Mexico Missouri message., 1905-03-23

We should learn TO know and value
this richness OF heart this pure good
ness, this power TO love, 20 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 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 10 one. mistake Some one
knows you: 1t is that great mysterious
Pity which keeps watch over our lives
and suffers In our misfOrtunes. For
gotten like you. often blasphemed, it
has conhded To you some of it's heav-
enlicst messages, and that perhaps is
why above your gentle cOmings and
gOsngs we sometimes seem to hear the
ruStllng wings of ministering angels.
The good hides itself under 50 many
much pains to discover il as 10 unearth
the best concealed crimes. A Rus
sian doctor who had PASSED ten years
Of his life in Siberia, condemned for
political reasons to forced labor, used
to find great pleasure in telling Of the
generosity, courage and humanity ne
had observed not only among a large
I,,,N -.
SmOng the convict guards. For the
moment one Is tempted to eXclaim,
where will not the good hide away"
And, in truth. life offers here great
surprises and embarrassing contrasts.
There are good men, officially 80 rec
Ognized, quoted among their assOCl'
ates-I had almost said guaranteed by
the government or the church - who
can he reprOached with nothing but
dry and hard hearts, while we are as
tOnishcd TO encounter In certain fallen
human beings the most genuine ten
derness and, as It were, thirst for
self devotion.
should like to speak next. apropOs
Of the inglOrious good, Of n class that
today It is thought quite fitting to
treat with the utmost one sldedness. !
mean the rich. Some people think the
last word is said when they have stig-
matzed that infamy, capital. For
them, all who possess great fortunes
are monsters gOrged with the blood OF
the miserable. Others. not so declam0'
tory, persist, however, In confOundlnG
riches with egOism and insenslbility
Justice should he 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
/ tatlon. Indeed we know II too well
But does their inhumanlty or hypocrisy
| take away the value Of the good that
others do and that they often hide will
[ IA mOlesty 50 perfect!
| l knew man 10 whom every mis-
fortune had come which can strike M
in our affections. He had lost be
| loved wife, had seen Rll his children
buried one after another. But he hO(
great fortune, the result OF his owl
labor. Living In the utmost simple
ity, almost without personal wants. III
spent his time In searching for OppOr
tunities TO do good and profitlng by
them. How many people lie surprised
in fragrant poverty, what means Ii
combined for relieving distress I'm,
lighting up dark lives, with wha
kindly thOughtfulness he took hi
friends unawares, no one can imagine
He liked to do good to others and en-
Joy their surprise when they did no
know whence the relief came. II
pleased him TO repair the inJustlces o.
fortune, 10 bring tears OF happiness r.
families pursued by mlschance. II,
was continually plotting. cOntriving
matchmaking In the dark. with q child
ish fear Of being caught with his hnnI
In the bag. The greater part OF thes'
fine deeds were not known TIL afte
his death; the whole OF them we shall
never know.
He was socialist OF the right sort
for there are two kinds Of them. ThOsl
who aspire to appropriate TO them
selves part OF the goods OF other
are numerous and commonplace. L,
belong 10 their order II sufices to havr
big appetite. Those who are hun
gering 20 divide thelT own goods Will
men who have none are FaFo ana pre-
cious. Tor to enter tiIis cn0fce cpnIpan.