Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1905-01-26


feet when they are scanned to the
breaking Of stones.
1t would be quite impossible to ex-
press the emotion the sight of this sim
| pie man gives me, and certainly he
has no suspicion of II. l know Of moth
ing more reassuring and at the same
time more searching for the vanity
/ which ferments I'm our hearts than this
coming face to face with an obscure
/ worker who does his task as the oak
/ grows and as the good God makes his
/ sun to rise. without asking who is
| looking on.
/ have known, too, number OF old
! teachers, men and women who have
passed their whole life at the same oc-
cupation, making the rudiments of hui
man knowledge and few principles
of conduct penetrate heads sometimes
harder than the rocks. They have done
1t with their whole soul throughout the
length of hard life In which the at
tention OF men had little place. When
they lie in their unknown graves no
one remembers them but a few humble
people like themselves, but their rec
ompense is in their love. No one is
greater than these unknown.
How many hidden virtues may one
not discover-if he know how to search
among people of class he often rid
icules without perceiving that in so do
ing he is guilty of cruelty, ingratitude
and stupidity. mean old maids. Peo-
/ pie amuse themselves with remarking
the surprising dress and ways of some
Of them-things of no consequence. for
that matter. They persist also In re-
minding VA that others, very selfish,
take interest in nothing but their own
comfort and that of some cat or canary
upon which their powers of affection
center, and certainly these are not out
done In egoism by the NEST hardened
celibates Of the stronger sex. But what
we eftenest forget is the amount of
self sacrifice hidden modestly away in
so many Of these truly admirable lives
Is 1t nothing to be without home and
its love, without future, without per
sonal ambitien2 to take upon oneself
that cross OF solitary life so hard to
bear. especially when there is added
the solitude Of the heart? to forget
than the care Of the old, of orphans.
the poor, the infirm-those whom the
brutal mechanism of life casts out
among It's waste? Seen from without
these apparently tame and lusterless
lives rouse pity rather than envy.
Those who approach gently sometimes
divine sad secrets, great trials under
gone, heavy burdens beneath which
too fragile shoulders bend; but this Is
only the side of shadow.
We should learn 10 knew and value
this richness OF heart, this pure good
ness this power to love, to console, to
hope. this joyful giving up of self, this
persistence In sweetness and forgive
ness even toward the unworthy. Poor
old maids! How many wrecked lives
have you rescued, how many wounded
have you healed, how many wanderers
pave you gently led Alright, how many
naked have you clothed, how many
orphans have you taken in, and how
many strangers who would have been
alone In the world but for you-you
who yourself are often remembered
of no one. mistake Some one
AAONo aous ~ "a tidt Sttdt ilif StDlluuN
Pity which keeps watch over our lives
and suffers In our misfortunes. For
gotten like you. often blasphemed, it |
has confided to you some of its heav- |
enliest messages, and that perhaps Is |
shy above your gentle comings and
3oingS we sometimes seem to hear the |
rustling wings of minlstering angels.
The good hides itself under so many |
different forms that one has often as |
much pains to discover 1t as to unearth /
the best concealed crimes. A Rus
sian doctor who had passed ten years l
of his life in Siberia, condemned for /
political reasons to forced tabor. used
to find great pleasure In telling Of the
generosity, courage and humanity ne
had observed, not only among large
number Of the condemned, but also
among the convict guards. For the |
moment one is tempted Ia 9NclaiIn,
''Where will not the sod Atle s-,vr, 1
And, In truth, lfe offa-- ,oro creot
Thera 80 "'U ..uarrassing contrasts.
j.. = good men, officially so rec
.snized, quoted among their associ-
otes-I had almost said guaranteed py
the government or the church - VINO
can be reproached with nothing but
dry and hard hearts, while we are as
tonished to encounter In certain iaiicn
human beings the most genuine ten
derness and, as it We're, thirst TOT
self devotion.
I should like to speak next, apropos
of the inglorious good, of class that
today it is thought quite fitting 10
treat with the utmost one sidedness. L
mean the rich. Some people thinK tne
last word is said when they have stig-
matized that infsmy, capital for
them. all who possess great fortunes
are monsters gorged with the blood OF
the miserable. Others, not so declama-
tory, persist, however, In confounuihg
riches with egoism and insensibility.
Justice should be visited on these er-
rors, be they involuntary or calculated.
| No doubt there are rich men who con-
| Germ themselves with nobody else, and
others who do good only with osten-
| tation. Indeed, we know 1t too well.
But does their inhumanity or hypocrisy
| take away the value Of the good that
others do and that they often hide with
modesty so perfecti
| | knew man to whom every mis-
| fortune had come which can strike us
! In our affections. He had lost be-
| loved wife, had seen all his children
| buried one after another. But he had
n great fortune, the result Of his own
labor. Living In the utmost simple
| ity, almost without personal wants, he
spent his time In searching for oppor-
tunities to do good and profiting by
them. How many people he surprised
In fragrant poverty, what means he
combined for relieving distress and
lighting up dark lives, with what
kindly thoughtfulness he took his
friends unawares, no one can Imagine.
He liked to do good to others and en-
Joy their surprise when they did not
know whence the relief came. 1t
pleased him to repair the injustlces Of
fortune, to bring tears Of happiness In
families pursued by mischance. He
was continually plotting. contriving.
matchmaking in the dark, with child
ish fear of being caught with his hand
in the bag. The greater part of these
fine deeds were not known till after
his death; the whole OF them we shall
|