The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-08-04

lOIONCIg 1lO EIOlu llChSCIOl
let no man trouble me-" or, in other
words: II have no time to waste upon
such matters as these. They are too
small, too trivial, too insignificant to
engage more of my time. Life is too
valuable to be frittered away after this
| manner. | have other and greater
work to do. 1 can't afford to waste
myself arguing about things of such
little moment. l have settled this
question once for all; let no man
trouble me with it again"
One hardly knows which to admire
most, the wisdom or the independence
of this expression. 1t certainly is the
most wise, and it certainly is most in
dependent. As piece of philosophy
it is profound, and as an expression of
the highest manliness it commands
admiration; for it meant that St. Paul
was going to live his own life after his
| own fashion; that he was not to be
| moved in his course by either the OPP
position of his enemies or the criticism
of his friends; that he had chosen his
own path, and in it would go on to the
end, and from henceforth was not to be
| troubled.
Now, no one can do any thing in life
| until this same conclusion is reached.
A life that is going to be of any value
to the world must be largely indepen-
dent Real character is never O
Yl1nGoia Of f,.- &c 4o1y
from here and there, but monolith,
quarried in one solid piece out
of the rock. Great purposes,
like the oak tree, may be of slow,
fibrous growth, but when the growth
is attained there is a unity, an impact
ness, which defy the ages. The man
who sets before him any noble ambi-
| ton, in order to accomplish that am
bition must be really independent, and
live in the world not simply as an occu-
pier but an owner. just as a steamer
pushes her way across the ocean, using
| the wind if it be favorable, and going
through it if it be adverse, so must the
| one live who desires success. A life
that is spent in apologies and explana-
tons never accomplishes any thing.
By stopping every little while to receive
instruction and to take advice, the day
of many man has gone down, leaving
his work undone. Some people are
constantly excusing themselves; they
are always on the defensive; they carry
their hat in their hand; their very look
is apologize. They live as though
they were intruders, trespassers, and
seem to beg pardon of the world for
living in it at all.
Now, this is mistake. No one ever
should apologize for being in this
world; for this is Gods world. He
made it, and He gave His children
rights in it-rights which are indubi-
table-and chief among these rights is
the privilege of living our own indie
pendent life. But with many people
that privilege is not claimed; they are
not their own; they are the property
of another. They are bought with a
price, and so their life is featureless
and commonplace, utterly destitute of
force or character; and many man
who was intended by God to stand as
a promontory reaching away out to
the sea, and from which great lights
would stream across the darkened
waters, has allowed the conforming
tide to grind the rock into pebbles and
scatter it along the beach.
Many of our lives, instead of wedge
like cleaving the desert air, are but as
the desert plain, only used as COM
mon way for the caravans of the world
to trample through. And yet God
meant that each life would stand out
like star against the sky; receiving
its own light, giving it's own light,
moving in its own orbit, and subject to
no law but the law of its own system.
And this was the ideal to which st.
Paul was reaching, therefore he would
not be troubled by those who differed
from him.
In fact, the less we think about other
people, and what other people think
about us, the more likely we are to
make our life a success. Thousands
of people are in bondage to other peo-
pie. They are afraid of them-afraid
of what they may say, of what they
may do, and they are thus kept in subjec-
ton. Hence it is that SO few lives are
unique. But real man is not troubled
in this way. In him the quality of I'M
consciousness is strongly developed.
He seems not to think about other
people. He goes up to the mount of
duty or sacrifice, and when he returns
never once thinks about the light that
is on his face, or what his friends may
say of him. No real man ever troubles
himself about popular opinion. The
press to him is no mirror where he
finds himself reflected. Plaudits and
hosannas in no wise affect his course.
No truly great man is anxioas to ap-
pear in history; he makes history. And
this is the ideal of every strong we'll
rounded character.-Reu. j. WeSley
Johnston.
WISE SAYINGS.
discomfort is the want of self-re-