| OCR Text |
Show ' ! True Sentiment. H ; What it Is, by one H. M I G. Hopkins. m , fc'cw people possess' It. M A great many people think they H possess It. H Some havo it, but are ashamed to 1 ' I show that they havo It. M I A great majority know nothing of M 1 Truo sentiment Is modest and It is M quiet. It prates not itself. m It cares for sympathy, but does not M j court M Many good men have no sentiment. M Many bad men have much. M There Is sentiment, and there is M ' sentimentality; a vast distance lies be- LH ' Truo sentiment lsa wonderful thing, Ifor with It we may enjoy a wonderful picture. We may appreciate grand music, know the chant of great poet's pM mind, luxuriate in the whitls of a tine M I , perfume, acknowledge the genius of a m j ' writer's art, feel the quivering libers M f ( i of a grand soul and love God as He H would havo us love him. M ' Sentimentality Is tho driveling Iml- M I tatlon Indulged In by those who think M f that to hang the head on one side and M J) ,i say "Isn't It good, sweett" and "Isn't It M ! dear!'1 and slobber klsscson everything H 1 rt from puppy dogs to brass Idols. M ( j Some folks bcllovc that kissing H ' 1 everything in sight is a lino show of H ' sentiment. M ,. '' It Is a tine sentiment which picks M up a stray and flcc-bltten dog in the M street, to bo tenderly cared for, while H the frail wife at home keeps the housc- H hold, docs family washing and mend- H lng and worrying about tho two ends M , that won't mectl M ', i. , ft Is an excellent sentiment that m ' j . weeps copiously over a pathetic love M i ' story and lets the mother do tho M kitchen work. M i, I It Is an honorable sentiment that M j I teaches love to an innocent maiden by B I' ' a married man. M ''"' It is a most unsclllsh sentiment H ' which demands the gentle solicitude H i of othors for its poctlo vagaries, yet M j neglects with sympathctlo caic H !, thoughtfulness for the sentiment of M others. M ' Some folk's idea of sentiment Is a M i I sad sweet smile. M Truo sentiment docs notislgh like a M )l blast furnacel It's eyes aro not con- M , tlntially watery. It doesn't slobber. M j An Illustration. M True sentiment can tako pleasure In H ! a field of Mowers without ruthlessly H plucking them to be carelessly used for B a whllo and then thrown aw ay. In my H former neighborhood lives a little M , (lerman lady. She Is a womanly round H little thing and her husband is a big fl blond Dutchman. They have been M married twenty-live j ears He keeps H a harness shop about half a mile from H his home. Every evening tho round M little German leaves hrr home and H trots over to her husband's store. H i Kvery evening he waits until she M ' I' comes. Then ho takes down Ills hat H and togcthi'i- they start back home. (If It's a pleasant evening they stroll around leisurely, arm In arm. Maybe h they'll drop In somewhere and get a H bag or peanuts, which they munch on jH ' the way. If It Is warm they often jH' stop in the drug stoic for a drink of jH , , soda. If It happens to be rainy or jH I ' ' cold lie smuggles her tightly under his jH , l - arm. Their faces ate the faces or lu- jH ' noccnt happy chlldien. They love jH j each other. They trust each other. jB , jjl They are man and wife and true com- SI rades. She in her woman's way, he In j his man's way. Sho doesn't forget to I give him good meals and a pleasant jH I and orderly home. Nor does ho neg- jH I h' lect to provldo tho wherewithal there- M j of. This is sentiment. M ' Another Example. IH , , I know another woman. No child m ren ato more kissed than her children. M , ' None aro dirtier. Nono aro more jH . practically uncared for. She knows Mi' ( baby talk and loyo words by the yard,. BH '. i 'Vaw, and often havo I seen hor weep over RM) (ifl Mle Ulness of soma little tot, or a LLH aaaLHaH P9aaaH9aVaalaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaEaalaaal bereaved mother's sorrow, or a misfortune mis-fortune that has befallen a neighbor. Hut hor own little one crept un-watched un-watched Into the street ono day when tho mother was weeping at a neighbor's neigh-bor's funeral and met It's death tinner the wheels of passing truck. Trut sentiment Is not all caresses. It can spank at the proper time. It's not above mending a torn pinafore, or having the breakfast ready in time, or darning an occasional pair of stockings stock-ings True sentiment won't let the house go ditty and the children unwashed and the husband unfed, to go gallivanting gallivant-ing around to church charities True sentiment weeps not for the unclad heathen but attends cheerfully to the poor at home. T'tie sentiment doesn't ask an inexperienced inex-perienced girl to take it for better or worse when there's nothing but the "worse" to look forward to. True ,scntimcnt will proldo substantial sub-stantial bread and butter, and keep a lookout for jam. True sentiment docs not parade Itself It-self where tho glare of the public footlights foot-lights will fall upon it. Nor docs It seek dark corners, for truo sentiment Is the essence or rcllncmcnt and Its thought and Its actions can never be ashamed. A Man's Sentiment. A man that I used to know prided himself upon being a sort of sentimental sentimen-tal Tommy. He was a man who yielded to every Impulse. He was proud that he did it. He boasted or Ids ultra-sentlmentallsm. He made friends staunch friends when he desired de-sired and had no compunction In thrusting them aside when he had finished with them. He would move neaven and earth for a woman's love and when hU vanity and fancy were served he could drop the incident without a qualm of conscience. And ir a neglected friend one whose friendship ho has courted by every wile when the whim was upon him should complain, he would drop his eyes and sadly mumur: "They do not understand. They aro so coarso grained! grain-ed! 1 should not be blamed for what I cannot help. It Is my nature. They arc not true friends If they can not sympathize with me." That man's wifo is a hardened, silent, disappointed woman. Sho who perhaps had been won with all the order of "ultra-sentlmentallsm" had to swallow the dregs of the bubbling bub-bling cup. Tho ultrascntlme'ntallsm should not bo allowed to operate without with-out a license. Never marry a sentimentalist. If jou have ono in the family and he Is incurable, bear with him ir you must. Hut don't take on anothor. A Woman s Sentiment. A woman who likes to bescntlmcnt-al bescntlmcnt-al is mighty tlrcsomo when sho gives sentiment in boiled colfcc, underdone potatoes and an untidy appearance and too much love. A man who Is a sentimentalist is worse. It Is the man who isa little respectful, re-spectful, a littlo abashed at Hist, a little backward; not so cholco In his words, not so letter-perfect, not so vividly romantic, not ilowcrv. not "moon-shinny," who makes a good life companion and a good provider. A rushing torrent of sentiment may dam happiness Into a broad lake for a little while, but Invariably a leak springs somewhere which sends the whole body of It tumbling into tho valley of shattered Ideals perhaps even the valley of the soul's death. Take the sentiment that furnishes a servant in the kltqhon theater tickets once a week and a trip, to tho country during the hot weather months. |
