St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-01-12
THE REASON OF IT.

The president had great deal Of trouble
TO find a man who was willing to 20 as the
American ambassador TO Persia 1t was
natural that he should. Why would any
wide-awake American want TO go and spend
four Of the best years Of his life in drowsy
lethargy in the decayed empire Of the Shah
an empire that existed before RoMULUs
and REMUs sucked the she-wolf and is yet
covered with the mold of its thirty centuries
Of conservatism. 1t was. therefore, matter
of no little surprise when the announcement
was made that one of the most active men
of Chicago had consented TO accept this
mission and. abandoning the busy. bustling
life around him in the metropolis of the
West, 20 into virtual four years exile. it
is, therefore, with unusual interest we read
Mr.. WISsToN's explanation as given in his
speech at the banquet rendered him by his
Chicago friends last Saturday night. he
says: las this occasion forcibly reminds
me, am on the eve of leaving this beauti-
full city, the pride Of her sons and the won
der of the world, and the question very nat
urally arises, which has been so often asked
me, why / am going, and perhaps it is now
expected of me that give some excuse,
some reason, for leaving so much that Is
dear TO me, for leaving Chicago, with her
marble palaces, her well paved streets, her
magnificent churches, her unequaled thea
ters, her well-Ordered and well-officered
police, her splendid fire department, her
able and honest city government, her best
mayor-whOm / am proud to call my friend
and, above all, her citizens, my friends,
whom l see around me tonight, without
distinction of party, and my children, whom
l leave behind me-and why leave all these
for land 1000 miles away; for people
whom never saw, speaking language L
never heard, and about whose manners and
customs even until recently knew nothing;
for Teheran, city whose streets are I'M
paveH, or worse, without sidewalks. with
houses not built of marble, but mud or sun
dried bricks, with no common council, no
city government except the word OF the
shah, with no railroads, no street cars, no
churches, no theaters. Gentlemen, my
answer to all questions as to my motive
in going must be: l do not know. can
not tell. Perhaps there is implanted in the
breast of even the most practical of men,
such as am, germ Of romance and poe
try which seeks development at the expense
of the material, and perhaps /, too. desire
to escape for season the everyday toll
and struggle which occupies us all here,
and to spend some of my time and a good
deal of money in seeking for the place
where the poet tells us:
There is a bower of roses on Bendemeer's
stream,
And the nightingale sings round it all the day
long.
may not find the roses, and yet the
search may to some degree reward me for
leaving you"
Mr.. WNsToN's explanation is sufficient.
1t is the old story of a tired hand and
weary brain seeking rest. 1t makes no
difference where, just so there is cessation
from work. The bower of roses on Ben
demeers stream may be myth, the crea-
ton of poetic fancy, yet it has its attrae-
tons for the tired men of business. Men
who wear themselves out with toll look for
ward to the time when they can lie down
by the murmuring stream on bank of roses
and dream themselves into rest. AS Mr..
WINSTON says they may not find the roses,
yet they are willing to go out and search for
them. With the great bulk of the toilers
the only roses that are found are those
which bloom on the grave in which the
weary forms at last find rest. The gem of
romance and poetry is in every mans breast
and yet in how few il has the chance to de-
velop.