The Commonplace 17 



working out more fundamentally than else- 

 where. The great mass of mankind is un- 

 recorded and practically unknown. A few of 

 us are actors, and we pass with some noise and 

 flourish across the stage ; but the sources of 

 events are behind and beyond. I have heard 

 the saying attributed to a statesman that if the 

 discussions either at the country four-corners 

 or in the President's Cabinet were to cease, it 

 were better to do away with the Cabinet. Public 

 opinion does not seem to originate to any ex- 

 tent with the leaders : the leaders are more 

 likely to catch and voice the crystallizing senti- 

 ments of the commonplace, originating slowly 

 and perhaps unconsciously with those who 

 work first-handed with the forces that make for 

 prosperity. 



It is too bad that all this may not be re- 

 flected in our common literature. 



The farm is fundamental. 



We might go even farther than the ham- 

 let or the town, to the family unit on the re- 

 motest farm. This unit is considered by most of 



