ere seems to be something in
the chill breezes which scurry through the long, narrow
thoroughfares productive of rueful thoughts. Not poets alone,
nor artists, nor that superior order of mind which arrogates
to itself all refinement, feel this, but dogs and all men.
The excuse that we are too young a people to have developed an
architecture instinct with that natural poetry which so charms us in
the art of other countries and other times, Mr. Sullivan disposes
of in characteristic fashion. To the plea that "We are too young to
consider these accomplishments. We have been so busy with our material
development that we have not found time to consider them," he makes
answer as follows:
Know, then, to begin with, they are not accomplishments but
necessaries. And, to end with, you are old enough, and
have found the time to succeed in nearly making a fine art
of--Betrayal, and a science of--Graft. Know that you are
as old as the race. That each man among you had in him the
accumulated power of the race, ready at hand for use, in the
right way, when he shall conclude it better to think straight
and hence act straight rather than, as now, to act crooked
and pretend to be straight. Know that the test, plain, simple
_honesty_ (and you all know, every man of you knows, exactly
what that means) is always at your hand.
Know that as all complex manifestations have a simple basis
of origin, so the vast complexity of your national unrest, ill
health, inability to think clearly and accurately concerning
simple things, really vital things, is easily traceable to the
single, actual, active cause--Dishonesty; and that this points
with unescapable logic and in just measure to each individual
man!
The remedy;--_individual honesty_.
To the objection that this is too simple a solution, Mr. Sullivan
retorts that all great solutions are simple, that the basic things of
the universe are those which the heart of a child might comprehend.
"Honesty stands in the universe of Human Thought and Action, as its
very Centre of Gravity, and is our human mask-word behind which abides
all the power of Nature's Integrity, the profoundest _fact_ which
modern thinking has persuaded Life to reveal."
If, on the other hand, the reader complains, "All this is above our
heads," Mr. Sullivan is equally ready with an answer:
No, it is not. _It is close besid
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