Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1905-11-17

every day of the week At her death
there were found over 1900 letters
pcnned 10 her 10y her noble son. And
one OF the last acts which he did be-
fore she died was to send one OF his
books TO her with these beautiful
words written upon the fly leaf: "For
her who was the critic of my first in
FAINT productions 1 have transcribed
the few little essays that follow. The
critic praises from the head-the moth
or praises from the heart With one IL
is tribute of judgment-with the 9TH
er it is Il gift from the soul" Was
not that tribute of England's great
statesman To his mother most beauti-
fun Yet cannot we all give our moth
ers the same tribute? Was there In
our youth any worthy or meritorious
act that was not of her suggesting or
inspiring?
Is not our position In the world to-
day a tribute 10 her for what she did
tor us? y great cave. like the Man,
moth cave of Kentucky. has lately been
discovered in Tasmania. Travellers
tell us that after the torches have been
put out some OF the caverns OF that
cave are ablaze with light from the
millions of glowworms which are kim
ding their phosphorescent lanterns M
ON the walls and the roof OF rock. So
every place IN the dark corridors OF the
past is ablaze with the lights OF ma
ternal self sacrifice. We see these,
lights ut the cradle; we see them bril-
liant at the sick bed; we see them at
college hall and afterward IN the strug-
giles OF our professional and mercap-
tile careers. Wherever we went, as
long as our mothers were alive, we
knew that they were doing for US the
best they could. All. many and many
Is the time they broke for us the ala
baster box of ointment of spikenard
very preciousl Today we lay our gar
lands OF tribute upon the graves OF the
beloved mothers who cheerfuly did
for Us what they could
But next TO our mothers I would
speak Of the mothers of our children.
AS praise the sweet faced woman who
bent over our cradle I would now say
few words i'm reference 10 the wives
who have stood by us so faithfully
and u0bly during our struggles OF
young manhood and middle age aud, 1
hope. vii! continue so TO do in our old
age if God will let them live until their
bair is whiteued and their step becomes
iniirm When | look into the past
see how awful might have been the
results if we had had a bad mother in
stead of good mother. In the same
way shudder as | think OF what our
lives would have been IL our wives had
been selfish or lazy or unworthy In
stead OF being the self sacrificing, de-
voted women whom God has given Us.
influence of wives.
The older | grow and the more / see
OF men the more believe that they
are. 10 n great extent, the outgrowths
OF what their wives have done for
them. Every husband. as a rule, ap-
pears TO me the representative OF a
wife whom perhaps have never seen.
When Victor Hugo reached his seven
tietb birthday his friends from all over
the world sent 10 him gifts of flowers.
His home was simply deluged with
them. Showing one OF his rooms filled
with flowers 10 a friend. he turned and
said: Flowers 10 me have an individ-
ua! favor They speak the peculiar
language OF the people who send them.
Now. most OF the donors OF these fiow.
ers have never seen, and yet from
the flowers themselves / can tell who
my friends are. That magnificent lily
came from French florists green
house. The friend who sent me that
must have been a well to do Partisan.
This bunch OF herbs could only grow
on the Garonne. and that blue star
flower can be found nowhere but in
Normandy" Thus he went on. giving
the history OF the different baskets and
bouquets and collections OF wild low
ers which had been sent 20 him rs
birthday gifts. AS Victor Hugo read
the characters or his unseen friends
by tue language or the flowers, 1 read
the characters OF wives by the conduct
OF their husbands.
Inevitably when you find q conse-
Grated, earnest man working for
Christ in the church you will find n
noble, devoted wife back OF that man,
who is chiefly responsible for that
mans conservation. or course there
are exceptions TO all rules, but excep-
lions do not destroy the rules. So In.
variable has been my experience In
this respect that when I find a man
joining the church whose wife thinks
more of card parties aud dances and
club meetings and dinners than nhs
does or her prayer meetings ! have htst
little hope OF that man being an active
or spiritual church mcmber. I have
known many women to stay In the
church as faithful. loyal workers IN
spite or goddess husbands. but 1 have
In only two or three Instances known
q husband 20 be true to his church
VOWS IL lie has an Indifferent or a god
less wife. My brother, I believe. that
next TO our mothers the human beings
who have had the most to DO with our
religious conduct have been our godly,
consecrated, Christian wives.
Our wives have broken their alabas-
ter box OF ointment or spikenard very
precious upon our family affairs and
made us what we are spiritually. But
have they not done more than that?
Oh, yes. They have literally sacrificed
their all for us and submerged their
lives in our life. When Benjamin Dis
raeh retired from the ministerial
bench Queen Victoria wished to ele-
vate her favorite prime minister to the
peerage. He declined at that time the
honor for himself, but he practically
said this: Your majesty. the honor
you would confer upon me would graf.
ify me more if conferred on my wife.
FOR all that | have been able to accom-.
plsh in English craftsmanship Is due
to her devotion and self sacrifice" So
for the time he remained plain Mr..
Disraeli, while his wife became Count
ess OF Beaconsfeld. Not until some
years later did he accept the honor
urged upon him and take the title OF
Earl of Beaconsfield.
When the aged banker, RothschiId.
founder OF the banking house which
now bears his name. was dying he
called his boys TO him and said, New
er make a financial move until YOU
have consulted your mother" What