The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1901-08-15

they may be placed.
IT IS the habit of soma people to consider, orI
rather speak of, good and evil, wrong and right as
purely relative and rather meaningless terms Of
something depending entirely upon time, longitude
and latitude And, indeed, when the subject is
viewed in the light of past experience it seems as
tho this true; for what believe to be wrong
at the present day eminently properor at least
recognized by the majority right-in the days of
Nero, and those things which reprehensible in
Nero's time not considered wrong when
Rameses reigned in Egypt; and can go on
back to the earliest traces of civilization and at each
step discover new variations in the established
standards of morality
All this makes pretty argument, but it is not at
all convincing It does not convince even the weak
man vany striving to reconcile his misdeeds with his
seepless conscience, and who is searching on all
sides for loopho]e of excuse to crawl through.
That the rape of the Sabines thought to be a
most commendable performance by Romulus and
Remus entirely fails to allay his conscience. The
truth is that the so called argument is argument
at all. For, evade it may, there is inherent
in all men deepseated knowledge of wrong and
right of good and evil and let the most hardened of
the rest from action long enough to think, and
this knowledge will make its presence felt
"Somehow other" says Stevenson, summing
up this question in the most inspiring sermon ever
penned, 'tho he (man) does not know what goodness
is, he must try to be good somehow other, tho he
cannot tell what will do it, he must try to give
happiness to others And by following this and
living up to it to the best of his ability he will fnd
if not happiness at least peace, in his own life Not
only will the wicked "save his soul alive" when
he ''turneth away from the wickedness he hath COM
To- 81 ,:-.Ll
but he will bring happiness to others and surely find
rest and contentment for himself
TALE of sacrifice and unrequited love that
backs Enoch Arden clear off the boards emanates
from Macon Mo. A few months ago one D. S.
Burch, a resident of Macon took unto himself a
wife, and for period of three weeks more life
was one beautiful golden sunset for him. But then
storm clouds commenced to gather on the horizon;
Mrs Burch seemed changed; she was naughty and
distrait and no longer sent her husband off to his
days work with glad doughnuts in his dinner pail
and kisses on his moustache The change very
visible to him. Upon approaching her with GOODNESS,
Mrs. D. s. Burch admitted that she had grievously
erred when she married. she said her heart-strings
were forever entwined about the being of Walter
Guthrie, dashing young travelling salesman of
Chicago.
| The blow fell with Herculean force upon the
head of D. S. Burch, but he, remembering the ex-
ample set by the immortal Ruskin, escorted his
disconnected spouse down town, had her photo
graphed with brand new "rat' in her hair, took
one last long, lingering gaze into the depths of her
azure eyes, and shipped her off to Walter Guthrie
and Chicago Burlington train Then he re-
turned to his barren hearth and awoke the next
morning to find his name in the papers and himself
!, famous. Macon approved of D. S. Burch-he was
a good "ad'-and took pride in him, he was
asked everywhere unknown ladies for miles around
: wrote him. commencing his action, and intimating
that they could be happy with gentleman like him.
i Meanwhile Mrs. D. S. Burch travelled towards
Chicago her mind filled with dreams of days
to come. Rude, ah rude! was her awakening.
Guthrie the discarded and chosen, met her at the
station with CLASSY eye marble heart and icy
} mitt. His salary, he explained, while quite sufi-
cent to support one person, would never keep two:
therefore he intimated she had better return to
Macon before the cold weather set in. He said she
Q made him tired She said she could take hint
Q and at wired D. S. Burch to for her. He
being of destiny started thereuponf for Chicago
and neither of the interesting couple have since been
heard of. Macon has more settled down into
: it's stride.
: Mr.. Dooley says: "Niver raise an ak to q
Q woman, save in the way iv joke