Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1873-08-18
OUR OBLIGATIONS TO HOPE
Full MEN.
By HENRY WARD REECHER


BY HENRY WARD BEECHER.
Hope is a charming trait in men.
There is something very admirable in
conscientiousness in its depths; in its
endurance; in the acceptance of unwel-
come labor and duty which it carries
with it. There is also in the stringency
of fear much that is to be admired. 1t
carries with it great activity and intense
provocation. But. after all, commend
me to the sweetness and the inspiration
of hope. Men who have this faculty
largely developed, though they have but
little education, are children of the day.
light. They are perpetually alive to
that which is sweetest and best in life.
1t is true that hope itself has its own
peculiar dangers. The whole generation
what are called schenaers are children
of hope. They are not balanced by sui t
able caution, reflection, and development.
Schemers are pioneers of success. We
always laugh at them, and never recog-
nize how much we are under obligation
to them.
| 1t you are starting IN an unknown
channel, you are not glad of any mis-
hap to him that goes ahead Of you; but
if he run upon a sandbank he is buoy
for you, and you do not go there; and
if another strike some obstacle on the
other side, you take note of him, and
avoid that obstacle. You profit by the
misfortunes of the two men, and 90 be-
tween them. You take the channel
which they both meant to take, but
missed.
The men who go ahead concoct new
schemes, seeking something better, laying
the foundation for valuable results
though they do not reap them. To b.
sure, the invention; but then, that in
vention bore fruit in another mans hanc
little later.
Here is man that sought some pub
lie Improvement. For thirty years h,
has talked about it, and labored for it
and nothing came of it during his lif
time; but when be died, somebody els
got the proceeds of his efforts.
1t is the function, then. of schemer
to go ahead to be pioneers; to fnc
new paths; to break up the wilderness
to prepare the way for those who com
after them. We speak of them slight
ingly; we crown their memories wit
contempt almost; we say of them, ''wel
they had no ballast they never succeed
ed. II success means to freight one
own pockets, they did not succeed; bu
II man has succeeded whose life ha
been benefit to his fellow-men. whethe
it has benefited him personally or no
then they did succeed.
A man made an invention. He nevt
;, got a dollar out of it. Indeed, he lo
J, all he had in developing it. BUTT W;
K blessing to others.
Goodyear, of excellent memory an
name, spent many weary years, and a
g his property, in the contamination
}, the discoveries which have blessed, eco
o omically, the whole world. Fortunatel
n during the last years ofhi life, he rea
: ed some advantage from them. B
suppose he had died without making
> dollar; would he have lived in vair
|, He would have left the fruit of
d thought, and he would not have liv
- in vain.
!. A man invents that which economic
!" force and multiplies comfort among t
y mass of men. The fruit of it slips 0
IN of his hand. Well, what then ssAh
IS, people say, $50 it is with the wor
g The men who think, and the men W
" create, are always thrown into the bae
NC ground, and the unworthy come forwa
ne and take the result of their living
gu Woe to that man who feels that
III has lived only when he has lived
! please himself. Blessed is that lar
y ness of mind and heart which enable
OF man to say, Il have not shaken the tt
tit but I have planted the tree which OF
ok men shall shake. [ have not dwelt
no fair mansions but have laid the fo
dations, and done the work undergrou
coo which other men shall build up ;
y; complete. have never been able
leg reap harvest, but / have sown S
ess where no man had wrought befol
Dur Let me, therefore, speak an encoul
at ing word for the men who drift thro'
as society, and are said to be '.roll
co. stones that gather no moss Ste
that roll ought to have no moss on tn
I've They are said to be full of projects
one plans, and it is said that these prof
uid and plans result, not in their prosper
or but in other mems. They never
the down in their own houses and |
the quiet and abundance but they are
and ing into the hands of others those b
to by which they shall build thous
dwellings. 49,.