Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-12-09

splendid tribute to the gifted mother of a
thrice gifted son, for Goethe was a poet,
novelist and scientist, and a polished court
Ter as well. His mother was married young
to a man whom she did not love. When, a
year later, her son was born she seems to
have lavished upon him all the warmth of
her rich nature. II and my wolfong." she
said, have always held fast to each other,
because We were both young together" One
biographer has said of her, ''Goethes mother
was what We conceive as the proper parent
for poet. She was the delight OF children,
the favortte of poets and princes. She was
full OF life and fond of people who had dis
tinct individuality. Goethe was largely edu-
Gated by his mother, and she tells herself
how she impressed things upon his mind
Air, fire, earth and water / represented to
my boy under the forms Of princesses, and
TO all natural phenomena L gave mean
ing in which 1 believed almost more fer
vently than my little hearer AS we thought
of paths which led from star to star, and
that we should one day inhabit the stars
and thought of the great spirits We should
meet there, 1 was eager for the hours OF
story telling as the child himself. And
when made pause for the night, promis-
ing to continue on the morrow, / was GER
tain that he would meantime think out the
story for himself. and so often stimulated
my Imagination" His mothers character
istic methods of instructing him, allied TO
his inherited wealth of Imagination, made
him the most wonderful man of letters OF
his nation and age. and she was his friend
when he was deserted by all others.
Gen. Garfield's whole life was Influenced
and colored by the indomitable courage and
energy of his Woodworking, practical
mother. who was yet tender and loving to
the sturdy boys. who were, in their early
years, dependent upon her labors. The labor
she performed was Of the hardest kind, and
1t was difficult to make both ends meet, but
she managed IL and an education for her
children, and kept pace with them as they
grew. There was no higher honor for the
nation to bestow upon her gifted son when
the assassin's bullet did its cruel work and
James A. Garfield lay dead. In that hour
when her gray head bent in sorrow above
his coffin, no thought of the cares and wor-
ries of that sons youth fitted through her
mind; she remembered only the loving de-
votion and tender solicitude he had for her
comfort in all his later years. Nobly, in
deed, did he reQuite her, though she asked
nor expected a reward
Much of the success that has attended the
career of Gen. Lew Wallace must be as
cribed to his mother. a woman Of powerful
intellect and great executive ability. The
author of Ben Hur has found In this gifted
woman sturdy support and the devotion of
one to the other is most tender
Lord Brougham inherits from his talented
mother many of his remarkable qualities,
and he was devoted to her memory and
fond of relating incidents of his mothers
influence over him.
Byron's mother was devotedly attached
to him, though she can hardly be said to
d
sionate and unevenly balanced, but IT was
from her that Byron inherited his poetic
nature.
Horace Greeley inherited from his mother
all the qualities that made him great He
was puny weanling and required The ten
derest care. His mother was a Trojan in
physical and mental Qualities ami this very
strength made her solicitous for her less
hardy children. She was always a prime
favorite with the young, and after an
arduous days work in he field or forest
for she was obliged to 10 :he work of a
man to support ner children. she would sit
at her spinning ari tell stories sing Songs
and relate folk lore traditions ny the hCUr
for her own and the neighbo-s- children
Victor Hugo was devout mother lover.
He, like Horace Greeley, was delicate
child whose earlier years caused his faith
ful mother much concern. He often referred
to the fact that he inherited rrom her the
romantic nature and poetic sentiments
which made his literary efforts famous She
was a tender mother. a wise teacher and a
gentle counselor to her brilliant son.
William Lloyd Garrison's mother was a
woman of high character. charming in per-
son and eminent for piety and her son had
the deepest reverence for her. She had TO
support a large family by her own labors
as a nurse. but gave her children every ad-
vantage possible. IT was at her knee while
learning his lessons. that her noble son i'm
bibed also those principles which led him to
make the gallant and winning fight for the
abolition of slavery. than which no grander
monument to a mothers memory ever was
erected.
Mary Ball Washington.
A whole great nation is just now interest
ed in another mother. woman who gave
to the country its first great military COM
mander and its first President. Mary Ball
Washington was not brilliant woman, but
she had mental eadowments of a high order
She was eminently practical. had great ex-
ecutive ability and remarkable tenacity of
purpose, traits which were most prominent
in her illustrious son. Left a widow with a
large estate and six young children, she
managed both with a skill that commands
admiration to this day. She impaired to her
children the sure foundation of all moral
excellence and implanted in their young
hearts her own uncompromising love OF
truth and answering integrity" Her son
honored her above all earthly friends. When
she came TO die at ripe old age the simple
inscription upon her tomb told the tale OF
her motherly devotion. Mary the mother
of Washington" AS a mother her praises
will be sung throughout all time
There are thousands of mothers whose
names might rank with these on history's
page. Mothers who, after travail in bitter
pain, encountered material and financial
discomforts and ANNOUNCEMENTS almost
too heavy for human endurance, and whose
abnegation of self amounts to slavery in
the eyes of the frivolous seif-loving woman
But IT is a slavery that does not degrade
1t is not the serfdom of the incapable, but
the embodied unselfishness of the women
who realize that the mother should ex-
emplify in her person the highest human
type. 1t is true that mothers have hard
battles to fight. and they must fight them
alone with
No marshaling troop, no bivouac song,
No banner TO CLEAN and waveI
And o. these battles. they last so long
From babyhood to the grave"
But the mother who is true to her woman
hood and who loves her children will find
in the performance of her duty to them her
richest reward. The world has always be-
lieved and always will that
"A mother is a mother still,
The holiest thing alive"
Fight on n Speeding Locomotive,
Paris Cnrresnnnlenf Inndor, Tnlarrnrh