The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1903-11-26
consanguinity should have been my

friends and protectors, took advantage
of my unsuspecting trustfulness, and
mercilessly cast me off when could be
of no further use to them. 1 went into
the world, but the world understood me
not:-perhaps 1 expected too much.
Because I would not fatter l had few
friends. and because | refused to be
fattered none remained my friends for
long. Because tried to be just to all
men everyone thought me unjust to
himself in particular, and because l
dared to speak the truth about persons
and events some considered me base
calumniator, while others likened me
to rude boor. Because L bowed not
down before the golden calf, nor grow
eled in the dust before the seats of the
mighty, but on the contrary, tried to
honor each man, whether king or beg
gar, according to his actual worth, l
have been dubbeda crank, an eccentric
and dangerous character. Health L
have; l am able to earn the necessaries
of life; my enemies grant me certain
amount of common sense; I am not by
nature morose; / love mankind-yet
am despised by mankind. am misera-
BILE because l stand alone in the world.
One friend / had in whom my soul re-
joiced, on whose friendship I had built
the temple of my hopes and laid the
foundation of great and good things to
come. But, alas! even that friend has
lately grown cold, and the once delight
fuI bond binds US no more. The
greatest misery that a sensitive soul
can be subjected to is to feel that one
is utterly forsaken. Never until now
did realize the seul-rending agony ex-
pressed in the cry Of Jesus upon the
cross: ELI, Eli lama sabachthani9'
My God, my God, why hast thou for
saken meY
, "Ias God forsaken you2" interrupt
ed the old man.
81 cannot tell. The sun shines as
, blithely as ever; the moon and the stars
send their messages to my heart and
, mind as of yore; the earth also bedecks
, her bosom with beautiful adorRments
I in countless variations, and am not
l debarred from the pleasurable feelings
, resulting from the contemplation Of
1 the beautiful and sublime aspects OF
: nature. But / am human, and crave
. human sympathies. l am intensely
t human: love my kind and stand In
8 awe before the lowest, and even the
! most degraded of human beings, for
: see in them manifestations of the Uni
l verssl Mind, powers and potentialities
J. that indicate to thoughtful observers
!; the almost unlimited possibilities oi
q the human race. Yet am Stunned BY
my kind. They forsake me; and as II
the totslity of human feeling toward
}; us we must look for the outward signs
Q of the invisible Power that rules th'
i universe, toward us, see reflected, al
i it were, in their averted countenance'
Q the averted countenance of God"
d "Are there not others similarly af1ict
) ed? Are there not many whose condi
d ton is far more pitiable than yours !?
It SHOULD be thankful because other
l. are more wretched than am? Base i
IS the man who gives thanks becaus
% others have less cause to be Thankful
d than he. That old man in the Persial
IS tale who grumbled because he had NJ
q sandals to put on his feet, but, on be
If holding a man who had no feet Of
II which to put sandals, became content
d ed. and thanked God for his better fol-
a tune, was not the exalted being som
le have proclaimed him to be. There
1t something pharisaical in the YER
thought of giving thanks because W
are better, or more fortunate than 9th
l. er people. Let my soul overflow wit
ID pity for all whose miseries are greater
t; or more enduring than mine, bu
is let it never be said of me that ] fel
st thankful because In the pit of despai
It, there were some of my fellow being
q. whose places were less desirable tina
If miner
IN "And have you no hope for bette
m things in the future?"
30 "Alasi What is hopep Hope is th
ignis fatuus that lures Us to the dism,
I'd swamps Of life, and deserts Us whe
X we can advance no further, nor retrae
y our steps over the path we have tra'
Of sled. Hope is the siren whose song q