| Show DUTY III CIIUTtY I The rlter has laid perused a letter let-ter Hllleo by the mother of three tal wart ung men ho are now studying to complete their education yet who have been strongly Inclined to enlist One of them was determined to do to and was only prevented by clr ewrIancC8 beyond his control or that of his parents and should there be another an-other call for volunteers he may break eye r all restraint and become a recruit This mother Is ticked with anxiety upon the subject She Is I an American through And through Is I descended on both sides from generations of New England ancestors and her patriotism rannot be questioned tlut then there is I the mothers love for her offspring It Is the name old question and them the-m old struggle that mothers have md to grapple with And engage In ever Once the violin of men began to oppress > each other What Is I the mothers duty low shall she train herself to feel nnd hierself how shall he 1 counsel her son Shall ole cling to him And ktep him at home thOt 100 may be preservedfrom wounds and ileatlior shall she smother lieI r Instincts slide her hearts desires and tell him to go at his countrys call There Is I a light In which any mother can Iew tbesU questions so as to re IvdVQ thilvalfiStS final IlEr mind and the = l fears from her heart Let her remember that life here Is short a 1 moment merely hut that her tier It Is long an eternity that the direction ection given to the soul during Its momentary mo-mentary stay here determines Its destiny tiny throughout the endless future and hat the July true happiness sentient beings can experience In this life or tho next springs I from doing right When those things nro remembered the question ques-tion of enlistment becomes merely a question as to the side upon which the weight of duty lies If there rest utdn a young man obligations obli-gations of a high sacred and binding character which he cannot honorably disregard l yet which would be violated were ho to enlist let him show Ills patriotism In some other way than by going to the front Hut It no such re olra Into ore upon hire or It his country coun-try call Is I so urgent as to outweigh them It Is I not right that tic of kin ship even those of a mother for heron her-on should keep him at home when his country needs him All progress Is I achieved by means 01 Sacrifice and when human beings refuse to make sacrifice they begin to sink In the scale of bAng It Is I better to go to battle and suffer suf-fer privation and l > e wounded and even mutilated than It Is I to shrink from the call of plain and sacred duty It to 1 better to be a dead patriot than a living coward Then let every mother ho has n son of ago and physique suitable for a sotdler consider his re ponslbllltlcs nnd Judge from them and not from her own heart whether or not he should enlist and If the pre rndrone ot moral obligation Is I In favor of obedience to a call to arms It her make 0 cheerful socrlftce and give n tree consent It Is only when young men have mothers such as this that they can be tom a race to either win or deserve mnklnd respect Only such women canbring horoea Into the world A People that shrinks from war because It Is I harsh cruel or deadly notwithstanding notwith-standing that duty demands that they engage In It will dwindle away and Pink Into oblivion covered with the contempt of all mankind |
