Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-06-11
BEYOND TEE ALPS THINE lTAIT
LIES.
III LOrIF EoOT.

ri LouTsE BOOT.
Beyond the snowy submits Of Alpine
cliffs is the far-avay sunny land of Ita-
iv, with its shores washed By the blue
waters of the Mediterranean. OF all
lands the fairea., land Of sunshine and
of shadow. of this world the Paradise.
Beautiful Italy, where babblinR stream
lets wander along their golden sands,
where flowers always blossom and birds
ever sing. Yet "a its browning glory the
Alps, what were this fair land without
themf
There they stand in solemn grandeur,
truly called The alanaster portals
which guard the palace of beauty be-
yond' What awful sublimity ia cen
tered in those sanlit craQs and snowy
pesksY Rising ~ they do far into the
azure dome of heaven, they stand ID
grim silence gazing upon the land they
have identified ever since the world be
gan.
Century upon century has rolled over
them. and in the very sight of their eter
nal SHOWS nation after nation has risen
70 power and fame, only TO sink INTO
oblivion. Yet there they stand today,
| with no motion but their own mortal
shivering Of atom from atom. defyIng
time and facing eternity. Silent a.
the grave, yet meIooious as the songs OF
| the angels. Immortal like the past, yet
stirring like the future, they look like
prophets and speak like Oracles.
| Bu. God never created thing for
| beauty alone. Beauty of itself IL not
sufficient 1t may charm tn We, bat II
cannot sustain life nor give nutrinen'
and strength TO the body.
So all this wealth Of art, culture and
science would have been buried within
itself bad there not come from the coun
tries of northern Europe men possessed
of such high ambition and determined
perseverance,, whom neither mountains
nor difficulties had the power to daunf
and with will which conquered all be
fore them. crossed the Alps, carrying
with them the elements of CIVILIZATION
that placed Italy among the foremos
nations Of that day. Then II WAS tina
Italy, with its unrivalled scenery, III
untold wealtN of ancient ruiBs, th'
crumbled monuments of former glory
it's treasured works of art, tecame th'
land of beauty and sunshine; the goa
for which the sculptor and the artis
SIGH and the land of which the poe
dreams.
Every life, be II lofty or lowly, con
tains some Alps which must be crossed
Every natisu points proudly toward Ger
tain names enrolled upon the pages
its history, which shine forth from age
past, undimmed by the ravaRes OF tim
which have buried in forgetfulness tn
lesser lights. OF these great men no
one can be found who did not commene
his Journey IN the lower walks of life
Striving through the gloom OF poverty
misfortune and toll, and only after tn
binding whirlwind of despair had sweI
over him many times, did he clambe
up the glittering hill Of Fortune.
The worlds greatest poets are thos
who realized that the brightest hopes
the highest ASPIRATIONS. inst ire the nc
best deeds. And Milton. the most suit
lime of them ali, after suffering throug
wears of blindness and misfortune. neye
i'm this world saw the Sweet Fields O
Eden" vet who can say he lived In vain
While Shakespeare assembled from 10
very depths of poverty and contribute
to our literature hls inexhausuble wsalt
of thought, which shall benefit comm
ages as II has those of the past.
And so ON through the entire roll O
illustrioas names, which contains onl
those whs have journeyed rom the dar
and lowiy foothills of obscurlty b
searching carefully a secure footing 70
each step, and then pressing onwar
undaunted by the rugged pathway, gan
ing new strength by each victory, at Lac
reach the nights of fame forever bryon
the reach of the mortal finger OF deca,
Thus in the daily walks of life 1t
shown that anything which is really d.
sirable must be striven after with tiru
unwavering purpose. And, althoug
sometimes even the truest, bravest wori
ers seem never to have quite gained ID
longed- for Italy, oftentimes they hay
left footprints by means OF which OIL
ers have reached the summit of the
difficulties and caught glimpse of ta
Italy beyond.
Ever, new discovery in science prove
that. after long years of patient stud
and peTseverIng energy, some one M
conquered the untold mysterIes, an
that now the fruits of their labor sha
benefit all mankind. The wOnderfU
inventions of the present time have bee
no work of chance, or the result of som
ones laundering, but rather the rewar,
sranted at last for n life of patient tot
IL is the slow, careful student, workin
. day by day, who wins the prize who
more gifted ones fancy they have but :
reach for. and not until too late do the
realize that success depends upon some
thing besides natural ability.
In this strange world of ours IL ofte
seems that some whom fortune smile
upon seem fated to tread only the hight
of happiness, touching Just the sum.
peaks, with perhaps an occasional glanc
down into the dark ehasms of sorrow
and pain through which the less forum
ate are struggling. Yet, think you, the,
enjoy the fair beyond which Is Away
Just in sight as much as the weary on
who has tired with careful steps the toll
some pathway from its lowest depths
aud at last reaches the top, standing
firmly upon those difficulties which lsbo
alone has conquered. and sess for Oh
tirst time fair Italy on the other side?
Some spend the morning of life try
ing 20 find some easy pathway whic
will lead to the same goal to which 9th
srs around them are bending their ever
energy. Few of these idlers realize tina
the reward will be IN proportion to thei
labor; and so, when they see Others IN
above them, their failure is laid to Ill
luck or the injustice of Providence.
These persons forget that Heaven ha
agreed 10 help only those who help them
selves, and at last, when too late, the
awake 10 see the difference betwee
what they are and what they might hav
been.
With every existence Is given the powe
TO make or mar that life. The choice G
a pathway in given to all, and no huma
being has the right 10 be victim @
circumstances. A man ought to b
ashamed to ascribe TO fate sorrow
which he himself made. So many drii
into their life. work simply because th
current Of events happens to flow IN tina
| iirrrfinn Rnt nnr frnlY fenrs.senfatiY