The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-05-25
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
After reading that depressing book,
The House of Mirth, with its keen
studies of conditions in so-called $50
ciety," one is struck by the fact that
there is no place for child in that
society. There is no prattle of baby
voices in the book. no love-light in
mothers eyes, none of the pride of
parenthood on the part of the men.
Only in the last chapter, as the story
draws to it's miserable close, does a
babe appear, and then as the child of
the wife of a poor working man; and
the reader sees that after all the bril-
lance and pomp and luxury of the life
depicted in the book, it is the humble
working girl who has achieved the
prize of life, while the others, who con-
sidered themselves SO far above her
rs to ignore her existence, had all fail
ed pitiably.
Life is not normal except it have "a
child in the midst That is why so
many little children smile from the
pages of the old Book which is the best
mirror. of life. That, too, Is one of
the reasons for the perennial charm of
this volume to young and old alike A
certain little fodder of three was wont
to pipe up, morning after morning at
family worship, when the father asked,
What shall we read today?" Read
about Moses" And it is the child Mo-
ses that twenty-five million members
read and study this week.
A Mothers Subterfuge.
Kings can not successfully Iegislate
against human nature; the Pharaoh
who, fearful of the increase of the Is
raelftes, ordered that all newborn
male infants be destroyed, was under
taking a project beyond the power of
royalty and its forces to execute All /
the ingenuity of a shrewd people
would be brought into play to block
his design. Mother love is not a light
thing, to be overcome by any poten- |
tate's will. The lengths to which it i
Will go to protect its own pass the be- |
lief OF mortal: Several times during
the present Chinese famine mothers
Desought me to buy, or to accept as a |
gift their little children; they were
wen content to perish themselves If |
assured that all would be we'll with |
their offspring.
When TO a son and daughter of the |
tribe of Levi was born baby boy. thu |
mother saw that he was a goodly child
-as IL any baby is ever aught else in |
the eyes of it's mother! One firm CON
vtctfon every mother since Eve has
cherished in her heart, namely. that
ner enid is not like other children.
And what dream castles these mothers
buildl Alas, that children should so /
seldom put the foundations of actuaI-i
ity under theml Did the mother of
Moses dream of a deliverer for her
oppressed people? Every little life II
has been said, is a sealed casket. which
may contain precious Jewels: possibly
the jewel of great price for which the
world is waiting. The mind delights
TO dwell upon this fascinating theme
of the possibilities of childhood; we
know OF a certainty that tomorrow's
great man is somewhere a boy today:
ne may be the boy nearest you, so
treat him wisely.
Along with every other mother
throughout the centuries. the mother
of Moses believed that her boy was
worth saving. There is never a bow or
a man allowed to go down in the
maelstrom of life concerning whom
some mother has not held this faith |
This resourceful mother adopted a
shrewd plan for saving her child She
prepared a little boat of papyrus
reeds and carefully waterproofed it
with bitumen. Into this she teuderlv
laid her well-wrapped babe. christen-
ing the frail craft with her tears, and
breathing prayers to the Protector of
Israel, she launched the ark among
the bulrushes along the bank of the
Nile.
The Princess and the Waif.
The mother of Moses was not a bril-
liant court lady; she did not know thet
ways of the world; but. what was far
man nature. That is why so many
old fashioned mothers and wives are
wiser in the deep things of life than
their worldly-wise sons and husbands
Moses was not placed in the water at a
haphazard time or place; his motherI
was cooperating with Providence toi
che full extent OF her power She
knew when and where the Egyptian
princess bathed; she knew the youngI
womans character; and she knew that
TO every true woman's heart the ap-
peal of a helpless babe is simply
Irresistible.
Thus the dear old romance did not
simply "happen;" when the princess
came down to the river to battle, sur /
rounded by her maidens. she could notA