Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1905-02-24

hreanllS 81 stones.
1t would I've quite impossible 10 ey
press the emotion tie sight of this sim
Ilc man gives me. and certainly he
has no suspicion Of il. | know of moth
ing more reassuring and ut the same
time more searching for the vanity
which fcrlncnts In our hearts than this
coming face to face with an obscure
worker who does his task rs the oak
grows and as the good God makes his
sun 10 rise, without asking who is
looking on.
l have known, too, Il 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 a hard life in which the at
tention Of men had little place. When
they lie in their unknown graves nc
one remembers them but n few humble
people like themselves, but their rec
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, 1ngratitude
and stupidity! l mean old maids. PEG
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 us 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 most hardened
celibates Of the stronger sex. But what
we Oftenest 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 ambition? 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
oneself and have no other interests
than the care Of the old, Of orphans,
the poor, the inf1rm-those whom the
brutal mechanism Of life casts out
among its 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 to know 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
have you gently led Alright, how many
naked have you clothed, how many
orphans have you taken In, and how
alone in the world but for you-you
who yourself are often remembered
Of no one. l mistake Some one
knows you: It is that great mysterious
Pity which keeps watch over our lives
and suffers IN our misfortunes. For.
gotten like you. often blasphemed. II
has conflded to you some Of its heav.
enliest messages. and that perhaps ID
why above your gentle comings and
goings we sometimes seem to hear the
rustling wings Of ministering angels.
The good hides itself under so many
different forms that one has often az
much pains to discover It as to unearth
the best concealed crimes. A Rus.
sian doctor who had passed ten year,
Of his life in Siberia, condemned fol
political reasons to forced labor, used
to find great pleasure In telling Of the
generosity, courage and humanity he
had observed, not only among a large
number Of the condemned, but also
among the convict guards. For the
moment one Is tempted to exclaim.
where will not the good hide awayv'
And, in truth, life offers here great
surprises and embarrassing contrasts
There are good men. officially so rec
ognized, quoted among their associ.
ates-I had almost said guaranteed by
the government or the church - who
can be reproached with nothing but
dry and hard hearts, while we are as
tonished to encounter IN certain fallen
human beings the most genuine ten.
derness and, as 1t were, a thirst fol
self devotion.
should like to speak next, apropoe
Of the inglorious good. Of a class that
today it Is thought quite fitting to
treat with the utmost one sidedness.
mean the rich. Some people think the
last word is said when they have stig
matted that infamy, capital. Fo,
them, all who possess great fortunes
are monsters gorged with the blood OF
the miserable. Others, not 30 declama'
tory, persist, however. in cOnfoundine
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 we'll
But does their inhumanity or hypocrisy
take away the value Of the good that
others do and that they often hide with
q modesty so perfect7
I knew q man to whom every mis-.
fortune had come which can strike III
in our affections. He had lost q be.
loved wife, had seen all his children
buried one after another. But he had
great fortune. the result Of his OWL
labor. Living in the utmost simple.
ity, almost without personal wants. be
spent his time In searching for oppor.
tunities to do good and proflting 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 injustices OF
fortune, to bring tears Of happiness in
families pursued by mischance. BE
was continually plotting. contriving
matchmaking in the dark. With a child
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