The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1903-12-07

never burst forth in hearty merriment.
who are strutting and fretting before
the pubic as consistent tragedians,
with face which no smile can melt
and with "a graveness which is too
shallow for humour. Our fraternity
realizes that out of the mixture of
dole and delight, of gladness and sad
rose and thorns, character must be
developed. They see that everywhere
In nature the night shade mingles
with the rose and dawn springs from
the womb of darkness. They are hu-
man both in veal and Woe; they
know how to be joyful with the joyful
and sO$rowful with those who mourn.
They meet in the lighted banquet hall:
but they are at home also in the
the service that commentaries those
that are gone.
ITO be remembered is the craving of
every heart that ever loved Like a
country lad finding himself for the
first time in the thoroughfares of
great city. so we are alone in the wide,
wide world. Here everybody works
for himself and the devil takes care
of the hindmost. With the cold axiom
that business is business" many a
weak brother is pushed to the wall,
many an Abel slain by Cain and many
Il heart-rending failure passed by with
a stoical what next?' Many hero
who bravely fought against mishap
and circumstances lies buried in TN
known graves; many a noble effort
unaWarded in siIend tOmbs-society
jigging bye, and the wheels of indus
try turning in the perennial circle
meanwhile from thousands of despair
ing hearts rises the cry for sympathy;
Shall l be missed when l am gone;
shall | be forgotten; will someone feel
sadder for my absence-Or is there not
a soul among all those whom | met
that will give me loving thought and
cherish my memory?
This is not mere sentimentalism.
1t is a moral demand. Every man that
has in his makeup an iota of legit-
mate ambition desires to make a
mark. He may not like Alexander,
endeavOr to conquer the universe; he
may not like CrOesus care to accu-
mulate millions; he may not like Cea-
sar look to the imperial crown. But
he desires to live for something; he
aims to leave some footprint in the
sand of time, to affect some heart, to
impress some circumstance, to leave
the world a little wiser, a little better,
to Justify God for having created him.
Or where shall | find a healthy man
| that would be cOntented to be but a
bubble that bursts, a voice that is
heard no more, a ploughman making
burrows in the water? Nay, we wish
to stand for something, affect some
thing, leave some sacred page of
memory behind. 1t is our innermost
demand.
I ITO this demand the fraternity re-
plies with its ever-recurring regard
! for the absent brother We care lit
tie how much prestige he had in the
eyes of society. how much standing in
the business world, how much credit
in the bank. 1t is sufficient that he
was our brother that he sat at our
| side when we met in social inter-
| course. that he was one of us. And
the fact that he has joined the innu-
merable throng brings back to us his
memory, his words, his cOmradeship,
his life. AS long as love last we shall
honor his name and God be merciful
| to his soul.
But it is not only consideration for
| the absent brother that should prompt
| this service. 1t is helpful to ourselves
| that we give this affectionate thought
| of death, to the transformers Of life
and to the hope which like a Phoenix
| aScends above the ruins of the tomb.
People are wont to look upon the man
with the scythe as a great destroyer.
But I would call him great liberia
| tor. He sets the soul free from its
| garment of clay. He endOWs it with
wings. He transforms it's decaying
vesture. Nor is this a purely theOlo-
gical notion. True, no human eye has