The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-07-06
AUNT DELLA. -


II is an evidence Of a sort Of saving grace that
at the moments when life seems most cynical,
most british aud most sef-centered, thtre comes
To the surface some incident showing that IN
spite of all il assumption of callousnessssth
heart of the world is in the right place; that
it still holds its simple, homey throb and that
its inditforences, It's crueIties, are no more
than the mask to nature ready at any moment
to overflow with tenderness.
Only recently the country has been holding
"a its National figures. Roosevelt, Jeffries and
johnson. 1t has glorihcd all three in almost
equal measure. as it esteemed all three to indi-
cate success Ii mattered not that the one so-
called great" man was coming home after a
campaign of world advertisement with the i'll
concealed intention of first of all stabbing his
friend. H. was Of no consequence that another
was great hulk of boilermaker who had left
useful trade TO profit by catering to the basest
passions Of men. No one stopped TO think that
the third was the most evil product of all, a
negro, son of a slave, come up through the
muck of life 10 set the perniclous example OF
decentralization to race that has been for long
and with pain struggling TO reach the light.
Scarcely anyone paused in the frenzy of the
Roosevelt greeting to consider that he self
ishness triumphant; no one thought in the equal
lust for excitement incident to the Reno prize
fight to consider that in glorifving the brute,
the country was bestializing itself. All three
represented the gospel of gain; the principle of
Let him take who hath the power; let him
keep who can" was up TO last Monday the guild
ing proyerb Of great Nations interest and
enthusiasm.
D.. IL nt,p +ha~ N1tal
figure Of another sort. Beverly and Oyster Bay
haze come ont Of the 6bscurity into which Reno
cast them, with politicians at either place plann-
ing to cut one anothers throas, but with the
difference that, whereas johnson and Jeffries
gave each others camp wide berth, Roose-
welt visits Beverly and Taft goes to Oyster Bay
though the country were too blind to see the
glitter Of thtir knives. And II Is at Beverly that
the new figure comes on the scene TO capture a
countrys heart--a gentle figure aged, wrlnkled,
simple-a figure that goes about the house as
though it were not the place where a President
is engaged in the heart-breakng task of fighting
his natural enemies and a the same time trying
to ward off the trcachery of his friend-the
figure of Aunt DcIia!' To her serene philoso-
ply Of life, the President is "Will', Roosevelt
is "Theodore'' the Insurgents are a lot of bad
little boys around the corner. With her the fate
of the Republican party is nothing more than a
game of ball in the back lot The Presidency is
nothing more than hard job that taxes a favor
ite nephcws strength,--to her ministering habit
there is suggested nothing except good eating,
a cheerful manner. a fostering, motherlv care.
In political situation which must keep its chief
opponents as nervouslv tense az We're either of
the fighters al Reno, this quiet, mothery old
woman of ciglty-four is taking care of the Pres
ident Of the United States not as if he were the
hope Of great faction-~not as if his scalp were
he dcsideratum of great party and his assas-
sinaton the plot of many within his own camp
but as if he were o little boy in fact, as TO her
indeed he is
1t is pleasant to acclaim Aunt Della, and to
know that in lucid interval the country appre-
ciafes her. She is Faith as opposed to Stealth,
Kindness as opposed to Malice, lnselhshness as
opposed to Greed She is not alone in the Pres
ident's summer capital, caring for his wants,
watching over his health, gently bustling about
10 see that be gets cool seat, choice delicaces
and freedom from worry. She is in thousand
bomcs-this old Aunt whose memories of the
past are dim to sweetness, surviving in her gen
Tie breast only to cast abont her path optimism
that gows the brighter as the time approaches
when sh\ too. shall be "a memory Of one into
whose life the drop Of sorrow added only the
power of sympathy, whose hands roughened with
service, but whose touch was ever cool upon the
feyered brow.
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L. Il a.. & Al