Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1883-10-18
IDEALIsTs AND DREAMERs.
1t is the Men of Principles, Aspira-
ton, Ideals, Who Garry the
Ages-The Practical Man
Carries the Day.
The Latter Wins Success for
Himself, But Mankind in
General Is Benefited By
she Former.
N,r Yorh spsoi.l.1..

the text: my word, that goeth forth
out OF my mouth, it shall not return
unto me void, but it shall accomplish
that which please, and shall prosper
in the thing whereunto | sent it. J"
He said that in the ordinary course
Of nature, the rain, falling upon the
earth and feeding the grass, which in
turn feeds man. is like the sun OF the
moral law. To the prophetic j ew every
true thought in the mind Of man was
thinking aloud Ia a man OF divine
spirit.
To him every impulse toward the
lettering OF ones own nature, or the
nature OF ones fellows, was a stream
ing 10 upon the individual Of the light
and energy OF infinite will. To him
every inspiration was an inspiration
Of God, and every word proceeding
from the mouth of man, by which men
we're lifted up. was a word proceeding
out oil the mouth OF God. do not
know that we have found in our latest
wisdom any better expression OF the
mystery of tie life in man.
If il is true that in the physical
world the falling Of the rain insures
that every process in the function and
feeding Of the plant is secured by in
Unite and eternal power, so surely
every process aud function 10 the life
OF man in society feeds into the divine
plan. and backed by the infuite and
divine power every little individual
life, struggling to perfect itself on the
page OF mankind's history, is part of
the movement Of the power Of God.
II there be any definite plan or
order linking the story of man into
consecutive unity, as of hidden pur-
pose, then some power shall bind the
broken and tragmentary efforts Of
whole lives. But if there be no
story OF man, and no unity, and no
divine unity; il the story Of human
life be not fashioned in a mechanism
into which all individual lives are
rightly ordered to fit like cogs and
wheels, and there is not a great mo-
tive power driving the shafts and
pulleys Of the machine; then there is
no truth in the words, 80 shall my
word be; it shall not return unto me
void, but it shall accomplish that
which please, and prosper in the
thing whereuntO | send it" Here,
my brother, is a faith to live by and to
work by in the world.
Reading the charming writings of
one OF our literateurs the other day |
found him expressing a thought now
very commonly believed. He said
with a sigh, as by one who had seen
something better, THE idealists fail
IN this world; practical men carry the
day. 1t may be true that they carry
the day; but, my brethren, do they
carry the years? Unless this is true
there is no lettering of mankind, and
the world moves il a circle rather
than in spiral.
Though the practical men carry the
day, it is the men OF dreams who
carry the years 1t it were not so the
generation to come would be no better
than the generation Of to~day, and
we should accept the advice of those
who say; Let US desert our religion:
let us accept the situation; let us
strive for the impossible" This
error is echoed by the needless world
just as surely as the raindrop does
the work for which it was sent. SO the
atom Of each individual life answers
some purpose 10 the scheme of Gods
plan. Each performs some part that
in the long run works out the plan OF
God. Let the idealist speak forth his
convictions and utter the burning
words Of truth. There is no deareT
pathos in history than the trust and
expectation of men who have lived
and striven for principle.
See Luther, with what indomitable
faith and hope he looked forward to
the coming generation. See Richard
| Golden, how enthusiastically he wrote
Of the great results that were to come
from the repeal Of the Corn laws and
Of the immense advantage that would
come from the adoption Of the princi
Piles Of free trade.
ST. Simon saw in coming years.
always receding, the reconstruction Of
human society, and be was so conf
dent Of its coming that be prepared an
address TO bis followers to be used on
the day that success was assured
Fourier. 30 enthused with bis marvel.
Gus scheme for the adjustment of the
relations Of capital and labor, that he
went home daily at noon, expecting
each day that the good French philap
thropist would come to place in his
hands the million francs with which
to begin his expedition.
So tits with the enthusiasts ever
| They make no allowance for time:
looking, like Christian, aisr Of. thew
see the promised land, aud they do
not realize the valley and the journey
between. They expect to gather n
the crop Is soon as the seed are sowp,
| They forget that Zone soweth and
smother reapeth," but the processe,
Of nature are slow. Man advances
step by step; be climbs, as it we're. By
iootholds. which he must hew out Of
the solid rock, making his pathway as
he goes.
The millennium is not Job that ma,
be contracted for and made deliyera'
Die al given day. Our progress /,
slow, like the formation Of the cora
rock, with its minuta accretions from
generation 10 generation. Ii ii be moi
%, and the practical man carries the
years as well as the days, then har
there been no use in the suffering. the
poverty Of the men Of dreams. BuI
every step forward in the movement
( Of mankind has been won By the fore,
likeness Of men. who saw beyond theil
day and generation; who we're conten
70 live 70 make the world better. be-
lieying that it should be better.
Il Every step forward has been won b.
men who we're in their day but dream
ers and sentimeDtalists; but theil
dreams sunk deep in the souls Of men
b az while men sud they we're impossi
Bile, lol they we're accomplished. Thu
it is that dreams have been mad,
realities, although at fret they see,oet
70 be as imprscticlble as the vision
Of Verne.
Look at the physical facts of IN,
worlds progress. Suppose a man ma,
stood in the first Congress at Pbila
delphia, and said your descendant
will ride 10 the air, at the rate o
forty miles an hour and prumble Al
the authorities because il is no
eighty; they shall live 10 Pbiladel
phia and do business hundred mile
Of they shall talk to Chicago (itself
dream; the grave aud reverend father
would have had him put in an asylum
as an insane man, especially IL thel
could have done ii as easily as thel
pu. men In asylums 10 these days.
30 It Is that the dreams Of me i'm
practicable are realized. although A.
tirst the practical man will not lister
10 them.
Look At the Chartist movement II
England. The dresms Of the Chris
: tisn societies have been realized, upti
every one OF the five points of Char