OCR Text |
Show aD Who Preaches This JI Doctrine, jflsv, Charles Wagner Talks jll of Mission in United w states. lflticieristics of the Frenchman, 145 H , yfa0 Is More Famous Here !B Than in France, rvurlM "Wajnicr. the ndvocato of the A&ple Life, a pastor of Paris for twcn-tr-Eve years, has won hearts there by iHrfrg simple things In a familiar style, 'ft likes America already, terrestrially HH eplrltually He said why at Albany the dcllchlful house of Miss Helen KcElaw whero ho rccontly was a. guest H& z day He Hkos life, and shows that is bwutlful. Artists havo to do that. Hf(ibo'Jt them wo would doubt It. nH'lam not an artist." ho said, becauso t?Hf lhat Idea cxDrcssed to him, "nor a MtltL-i of letters. I am only a man who 4yMgi8 and tells how life breaks against W1 Sincerely. I so to people and do liking them. They aro ever ro-"J.WLive. ro-"J.WLive. Do you know that I could not JJiMtrtlc a phrase of English threo months JJHCo' I havo won tho lnnguagf and mado WFcInc by love Amrlra captivated me. I had heard of It, from recent vovagorn, tales of Bplondor, descriptions of "luxurv and temerity. Quickly Itlnatored English. '.,;ri.?aid 10 m'solf. In Scptomber, that I might be of uso here. My family was in tho gloom of my eldest son's debt, and It scorned to bo a great sacrifice to quit home, then. But tho three children urged mo. to, ??' .and my w,f0 at tho family council that we hold added her reasons to theirs. And so I Btudlcd English. If any one had told mo that 1 was to speak L "V n,ubllc lti America, I should havo laughed lmmodoratclv." Mr. Wagner said "all this In English ery correctly, vory clearly, with a pronunciation pro-nunciation that recalled Hugo's saying. t-nglish Is badly spoken French" and. wnllo ho talked, ono divined a secret of his success as a preachor which is not revealed re-vealed by his books. It Is that tho expression ex-pression of his eyes, tho polso of ...s ncad. tho 3mlles that como to his lips rrcciuontly, accentuate or soften tho words that he speaks. .'rNV,-in 1 arr'ved herok" ho continued. .Mr. Wnnamaker was at the pier waiting to erect me and Invito mo to Philadel-pnia. Philadel-pnia. How charmed I was to see him there I need not tell you. Mr. McCIurc. JMic publishes my books hero, took mo ,nvrdisle nind0 me promise to speak in English at his houso. and I juddered, for if I understood everything that was said In English. I felt Incapablo of making myself understood in It. When J. Kept my promise to him it was In front ?.f..iVrJy. norsns. at least, whom ho had united to meat mo. I was vory successful success-ful in this talk, and I know why. Guest of Mr. "Wauonaaker. i.,"I.L,n've tho, Acuity to inspire kindness m others, and 1 exorcised that facultv to make theai indulgent to me. They were loo Indulgent, I am sure, for Mr. Wana-" Wana-" 1 f a"nounced to his church In Phlla- Li Muuiu preacn in i'jngnon. 1 spoko to 12.E00 persons thoro and at various vari-ous colleges, In English, sustained by mj ioo of tho language and of the people Ylipm I was addressing In it, In my ideas and argumonts. They are popular Ideas, I know. Here, as in France, my books sen won. But I was not prepared for the generosity with which I havo boon acclaimed. ''W1at does It prove? It proves that I reflect in my Ideas of tho 'Slmplo Life' tho Ideas that aro In the minds of tho Amer can people. I have observed tho Americans in a mannor which was not made accessible to the other French visit0" vis-it0" ,ncrc tnat navo written or spoken of tno Americans. Tho others saw the exterior ex-terior Hie, the tall buildings, tho apparent appar-ent brutality of tho Htruggle for life in the rush through the crowded strcots and the Brooklyn-bridge, the people of fashion fash-ion that havo a great deal of wealth and leisure and that loso In habits at Europe's external manners the simplicity and tho vigor of Amorlcan life. His Visit to Washington. "I have seen Mount Vernon. There the memory of George Washington is intact and resplendent. I know that there aro more sumptuous tombs. Nono Is ns expressive ex-pressive as tho memory that It makes perpetual. It I3 a citizen's houso. Ho served the cause of all without enslaving himself to any personal ambition. Ho was tho opportune hero. Were not all tho men that were the columns of the American Amer-ican republic men of simplicity? 'Jeffcr-sonian 'Jeffcr-sonian simplicity' Is not a vain phraso; It was always accurate and precisely descriptive. de-scriptive. Abraham Lincoln was a monument monu-ment of simplicity. Tho White Houso ia a family's mansion. "I dined thero with the President, his wife nnd his slster-ln-law. He talked to mo In French. In English nnd In German. He sang the first verses of an old German popular song, and I finished it for him becauso be-causo he had forgotten the rest. There were no vain forms at that exqulIto dinner. din-ner. Mr. Roosevelt said to me: 'You shall seo many things In this country that will shock you, many things than arc ugly and that one must detest.' I replied: 'No, I shall not seo them. Tho good that is here will overcome tho bad in my mind, as It may not fall to do so In reality.' . Rules of "Simple Life." Mr. Wagner was asked to put Into figures fig-ures of domestic economy" tho rules of "Simple Life " Ho struggled for a whllo with tho market prices and tho values of tho currency here that .arc not yet familiar fa-miliar to him. but tho calculations were note easy or convincing. If ono oarns $20 a week, what is the way to bo simple. In Manhattan? Mr. Wagner said thnt this was a problem which his lack of knowledge knowl-edge of tho circumstances of life hero prevented pre-vented him from solving. But he was certain cer-tain that his general rules were applicable applica-ble to all the stations of existence. Ho said: "Do not embarrass yourself with things. A soldier's baggage must bo light In order or-der that he may go to battle, singing. If you were, to get married nnd came to mo for advice, I would say to you, whether you were rich or poor, not to put your, money in superfluities of furniture nnd apparel. You need a bed, a table, two chairs, a stqve, a washtub. Buy them on the Instalment plan nnd they do not represent repre-sent you. They represent a conventional idea of furnituro which is dreadful. They havo a value in money which a not represented rep-resented by your condition of fortune. They aro a heavy load upon you. "Tho money that you have. If you inherit in-herit it. Is In your hands a trust. If you have earned It respect It as you respect the labor that brought it to you. Thrift is one of tho cardinal virtues. Do not waste your money In eating and drinking. Do not spend it In vanity. Your clothes should be exprcsslvo of you. not of a tailor's skill. I advise wives to cook, bo-causo bo-causo the health of tho family Is In tho kitchen. 1 adviso them to make their gowns and hats because strangers do not know oven what Is most becoming to them. Calls Charity "Dangerous." "Tho exterior llfo that one may deplore, tho life of luxury that stares at ono In public places, is not In the nature of the American people, Thoy will conquer it. Their mind is simple becauso It Is animated ani-mated by their heart. I want to say to them to be vigilant becauso thoy aro wealthy. If I had a great violin I would play with It only beautiful music Wealth is a marvelous Instrument, but ono must uso it with Intelligence. I am opposed to orientation, to waste, to excessive liberality. lib-erality. I am opposed to charity which Is not under restraint. "Charity is dangerous. It is a surgical operation. If it be not watched carefully It kills or malms. I want tho charity of hearts rathor than tho charity of hands to prevail. Glvo labor, but do not inflict degrading labors. I mean by theso the works that do nothing but natter ono'a vanity. If you be wealthy and charitable, It is your duty to know tho porsons that you holp, In order that the good that you wish to do to them may not bo turned Itito evil for them. Practlco the virtues not only because they aro good, but because be-cause thoy aro beautiful. "Havo confidence and hope. Bo kind." ho said. "Your religion 1h good if you practice it well. Be of your own country, your own city, your own homo, your own church, your own workshop. Do not lot your necessities become a turbulent crowd. Do not believe that money can procuro everything. It Is not true, and you could not live for a day In a socloty where it might. Do not court fame. What Is best In us is burled in tho depths of us. It may not be communicated. In educating edu-cating your children, remember that education edu-cation Is to make free nnd reverential men, to develop In them Individuality and fratornltv. ... . . "The strongest arc not tho blggcBt. An elephant saw a Ilea on tho ground and shouted: 'How dare you walk on my path! I am going to trample you to death.' The ilea replied; 'You aro very presumptuous to think that you can trample mo to death after telling mc that you aro going to do 1L' And the Ilea hid In a molo hill. Tho elephant bent tho earth with his feet in a rage. But the flea Jumped to the top of a tree and sang from there, 'You nro big and vou arc mad, but I'm stronger than you.' "New York American. |