New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-05-20
THE BALANCE or A LIFE.

1.-THE evil that men do" said speciOus Antony,
elves after them: the good IS oft Inferred with
"thelr bones" We hear the smooth-framed SEN
fences and deem them true. as we do many an
other saying without an attempt 10 analy2e the
meaning and find what It really is. striking
epyram, an ear-haunting ALTERATION, novel
phrase is swallowed as the gudgeon takes the
fly. So half our wisdom is but idle folly. But
when the browning test Is made, In the supreme
stress of rcgnant manhood, the falseness of the
proverb Is exposed. as that OF Antonys OFT
quoted saying Is to-day. Evil no doubt endures
but so does good, and more So THE energy OF
each social service will remain" says Mr.. Nor
lev land So too, let us not forget. will each So
"cial disservce remain. like the amending stream
"of one Of Natures forces. But II the services
were greater than the disservices. II on the
whole the good was greater than the evil, then
by the working of inexorable law the good
abIdes and wakes. and the very memory OF the
evil wanes. 1t Is the tme-long conflict between
life and death. with life invariably the final
victor. One generation dies, but the next gen
Grafton lives and Is more numerous. Inc leaves
of the forest fade and fall In autumn, but the
next springtime secs verdure In more abundant
profusion. Death dies alone and solitary. Life
increases and mutiplies and replenishes the
earth.
To-day the matter is put to most convincing
trial. A great man Is dead. He was man
who made mistakes from which proceeded evil;
and for them he was blamed. denounced and
hated as were few men of the century. He was
q man who did good works. from which pro-
ceeded benefits to his fellow and for them
he was praised and loved as were few others In
the century. To-day the balance of his life Is
struck We do not have to wait the Judgment
of remote posterity, for his career was so pro-
longed and his stature gigantic that In his
own life he was already historic within the
space of time he entered the expanscs of eter-
nty. And the balance is for good. and nightly
for good. Amid the refulgence of his righteous
fame his errors are no more perceptible than
nre to tho unaldcd eye the sun-spots on the
disk Of the MONDAY sun. The voice of blame
and hate has faded to an echos ghost. About
his bier a nation. an empire. a whole world
stands, harmonious-vOiced in praise and love
and sorrow. The good he did lives after him,
the evil is already in oblivion.
Nor is this merely through an overstrained al
legiance to the "nihil de mortuis nisi bonum"
principle. That principle was long ago ont
dead To let the Involuntary incident which
men call death bar judgment and give to sin
the conformation OF silence Is n wrong to those
who live and no favor to the dead No; but IT Is
because the balance Of his life was, on the
whole, so heavily for good; because he set In
motion benefcent forces now felt IN all lands OF
the earth and destined to be felt while earth IS
the abode of man; because through evil and
through good repute and all the storms Of I'm
pulse and transitory passion his face was set
toward the light and toward the right That Is
why the voice of faction is dumb, and his old
opponents lead the way TO do him reverence.
and the world stands reverent before his bier 1t
Is not fattery. 1t Is not forbearancc. 1t Is not
mere eulogy II is Justice He has been weighed
In the balance and not found wanting. He
leaves the world poorer because OF his death.
but how vastly richer because of his life. And
death Is but n moments incident while life.
with all Its riches and its benefits, is everlasting.