The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-04-20
BAB'S EASTER
MESSAGE
TO WOMEN
ESPECIAL Cor. Of The Republic)

/
Now ut Baltimore, Nd, April 16.-Just
! a bun i. Of lilies-the lilies Of Mary-tied
| on the long slender stem with pale
green ribbon, ON which the word Easter
| ia panted in letters Of gold. Just an
| Easter greeting from that far-off South
which l still call my home. 1t was q
great woman who long ago said that
! places meant much to women, and to wo-
men who remember there is much IN
thinking of the place, where, If you no
longer have friend, your dead sleep. But
my Easter lily brought with it, as 1t
should, not alone a memory OF the past,
but the hope for the future. Besides the
great white flower were two unopened
buds; while the tender green OF the rest
less riband told its story of hope as that
pale green tint always whispers of some
thing, Of some great fruit to ripen in the
future. All the Easter flowers are in
spring. The faint yellow of the prim-
rose, the pale-blue of the forget-me-not,
the light purple of the wood violet, the
tender pink of the hyacinth and the clear
green white of the lilies of the valley
in their green frames, every one of
these flowers sings in its colors a predic-
ton of beauty to come. There is not a
flower of the spring that is intense in its
color. The brilliant hues belong to the
flowers of the summer day; but, in the
early spring time, when the sun itself
is only a faint gold, the flowers that come
to you, or to me, or to my neighbor, tell
as clearly as if they sang 1t: Hope on!
Hope ever!
II. @,v 4t,oc tn,-x
as we'll as the sermon, of the Easter Day.
1t says to the other one who is grieving
for that other one who is not: WAIT and
hope and the grave will give up its dead,
and those who loved on earth will be uni
ted in Heaven" And to that other one,
whose life seems failure, whose work
has resulted only in mistakes and who
sees nothing but drudgery ahead Of her.
the message of the Easter flower ought
to be: ''Friend. be of good cheer; for
every sorrow that you have suffered here
on earth there is a great joy awaiting
YOU hereafter, and the children Of your
brain, which men could not recognize be-
cause Of their blindness, will become
Gods children and be made perfect, and
some day all this dull stupid world will
marvel at them"
You laugh at me-ypu, who are mass
of realism, and who find nothing particu-
larly good in this world, and nothing to
be eager to obtain in the next. You laugh
at me because you think Of all the great
troubles of the world, Of all the trials and
tribulat:ons, especially those that come to
women, and you mountaineering that
all this is an old story to me-that l can
be what you call $50 foolishly sentimen-
tall" What would life be without senti-
ment; or, worse still, what would wO-
man be without sentiment? She would be
hard-hearted creature, Sexless, ugly and
detestable. 1t is only the sentiment that
makes life worth living, for sentiment
makes US willing to have faith in those
things not seen by the eyes Of man. Senti-
ment makes us willing to be charitable
alike in deed and word. And sentiment,
best of all, teaches us to hope and hope
unto the very end. Take hope out of life
and what would you have? Neither faith
nor charity, for they would certainly go
with it.. Take hope out Of life and what
would you be? The most miserable
wretch in the world. How could you en-
dure the grief Of to-day II You did not
hope To-: better things tomorrow!
How could you love any human being
il you did not hope and believe that in
him whom you love and the great vir-
tues would make as nothing the small
faults? How could you love a woman
who lacked faith? l have heard Of men
great men they were called-whO de-
MED the truths that you and l accept,
and who longed to find for their COM
panions women whose brainsa should
be like their own and who would agree
with them in their lack Of behalf. or
course, the world does not always hear
the result Of such marriages. but l do
not believe that any man, no matter
how lacking in faith he may be himself.
can love, until death do them part, wo-
man without hope for the future.
What is love without hope? What
is love worth, if it is to come to an end
when our bodies go the way Of all flesh:
Who would endure the sorrows of love
if this earth were to see the last OF 1t!
1t would not be worth while suffering, as
we women do, for dear loves sake, if
am eternal good-by were to be said to love
when the eyes closed in death. Once
love has entered the heart, there must
come faith. Not only faith in the loved
one. but faith in a hereafter. 1t would
be poor love, that one which claimed
that the woman loved was nothing but
body with petty, trifing brain, adap-
ted to last for a lifetime. If that Were
all that the woman you love represented,
she would not be worth giving thought
TO- But being wise, you look for some
thing more than that in her. You seek
for her soul, and it is the soul that makes
the body worth anything. And you
cannot kill the soul. Explain it! You
! can't with all your philosophy and Meth
er can | with all my belief.
You laugh at the special holiday, ana
yat YOU would show a certain Immature
/, if the women and children who bear
your name did not recognize the day.
Make the house gay with flowers ana
have some pretty tribute suited to the
day, as gift for you from those who love
You. You call that woman's work. You
think, in your bigness of body and or
brain that such trihes are not worth con
sideration But wouldn't the household
IL Nnaaf ny