168 



Mental Misery of the World. 



(From fhe Providence Journal.) 

 As the war goes on there is no light- 

 ening the g'loom of the world. Un- 

 , emotional men, whose temper or train- 

 ing has made them Intensely practical, 

 find it imposstble to shake off the aad- 

 -ness of spirit which the great struggle 

 has produced. Mankind Is bewildered 

 by the woe that has befallen it. It 

 cannot retain its alacrity of mind and 

 heart. And how f.ares It with us. who 

 re not within the zone of battle? 

 Alike across the vision of the rich ana 

 the poor among us, ihe man who carries 

 his dinner pall to work in the morning, 

 the merchant at his desk, the woman in 

 her home performing her household 

 tasks, the traveler on the train, the ' 

 sportsman, fishing rod or golf -stlolt 

 In hand the driver on his wa«on, the 

 judge In' his courtroom-^comes that fear- 

 ful picture of mangled bodies, and hu- 

 man beings gasping in the last struggle ^ 

 against death, the bravest and the best 

 of Europe pouring out th^lr life blood ^ 

 in the filthy trenches, their minds dia- 'V 

 torted by terror and the agony of .j^ 

 wounds, cursing, sweating, fighting on, v^J 

 through disease and disillusionment, to I 

 the end of tho .lourney. f 



And then comes another picture, anfl 

 the tears blot out the blood. For, from 

 tens of thousands of homes In that land 

 6f England whose beauty Is like a bene- 

 diction, from once ha^py France, from 

 'every corner of Germany where, a brief 

 year ago, all her people lived In peace 

 and contentment, from the vast expanse 

 of Russia with her simple, hard-working 

 peasantry rises the cry of despair. It is 

 the wall of misery from the wives and 

 mothers and sisters, mourning for lives 

 torn out of the joyous path of youth to 

 rot 'like carrion under the open 'sky. 



The physical horrors of war have not 

 spread to us, but the heartaches and 

 the wretchedness of spirit, the shame 

 and the sin have crossed the ocean and 

 lave oppressed our people in every act 

 of their daily lives. 



And how many millions In the last 

 few months have sought the one co^- r* 

 solatlon that remains, a consolation as 

 old as the ages-that cry to the Great ^ 

 Spirit In which man has ever found his 

 last remaining solaoe In time of trouble! j 

 When the worWs Mrroir—workinK only death. | 

 And Hie world's comfort— ctustlc to the 



Make the wnms spirit loathe life's dally 



brenth. 



As Jarring music from a harp iintiined; 

 While yet It diye not from the dlBcord flee,— 

 It turns to thee. O God, It turns to thee! | 



