Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1904-12-23
anonymous they cannot be considered
as indiscretions.

as indiscretions.
There is in my country, Alsaoe, on
one solitary road, =. .ose interminable
ribbon prolongs itself through the
forests of the Vosges, a stone-break-
err whom | have seen at his work for
thirty years. The first time l saw
him |, a young scholar, had started
for the great city, and my heart was
full. The sight of that man did me
good, for he was humming song the
while he was breaking the stones. We
exchanged q few words, and at the
end he said:
my boy, good courage and good
luck!"
Since then I have often passed and
repassed over that read in the most
diverse circumstances, painful and
happy. The scholar made his way; tho
breaker of stones remains what he
was. He has taken a few more pre-.
cautions against the changes of the
seasons, a straw mating protects his
back, and his felt hat seems to be
drawn further forward on his brow 10
better spare his head. But the forest
sends back ever the echo of his valiant
hammer How many storms, poor old
man, have fallen over his back, how
many contrary destinies on his life,
his family, his country! He contin-
ues to break his stones, and whether
l come or go | find him beside the
road, smiling in spite of his age and
wrinkles, having, above all on rainy
| days, those simple words Of good
man which have such an effect when
they are scanned In breaking stones.
1t would be absolutely impossible to
express the emotion that the sight
of that simple man gives me. And
certainly, he does not imagine 1t.
know of no spectacle more comfort
| ing, but at the same more severe for
the vanity fermenting In our hearts,
! than this meeting with an obscure
| toiler who does his work as the oak
/ grows or as the good God causes the
sun to rise, regardless of who sees
him.
| have known many old teachers,
men and women, who have passed
their lives at task always the same;
to instill the rudiments of human
knowledge into heads sometimes har-
der than stone. They have worked
with all their hearts. the whole length
a
ton of men held little place. When
they lie down in their unknown graves
no one will remember them but few
humble ones like themselves. But
their recompense is in their love.
None is grander than these unknown
ones.
How many obscure virtues will
those who know how to seek not dis
cover in a certain class of people
whom they have often ridiculed, not
thinking that they made themselves
guilty at once of cruelty, ingratitude
and stupidity. I wish to speak of the
old maids. We like to remark any
thing queer in their costumes, and
manners, which is of no consequence
in any case. We wish, also, to recall
that others, quite personal, have dis
Interested themselves of everything
except their own comfort, and that OF
some canary cat or macaw, in which
their powers of affection are absorb
ed; and certainly, these will not cede
in egotism to the most hardened bach
elors. But what we are wrong tt
ignore the most often is the great
capacity for sacrifice hidden so mod
mirable old maids. Is it nothing
then, to have no home, no love, ne
future no personal ambition; to take
on oneself that cross of solitude Sc
: heavy to bear, above all, when the
: external solitude is joined to that O.
the heart; to forget oneself enough
to have no interest in this world save
that for old parents, young orphane,
: nephews, the poor, infirm, out Of al
the brutal mechanism thrown among
the cinders of life? Seen from out
side, these almost effaced existence
, have but little brightness. They ex
lite pity rather than envy. Thos,
, who approach them with respect, per
ceive secret sorrows there, sometimes
, great sufferings passed, heavy load
, under which the all too fragile shoul
: ders bowed; but it Is not there tina
J lies the shadow We should be abb
, to appreciate that richness of heart
: that pure goodness, that power of Low
: ing, Of consoling, of hoping that gift
3 joyous in itself, that invincible obt
5 macy In sweetness and in pardonin
5 even those who are unworthy. Poor oil
4 maids, how many have you save
gathered up of the lost, clothed O
5 the naked, mothered of orphans; hoy
9 many beings who would be alone L
}, this world if they did not have YOU
S you who often have no one! l fol
J. get. Some One knows you; it is tn
e great unknown Pity which watche
g over our lives, and suffers from ou
e misfortunes. Forgotten, like you, an
n frequently blasphemed, she has cor
l. fided to you some Of her hottest me.
d sages, and it is for that, withou
doubt, that often as you discreet
y pass by, we think we feel the touc
It Of the wings of the angels of salv;
/. ton.
e The good hides itself under 8
e many diverse forms that one has o
d ten as much difficulty to find it, a
e to discover the evil deeds hidden
l. tha closet A RncCian nhVcipiaD Wh