Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1872-12-11
THE CHRONICLE
CHARACTER.


The glory of man, or his greatest
shame. arises frUm the nature OF char
acter which marks his identity. In
some persons, good and evil are so
alphabetically mixed that we can
scarce determine whether we ought
tn consider them virtuOus q hOnOr
able, or miserable and degraded. IL
is the deplUTable misfortune of these
that, having 10 fixed principles Of
action. they Zee about, unstable rs
the treacherOus sea. Like the many
hued chameleon, they change in act
and thought till unreliable" comes
to be their proper designation. ami
the most indulgent of their friends
are forced to admit the fact that fatal
weakness-the weakness Of change
bars them for eve from greatness,
N lkes them traitOrOus To Love aud
friendship. and spOils them of an at
ribute which distinguishes mankind
from the brute creation.
Character exalts the saint charae-
ter stamps the demon IL Is character
which we love when external attTac
ton fades in both man and woman.
The hidden Jewel of the soul, il COM
mands aft cIiOn and respect down TO
the day when age, having "ciAwed
man in his clutches n-as Shakespeare
has it lies down in battered desOIa.
lion, like some grand old crumbliHg
edifice, bearing OH its classic front the
magnificent architecture which pro-
tects il from vulgarity even in ruin.
The man OF character is also the
man of iron nerve; he may be neither
- -. .n.Wss l.
may be hunIb e in his associations and
his aspirations; his heart is right. his
integrity mistaken. He looks on
truth with clear vision, acting i'm ae-
cOrdanee with its superIal dictates ;
lie does not fear the face of his fellow
men, for his soul is white with integ-
rity, and he looks humbly and trust
ingly up to the Eternal Source OF
truth, AS his fellow beings, in Il low
lIer sense, look up TO him, because he
is trustworthy, and, i'm 81 OTt, has
character-gOOd and stable character
that T stone in Individual
greatness, that Duric al q splendIu
column in the majestic structure of q
true and dignifiei man, who is at once
an heir of glory. a irail child oil
dust" To earth only belongs his cor
ruptible body /; 10 another and more
enlarged sphere, his soul, slammed
with divinity. Hear Hopes immortal
Gard Oh this subject:
Cold in the dust this cherished form
may lie,
But thar which warmed It once shall
never die;
That spark. unburied in its mortal frame,
I ZAffh t1u nar limit aFQrmaI aud Fha same
Shall beam on joys intermiHabIe years
Unveiled by darkness-unassuaged by
tearsl"
1t is here that character is being
formed for eternity. The nursery Oi
heaven. earth, teens with her millions
of deaIhless souls,
IL is "A fearful reality that the barren
fig tree and Misunderstanding upas here
aud there meet our sight, but these,
though fit only 10 be burned M aud
destroyed, cannot mar the growth or
retard the qualification # useful anu
gracious plants, destined to bloom
hereafter IN celestial glory, fast by the
throne of God.
Again, We say, as surely as a tree is
known 10y its fruits. so certainly do we
know men by their acts. Character.
whether gOud OF i'll, must, in the long
run, become evident; like murder. "a
will out ; art cannot conceal it; dis
Emulation, with its snaky eircumlO-
buttons, cannot hide it.. Again We
say, even in this life, character will
not always be concealed, and ehaIae-
ter makes the real man, whether con
cealed or nOt.-NetU Orleans IiBies.