Iuka reporter. (Iuka, Miss.) 1888-1894, 1891-02-05


the larger for it.
AMI again. is it the better way
whom we have been wronged in any
way, have been personally injured by
| some one, not to harbor within our be-
ings spirit of revenge? Ali my dear
friend, il we could but draw aside the
veil and look deep down into the heart
and life OF such an one we would
surely leave all harsh words unsaid
and all resentment behind, for there
we would find trouble and sorrow
enough of its own.
Does not the word of the great God
tell us that the way OF the trans
| gressor is hard2 And, does he not
plainly say vengeance is mine and
will repay? But some people seem to
think that the Lord is not able to do
this. and consequently they pitch in to
help him. and even go 80 far as to do
the whole job They ought to change
that part of the Holy Scripture and
make 1t read: Vengeance is not the
Lords, but ours, and we will repay"
sayeth the knowing people of the
world. Would it not be the better way
to possess the beautiful spirit Of for
glveness and return all injuries with
our heartfelt ''God bless you,' and in
SO doing heap Goals of fire on their
headsp
And, again, is it the better way for
US to aim to be superior to other
people, and to acquire honors and
emolumenss for their own sake alone?
Would not this be mere worldly ambi-
tlon? And to such an ambition as
this the smile of God is nothing; the
ciamorous praise Of human tongue
everything. 1t despiscs the imperish-
able crown Of life offered to it by the
hand of God, that it may win the
fading coronet shaped by human
fingers. 1t then is the better way that
we should be mindful of the means we
employ as wa rise higher and higher
Was 1t not through this false ambition
that the once gallant Arnold became
! traitorp
And are not the highways of history
strewn with the crimes of ecclesiastics.
lawyers, soldiers and kings-crimes
which have been caused by the prompt
ings of an unscrupulous ambition?
A poet, when his fame was bursting
on the world like full-orbed sun.
sung not only the emptiness but the
uneasiness of triumphant ambition in
such lines as these:
He who ascends to mountain tops
! shall find
! < The loftiest peaks most wrapt in
clouds and snow;
He who surpasses or subdues mankind
Must look down on the'hate OF those
below,
Though high above the sun OF glory
glow,
And far beneath the earth and ocean
spread
Round him are icy rock, and loudly
Contending tenpests on his naked
head,
And thus reward the tolls which to
those SUBMITS led"
But there is a true as well as a false
ambition. an ambition which is reces-
sary if person intends to be more
than drone in the great hive of hui
manity. This true ambition desires
excellence for its own self; it aspires
after superiority not as an end, bat as
tho means OF more extensive useful
ness 10 mankind. II climbs as high as
it may towards the SUBMITS OF intel
lectual and moral greatness. not that
it's ears may be tickled by idle fiat
! teries, but that it may fulfill its obli-
cations to society and to God. Thus
its highest aim is the good of others
and the glory of God; its controlling
motive is duty, and tits to such a sane
tified ambition as this the world is in
debted tor such men as Sir Isaac New
ton, Adam Clarke, Charles Wesley and
others-men who from the pedestals
of their greatness becxon their race
upward, and who, by Illustrating the
vastness of mans capacities reflect
glory of mans almighty Maker, the
eternal God.
1t is a grand thing to possess this
true ambition; only let him who has it
cultivate that lofty faith which is con-
stantly conversant with the sublimities
of the invisible world, which holds
high communion with the great Je
hovah. and which consequently learns
to estimate the comparative value Of
the earthly and the divine; and thoue
he became skilled in all the sciences.
possessed OF unbounded wealth. gifted
with the most persuasive eloquance.
and honored by approving men, yet
will he bear his honors meekly. en-
ploy his powers only to bless othsrs
and bring the fruitage OF his attain
nents with humble spirit TO the feet
of his Redeemer. saying, "Not unto
me. O Lord. not unto mo be. but unto
thy name be glory. "-Iuka Normal.