Part 44 (1/2)

TO GEORGE W. LANE

Was.h.i.+ngton, November 28, [1919]

MY DEAR GEORGE,--Do not be surprised if you hear that I am out of the Cabinet soon, for I have been offered two fifty thousand a year places, and another even more. I don't want to leave if it will embarra.s.s the President, but I do want something with a little money in it for awhile. ... But I must see the President before I decide ... and I don't know when that will be, now that he is sick.

This life has a great fascination for everyone and I dread to leave it; for anything else will bore me I am sure. I deal here only with big questions and not with details--with policies that affect many, and yet I have but a year and a half more, and then what? Perhaps it is as well to take time by the forelock, tho' I do not want to decide selfishly nor for money only. I must go where I can feel that I am in public work of some kind. ...

... I have served him [the President] long and faithfully under very adverse circ.u.mstances. It is hard for him to get on with anyone who has any will or independent judgment. Yet I am not given to forsaking those to whom I have any duty. However we shall see, I write you this, that you may not be misled by the thought that there has been or is any friction. Of course you won't speak of it to anyone.

I am so glad you are able to be out a little bit. ”Ain't it a glorious feelin'?” The farm must look mighty good. Well, old man, goodnight, and G.o.d give you your eyes back! With my warmest love,

FRANK

TO C. S. JACKSON OREGON JOURNAL

Was.h.i.+ngton, December 29, 1919 MY DEAR SAM,--I hear from Joe Teal that your boy has been lost at sea, and I write this word, not in the hope that I can say anything that will minimize your loss, for all the kindly words of all men in all the world could not do as much as one faint smile from that boy's lips could do to bring a bit of joy into your heart.

But you are an old, old friend of mine. It is more than thirty years since we dreamed a dream together which you were able to realize. We both have had our fortune in good and bad, and on the whole I think our lives have not added to the misery of men, but have done something toward making life a bit more kind for many people. And why should that boy be taken from you? There is the mystery--if you can solve it you can solve all the other mysteries. I hope you have some good staunch faith, which I have never been able to get, that would enable me to look upon these things in humility, in the confidence that this thing we call a body is only a temporary envelope for a permanent thing--a lasting, growing thing called a spirit, the only thing that counts. If we can get that sense we can have a new world. I do not believe we will change this world much for the good out of any materialistic philosophy or by any s.h.i.+fting of economic affairs.

We need a revival--a belief in something bigger than ourselves, and more lasting than the world.

With my warmest sympathy, I am, yours as always,

FRANKLIN K. LANE

TO JOHN CRAWFORD BURNS

Was.h.i.+ngton, December 29, [1919]

MY DEAR JOHN,--The manner in which you write a.s.sures me that you are very happy, notwithstanding your marriage and your new religion, for which I am glad. An even better a.s.surance is the picture of the bride. By what wizardry have you been able to lure and capture so young, good, and intelligent-looking a girl? I presume she was fascinated by the indirectness of your speech, the touches of humor and your very stern manner. John, you are a humbug, you have made that aloofness and high indifference a winning a.s.set. I shan't give you away. Only you fill me with a mortifying envy.

As for your religion, various of your friends think it odd. I think that you are a subject for real congratulation. A man who can believe anything is miles ahead of the rest of us. I would gladly take Christian Science, Mohammedanism, the Holy Rollers or anything else that promised some answer to the perplexing problems. But you have been able to go into the Holy of Holies and sit down on the same bench of belief with most of the saints--this is miraculous good fortune. I mean it. I am not scoffing or jeering. I never was more serious.

This whole d.a.m.ned world is d.a.m.ned because it is standing in a bog, there is no sure ground under anyone's feet. We are the grossest materialists because we only know our bellies and our backs. We wors.h.i.+p the great G.o.d Comfort. We don't think; we get sensations.

The thrill is the thing. All the newspapers, theatres, prove it.

We resign ourselves to a life that knows no part of man but his nerves. We study ”reactions,” in human beings and in chemistry-- recognizing no difference between the two--and to my great amazement, the war has made the whole thing worse than ever. John, if you have a religion that can get hold of people, grip them and lift them--for G.o.d's sake come over and help us. I know you can understand how people become Bolsheviks just out of a desire for definiteness and leaders.h.i.+p. The world will not move forward by floating on a sea of experimentation. It gets there by believing in precise things, even when they are only one-tenth true. I wish I had your faith--as a living, moving spirit. Some day I pray that I may get with you where you can tell me more of it and how you got it.

I am leaving the Cabinet, tho' the precise date no one knows, for the President is not yet well enough to talk about it. He seems to be too done up to stand any strain or worry. But I must have some money, for my years are not many, Anne is far from well, and Nancy is a young lady, and a very beautiful one. She has just come out and is quite the belle of the season, tho' like her father, too anxious for popularity.

Great good luck of all kinds to you in 1920, old man--and do give me a line now and then.

F. K. L.

TO FRANK I. COBB NEW YORK WORLD

Was.h.i.+ngton, [1919]