The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1890-11-06


tives; from regard to mental satisfaction. or
for fear of the reprOaches of conscience.
Some of those who are vain of their fine
feelings. love themselves dearly. but have
little regard for the individuals about them.
They are very polite to eXtraneOus society;
but follow them home and see how they
conduct themselves towards their families.
Such cases remind us of the sad story told
OF the little boy who. when told of heaven
and of the meeting of the departed there,
asked. Twill father be there?" and on be-
ing told that of course he would be there at
once replied, "Pli not 60 them" Sympathy
invites to love and obedience; harshness
provOkes aversion and resistance. A kind
word or look will act upon those upon
whom restraint has been tried in vain. Too
frequently we meet men who seem to be lost
to all shame and every feeling which tends to
raise man up from the depths of ruin and
degradation. and it is peculiarly sad. Sad.
because of our human progress of which we
are so bOaStful. and more especially sad for
the sake of manhood.
And wherein does the remedy lay? Does it
lie in SlurS. criticism and redicule? or does
it lie in kind and sympathetic deeds? 1t is
every mans duty whose lot has been IA
vOred in comparison with others, who enjoys
advantages of wealth or knowledge or SO
cal influence of which others have been
deprived, to devote at least certain pOr-
tion of his time and money to the promo
ton of the we'll being of his fellow Great
ures. Even the poorest of the poor have
been the dealers out of some small blessings.
for the poor know so much better than the
rich what the poor people need.
Great cities have nothing more sOrrOwful
to show us than their old children with
their 3hrewd. anxious faces and knitted
brOWS on which care is stamped. The
home of the poor is very often no home.
The rich and the poor live apart, and many
barriers intervene to prevent their social in
tercourse. The poor have no society be-
yond that of their own class; they have no
means of escape from intercourse with the
coarse and uneducated. Very poor mems
children only exist as so many rivals for
food with their parents, and they are drag
ged up to enter prematurely OIL the harsh
realities of life. TO the upper ranks the
plored country. 1t is only the poor who
really and truly feel for the poor. They
alone know each others sufferings. They
alone know each others need of sympathy
and kindness. People may talk of the
charity of the rich, but this is as nothing
compared with the charity of the poor. In
seasons of privatiOn. sickness and distress.
the poor are each others cOmfOrters and
supporters to an extent that among better
circles is never dreamed of. Contented to
toll on from day to day and from year to
year for scanty pittance. they have yet
wherewithall to spare when brother is in
need or in distress. And the women of the
poorer classes in this respect are especially
devoted and untiring. They make sac
rifices. run risks and bear privatiOns and
exercise patience and kindness to degree
that the world never knows of and would
scarcely believe even if it did know.
Bismarck Prison. N. Oak. G. w. X.