The Washington herald., 1920-02-08

1OAAdhus All oA
Berlin, Jan. 25-It was from Lib
erty Island that the last goddess
born before Christ-she who even
today may boast of a large follow
ing of loyal and jubilant lip serv-
ers-first started upon her career.
She wished to see for herself
whether life was everywhere as uri-
comfortable, noisy and expensive.
and whether everywhere there were
as many strikes, as much restless
ness and discord as In the Hudson
escape from the mad masquerade
in which egotism and pronteering
wear the mask and domino OF phi
lanthropy.
She wanted to ascertain, now that
the deluge of war had passed,
where the boundaries of her realm
might be drawn, and whether out
yonder. too, the idea Of liberty I'M
piled the right to extend and ex-
band, to nourish and to adorn the
interests of the individual or of the
state at the expense of others, and
thus yrgain riches and power.
Nobody Home.
ACNAFlyp NhOd6AN oACp hCAC at liOAiC
no one will notice II II. for little
while. there is no heart throbbing
beneath my robe of iron and
of the wintry gale; no brain be-
meath my tiara to ponder the prob
lens of the world.
So long as my diadem and torch
fash their brillisnce through the
dark and illumine the newcomers
arrival. so long will the creduious
masses be assured that liberty still
dwells on this continent and that
her rule remains unimpaired.
She was soon to realize that upon
the seas liberty is not q welcome
guest. Not that she could not have
managed by hook or by crook to
secure a billionaire's cabin de luxe.
But the lin every sense of the
word lofty lady would have re-
quired, even without her granite
pedestal, at least ten such apart
ments in order to rest comfortably.
Impatient with the press of
crowding applicants. the manager
rudely assigned the giant dame to
the steerage: and there she found
the wriggling masses of humanity
so densely packed that she was
simply forced to accommodate q
some thirty people under the shell
ter of her skull. all of whom de-
veloped the most annoying symp-
toms of digestive disturbance the
moment the ship began to pitch
and roll.
Starts a Diary.
So this was her first entry in the
diary of her trip: The duty of SELF
restraint in order that liberty may
have free sway is not yet recognized
by men. When they are in a dis
temper they do not hesitate to defile
the divinity which with their lips
they daily profess to revere"
Dawn breaks at ast after every
night Of pain. As the anchor chain
rattles free warm land breeze
gently swells the canopy, as the joy
OF nourishment swells the delicate
cheeks Of a babe; and from the ship.
Liberty, travelling incognito In her
majesty. steps forth upon a broad
and shining beach. No creature any
where in the semblance OF man.
The smoke of the vessel. which has
put ashore only one lone passenger
on this hot and desert strand. is dis
sipated in the blue vault above Not
sound disturbs the course of the
day stars or the harmony of the
spheres.
Is this the true realm of Liberty?
This the serpentless paradise? Only
where the plant of human woe is
unheard can perfect beauty adorn the
earth. But they who are born here
are not the descendants OF those who
ate of the tree OF knowledge and suf-
fered the tortures of knowing good
and evil.
Gronns Of Torment.
The fieeting illusion is shattered.
Here too, dwells humanity. From
cavern come the groans of hu-
man torment, and in the heart of
the listening goddess Joy is min
gled with pity.
For how could she rejoice in a
world which contained only the
bestial and lacked the image of
God? How In a humanless earth
could divinity feel itself divine?
A woman. In her fading counte-
nance and form the traces still of
noble beauty, even as the late au-
tumn recalls the glory of summer.
Her garb is threadbare. and yet so
gaily bedecked with bright bows
and ribbons, with chains and birds,
that there can be no mistaking her
purpose to conceal her poverty and
to appear richer than she is.
She compels the question, How
such a suffering creature could
possibly have retained the love of
external adornment?
Scarcely has the goddess framed. the
query before the answer comes: For
one who has seen better days 1t is
more grievous to endure poverty than
for him that is born in it.
so long as ever he may will he en-
deavor to deceive at least the fleet
ing glance of inquisitive eyes and so
conceal his fortunes decay. Hast
ever seen a butterfly that would fain
crawl once more as caterpillar"
Europe Is your name? Then 1t is
you whom I seek. Upon her brow
and in her eyes would I discern to
what state of wisdom mankind has
progressed, and whether the cult with
which men profess to worship me Is
more than their lip service. FOR
since these 20o0 years the will of man.
kind has seemed embodied in Europe"
"Seemed-as once that continent
seemed-embodied in the delicate and
quickly fading form of a woman-Eu-
ropa. To you who were born when the
Lord of the Spheres breathed the
breath of life into the man whom He
had formed of the dust of the ground,
to you most ancient myths are known.
Told to Look Back.
Send your memory back, then,
to the picture of that Phoenician
princess whom white-shinins,