The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-08-23
IDEAL OF LOVE
There is No Love,en Earth Ike That of
q Mother.
(Greenvhle Daily Ncws)


The ideal of,love is that 81 the mother
1T is pure, sweet, tender, enduring AND
always self sacrificing. It's not hounde5
by limits orr-eason. 1t Is the sourceo
her greatest5oy, the cause of her greatest
sorrow-it s her life.
The mes striking 5cea we have of
faith is thai which the r.other has in. ner
son.
We are7taught that IL it'll is the fonnda-
ton of tbr Christian sjlope-that saliva
tion conzps through fa3 h; that this faith
creates love, supreme dove, for thesauthor
of saving faith, love s7hich runs through
this life, growing stronger each'day I'M
til swallowed up i'll She glory az perfect
love which greets she pilgrim on the
other side of the dark river.
1t is the complete combination of this
faith and love of mother, 50 nea- akin to
the scIiptural idea which makes her love
pre-eminently ideal. The pity of it all
is, that there is rarely a response to this
flood of maternal affection.
The mental and moral qualities of the
object of her affection never seem to be
measured by the mother. She never
stops to reason as 10 the riGir or wrong
in any matter in which her boy is con-
cerned She only knows that he is her
flesh and blood, and every consideration
OF justice is swept aside in her loyalty to
him
Every one else may see TIA, he is weak,
vacilating, lacking moral principle and
utterly unworthy of love and confidence
yet strangely as it may seem, she can see
none of these blotches on dis character
and manhood. On the contrary she can
find evidences of strength steadiness
high purpose and loyalty III him to ami
mate motherly worship.
In her eyes, the grown man is not the
a ~ 1,n,.s L., IL L
fections. He is the babe which slept
lovingly on her breast; the babe which
she nursed in sickness and through sleep
less nights and weary days fought for his
life and snatched him from the Jaws of
death; the child which tw,iped his little
arms about her neck and whispered the
sweetest of all words Mother this
word forging the link (which binds
through life, the uttered evidence of
motherhood; the child plaYiLg about the
house, making home brightJ,y his must
cal prattle; the youth standing at her
side, vowi1g his VOWS of fidelity, telling
her his ambition to be grea; and good,
10 make her life happy dreem, her old
age sweet and beautiful with tender at
tentions, his strong arm shield and
protection.
AS young, man she measures him by
the impressions he made as aIIlabe, child
through the dav, and parted at night
with kiss and ,benediction as she tuck
ed him in his lit,le bed, her last look, be
lore seeking her own rest, to see that he
was asleep and comfortable.
She may hear uEfavorable reports, she
may notice that he gets home late in the
night, she may have a suspicion that he
is at times unsteady and not himself,
that he is irritable, that his eye is dull,
q rT..1 L 4.
~ attentions; but she finds excuses fer
all this-he IS still hec babe, child and
youth and her great lore covers and bides
all inperfections
She can not and will not believe that
he ever deceiveS her.
1T is related Of young man, an only
son, just from college, that his mother.
IN his presence, ~ ade the remark:
II cannot understand boys deceivine
thelr mothers My boy never yet told
nae lie, and always know syhere he is
and what he is doing
The young mans face flushed and he
remarked to friend sitting by Him:
Poor old mother; she doesn't know
everything, and she's good deal happier
than she would be if she did"
mat is 1t; she don't know, she don't
want to know; her faith and love trnite
and mothers love triumpbs over SIGHT
and reason.
The ingratitude Of the son is one of TIE |
1nexplicable things in life. His lack OF |
appreciation of the wealth of love which |
gushes continually from his mothers, |
heart is a mystery. She follows him |
while her life lasts. She is with him I'm |
his prosperity, and at his side i'm adyor-
sity; she will cheer and comfort him
when others turn their backs and leave
him to fight The battle alone she will 90
win MN and hold his hand when he
nears the brink of the grave; his last |
look will be in her loving eyes, and when 1