Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-06-20
ARISTOCRACY = ITS ULTIMATE
WARRANT,


able US to apply absolute tests to the opinions
we hold, and to estimate things according to
their essential nature. We speak familiarity OF
an aristocracy of mind but we hardly realize
the meaning OF the expression. When we say
that the only real distinctions which can divide
men are intellectual ones. we somehow feel
when we say it that such opinions are not Tor
public assertion, for our own activities and the
activities of those around us, the ends we seek,
the ambitions we cherish, seem so persistently
10 contradict the truth of any such declaration,
tina. we almost smile when we find ourselves
disposed to champion such ideal views of life
and its accomplishments.
! And even If we have become SO schooled in
heart experiences as to believe that the world
vulgar prizes are not of essential worth, 1t mlghL
starte US III our philosophy to apply the test OF
our faith that this is so, to the intl-
mate relationships we sustain with those who
occupy positions in life above Us or beneath
us, Which of us can approach power and
wealth and not detect that something controls
US which prevents the assertion of an independ-
| ence that is simply manly, which gives another
pOise TO the frame and another accent TO the
speech, and so makes US contradict in practice
| the beliefs we fain would hold with all the
strength of our being? Which OF us, as we con-
| template the man who in the position OF de-
pendent executes our will and receives our dole,
| can always remember that the charity we eXer-
OrtiGr t1a[
| may not be unduly emphasized, does not alter
his real status or ours. but that the difference
between US is one of soul, and cannot be meas
ured By standards of property or sta'lon
THE REALITY AND ITS MEASURE
The position of employed or employer means
absolutely nothing III the real test of being. II
| you would find basis upon which to test your
| superiority, sound his mind. Speak 20 him IN
| symbol, and see what suggestions you awake II
in your intercourse with him you can use
he of To pDl II ! q
| to topics of religion of science, OF history,
| or art, occasion within him emotions answering
| to yours. and the pictures which crowd his i'm
| aoiHation are of the same immortal thinning
! with those which furnish yours; then are you
| his superior in nothing, and the difference in
your relations are those OF sentiment only,
which accident may at any moment reverse.
| Our subject has principally to do with the ac-
| QUESTION of knowledge through books i'll its re-
| lation TO individual worth, which shall be
| purely personal, and reside in character III be-
| ing; but it can be illustrated BY examples tur-
niShed by other departments OF human indus
| try. The fact to be remembered and which Will
| furnish the ground for what comment snail
make il. that as the personal soul within US Is
| larger or smaller, we are ourselves greater or
| less and that all true development is thus IN
| the line of the soul. Thus wealth through the
faculties necessary to gain 1t, or to nod IT. m
plies qualities of patience, industry, peIseVer-
anee, sobriety, and faith, which are all neces-
sary to a completed manhood; and these, no
matter how attained are necessary to the spirit 5
by its opportunities, its experiences, its disci-
pine by ideas of humanity and of justice and
measured so, il will be found through the &c
Invites it stimulates to contribute TO the great
ness of character which resides in itself and
not in ample accessories.
MIND WEALTH IN BOOKS.
But there is an aristocracy which can be
maintained entirely apart from any accessories
of outward favor, and which, as we saw, can
lift the mental to an absolute equality, or more
wi i'm VII
ceptionally blessed. 1t resides IN being, and
how to attain it should be the paramount motive
OF every human life. To this end the most
fruitful source of influence and power is found
in books. In books we have the treasured eX-
perence and knowledge of the world. Accord
ing to our opportunity our own experiences may
have been larger or smaller, but great as they
may be- they cannot count in any marked
amount against the sum total OF thought ana
acquisition which is furnished by the universal
mind and stamped upon the printed tablets upon
our library shelves. To this treasury of kings
we have free access, TO draw at will from stores
of knowledge gained at cost of time and labor
which cannot be computed. Here Is science
with problems solved, demanding of us no pain
ful process through hypothesis and experiment
to doubtful results here history reveals the Sc
crets Of the ages, ard recalls past which can
be never old as long us books shall endure here
philosophy Is presented to us, Stamped with the
names OF those whose daring speculatiOns have
inspired anew the faith of men in struggles to
discover that unity which presides in the gov
SIuuSUb OH ilSii IptlTl, W tllh Int
and immortal energy, carries thought and aspi-
ration to its central throne. And now the ques-
ton comes, how shall we use this wealth 50 free
to all that essential greatness shall be secured
and opportunity abound in fullnesS of being?
THE HIGHER REALM.
In applying our test to material advantage
we found that only as circumstance secured in
trinsic and essential worth could qualities be
recognized to entitle 10 real distinctions of rank
and excellence we must apply our test again
and question upon the same basis of investiga-
ton what effect our mental wealth may have
exerted in the cultivation of faculties of abso-
lutte power. ] do not intend to let the figure
have used respecting an aristocracy embarrass
the free play of thought in this investigation,
and intrude the metaphor at every period but
il still offers pivot around which the inyeSti-
CATION can reyolye. The question Is, Is the
yaunt of an individual and personal greatness
! an Idle one, to be used only when outward cir
cumstauces are untoward, something which
we accept and THINK we value. but when Wilen
analysed is only stoical bowling to the DEGREES
of fate? Or is there in it Il profouEder truth,
and can the mind attain to such possessions OF
insight and hope that it recognize itself and
know its dignity and choose its companionship +?
| think such recognition can come, and come
in sUch way and with such convincing reason
that we need not hencetorth doubt. our lives
may seem characterized by defeat and be spent
in valley places; but when that faith in being is
attained, our Will be ever hearing the bugle-
note which calls to victory upon The sunlit
mountains.
And now at length narrowing our subject to
! books let us see what they can furnish in meas
ure of being. | referred to the concentration of
power and its effect on character which the
| pursuit of wealth implied; the pursuit OF
| knowledge gives similar advantages In talk
ing on such a subject as this an old friend OF my
| boyhood once remarked that TO become rich
| simply demanded determination centered upon
| q single aim. but that to become wise Implied q
higher and q nobler energy. And it is so; and
| estimating both by their effects upon the IN
dividual the qualities of patience, industry ana
| faith which we saw attending wealth and add
| ing to the dignity OF its possessor accompany
! also the pursuit OF knowledge through books l
| cannot guard at every point OF paper sueh as
| this against unfair differences which may be
! drawn from its statements, ana II Is true lnat
the society of books may be unduly courted.
! The royal preacher in Ecclesiastes nas said,
| however, that wisdom is q defense and money
| is defense but the cxcellency of knowledge Is
| that wisdom giveth life to them that have
| it. It is upon that life | am insist
ing, and such life especially as comes
| through books used properly and discreetly ;
! but even the habits of study imply personal
strength which many of us greatly lack Inc
! concentration of endcavor gained in some other
| department viii advantage here, but II Is also
| true that the centeriDg of purpose upon TINS
pursuit viii abound in useful power wherever
| il may be applied. Milton writes of the still
air of delightful studies" but that very stiffness
is too often what deprives them OF their ueilgnt.
| Our inner resource is not sufficient, our NE S
/ ideal is not enough exalted, activity must be
diiiused, and pleasure courts and the senses
| beckon to excess.
| THE FIELDS OF READING.
Aud 50 we may even study to abuse it, but the
habit we have formed viii itself advance US in
, the scale of life And this brings us naturally
to the next step in the inquiry it has relation
to this abuse of study. With any cultivated au-
d1ence the question is not one between an attl-
tude OF love or of indifference for books but it
| is one almost entirely respecting the service to
which we put them. There is not one of us who
does not read enough if that reading was not
dissipated and was held determinedy to APP
pointed channels. The man OF one book has
been frequently commended, and il is wonder
iul what power is acquired from one author en-
tlrely mastered. He becomes TO US a model OF
style, he colors our thinking, he furnishes our
images; and inspires us with his faith: and in
! thls subject of reading our innate aTistocracy
VIII discover itself in our companionship.
| IN this view of things the newspaper except
| ior II proper uses, becomes Mt once plebeian.
! we have no time TO waste upon such ephem-
eraI things when The enduring monuments of
| thogght are awaiting our attention. 1t has been
sala mat that man ut once stamps himself as
selfish and lacking in many essentials OF char
aeter who can boast his Indifference to local