Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1867-11-20


sonal and physical nearness may be said
to constitute neighborhood, and by II
nearly every one Is greatly affected. The
circumstances and friends Of early life,
the town and village, the teachers and
school, aCd church connected with early
memory, do much towards shaping fu-
ture character. Whether brought up IN
the North or in the South, under Chris
tain, Jewish or 1Iohanmedan instruc-
tions, The future habits, life and charac-
ter of each viii be greatly affected ac-
tcording to the peculiar school and sur
roundirgs. And yet We are equally
aware that there is often no nearer af-
fnity between persons brought up in the
same town than between these reared on
opposite sides of the ocean. Educated
and uneducated, moral and vicious, those
who dwell in the abodes of luxury, and
the children Of want, may live in the
same city OF village, separated by con-
( tiguous walls, but by what breadth Of
arrangement. Shall We call those neigh
/ bors and not feel that those whose cir
|cumstances N life and place in society
are similar are far more truly neighbors?
The rose and the thistle may grow side
by side, may draw their nutriment from
I the same square foot of soil and be wa
tered By adjacent dew drops, and yet
every rose is nearer to every other
throughout the globe than to the thistle
growing at It's side. The poor Irish
immigrant has across the sea, in the
Emerald Isle, those Who are more truly
neighbors TO his heart than the wealthy
capitalist il the front street, whose man
sion he labors in erecting.
The closest neigbborhood is that CT
the heart. Those whose views and feel
inss on political, social and religious
questions are alike, are more apt to be
neighbors than those who differ widely,
and yet many a Protestant and many
Catholic shall find a greater sameness Of
heart between them than each shall dis
cover in others of their own religious
profession. The conservative in a re-
public and the conservative under mon
archy are neighbors, and so, also, are
radicals for if they know mans views
on one or two leading topics and prin-
ciples, and find them like their own,
they know what his views will be on all
the great questions of lie and manifes-
tations Of character, for II fact the char
acter is but the cultivated plant OF which
every mans personal aaG active priuci-
pies are the root. Those who perform
the noblest deeds, produce nothing SC
great as that result of all their thoughts,
words and acts-their own characters.
Who, then, is ones neighbor? Not he
who Is nearest In space so much as he
who is nearest in spirit. What then p
Shall all Of the same class and of the
same kind, Of the same education and of
the same faith, clan together to the ex-
clusion Of all who differ in these re-
spects It is not thus that the Great
Architect of Society has chosen to build
up neighborhoods but rather by inspir-
ing through these little difference a sense
of deeper unities, ald so by broader
feelings and views making neighbors of
enemies. The Samaritan is thus made
the neighbor of the Jew. a communi-
ty composed Of only one class Of char
acter, or one grade Of education, would
be very siaguRnt and insipid, like
garden composed all of one sort Of flow
ers. There are few characters in any
society who cannot teach us much of a
proper course Of life and action. If
wiser than we are, they can teach us if
less wise. they still teach us how to teach.
Even the scOundrel can teach you how
not to behave. In fact Providence pur-
sues, in the formation of society, the
same course as in the composition Of the
globe. If one gas alone filed the at
mosphere, or one element formed the
soil, what plant could live? So if each
class live separately and estranged, side
by side in the same city, they can sim
ply perpetuate the sameness or stagnate, |
but never grow. It is by being brought
face to face, and forming companionship
with dissimilars, that each dihfuses his
good qualities in society, aud is cured Of
what is bad Who is neignbor to the
Hottentot? The missionary. Who is
neighbor to the Cretans just now? Not
the Turk, but the American, who feeds
and clothes bis wife and children. Who
Is neighbor to the negro? The teacher.
He who thinks and feels and labors for
the good of another all over the world
most effeetualIy Is the nearest ncighbor. |
No difference of circumstances or Teligi- !
GUS views OF character should estrange
any as to prevent our seeking their good. |
A word, a look, even pause, may eE-
press much: and men are not migrate
fui. We can and ought to be neighbors
to all in word or deed; those who differ
most can remind each other how imper-
feet both and all are before The common
Master. Yet, as all plants have a com
mon neigbbor in the sun, so goodness,
truth and love are sources of inspiration,
strength and life to all alike who are
prepared to imbibe their influence.
ALLEN G. THURMAN, TEE LATE CAN |