The Caucasian., 1909-07-04
TIE LOVE THAT LASTS

1
did not share his intellectual ambitions,
his divine aspirations; she was only a
beautiful animal
Man proposes but he is not always ac-
cepted
| She married another and Comet was
disconsolate-for day.
He pondered the subject, read the
lives of various great men, talked with
cowled monks and sundry friars gray,
and after FIVE years wrote out at length
the reasons why man in order to &C
complish far-reaching and splendid
work must live the life of celibate.
"To achieve" said Comet, you must
be married to your work"
Comet lived for some time content in
his philosophy, constantly strengthening
it and buttressing it against attack; for
we believe thing first and skirmish for
our proof afterward.
But when past forty, and his hair was
turning to silver and crows feet were
showing themselves in his fine face, and
when there was a halt in his step and
his laughter had died away TO weary
smile, Comet met woman whose ma
ture was as finely sensitive and as silk
enly strong as his own.
She had intellect, aspiration, power.
She was gentle, and a womanly woman,
withal His best manhood was matched
by hers; she synpathized with his high
est ideal.
They loved, and they married.
The crows feet disappeared from
Comets face, the halt in his step was
gone, the laugh returned, and people
said that the silver in his hair was be-
coming.
Shortly after, Comet set himself to
work overhauling all of the foolish
things he had said about the necessity
of celibacy He declared that a man
without his mate only stumbled his way
through life. There was the male man
and the female man, and only by work
ing together could these two souls hope
to progress. 1t requires two to generate
thought. Comet felt sure that he was
writing the final word He avowed that
there was no more to say. He declared
that should his wife go hence the foun-
tains of his soul would dry up, his mind
would fanish and the light of his life
/ y,a,.IJ cyn of.t IN dorknasc
| The gods were enyious of such love
as this
Comets mate passed away
| He was stricken dumb the calamity
was too great for speech or tears.
But FIVE years after, he got down his
books and went over his manuscripts
for the third time. He revised his phi
.Iosophy of what constitutes the true
condition for the highest and purest
thought.
To have known great and exalted
love and have it fade from your grasp
and flee as shadow, living only in mem
ory, is the highest good, he wrote.
A great sorrow at one stroke pur-
chases a redemption from all petty
troubles; it sinks all trivial annoyances
into nothingness and grants the man
| lifelong freedom from all petty, corrod-
ing cares. His feelings have been
sounded to their deptls--the plummet
has touched bottom Fate has done her
worst she has brought him face to face
with the supreme calamity, and there
after there is nothing can inspire terror.
The memory Of great love can not
die from out the heart 1t affords a
ballast against all the storms that blow
And although it leads an unutterable
sadness, it imparts unspeakable peace.
A great love, even when fully pos
sessed, affords no complete qualification.
There is an essence in it all that eludes
all ownership. Its highest use seems to
be purifying impulse for nobler en-
deavor 1t says at least, "arise and get
thee hence, for this is not thy rest
Where there is teit.is haunting memory
of great love lost there is always for
giveness, charity, and sympathy that
makes the man brother to all who en-
dure and suffer. The indivi 'ual is moth
ing; he has nothing to hope for, moth
ing to gain, nothing to win, nothing to
lose; for the first time and the last he
has a selhshness that is wide as the
world and wherein there is no room for
the recollection of wrong.
In this memory of great love there
is nourishing source of strength by
which the possessor lives and works
he is in communication with elemental
conditions.
Harriet Martneau was lifelong
widow of the heart. That first great
passion of her early wonanhood, the
love that was lost, remained with her
all the days Of her life, springing fresh
every morning, her last thought as she
closed her eyes at night. Other loves
came RI her af+acb+17aY+e 1,ar,,;Y,er -,