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The Commoner.
VOLUME 6, NUMBER 3
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"THE GREAT WORLD'S ALTAR STAIRS"
Hugh 0. Pentecost, of Now York, In an ad
dress recently delivered In that city said: "It
1b a curious fact that while this thing called lovo
io recognized as beautiful, it produces so much
misery. I'vo tried to find out why this is true,
and I have reached the conclusion that it is bo
cause humanity is divided in two classes masters
and slaves. Ono class must dominate the other,
and It is the domination, the tyranny of lovo,
which has wrecked lives and blnstod characters."
It is not the tyranny of lovo but the tyranny
of the forces against which lovo contends that
is responsible for the world's woes. Many havo
wondered why pain has seemed to be love's in
separable companion; but those who havo reached
tho high peaks of lovo aud have felt the keenest
Stings of grief know that while "a mighty pain
to lovo it is, 'tis a pain that pain to miss."
That it seems to havo been ordained that
thoso who lovo most must suffer tho keen
est griefs is ono of tho mysteries. Mr. Pente
cost Is not tho only man who has been perplexed
in tho presonco of these problomB.
Wo havo all tried to discover tho why of
many things.
Maternity means pain, yet women aspire to
it. Tho mothor goes through tho very shadow
Of tho vnlioy of death, and yot sho does it willing
ly because it is tho fulfillment of tho law of her
boing. But what is all that pain compared with
tho exquisite joy when "tho mothor feels for tho
first time her first bom's breath."
"With the world's experience before them par
ents know that children bring responsibility and,
perhaps, sorrow. But they long for tho respon
sibility and spend their lives in efforts to avert
tho sorrow.
Tho lad knows that when ho goes "gathering
tho myrtlo with Mary" lovo may stroll at his
sido, and that while after love comes marriage,
after marriage comes burdens and finally parting
in death. But was over a lad kept from a
''Mary's" side by thoughts like these?
Friendshipspure aud holy between men
and between women have grown up in all the
history of tho world. Every friendship wo cul
tivate means tho enlargement of our onnnrhmf.
ties for griof; for when we win a frlojnflweLte'
"" mo uviy vii uju ui urn luuugmuii consid
eration nil Jils hopes, his struggles, his fortunes
things which need not concern us If we avoid
tho temptation to cultivate that friendship. But
v-otfho would avoid these associations even if by
uiMUf, ovj muy UUU1U UIUL UUl HOinO Ot tUO IOl'CeS
that, In the presonco of a friend's woes, tug away
at one's heart strings?
. Wo boo a little child hungry and cold crying
for succor. Why is it that tears come unbidden
to our oyes and wo hasten to give relief?
. Wo seo a man struggling with adversity.
..Why does ho havo our sympathy and aid?
, Wo ,seo one woman deserted by a faithless
lover another fighting against poverty, another
standing bravely beside a sick or, perhaps, a
. v 'some senate inconsistencies
When the senatorial colleague of tho late
Senator Mitchell was tempted to move an adjourn
ment of the. senate out of respect to his late col
league's memory, ho was warned by senators who
may fairly be charged with "straining at a gnat
to swallow a camel" that something unpleasant
would occur if such a motion wore made. That
motion was not offered.
Senator Burton of Kansas was long ago
Warned that ho must not undertake to occupy his
feeat in the senate until his acquittal of the charges
toado against him. faeb
Senator Dietrich of Nobraska who, unlike
tho poverty-stricken Burton and Mitchell was a
wealthy man and who, also unlike Burton and
Mitcho 1 had powerful influences behind him,
round it necessary to resort to technicalities in
order to avoid Indictments brought against him
In tho federal court. Later he was acquitted by
a senate committee, but at no time was ho re
quired to submit to tho humiliations placed upon
his less favored colleagues.
i A V1515'8 B Senatr Burton, In order that
ho might draw his mileage, was led to the thresh
old of tho senate, complying technically with the
SSSnnHn1!? h at Sena.t0rsi drawIns eage must
actually bo in tho senate chamber.
Evidently senators object to Mr. Burton's oc
cupying a seat in tho senate and acting as a
representative of Kansas, but they seein to hi
quite willing for him not only to draw pay for
debased husband. Why does she command our
concern?
Wo seo a brutal man beating a helpless
beast, and wo protest. Why?
We see sorrow and woe on every hand. Wo
see might grappling with right; the weak strug
gling against tho powerful; and individuals fight
ing to overcome some great personal temptation.
No need to point out the evils nor to say that
men's sympathies go as truly as the needle
seeks the pole to the right side of these con
tests. Why?
These evils are not the product of love. They
aro to bo conquered or minimized by the power of
lovo which Disraeli described as "the principle
of existence and its only end."
"Why is lovo?" asks Mr. Penticost. Well,
why is life? Why the many unsolved and un
solvablo things with which the human being is
confronted? And why is death? Aye, let him who
would ask "Why is love?" first explain tho neces
sity for death; for while death seems to strike its
crudest blows at those who love the most, those
who love the most are able to withstand the sor
rows death inflicts upon the living.
"Love's arms were wreathed about the neck of
Hope,
And Hope kiss'd Love, and Love drew in her
breath
In that close kiss and drank her whisper'd tales.
They say that Love would die when Hope was
gone.
And Love mourn' d long and sorrow'd after Hope;
At last she sought out Memory, and they trod
Tho same old paths where Love had walked with
Hope,
And Memory fed the soul of Love with tears."
Every daily newspaper discloses the close
companionship between love and sorrow. It is
shown that the sins of indifferent or thoughtless
men fall heaviest upon the innocent people who
lovo them. If a composite tale could be written,,
of the life stories provided in our penitentiaries,
the dramatic interest would not attaeh to those
chapters dealing directly with-trie crime or the
criminal, butraiUeMo -the pages that are blotted
JS&- tae-cears and written in the heart's blood
of those who suffer for love's sake.
"Oh Shepherd, tell this youth what 'tis to love!"
"It is to be all made of sighs and tears.
It is to be all made of faith and service."
Yet who would abandon the faith, who would
avoid the sighs, the service and the tears if to
do so they must abandon love?
There are some natures so sympathetic that
men in grief and trouble turn instinctively to
them; and men of such natures walk through life
arm in arm with sorrow perhaps none of it of
'their own making, but all of it resting heavily
upon them. We can not tell why it is that with
all of their intimate association with grief these
men would not exchange places with those who
live far apart from the sorrows of their fellows.
If we would describe the value of love let
us imagine what the world would be if dispos
sessed of that which has been called "the sweet
est joy, the wildest woe." Look at the .man who
living "withdrawn in the place of liis self-content"
never cultivates a genuine friendship for man,
woman or child. There are a few such men, per
haps, in every large community. The sorrows
of others do not disturb them. They are not
subjects of the so-called "Tyrant" Love, hence
are not required to submit to the mysterious bur
dens that fall upon those who dwell within Love's
realm. They avoid many of the shadows of life,
but do they ever feel the touch of its real sun
shine? We can not explain why it was ordained that
love and sorrow should be such close companions
any more than we can explain many other prob
lems of life. But we do know that without love
life would not be worth living, and that its at
tendant sacrifices and sorrows soften the heart
and ennoble the character in proportion ,'to tho
depth of the affections. We do know that no
one who has felt the touch of "the divine pas
sion" would retrace his steps even though by do
ing so he would be permitted to forget the bad
as he would be required to forfeit the good.
If Mr. Pentecost would learn of these things
let him consult any man who has walked in the
sunshine as well as in the shadows of Love's
domain. That man would tell him that looking
through the vista of years he would not forswear
allegiance to Love, the great ruler of the human
heart, because the sunshine breaks through all
the shadows and with all the dark recollections
the blessed memories are supreme. He would
tell him that the rosy cheeked girl from whom he
snatched a kiss under the mistletoe twenty years,
or more ago is now the matron of forty; that
the roses have been transferred to the cheeks
of her girls and her boys, but that she is the
same today as Bhewas yesterday and the same
yesterday as when
"The golden hours on angel wings
Flew o'er me and my dearie;
For dear to me as light and life
Was my sweet Highland Mary."
Since then many shadows have fallen 'on that
home. At that hearthside there may be vacant,
chairs; in the family archives there may be docu
ments wet with tears. The inmates of that home
know what it is to suffer; but they know, also,
what it is to love; and they who know of these
things can not be convinced that love is a tyrant.
Those who have suffered yet have been,
strengthened by the very force which made their
sorrow keen, can tell Mr. Pentecost that love,
rather than being a tyrant tat revels in misery,
is a relentless foe to tyranny and a faithful min
ister in affliction. Those who, at love's bidding,
have passed under the rod will not find it diffi
cult to believe that that which Mr. Pentecost
likens to a tyrant is better described as: " "The
great world's altar stairs, that slope through dark
ness up to God."
BICHARD L. METCALFE.
service he did not render but to draw mileage for
travel he did not officially make. "
Newspaper dispatches recently told us that
the same senators who had refused to permit a
motion for senate adjournment in honor of
Mitchell, and who had made -it plain to Mr. Bur
ton that he should not attempt to occupy a seat
in the senate, attracted the attention of the gal
leries in rushing to the seats occupied by Chaun
cey M. Depew and Thomas C. Piatt for the pur-
?nAnf 0LeXeU(llng cordial ereetlng to those em
inent defenders of national honor those faithful
champions of republican doctrine.
n,Yet Bom s?natrs wonder how it happens
t?h S the intelligent people of America the
repute SGnate lB- rapidly fallInS int dis-
JJJ
PAINTED TO LOOK LIKE IRON
ffrnJ0!8101 Atto,rnQy Jerome spent considerable
li WpiTeCUting Mr' HaPl, editor of Col
lier s Weekly on the charge of libel alleged to .in v
been committed against Justice Deuef who 5
been shown to have been connected with The nub
lication known as "Town Tonics Mn P?
STuTmSEr"" F S 1e See:
S?7? tUG Gthods employed by "Town Toni"
ssMsr '" - was
The Hapgood-"Town Topics" trial has at
tracted widespread attention, and it is clear that
Collier's Weekly rendered a distinct service to
the community when it inserted the probe in
"Town Topics" methods. It will occur to a great
many people as strange that Mr. Jerome does
not employ some of the time on his hands in
proceeding against some of the insurance mag
nates whose embezzlements were exposed during
the insurance investigation.
Mr. Jerome's re-election was hailed by men
everywhere as a distinct victory for good gov
ernment; but already many who heretofore ad
mired him are expressing disappointment because
of his failure to vindicate the great confidence
displayed in him by the people of New York.
Some people are beginning to suspect that,
as Bismarck said of Salisbury, Mr. Jerome is "a
wooden lath painted to look like iron."
JJJ
TEXAS TENTH " ,,.
Texas was omitted in the statement giving
relative standing of states in primary pledge plan.
It should occupy position number 10, which was
accorded to Kansas, This would push Kansas
down to eleven and each other state down one
notch.
JJJ
TllORft "linnor. fnaiirrrontoll mm.A..i .L-' il
urn nous lot of thundering In, their adyanc?
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