gas and Coal I Ranges and Gas Stoves. 1904 Washers, ■ Sowing Machines, Needles for all mal<es of B Sewing Machines. repaired. I Roofing and Spouting, and House Furnishing Goods. I Henry Biehl, R 122 N. Main St. Pen. '4'hoije 404. The Great Sacrifice Sale of Clothing, Men's and Boys' Furnishing Goods, Hats and Caps is still going on. Owing to the dissolution of the firm of Schaul & Nast, prices on all goods in the store have been slashed regardless of cost. The following are a few of the many bargains we have to offer you: Men's fine all wool, black and blue, Kersey QQ Overcoats, regular price sls, sale price s)\/'v/0 Men's Oxford, black, very dressy, Overcoats, _ ylO regular price $lO and sl2, sale price i. iO Men's very fine English Rain Coats, £1(1 QR regular price S2O, sale price *KIU.£U Men's fine Hodgmans Alexombrice Rain and Q QQ Storm Overcoats, regular price $lB, sale price «P\/'vJO Men's heavy Rain and Storm Overcoats, <fl»C QC regular price $9 and $lO, sale price <P\J.£v) 118 pair of Men's and Boys' heavy Cassimere Qftp Pants, regular price $2, sale price vOL 389 pair Boys' Knee Pants (all wool) sizes 3 QQp to 16. regular price 75c, sale price o\/u All we ask is for the reader of this advertisement to stop _ in the store and be convinced that we make good all we ad vertise. No trouble to show goods. F»HILIR SCHAUL, SUCCESSOR TO SCHAUL & NAST, 137 South Main Street. Bntler, Pa. KECK Merchant Tailor. Fall and Winter Suitings f! JUST ARRIVED. H w 142 North Main St. fKE C K BUTLER, PA., THURSDAY, DECEMBER s. 1904. Drying preparations simply devel op dry catarrh: they dry up the secretions, which adhere to the membrane and decom pose, causing a far more serious trouble than the ordinary form of catarrh. Avoid all dry ing inhalant*, fume#, smokes and snufTn and use that which cleat see, soot lien and heals. Ely's Cream Bal® is such a remedy and will cure catarrh or eoTd in the head easily and pleasantly. A trial size will be mailed for 10 cents. All druggists sell the | 50c. size. Ely Brothers 56 Warren St., N.Y. The Balm cures without pain, does not \ irritate or cause sneezing. It spreads itself over an irritated and angry surface, reliev ing immediately the painful inflammation. With Ely's Cream Balm you are armed against Nasal Catarrh and Hay Fever. PROFESSIONAL CARUS. PHYSICIANS, T C. BOYLE, M. D. TJ • JSYK, EAR, NOSK and THROAT, SPECIALIST. 121 East Cunningham Street. Office Hours 11 to 12 a. in.. 3 to 5 and 7 t<> 9 p. m. BOTH TELEPHONES. [kit. JULIA EL FOSTER. 1 ' OSTEOPATH. Consultation and examination free. Office hours —9 to 12 A M 2to M.. daily except Sunday Evenir.g appointii.ent- Office—Stein Block. Rootne 9-10, But ler, Pa. People's Phoutr 478. DR H. J NEEL\, Rooms 6 and 7. Hughes Build'ng, South Main St. Chronic diseases of genito urinary organs and rectum treated by tie u OS approved methods. PLARA. K MORROW. D 0., v GRADUATE BOSTON COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHY. Women's diseases a specialty. Con sultatian and examination free. Office Hours, 9to 12 ni., 2 to 3 p. m People's Phone 573. 1/6 S. Main streit, jji.t Ta GM. ZIMMERMAN J • PHYBICIA.* A WD SUKCKON At S»7 K Ma ». I R IIAZLETT, ST. D., ljt 106 West Diamond, Dr. Graham's former office. Special attention give»- to Eye, '-c e and Throat I'eoole's Phone 274. O AMUEL M. BIPPUG, U PHVSICIAK AND SORGKON 200 West C"aningham St. DENTISTS. DR FORD H HAYES.. Graduate of Dental Department, University of Pennsylvania Office—2ls S. Main Street, Butler, Pa. DR. S A. JOHNSTON, SURGEON DENTIST Foriperly of But ley, Has located opp«>slte Lowry House, Main St , Butler, Pa. The finest work a specialty. Expert painless extractor of teeth by his new method, no medi cine used or jabbing a needle into the gums; also gas and ether used. Coin mnnications by mail receive prompt at tention. DR j. WILBERT McKEE, SURGEON DENTIST. Office over Leighner'a Jewelry store, Bntler, Pa Peoples Telephone 505. A specialty made of jjold fillings, gold crown and bridge work, YV J HIND MAN, \T • DENTIST. 12 South Main street, (ov Metzer's shoe store.) DR. H. A. MCCANDLRSS, DKNTIaT. Oftiovin Butler County National Bank Building, 2nd floor. DR. M. D. KOTTRABA, Successor to Dr. Johnston, DENTIST * Office at No 114 K. Jeflerson St., over G. W. Miller's grocery ATTORNEYS. Rr. ScoTT, • AWORNEY-AT-LAW, Office in Bniler County National Bank building. AT. SCOTT, T A'RT'OHNKV A* LAW. Office at No. 8. Weat Diamond St. But ler, Ps. COULTER & BAKER, ATTORNEYS AI L4\Y. Offife in Butler County National Bank building. JOHN W. COULTER, ATTORNKV-AT-LAW. Oflftce on Diamond, Butler. Pa. Special attention given to collections and business matters. JD McJUNKIN, • ATTORM**-AT-LAW. Ofiii.% \a Reiber building, cornel Main and E. Cunningham Sts, Entrance on Main street. T B. BREDIN, T) • ATTORNEY AT LAW. Office on Main St. near Court Hotu< HH. GOUCHER, • ATTORNEY AT LAW. Office in Wise building I? H. NEGLEY, J • ATTORNEY AT LAW, Office In the Negley B'tilding, West Diamond TIT C. FINDLE\, TT . ATTORNEY-AT-LAW, AND PENSION ATTORNEY. Office on South side of Diamond, Butler. Pa. MISCELLANEOUS. F. L. McQUISTION, V. CIVIL ENGINEER AND SURVEYOR Office tiear Court House LP. WALKER, • NOTARY PUBLIC, BUTLER, Office with Berkmer, ne»J d<>or to P. O T> F. HILLIARD! D. GENERAL SURVEYING. Mines and Land. County Surveyor. R. F. D. 49, West Sunbury, Pa. jC. F. T. Papej \ pJEWELERI \ / 121 E. Jefferson Street. / i r The Simple Life I Ifli i / By CHARLES WAGNER Translated From the French by Mary Louise Hendee I Copyright. 1001. by McCiure. Phillips ts Co. ■»♦❖♦»»»♦»»»» J CHAPTER I. OUR COM rLEX LIFE. Jl T the home of the Blanchards /\ everything is topsyturvy, and / 1 with reason. Think of it! A Mile. Yvonne is to be married Tuesday, and today Is Friday! Callers loaded with gifts and trades men bending under packages come and go In endless procession. The servants are at the end of their endurance. As for the family and the betrothed, they po longer have a life or a fixed abode. Their mornings are spent with dress makers. milliners, upholsterers. Jewel ers, decorator* and caterers. After that couies a rush through ollieeu, wnere one waits in line, gazing vague ly at busy clerks engulfed In papers. A fortunate thing If there be time when this is over to run home and dress for the series of ceremonial din ners betrothal dinners, dinners of presentation, the settlement dinner—re ceptions, balls. About midnight, home again, harassed and weary, to find the latest accumulation of parcels and a deluge of letters congratulations, fe licitations, acceptances and regreta from bridesmaids and ushers, excuses of tardy tradesmen. And tho contre temps of the last minute—a sudden death that disarranges tho bridal par ty, a wretched cold that prevents a favorite cantatrlce from singing, and so forth, and so forth. Those poor Blanchards! They will never be ready —and they thought they had foreseen everything! Such has been their existence for a piontb. No longer possible to breathe, to rest a half hour, to tranqulllze one's thoughts. No, this Is not living! Mercifully, there is grandmother's room. Grandmother is verging on eighty. Through many toils and much suffering she has come to meet things with the calm assurance which life brings to men and women of high thinking and large hearts. She sits there In her armchair, enjoying the silence of long meditative hours. So the flood of affairs surging through the house ebbs at her door, At the thresh old of this retreat voices are hushed and footfalls softened, and when the young fiances want to hide away for a moment they flee to grandmother. "Poor children!" is her greeting. "You are worn out! Rest a little and belong to each other. All theso things count for nothing. Dou't let th\m ab sorb y oui it isn't worth while." They know It well, these two young people. How many times In the last weeks has their love had to make way for all sorts of conventions and futili ties! Fate at this decisive moment of their lives neema bent upon drawing thfctr minds away from the one thing essential, to linrry them with a host of trivialities, and heartily do they ap prove the opinion of grandmamma whtn she snys, between a smile and « caress, "Decidedly, my dear, the world is growing too complex, and it docs not make people happier—quite the con trary!" I also am of grandmamma's opinion. From the cradle to the grave, In his needs as In his pleasures, In his con ception of the world and of himself, the inau of modern times struggles through n maze of endless complica tion. Nothing Is simple any louger - neither thought nor nctlqp: not pleas ure; not even dy\n<* With our own hands we have added to existence a tmtn of hardships and lopped off many u gratification. I believe that thou sands of our fellow men, suffering thfc consequences of a too artificial Ufo, will be grateful if we try to give ex pression to their discontent and to jus tify tho regret for naturalness which vaguely oppresses them. Let us first speak of a series Qf facts that put Into relief the truth we wish to show. eemplexlty of our life appears In the number of our material needs. It Is a fact universally conceded that our needs have grown with our resources. This is not an evil In Itself, for the birth of certain needs Is often the mark of progress. To feel the necessity of bathing, of wearing fresh linen, Inhab iting wholesome houses, eating health ful food and culttTftttag our minds Is a sign of superiority. But If certain ueeil* exist by right and are desirable, there are others whose effects are fa' tal which, like parasites, live at our ex fense. Numerous and Imperious, they engross us completely. Could our fathers have foreseen that we should some day have at our dis posal the means and forces wo now use lu sustaining and defending our material life, they would have predict ed for us an Increase or Independence, and therefore of happiness, and a de crease lu competition for worldly goods. They might even have thought that through tUo simplification of life thus tnado possible a higher degree of mo rality would be attained. None of these things has come to pass; neither happiness uor brotherly lovo nor power for good has been increased. In the first place, do you think your fellow citizens, taken as a whoio, aro more contented than their forefathers and less anxious about the future? I do not nsk if they should find reason to be •o, but If they really are 80. TO see them live it seeins to me that a majori ty of them nre discontented with their lot and. above all, absorbed In materia) needs and beset with cares for the mor row. Never has the question of food and shelter been sharper or more ab sorbing than since we are better nour ished, better clothed and better housed than ever. He errs greatly who thinks that the query, "What shall we ent and what shall we drink and where withal shall we be clothed?" presents Itself to the poor alone, exposed as they aro to the augulsli of morrows without bread or a roof. With them the ques tion is natural, and yet It Is with them that It presents Itself most simply. You must go among those who are be ginning to enjoy a little ease to learn how greatly satisfaction In what one has may be disturbed by regret for what one lacks, and If you would see anxious care for future material good, material good In all Its luxurious de velopment, observe people of small for tune and, above all, the rich. It Is not the woman with one dress who asks most Insistently how she shall be clothed, nor Is It those reduced to the strictly necessary who make most question of what they shall eat tomor row. As an Inevitable consequence of the law that needs ore increased by their satisfaction, the more goods a man has the more he wants. The inmrtj ii» sured he la of the morrow, according to the common acceptation, the more ex clusively does lie concern himself with how he shall lire und provide for his children and his children's children. Impossible to conceive of the fears of a man established in life —their num ber. their reach and their shades of re finement. From all this there has arisen | throughout the different social orders, modified by conditions and varying in Intensity, a common agitation—a very complex mental state, best compared to the petulance of a spoiled child, at once satisfied and discontented. If we have not become happier, neither have we grown more peaceful nnd fraternal. The more desires and needs a man has the more occasion he finds for conflict with his fellow men, and these conflicts are more bitter In proportion as their causes are less Just. It is the law of nature to fight for bread, for the necessities. This law may seem brutal, but there is an ex cuse in its very harshness, and it is generally limited to elemental cruel ties. Quite different is the battle for the superfluous—for ambition, priv ilege, inclination, luxury. Never has hunger driven man to such baseness as have envy, avarice and thirst for pleasure. Egotism grows more malef icent as it becomes more refined. Do not the very sinews of virtue He in man's capacity to care for some- I thing outside himself? And what place remains for one's neighbor in a life given over to material cares, to ar tificial needs, to the satisfaction of am bitions, grudges and whims? The man who gives-himself up entirely to tho service of his appetites makes them grow and multiply r > well that they become stronger than he, and once their slave, he losea his moral sense, loses his energy and becomes Incapable of discerning and practicing the good, lie has surrendered himself to the In ner anarchy of desire, which In the end gives birth to outer anarchy. In tho moral life we govern ourselves; In the Immoral life we are governed by our needs and passion; thus, little by little, the bases of the moral life shift, 1 and the law of Judgment deviates, i For the man enslaved to numerous and exacting needs possession Is the i supreme good and the source of all other good things. It Is true that In the fierce struggle for possession we come to hate those who possess and to deny the right of property when this right ' Is in the hands of others and not In : our own. But the bitterness of at- I tack against others' possessions Is only i a new proof of the extraordinary Im portance we attach to possession Itself. In the end people and things come to be estimated at their selling price or according to the profit to be drawn from them. What brings nothing la worth nothing; he who has nothing Is nothing. Honest poverty risks pass ing for shame, and lucre, however filthy, Is not greatly pat to It to be accounted for merit. Some on© oblects, "Then you make wholesale condemnation of progress Und would lead us back to the good old times—to asceticism perhaps." Not at all. Tho desire to resuscitate the past Is the most unfruitful and dangerous of Utopian dreams, and the art of good living does not consist in retiring from life. But we are trying to throw light upon ono of the errors that drag most heavily upon human progress la order to find a remedy for it-namely, the belief that man be comes happier and better by the In crease of outward well being. Nothing fs falser than this pretended social axiom; on tho contrary, that material prosperity without an offset diminishes the capacity for happiness and de bases character is a fact which a thousand examples are at hand to prove. Tho worth of a civilization Is the worth of the man at Its center. When this man lacks moral rectitude progress only makes bad worse and further embroils social problems. This principle may be verified In other domains than that of material well being. We shall speak only of Ullucatlon and liberty. We remember When prophets In good repute an nounced that to transform this wicked world Into an abode fit for the gods tU that was needed was the overthrow of tyranny, Ignorance and want—those three dread powers so long In league. Today other preachers proclaim the same gospel. Wo have seen that the unquestionable diminution of want has made man neither better nor hap pier. Has this desirable result been more nearly attained through the great care bestowed upon Instruction? It does not yet appear so, and this failure is the despair of our national educators. Then shall wo stop the people's ears, suppress public Instruction, close the schools? By no means. But educa tion, like the mass of our age's Inven tions, is after all only a tool; every thing depends upon the workman who uses it. So It is with liberty. It Is fatal or life giving according to the use made of It. Is it liberty still when It is the prerogative of criminals or heedless blunderers? Liberty is an atmosphere of the higher life, and it is only by a slow and patient Inward transformation that one becomes capa ble of breathing It. All life must have its law, the life of man so much the more than that of in ferior beings, In that it Is more pre cious and of nicer adjustment. This law for man is in the first place an external law, but It niuy become an Internal law. When man has once rec ognized the inner law and bowed be fore It, through this reverence and vol untary submission he Is ripe for liber ty. So long as there Is 110 vigorous and sovereign Inner law he Is Incapa ble of breathing Its air, for he will be drunken with It, maddened, morally slain. The man who guides Ills life by Inner law can no more live servile to outward authority than can the full grown bird live Imprisoned In the egg shell. But the man who has not yet at tained to governing himself can no more live under the law of liberty than can the unfledged bird live without ltn protective covering. These things are terribly simple, and the series of dem onstrations old and new that proves them Increases dally under our eyes. And yet we are as far as ever rfrotn understanding even the elements of this most Important law. In our de mocracy how many ur© there, great and small, who know from having per sonally verified It, lived It and obeyed It. this truth without which a people is Incapable of governing Itself? Liberty? It Is respect Liberty? It Is obedience ' to the inner law, und tlila law is nei ther the good pleasure of the mighty nor the caprice of the crowd, but the hiKh and Impersonal rule before which those who govern are the first to bow tl.e head. Shall liberty, then. l>e pro scril*ed? No; but uicu must be made capable and worthy of it; otherwise public life becomes Impossible, and the nation, undisciplined and unrestrained, goes on through license into the inex tricable tangles of demagog}-. When one passes la review the in dividual causes that disturb and com plicate our social life, by whatever names they are designated, and their list would be long, they all lead back to one general cause, which is this— the confusion of the secondary with the essential. Material comfort, edu cation, liberty, the whole of civilisa tion—these things constitute the frame of the picture, but the frame no more makes the picture than the frock the monk or the uniform the soldier. Here | the picture is man, and man with his most intimate possessions—namely, his conscience, his character and his will. And while we have been elab orating and garnishing the frame, we have forgotten, neglected, disfigured, the picture. Thus are we loaded with external good, and miserable in splrit , ual life. We have In abundance that which. If must be, we can go without, and are Infinitely poor in the one thing needful. And when the depth of our being is stirred, with tts need of lov ing, aspiring, fulfilling Its destiny, it feels the anguish of one buried alive— Is smothered under the mass of sec ondary things that weigh it down and deprive it of light and air. We must search out, set free, re store to honor the true life, assign things to their proper places and re member that the center of human prog ress is moral growth. What is a good lamp? It Is not the most elaborate, the fines* wrought, that of the most precious metal. A good lamp is a lamp that gives good light. And so also we are men and citizens, not by reason of the number of our goods and the pleasures we procure for ourselves, not through our Intellectual and artis tic culture, nor because of the honors and independence we enjoy, but by virtue of the strength of our moral liber. And this is not a truth of today, but a truth of all times. At no epoch have the exterior condi tions which man has made for himself by his industry or his knowledge been able to exempt him from care for the state of his inner life. The face of the world alters around us, its intellectual and material factors vary, and no one can arrest these changes, whose sud denness Is sometimes nof short of per llous. But the Important thing is that at the center of shifting circumstance man should remain man, live his life, trnke toward his goal; and, whatever be his road, to make toward his goal the traveler must not lose himself In crossways nor hamper his movements with useless burdens. Let him heed well his direction and forces and keep good faith, and that he may the better devote himself to the essential—which is to progress—at whatever sacrifice, let him simplify his baggage. CHAPTER 11. Tin ESSENCE OF BIMPLICITT. BEFORE considering the question of a practical return to the slm- I pllclty of which we dream, it will be necessary' to define sim plicity In its very essence, for in regard to it people commit the same error that ve have Just denounced, confounding the secondary with the essential, sub stance with form. They are tempted to believe that simplicity presents cer tain external characteristics by which it may be recognised and in which it really consists. Simplicity and lowly station, plain dress, a modest dwelling, slender means, poverty—these things seem to go together. Nevertheless this is not the case. Just now I passed three men on the street, the first in his carriage, the others on foot antl one of them shoeless. The shoeless man does not necessarily lead the least complex life of the three. It may be. Indeed, that he who rides in his carriage is sin cere and unaffected, In spite of his po sition, and la not at all the slave of his wealth. It may be also that the pedes trian In shoes neither envies him who rides nor despises him who goes un shod; and lastly It Is possible that un der lils rags, his feet In the dust, the third man has a hatred of simplicity, of labor, of sobriety, and dreams only of Idleness and pleasure, for among the least simple and straightforward of men must be reckoned professional beggars, knights of tbo road, parasites and the whole tribe of the obsequious and envious, whose aspirations are summed up In this —to arrive at seizing a morsel, the blggoet T).>«slble, of that prey which the fort-.m."' f con sume. And to this - •• ♦te""'"" BW* matter what tt.v VJon • :«?. be long the profligai , t!"" * .aju, tbo miserly, the weak, 1w ' I ■ r counts for nothing; v rocxt - tt;e heart. No class has thu > -■ > of simplicity; no dress, boww c lv ble In nppearance, is its badge. Its dwelling need not bi • garret, a hut, the cell of the e' nor the lowliest fisherman's bark, der all the forms in which life ve. Itself, In all social positions, at tla top as at the bottom of the ladder, there are people who live simply and others who do not. We do not mean by tills that simplicity betrays Itself in no visible signs, has not its own 1 habits, its distinguishing tastes und 1 ways; but this outward show, which may now and then be counterfeited, 1 must not be confounded with Its es sence nnd its deep and wholly inward 1 source. Simplicity is a state of mind. 1 It dwells in the main Intention of our 1 lives. A man Is simple when his chief care is the wish to be what ho ought to be—that Is, honestly and nat urally human. And this is neither so easy nor BO Impossible as one might think. At bottom It consists in put -1 ting our acts and aspirations In ac cordance with the law of bur being, and consequently with the eternal in tention which willed that we should be at all. I-et a flower be a flower, a swallow a swallow, a rock a rock, and let a man be a man, and not u fox, a hare, a hog or a bird of prey. This Is the sum of the whole matter. Here we are led to formulate the practical Ideal of man. Everywhere In life we see certain quantities of matter and energy associated for cer tain ends. Substances more or less crude are thus transformed and car ried to a higher degree of organisation. It Is not otherwise with the life of man. The human Ideal Is to trans form life Into nomethlng more excel lent than Itself. We may compare ex istence to raw material. What It Is matters less than what Is made of it, as the value of a work of art lies In the flowerlug of the workman's skill. Wo bring Into the world with us different gifts. One hns received gold, another grunlte, a third most i of us wood or clay. Our task Is to I fashion these substances. Every one i knows that the most precious material I may be spoiled, und he knows, too, tk»t out of the. lout sogily viUßSWt- No. 47 tul work may be shaped. Art is the realisation of a permanent idea In an ephemeral form. True life Is the realisation of the higher virtues—Jus tice, love, truth, liberty, moral power- In our dally activities, whatever they may be. And this life Is possible in social conditions the most diverse and with natural gifts the most unequal. It Is not fortune or personal advan tage, but oar turning them to ac count, that constitutes the value of life. Fame adds no fnore than does length of days. Quality is the thing. Need we say that one does not rise to this point of view without a strug gle? The spirit of simplicity Is not an inherited gift, but the result of a labo rious conquest Flaln living, like high thinking, is simplification. We know that science is the handful of ultimate principles gathered out of the tufted mass of facts, but what groplngs to discover them! Centuries of research are often condensed into a principle that a line may state. Here the moral life presents strong analogy with the scientific. It, too, begins In a certain confusion, makes trlhl of Itself, seeks to understand Itself, and often mis takes. But by dint of action and ex acting from himself strict account of (lis deeds man arrives at a better knowledge of life. Its law appears to him, and the law Is this: Work out your mission. He who applies himself to aught else than the realization of this end loses in lh-ing the ralson d'etre of life. The egotist does so, the pleas ure seeker, the ambitious; he con sumes existence as one eating the full corn in the blade; he prevents It from bearing Its fruit; his life Is lost. Who ever, on the contrary, makes his life serve a good higher than itself, saves it In giving It Moral precepts which to a superficial view appear arbitrary and seem made to spoil our zest for life have really but one object—to preserve us from the evil of having lived in vain. That is why they are constantly leading us back into the same paths; that Is why they all have the same meaning: Do not waste your life; make it bear fruit; learn how to give It In order that It may not consume Itself! Herein Is summed up the experience of humanity, and this experienca, which tuch man must remake for himself, Is iiore precious in proportion as It costs more dear. Illumined by its light ho makes a moral advance more and more sure. Now he has his means of orien tation, his Internal norm to which he may lead everything bock, and from the vacillating, confused and complex being that he was he becomes simple. By the ceaseless Influence of this same law, which expands within him and is day by day verified In fact his opin ions and habits become transformed. Once captivated by the beauty and sublimity of the true life, by what is sacred and pathetic in this strife of humanity for truth, Justice and broth erly love, his heart hohls the fascina tion of it Gradually everything sub ordinates itself to this powerful and persistent charm. The necessary hier archy of powers is organised within him; the essential commands, the sec ondary obeys, and order Is born of sim plicity. We may compare this organ isation of the Interior life to that of an army. An army Is strong by its dis cipline, and Its discipline consists In re spect of the Inferior for the superior and the concentration of all Its ener gies toward a single ond. Discipline once relaxed, the army suffers. It will not do to let the corporal command tho general. Examine carefully your life and the lives of others. Whenever something halts or Jars and complica tions and disorder follow It is because the corporal has Issued orders to the general. Where the natural law rules In the heart disorder vanishes. I despair of ever describing simplici ty In any worthy fashion. All the strength of the world and all Its beau ty, all true Joy, everything that con soles, that feeds hope or throws a ray of light along our dark paths, every thing that makes us sec across our poor lives a splendid goal and a bound less future, comes to us from people of simplicity, those who have made an other object of their desires than the passing satisfaction of selfishness and vanity and have understood that the art of living Is to know how "to give one's life. tTO BK COinunjXD.l * ' Kulnl Taste. "Bay, pa!" "Well, what?" "Why does that man in the band run the trombone down liis throat?" "I suppose it Is because he has a taste for music."—Town Topics. Interpreted. "She told me," said the young man who had consulted a fortune teller, "that I was born to command." "Well, well," exclaimed Henpeck, "she means, then, that you will never married." The man who idles away today puts ■ mortgage on tomorrow that Is hard to lift. T'nbldden guests are often welcom ed when they are gone.—Shakespeare. THE THREE ANGELS. i Hit of Hungarian Folklore Illua tratlnsr Uerman Flrmaesa. Here Is a bit of Hungarian folklore: After the Lord had decided to expel Adam nnd Eve from paradise he sept Gubrlel, the Hungarian angel, to carry out his order. Now, from the eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree Adam and Evo had become quite shrewd, and they were endeavoring to get out of the flx as best they could, so they pre pared a big feast, received Gabriel with the utmost kindness and sought to win his heart by a lot of affection ate words. They succeeded. It grieved Gabriel to expel these kind hosts from their home. He therefore returned to the Lord with the request that some body else be charged with this un pleasant mission. Thereupon the Lord sent Florlan, the Roumanian angel, because the liOrd knew Florlan to be more obedient aud less magnanimous. Adam and Eve were Just dining when Florlan, hat and large cane in hand, stepped in. He sa luted in a most bumble manner and then told why he had come. "Have you it in writing?" Inquired Adam se verely. "No," stammered the visitor, and, frightened, he returned to lils heavenly abode. Then the Lord sent Michael, the Ger man angel. Adam and Eve at once set to work preparing even a richer meal than had been servtd Gabriel, think ing they might Induce Michael to bo lenient So the very best things were served, and there was no scarcity of beer and good sausages. Michael ate until he could hardly even wheeze. Then he arose and, drawing his sword, said, "Now you get out of this!" Ad am nnd Eve tried all their little tricks to stay. They appealed to his mercy and, implored him to consider how nicely they had treated him. But all in vain. Michael remained firm, merely saying, "It must be." And he drove them out—Chicago News.
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