The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1875-12-18
MIR. TIITON-HIS LECTURE.

above named wcll-advertised, and con
sequently wclI-known, pupil Of Rev.
Henry Ward Becchcr deliver his lee
ture entitled The Problem Of Life" 1t
was u success, and Mr.. Tilton is undoubt-
edly man Of genius. and an orator
His language i, remarkably chaste, yet
simple. He ob,cures his ideas with no
high sounding words or foreign
expressions, and his manners are easy
and graceful. Besi les this, he inculcates
lessons which are of the highest impor-
lance and show very clearly and attrac-
lively that the great secret of the prob
lem Of life is to gain complete victory
over the baser passions to conquer ones
self and rise from things that are Assem-
tally of the earth eartny, to the position
of II man indeed in the image o: his Gre
tor. This l. lesson ogthe highest Dig
nitv. aud of course should
be appreciated, taught AID profit
cd by. The great trouble in
this Instance however, Is that the lectGr'
er who discussed thus wisely and elo-
quen.ly WAS Theodore TIiton. y man
who may be more sinned against than
SHINING. but still one who under present
circumstances, can hardly be regarded a
a great moral teacher. Still it Is not
our intention to detract in any degree
from the good the lecture may accomP-
. lsh so without any further preface We
give the following synopsis:
The Problem of Life, he said, was very
different from the pretoPlasm of the
scientists His theme was as old n the
unsettled sea, and yet vital rs all human
| desires. y vast train has gone over the
| eurth's surface in the centuries, leaving
| the marks OF lis travail ia pursuit OF this
| questions solution. What was the
Problem of Life? Attic very thresho d
cf the argument he would answer TINT
the Problem of Life was the development
of mans character. Yet it WAS
almost useless for him to try to
answer so grave q question when
Solomon. in his wisdom, ati5r
,ouudin. all the depths @: glory. had
said: "Nauiues of yanitIcs; all Is vanity
and vcNa,ion OF spirit and job the
patient. had cried out IN the agony OF
spirit "Cur,cd bee the day That | was
born Man in his blindness called the
earth i'll. but God had made it good!
The speaker then pictured in glowing
language the glorics of the earth. lie
next traced the complex nature OF man,
and showed how unsatlStylng were the
,rramb.ing efforts of man q reaching for
his share OF the world.
Suppose YOU should turn Il man loose |
in tins wilderness Of bounty give him !
health, discipline, opportunity and mo-
tive, and what be- can secure rs his own
will be no more than the little red ant OF |
south America can make for itself in |
the immense forest of Brazil, Then |
every mans notion of what lie presents |
differs Audubon saw nothing in Paris ,
but the white doves making nests |
in the gardens Of the Notwithstanding
in London but the wild ducks !lying
uorthwurd over the great city in tn"
gray dawn. And vet our OPP
portuui,ics are narrow as these
views, whatever sphere of activity we
enter. The true problem of life Is the
development Of mans character. Do You
want t. be rich? The mIliioDaircs of
New ork are less plentiful than the car
riagc> in Central Park. Do You want
To- be famous? There are not one hun
drcd names of this century which the
next will mot willingly let die. How
many are happy! Carlyle said happiness
is cheap if You apply to the right mer-
chant for ii, but don't think it Is a drug
on the market at any figure. Very eX-
quisi,c i the story OF the king whose NAL
aIy could only be cured 10y his wearing
the shirt OF Il happy man, and the happy
man when found had no shirt. Charac-
ter Is what you want. But character is
not reputation.
The greatest character IN history made
himself OF no reputation. Reputation
depends upon other peoples thoughts
and estimates; character upon our own.
Bat what IS character? Compare Cap
tain Jack and Professor Agas,lZ, Dick
Turpin and John Milton, Cato and Cata-
hnrl Measure the distance between rs
crticisrn and luxury, between Saint Sim
con Styiitcs on his pillar and Sardanara-
.us in a scraglu of vice. Measure the
distance between cruelty and compassion,
between Nero piercing flies with bod
kin aud the Hndoo Prince who ordered
his soldiers not to build camp-tirrs for
fear Of destroying myrladS OF insect.
Compare Carthusian silence and
Roman carnival, each existing at the
same time, in the same city, in the same
church. All these otter various elements
and standards ar true typ's otchar-
actcr Good character consists OF certain
elements known a. the cardinal virtues,
truth. honesty, suhricty. love charity.
aud vet even here the line of drmHrka.
tipn is not clearly drawn. How truthful,
how courageous, how patient, how hon
est shall We be- F9rtitUdc is noble
quality. Cwnmer aud Mucous ScacvoIa
both held their hands in the flames the
one a Christian and the other Pagan
both acting on the motives Of iudum;ta
be 60 lragr. Mics O'RcilIy tell, OF an
Irish soldier in the war who merely II hcd |
the surgeons to leave him enough arm To- /
hue hls sweetheart with. Sir Walter F.
Raleigh SAID 10 his cXccuiioucr, "Strikc, /.
man! what have You - fear? La.mcr /
said to Ridley at the stake, BE OF good /.
cheer, brother, for We have this day .
lighted a candle in England which please .