The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1907-03-22

From the dreary waste OF the Thaw
trial. n truly pathetic figure stands
forth. Against the somber background
OF rakes, demimondaines, s~ubersubtie
attorneys and prating ~alienist, the
mother Of the accused is revealed 10
the high simplicity Of true womanbood.
Every heart must beat responsive to the
agony OF the matron who has loved and
suffered so much to so little purpose and
who, because Of the waywardness OF her
boy, must spend her last years In the
gloom. The unfaltering loyalty Of the
maternal instinct is the mightiest con-
ISOLATION Of u lot. Fortune showers
gifts upon her favorites and snatches
them away at her pleasure; friends come
and go, with the sunshine and the
shadow; the passion and zest OF youth
are succeeded by the chill and the nausea
Of age; but the mothers love Is proof
against all changes and abides with the
North Stars coRstancy. With a sort Of
wild, and yet perfectly logical injustice,
this unique affection is reserved for the
children least worthy. The fatted calf
WAS killed TO celebrate the Prodigal's
return while the dutiiul sons soberness
and industry were taken as matters Of
course. The mother Is ever more apt
to let her stalwart offspring stand alone
and lavish her all upon the weak. The
young rebel against this glazing partial
ity; the old thank God that He has fash
Toned woman In this way.
II needs no effort Of the fancy to IN
derstand the loathing which the elder
Mrs. Thaw must have felt for the habits
and standards Of the utterly alien set
with whom she was 80 suddenly brought
In contact. With a nature untarnished
by the temptations Of great wealth, she
had used her ~afluence In behalf Of
churches, charities and good causes Of
every sort. With her, religion was the
supreme thing. the touchstone OF all
conduct. For her. IL was perfectly easy
TO follow the strait and narrow path
prescribed by the Scripture. She did
not stop to discuss the efficacy Of pray
Ell as she Rnelt at her sons door through
the watches Of the night. She did not
from the tremendous ~self-sacriice
which her spoiled darling at last saw at
to impose. The cry OF the blood drown
ed all other cries and obliterated lines
Of demarcations as old as the race. II
is not possible that Evelyn Nesbit
eve grasp the eternal signif-
canoe OF this sweet souls cruciixion.
Without religious training Of any sort,
.lesignedly thrown with a clique who
lived for pleasure or lived by it, taught
10 contemn piety as a garment outworn,
The poor chorus girl was almost predes-
to hold cheap the priceless psarl
" her honor. Aud Stanford white
brilliant, accomplished, full Of the cul-
iure OF many lands could rear palaces
marble and stone, but could not build
or himself that temple Of the spirit
every living soul must have. AS
or Harry Thaw, we must not marvel
hat, having no task more serious and
than the expenditure Of eighty
thousand a year, he matched his within
the moral law and dreamt that
10 could touch pitch without being de-
lied.
This whole a when considered In
Is broad and im%personal aspects,
caches that religious education is the
me firm basis Of character. The learn
ng OF the schools and the triumphs Of
are but the g~littering super
structure which will fall OF its own
II built upon sand. Nero drank
leep Of art, and philosophy, had Seneca
or his tutor and died with a line OF the
OF Greek bards upon his lips;
nut this scion OF Rome's noblesse was a
Of iniquity and stained the pur-
lie with every crime in the decalogue.
We must have a reverent care for the
I'D ideals and the old types, IL our re-
,ublic is to endure. It will not matter
I we hold the primacy in agriculture,
and invention, II we evolve a
civilization In which wealth accumu-
ates and men decay. The problems Of
he time political, social and economic
are not to BIO solved by keeping our
yes on the ledger, MOI we must go
Jack to first principles, and emulate the
founders in their thirst for righteous
less, their belief in the dignity Of labor
nd their intimate hold Of the unseen
Universe, In this process OF repent
nee, reconciliation and atonement, the
american mother must lead, as did she
n our days Of poverty and struggle; for
er the poignant and redemptive pas
OF "Stabat Mater" cannot die; with
er rests the shaping Of nations fate,
he mlallment OF o nations hope. New
Times Democrat, March 10th.