NAWSA General Correspondence  Webster, Mary P.

March 19/48 W

Dear Miss Blackwell,

Many thanks
for your Easter greeting with its
beautiful poem and its fine
selections from the writings of
some of the leaders of mankind.
I am enclosing with this note a
selection from this year's Benten
manual which you may have
already read but if you have
not seen it I hope you will find
it interesting.

Cordially Yours
Mary Phillips Webster


May 22/49

My dear Miss Blackwell,

I am late in
thanking you for your very interesting
Easter greeting but I assure you I
appreciated your sending it.  I have
had much on my mind lately and
that must be my excuse for not
writing sooner.
I am sending on the other
side of this sheet of paper a "Creed"
taken from the Indianapolis Bulletin
of the Unitarian church there.  You
may have already seen it but if
not I am sure you will find it
interesting.

With best wishes that you
may have a pleasant summer.

I am Yours Cordially
Mary Phillips Webster

My Creed is to love justice, to long for the
right; to love mercy, to pity the suffering,
to assist the weak, to forget wrongs and 
remember benefits - to love the truth, to be
sincere, to utter honest words, to love liberty,
to wage relentless war against slavery in all
its forms, to love wife and child and friend,
to make a happy home, to love the beautiful
in art, in Nature, to cultivate the mind, to be
familiar with the mighty thoughts that
genius has expressed, the noble deeds of all
the world, to cultivate courage and
cheerfulness, to make others happy, to fill
life with the splendorer of generous acts,
the warmth of loving words, to discard error,
to destroy prejudice, to receive new truths
with gladness, to cultivate hope, to see the
calm beyond the storm, the dawn before
the night, to be the best that can be done,
and then - to be resigned.

Robert G. Ingersoll


The Orchestration of Life.
A symphony orchestra is one of man's
greatest achievements, for in a fine orchestra
everything works to create a splendid harmony.
For us the orchestra can symbolize the world
of tomorrow. Orchestration shows the kind of
organization and expression needed by
mankind. For note - in an orchestra the
individuals are free. Each is a highly
developed person in himself yet all work
together in perfect harmony. The conductor
is also a pattern of the kind of leadership
required for a democratic and scientific
society He is chosen for his ability to bring
out the best in each individual; also for
his comprehension of the whole work. Instead
of a Hitler dominating others by violence
and passion, we have something like a
common heart and brain of the whole
orchestra in its leader. The leader in
tomorrow's world needs to be one who knows
the whole of life, yet understands its parts.
He must know the theoretical as well as the
practical and be acquainted with the
sciences, philosophy, religion and art.
Human life waits for Orchestration -
that in place of these harsh discordant
sounds, we may learn to make good music
together.

"We live in deeds, not years, in thoughts,
not breaths;
In feelings, not in figures on a dial."

"Today well lived 
Makes every yesterday a dream of 
happiness, 
And every tomorrow a vision of 
Hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day!
Such is the salutation of Dawn." 
("From the Sanscrit."

Sept. 14/49
My dear Miss Blackwell,
                        I learned from the
Herald this morning that this
is your 92nd birthday and you
have my best wishes for another
Happy New Year. You have so 
many friends that you must 
still enjoy life —- a life well
spent in doing things that 
needed to be done.
              I was born on Easter Sunday 
April 4,1858 so you see one are

very nearly the same age 
and I __ like you can say that my
parents gave me "a good constitution,"
My general health is exceptionally
good although I have been fir 
eleven years at this nursing home.
I can walk about my room with
the aid of a cane but if I go outside 
into the entry a nurse goes with me.
I broke my leg and have been here 
for more than eleven years.
              With best wishes
            I am cordially yours,
                     Mary Philips Webster

Transcribed and reviewed by contributors participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.