Evening star., 1928-05-13

! that he mad become follower OF tHs
Older boys she could have directed hi
admirations to worthier objects. If sh'
had only understood the character o
these Older boys. she could hav'
brought good influences to bear upor
them and saved them. too. There wa
no end to the poor woman's "If-I-hat
onlies,"
NOW there may appear to be SOM
incongrulty with no obvious usefu
result obtainahle. II We compare MRS
Henry Bnnder'S "1f-1-had-only" habit
OF mind with the reminiscent Thoughts
of Napoleon Bonaparte. after he hae
been sent into retirement at st. Helena
Nevertheless. a resemblance, ss vel
as a dissimilarity, is discoverable anc
possibly instructive Napoleon at st
Helena, pondering upon the events thai
brought him there. frequently said. II
l had"
II he had made sure, for instance
that Grouchy would arrive at Waterloo
before Blucher. the Island of st. Helena
could not have become the imperial
prison, Looking back upon his prodi.
gious career he uttered hundred I'll
| hads" as significant as this one; II he
| had done otherwise than he had done
In a hundred matters st. Helena would
never have known him. and. of course
| this was only To say that his mistakes
! later recognized for what they were, had
| brought him there.
And so 1t was with Mrs Henry Bend
| er lamenting what had befallen Roger:
| and herein is her likeness to Napoleon.
| The essential dissimilarity between them
| Is that Mrs. Bender said, III l had
only" while Napoleon said merely. II
l had"
Both believed In free will: both be-
| iieved that the irrevocable past was not
determined or Soiidified when IL was
the present. but was then open to be
| nodded by free choice OF action: and
this is a position that Mrs Bender and
Napoleon had a right to assume, since
it is still an open question whether or
no we are all mechanistic automatons,
neither philosophy nor science having
| yet given us perfectly demonstrated
| answer.
Therefore taking Mrs. Bender and
Napoleon upon their own ground and
admitting that they may have been
warranted In their belief in free WILL we
interest ourselves In the difference be-
tween what Napoleon eharacteristieally
said and what Mrs. Bender Characters
tically said.
In Napoleons omission Of the word
only" we might find a superiority OF
his mind over that of Mrs. Bender, In
fact. we might find the dissimilarity be-
tween IF had" and IF had only" to
be of an edifying significance, Mrs.
Bender's only" means more than re-
gret; 1t means reproach~-it means re-
morse and 1t sometimes means anguish.
The important thing TO discover Is
whether or not 1t may mean reproach,
rcmorse and anguish that are futile,
OF course, II may have been true that
Napoleon was Of native disposition To
omit the only he may have been
born like that But. when he was a
boy at st. Cyr, there was a bitterness in
him that makes us suspect his saying to
himself sometimes. An. II only mad
the advantages of wealth and position
possessed by these other boysf II may
be that, as the affairs In his hands be-
came vast and therefore vastly demand
ing, he perceived that he had no time
| to lament inisehances. no time TO say,
IF had only" But much more prob
ably he had perceived the only TO be
useless.
Looking back upon the mistakes that
had ruined him, he knew that he had
done his best and that his best had moi
been good enough: for here he was, In
the end, at st, Helena. He could not
play his great game again: he hae
| played 1t. and all he could do was re-
view It. This he did with q cool, y
somewhat melancholy, glance, seeing his
mistakes in the historic light and no
at all In the light that Mrs. Bendel
saw her own.
For. in Mrs. Bender's lamentation
what lis extraordinary Is the shadow O
| Implication that, IL one tried hare
enough, the past might stlli somehow
be changed. Napoleon's point OF view
has the advantage here; both he ant
Mrs. Bender felt that, II the thing wer'
| TO be done over, they would not repea
the same mistakes: but Napoleon per
cieved clearly that the thing was alb
solutely not To be done over.
Moreover In reviewing his errors Ma
| poleon understood that IL had been I'M
possible to avoid mischances, because
| he had bsen compelled To rely upoi
| generals and soldiers who were OF hu'
man dimensions and therefore no
| ideally perfect military mechanism
and he understood that he, too was o.
| human dimensions and imperfect. ever
/ In war
| He understood that the execution o
| the most exceilently devised plans may
| be botched by freak OF weather Tht
! retired Emperor perceived not only ina
| he had been falllble but that lie colilc
! not have been infallibie, whereas, attei
| any miSchanee Mrs. Henry Bender SUI
! fered poignant remurse because she nae
| not been infaliihle, and she made uT
| her mind forthwith to be infallihle IL
| the future.
| ~ =
| CHE blamed herself for not having
- been omniseient and omnipotent
| determining henceforward 10 be bOth
! After the gasoline and alcohol disaster
! To Roger, she promised that such
| thing should never happen TO hin
| again, and as the village looked eoldlA
| upon him and she feared this miah
undermine his self-respect, she toot
| him away 10 school and remained VIII
! him 10 watch over him.
| She was sure that hts new teachers
would have only the best Influence upoi
! him. but, after what had happened
she felt az she said. that somebody
should be with him all the time" Sat
uraay WIS whole holiday al the school
and on Saturdays she brought ft0gn
home with her, mornings journey D,
rail and 80 found time TO supervise TN
work of the Society for the Relief q
the Viliage Poor and ta see that Mr.
Bender was getting proper food
Mr. Bendefa food was natlrishlnt
enough: but. unfortunately. he. fel
from high pile Of lumber and broke
his leg unon that. as II IN eolluslof
To provide rain Of misfortune, IN
treasurer nf the Society for the Relic
Of the Village Poor went 10 Honolulu
With the soeiety's funds. and Roger
lett alone ut his school while hl'
mAther hurried home ta Mr. Bender
forgot 10 keep out OF q draft after ex'
| efeising and was Frustrated WIN se'
we're bronchitis In the school intirmafy
Mrs aenders omnlscience was thus
put 10 the teat. Some Of the village
poor, IN whom she was profoundly ln'
teresisd and for whose maintenance
she felt Responsible might suffer pain"
| llLl I.a.lAaIloaa II sIae dad nat nEnNldE InI