THE ORPHAN'S MITE

The aftermath of war is always made awful with the suffering of those whom war has passed over but has not spared. It is not the men who die in battle, glorious and brave in their oblivion of the selfish animal instincts for self-preservation at any cost, who are pitiful. It is rather those who are left. Of such are the children of French soldiers who have fallen in battle.

France has given her truest blood in this, her terrible war. The gift has been made freely and without question of the sacrifice. There has been no miserly doling out of life where the life of the nation, which dominates and includes the life of all individuals, was threatened. In brave fortitude the republic does not look to the past, nor count the tale of its dead.

Yet women and children are left to sorrow over the loss of those who so freely died. Nothing in life may compensate to them for the broken bonds, the shattered family ties, the lost hopes of a more joyous future when this dark war should end. The tragedy of the martyr is condensed in one brief moment of sacrifice: the tragedy of the mourner is ceaseless.

Children of French soldiers are left orphaned after every battle. For most of them there is no means of obtaining the necessities of life save through gifts. If the German Emperor had never had dreams of Weltmacht, and been content to hold to his central domains, many brave Frenchmen would now be living in peace, and their children would look to their fathers for support. But the ambition of a foreign emperor brought havoc in lands not under his control, and as a result the orphans of France call to America for aid.

It is hoped that enough funds may be collected here to be presented to Marshal Joffre on his arrival that many thousands of these unwilling and unsharing victims of the war may be relieved from the bare threat of lack of nourishment. Harvard is asked to do its share. Our share can be nothing less than the furthest dollar which we may spare from other and less vital needs. We may never give back to those children the happiness that they have lost, nor abate their desolation in one degree. Yet we may from our abundance spare enough to keep them from starvation, that they may grow to independence free from the stigma of pauperism. It is not charity that is asked of us. It is the payment of a small interest on a great debt. The children of brave men are due from the world opportunity to become brave men. That is the least we may do.