Chapter IV: Part 4

"I wrote to F---- to-night, and my heart went out strangely to
him as I wrote. The thought which I wished most to convey to
him, was the importance of combining nobility of mind with true
humility in the sense in which Christ used the words; the truth
in the simple but meaningful words of the beatitude, 'Blessed are
the pure in heart for they shall see God'; and the necessity,
with a view to the healthy upbuilding of a strong character, to
'Be just and fear not.' The more I am brought into contact with
the views of the world, the more I see the wealth of meaning in
some of the scriptural sayings. If, as I trust, this expansion in
the meaning of things goes on, life should be filled with more
and more real happiness, especially if I am able to so master
myself as to regulate my life in accord with the truth revealed
to me."

* * * * *

"To-night I feel that what the world wants is more of
forbearance, less of viciousness, more of sweetness and light,
more of the spirit of Jesus Christ."

_A LAST WORD_

The love, the truth and the beauty of Harper's nature have nowhere found better expression than in his last letters to his closest friend. His heart is revealed there, as, only in such a relationship, it is possible for hearts to reveal themselves. In the sanctuary of Friendship, everything is holy; there abideth the love that "thinketh no evil," the confidence that is never betrayed; at its threshold, semblances disappear; having entered beneath its portals, there is no longer anything to conceal.

The one to whom they were written was in British Columbia when these letters were received by him. He had been sent by the government to reconcile, if possible, the conflicting claims of labour and capital, which at the time had assumed the proportions of a strike in one of the mining towns of that province. In his absence, the department of labour had come in for some criticism at the instance of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association. Harper was anxious lest this should be a matter of concern to his friend, and hastened to reassure him. The letters are a true expression of himself. They reveal his standards, his belief in truth, his appreciation of beauty, his conception of duty, his trust in an overruling Providence, his deep concern for humanity, and his love for his friend. All these, in him, were as inseparable from each other as each was inseparable from his life.

He writes:

"_Ottawa, Nov. 10, 1901._
"MY DEAR REX:

"I have been flying westward with you all week, weighing in my
mind the chances of the success of your mission. It may be weak,
this proneness to speculate upon the outcome of an issue in
the future, but where one's feelings are so nearly concerned,
one cannot but do it. Each time my thoughts have turned to the
subject of your mission to the coast, my conclusion has been the
same--you must succeed. To-day--the first breathing spell which I
have had since you left--as I walked home in the bright sunlight
and the brisk air, the conclusion has become conviction. I do
not attempt to disguise the difficulties which confront you.
Indeed, perhaps, I rather magnify them. Two camps of organized
self-interest confront each other. Misunderstanding, bitterness
and passion have much sway in each. But your strength lies in the
fact that what you seek is fairness, truth and justice, as well
as the promotion of industrial peace and the country's welfare.
'Speak to his heart,' says Emerson, 'and the man becomes suddenly
virtuous.' My dear Rex, I assure you it is not the prejudice of a
friendship, which makes me miss you more than I care to confess,
that tells me that it is not the strong arm of a commission, nor
yet the power of public opinion, that is your strongest weapon
in this important crisis; but the commanding influence of a
high-minded manhood moved by noble impulses, and unalloyed by
selfish motive. Success must crown your efforts.

"This week has been an instructive one in many ways. You have
doubtless noticed the conclusion of the Canadian Manufacturers'
Association with regard to the _Labour Gazette_ and the
department's work generally. The decision, though not unexpected,
is an evidence of how much must be done, before men, whose
business principles are but a reflection of their personal
interests as they conceive them, can be brought to see that right
reason will not be satisfied by any industrial scheme which
leaves out of account consideration for the well-being of the
great mass of the people. Mr. ----, in a conversation which I
had with him on Friday, assured me that we ought not to worry
over the verdict of the Manufacturers' Association. 'For,' as he
put it, 'a department which stands for the recognition of the
rights of working men cannot expect to be popular with selfish
employers.' Speaking of the comparison made between the Canadian
and United States Departments, I urged upon him the importance
of the publication of a monthly Gazette as a means of making
effective a policy which depends for its sanction upon public
opinion. He agreed with me, and added, 'They talk of a quarterly
publication, doubtless they would be better satisfied still if
there were no publication at all.'

"Mr. ----'s opinion was not necessary to reassure me in the
matter of the Manufacturers' Association's criticism. The
judgment which is really important is that of one's own
conscience. Mine tells me that, however imperfect our work may
have been, however much there may be room for improvement, what
we have done has not been inconsiderable, especially when the
difficulties under which we have laboured are considered. I am
confident that the broad lines of policy which we have followed
are right, and that our work, as our knowledge of existing
conditions increases, will be of more and more value to the
working men of Canada and to the country generally.

"I miss you very much in the office, but still more out of it.
Indeed when you are away I realize how much we are together.
However, Rex, I need not assure you that I am constantly with
you in thought. Your life has grown into mine to such an extent
that your hopes and aspirations are mine as well. Take care of
yourself, my dear Rex, and whatever may be the outcome of your
mission, I know that you will have done your duty. When you are
in the mountains think of one whose soul is also profoundly
stirred by the message which great, glorious, beautiful Nature
has for man.

"With much love,
"Ever yours affectionately,
"BERT."

* * * * *

"_Ottawa, Nov. 13, 1901._

"MY DEAR REX:

"You must not take my official notes daily as a measure of my
interest in your affairs here, your progress yonder, or your
thoughtfulness in writing me such refreshing letters as those
which you have written _en route_. And let me thank you for these
letters, Rex. They take me with you as you go through that wildly
grand country, the very thought of which makes the heart of a
true Canadian bound with pride. The dating of your last, 'in
the country of the foot-hills,' makes me think how eagerly you
must be looking forward, as you wrote, to the prospect of the
mountains. Perhaps you were fortunate enough to see them in the
stern glory of a winter sunset. These things, like great pictures
and noble thoughts, leave a permanent impress upon one's life,
and I rejoice that the path of duty has led you through so much
that is beautiful and sublime.

"But hold, I am probably several chapters behind your present
thought and work, for by now you will be wrapped up in the
affairs of a mining town, interested in its mushroom growth, its
throbbing, ill-digested life, and in the main object of your
mission, the strike.

"Perhaps it is this very mission of yours which has set my
mind so strongly of late upon the question of man's duty. This
afternoon, Harry, Laschinger and I took a long walk in the
frosty air,--for winter has gripped Ottawa hard, ice covers the
ground, ponds are frozen and the sky is stern and gray, and I
found myself driven to turn conversation along this line. Is it
because the church has so far drifted from truth that it succeeds
so little in making the life of Christ a reality among men? I
thoroughly hold that once convince a man of a truth, and that
truth, even despite him, will become an active potent factor
in his life. How are men to be convinced? The church says do
this, because authority says it is right so to do. But men do
not do it. Why? Because men do not come to vital conclusions
upon the strength of authority, especially when they have their
own opinions regarding the channels through which the authority
filters. Is it not time that a different line should be
followed? Tell men to do right because it is right to do right;
because it is consonant with the law of their natures; because
only by so doing will they realize themselves. And here we come
to the great beauty, justice and potency of the appeal to the
rule of law. Show a man that it is only by putting forth his best
efforts towards what his best consciousness tells him to be right
that he will make any progress satisfactory to his own nature,
or in harmony with the eternal realities, and the shackles of
petty ambitions fall from him. He becomes stronger and stronger.
And in proportion as his own true strength increases, so will
the appreciation of nature's laws and the character of Christ
develop manly humility and a sense of duty to the world without
him, a sense that his life is part of the lives of many others,
as many as come within the almost unlimited sphere of his
influence, and that he owes it to himself, as much as he owes it
to them, that that influence shall also tend in the direction of
perfection, the sweeping away of bitterness, passion, prejudice
and viciousness in whatever form. Once bring home to a man the
sense of personal duty in terms of inflexible and yet infinitely
just law--law which, properly followed, makes for progress, if
disobeyed, for confusion,--and you have put him on his feet with
his face to his true goal in life. Herein, it seems to me, lies
a reconciliation of the two injunctions: 'Bear ye one another's
burdens,' and 'bear your own burden.' Do the latter, and you will
find yourself doing the former, which is a good thing to do.

"All of this is simple, Rex, even rudimentary, but to-night it
has a strong hold upon me, and, as I have not you here to talk
to, I am laying it before your sympathetic eye, that is if you
have patience for it. Out there where the country is just finding
itself, where standards are few and hastily put together, men are
apt to emphasize the importance of the _immediate_ thing. Here in
the East men try to get away from the truth by demanding 'of all
the thousand nothings of the hour, their stupefying power.' Both
sides of the continent have perplexities and heartaches for the
well-wisher of mankind. But, however distressing may be the rash
radicalism of British Columbia, I doubt if its position is not
relatively better than that of the indifferent East. For where
there is manly force and rude contact with nature--in Carlyle's
sense--there is apt to be more of a result where an appeal is
made, as it must be in both cases, to the manliness of men, the
true-heartedness of true hearts. The main difference, it seems to
me, lies in this, that British Columbia requires the curb, and
the East the spur. Both need light. And the man who would give
it to them must have their confidence, so much have men come to
associate the truth and its exponent. Confidence requires trust
and faith; and these, to be lasting, must be based upon strength
and honesty in the individual who would be the guide. Hence it
behooves every man who would be of lasting service to his country
to see that he, too, is clean.

"But I see I am going far afield again. I miss you, Rex, very
much. The meaning of an individual is sometimes emphasized when
the individual is absent from the associations which are eloquent
of his individuality. The Canadian Manufacturers' Association to
the contrary notwithstanding, your work is neither superficial
nor ephemeral. It is of the very essence of a force which is
calculated to prove a strong lever in regulating the labour
movement, and indeed other movements as well, in Canada. It is
my happiness to be associated with you in that work. I think
I comprehend its nature and its importance, immediate and even
prospective, and I trust I may prove true to its demands and
purpose.

"But I must get down to my night's work, Rex. The house is
singularly quiet, without any movement in the adjoining room, but
that does not excuse the sacrifice of opportunity.

"With best wishes and much love,
"Affectionately yours,
"BERT."

And nothing, not even the loss of life itself, did excuse, with Harper, "the sacrifice of opportunity."

"In the common round
Of life's slow action, stumbling on the brink
Of sudden opportunity, he chose
The only noble, godlike, splendid way,
And made his exit, as earth's great have gone,
By that vast doorway looking out on death."

Harper was drowned on the sixth of December. Three days later, on the twenty-eighth anniversary of the day of his birth, they buried him on the crest of a hill overlooking the village in which he was born. Thus does Destiny, linking the cradle with the grave, leave us to wonder over the mysteries which she delights to weave.