The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-01-21
We HAVE BEEN

oprerS NSiS W.
a nas.ed like long. happy years;
,sneth Of one short path that
brook and held somewhere in
y. The summit of a hill, was a
,,,sv III take. We were the new
.reat,on then. not yet finished,
s,rs kindly to our original dust.
alres were already looking for
~ inheritance beyond the grave,
n,nre particularly belonged the
- the fullness thereof. We pos
-. land and the sea. We diff
~ own radiance, and the very
ssre blue for our sake.
~ no enemies TO forgive our
70 ware short; but our faith was
"a We believed everything and
~ more. Somewhere in the cool
.Ssdows we're good spirits that we
Wv whose influence our little
.nuis confessed. We dealt in
i ami prophesles as sincerely as
a Hebrew prophet. A chirrnp-
icKet was the harblnger of for
II Inc leaves of a little whirlwind
bn once around our devoted
we we're inyinclble, and should
sray chance to brush our checks
i happy wings that was n token
10 come. All things We're to
Signs Of blessings.
ally we had the divine impulse.
IA not inventive because we were
IL we could have made stars
bars been a convenient heaven to
hem in. There was gold beneath
ran sward OF our hillside; the
around our neck were strands of
And il we strutted through some
h. changing the ranks Of lark5pur
ye knights and the daisies to fair
We ruled our realm wl,h an even
iustiee" that might have caused
Substantial sovereigns TO blush for
We never cried TOR other worlds
Iouer. but climbed the in ervening
Ana extended our crea Ion over our
boris meadow. Not bird flew above
pwns upon our heads (and In those
bur heads were always crownedl
As changed to ship upon our in
ss. Politically we belonged to
era of civilization and were bar
10 boot We were cave dwellers
HORNED sixteenuh century castles,
ceDturions setting up modern re-
!. We were Don QuiXotes in valor,
Is and fanatics in religion. But
ar we were always communists,
nderstood the common law of pos
better than some la ter day
nists.
tnlng we had not, nor needed; but
IA have understanding. We were
natives, with more than an inkling
II transplres in the mind of an ant,
not very FAR removed from it nor
the stars above our heads. Our
ions gave us the advantage over
and made us independent of the
al fitness of things"
billy, we rejoiced in the sense or
possibility as the angels do III
o. We had not CONCEALED into our
tlon of virtues and vices. Those
dragons, Right and Wrong, VINO
VERY man to death soon or
Dad not then passed he gales OF
Eden. There was no forb dden
no deeds were evil, and the in
lies We told were but tights
the wings Of our fancy. Our con-
Z WIS mere heresay, an imparta-
.Km our elders. For, while we
b US dim foreshsdowing ot I'M
.llty We we're innocent pharisees
IN ethical matters. All of life WAS
b, an aeti g OF noble parts; and
Ter II was the role Of pagan KING ur
monk, we were equally sincere. Be-
hi dren, we knew not how serious
agedy WIS to become later.
pathy was our chief quality OF
BE lad more than Of what Ebert
4rd calls "poise." 4 sparrow lying
10 our path with crumpled wings
bring guSh of tears to eyes that
years hence were to be dry and
upon field where men lay dying
ping wounds. But at the time we
4 soemn satisfaction in the spar
funeral. We laid him in state and
before his Der bowed with ancient
And We buried aim with his little
CfeaSt turned pathetically up to the
kes lat he had loved. AfLerward
PIKE kindly of him, Del ewing that he
sing Tor us in paradise some day"
I'm did we cher sh every sweet
ndly hope. No one e,sa believes SO
Us children do in the resurrection,
10 no one Sc DIES death ap.
20 unnatural,
sense Of JUS ice was elemental. aud
long before the jungle law of this
prevail ed with our spr.ts-uever.
I'll we had left far behind the
Wu rainbow of childhood. Yet,
-en we had our share OF skepticism.
We 90 lie ed so much that we did
and could not know, we distrusted
ler VITA p-im.t We candor that
~ Obliged Later on to put away
Mer childish thin 5. We were "a
as men are in our commerce. al in
ss. arriving hard bargains with
M aSs IN the matter of balls. June
au dead butterfly wings.
eie re g.ous blgots, clinging with
aa iervor to cur fathers creeds.
II! 70 die by these ancestral lad
sa'eu' But nothing was SO rare
10 as selt-cOnfessed and morti-
nnsfi for in tLose days our sins
.sned US more than our virtues
ward. Besides, humility was an
M ssen.lmentallty with us. Our
.Sa. con listed n thanking
aenly bodies that we were not as
sse were-prim. pale little faces
=, al US mournfuliy from the
IN. our story books. With what
- eyes OF compassion did we re-
49, niue premature saints, who
sush su ana went to heaven--but
ninssl s surrows and awful
ora. We be onged to the universal
49,, Oh chi dhood, ire spectiye OF
ansasn' an order so exclusive that
,Sa,n was The only man ever in
been sn some think Homer would
e. elslb.e. If there h d beep any
1Ls the gods and heroes of
str.an nose VINO have wa ched en- l.
d tba s to each other. e. ng
sn ne sns and equivalents of he
does asln.ed, know that such an
ts,. exist In the form of some
Ban s' ~ Ard though we might
a NJ y preciution confess our
% have ns, The secrets OF this divine
W. eser oeen d.vu ed. To our
LAY have conHded few