The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-02-16


this does not seem to me 10 be 50 unworthy an
ambition NJ It ID often supposed. We have no
right to speak disrespectfulIy of wealth. II
is great power. and, like all great powers.
capable OF being perverted or misused. But in
its purity II il an emblem of great good. IT
iounds colleges; II builds churches: it opens the
treasures OF art and music with a liberal hand:
Il foefcrs4cfiKion and good morals; IL reclaims
the erring and aids the destitute: it relieves
suffering and gently soofhes the pillow OF the
dying. In the bands OF good man ii Is the in
strumeRt of God. II makes IN the desert .
highway Tor our s,od-in the desert OF fgno-
rance, OF darkness deeper than night, OF wick
edncss. weakness, folly ard sin. 1t is the means
OF gracious charity, the exchange OF human re-
gard, an expression OF friendship and Of love.
u Is only in its peryersion that it Is an evil
where Il is selfish luxury, where its value con.
sists only In what indulgence ii can buy. 1t 10
as terrible in its wckcaness as ii Is beautiful IN
its purity. II may begef pride and ignoble am
bifion. II may lead the way through sefisunlity
and SIN. II may become the servant OF all the
evil OF which human nature 10 capable, ana
while u rich man may present q fair exterior 70
the world. To his God his heart may be scared
with the flames 81 uii unholy fires.
When we think OF the different powers that
lie within . handful Of gold-powers as differ
ent as good and evil. darXiiess and iight.can
we say II matters not by what methods II is
made The ambition for wealth need not be an
unworthy one, bit the quick road to Riches Is
not Travelled without great danger. The spirit
OF speculation, the gambling spirit which wishes
70 make a fortune in night, without working
ior ~. Is too prevalent IN our ume
1t blinds itself to the fact TINT money SO OBJ
tanned is hardly II benefit to the winner. But it
II q fact, verified By experience. that money
habitually obtained otherwise than by slow.
natural methods brings quite as many evils as
blessings in its train. The money that Is most
enjoyed and that does the most good Ia money
that Is earned that Is worked for and Is return
for value received. by kind OF poetry OF
justice the man who by dishonest or question:
bic means becomes suddenly rich. finds that his
riches do not help him as much as he Thought
they would. Trey can not make him an honest
man. they can not soften his heart to appeals for
sympathy Ii he has been schooling himself TO
disregard them that he might be rich. II he
has particle OF conscience left, his money will
not Danish uncomfortable memories. The
are very great. and they are the greater because
they are commonly accepted, If hot as legiti-
mate at least as pardonable means OF making
OF Elijah. who did not hesitate to xiii his enc
mics rather than wait to convert them. The
rush for wealth. which characterizes our
times, Kills all the higher sentiments Of our na-
ture, which arc naturally opposed to dishonesty
and deceit, but we let them die in our eagerness
70 be rich. rather than to take time by fostering
them TO make them serve us in the highest way.
70 work right by ways that are not
right. whether in politics. in business
or in anght else, that they have missed the
sheath, is the language of the highest and best.
unrighteous weapons are not needed in righte-
Gus cause. That is the Christian way.
to win quickly without conflict beset mankind
At one time or another we all have felt the temp
tafion to grasp the prize without the lawful
ssar,ving, Men would like the reputation 10. ior
midnight oil, and therefore resort to easier and
quicker methods that will give the appearance
but not the reality. Applause and praise are
very grateful, but we do. not Hike the toll that
wins them. Every profession is beset with
temptation. Medicine is followed by quackery,
law has its petfifoggers. art its charlatans, ana
hot
profession is better policy than practice. But as
the quick and the labor saving methods in poll
tics and in money making really fail OF their
object and destroy more than they gain, SO too
In these other walks of life men fail to reap
where they have not sown. 1t is told Of Au artist,
who wished to paint well as Murilto but who
was unwilling To work for it. that, in the me
dirval fashion, he bartered his soul to the devil
in return for great skill in painting. He re-
cciyed his price and was able to paint with great
who nen KY aea was n se So 20 eb d
he paint like Murillo that critics could not tell
the work Of the two apart. They took his pictures
TO be Murillo's, ana he died unknown, while all
the fame was given to the true artist. This
story illustrates what seems to be the legitimate
teaching In Jesus rebnke to His disciples. who
wished Him to gain His object and be recognized
ms the Christ by means which He considered
unworthy aud Incompatible with His high mis-
sion. lie taught that evil methods, though di-
rected towards noble ends, fail to accomplish
what Is expected of them. The artist who sells
his soul 10 the devil, dies, after all, unknown.
The politician, who. in his cagerncss for party
principles, stoops To dishonesty, finds that the
corruption has gone TOO deep for the principles
to be anything but name: and the man who
gains his wealth by one turn al the gaming
table, or by skilfully contriyed rise in stocks,
has nothing tn show for i. but money without
heart and soul.
If the world is so fun of the Elijah spirit, of
the inclination toward short and easy methods
OF accomplishing results, without regard to the
honesty or dishonesty of the means, where is the
spiritual source of this tendency and where are
we to look for its eurc9 Jesus. i'll his answer to
James and John. who exhibited this spirit, told
both its source and its cure. they exist today.
He said to them. .Ye know not what manner
Of spirit ye are of Their QUESTION if they
should call down tire from heaven came. then,
from their ignorance of what manner of
spirit they were, and we may infer
that, rs the cause of the question
was. ignorance. Of themselves, the cure
lay in u knowledge of themselves. believe this
will be found TO explain the presence OF the
Elijah spirit In our own time. Men who do not
hesitate at anything to attain their object, pro-
vided that object is not in itself bad, do not
know what manner of spirit they are Of They
deceive themselves with specious arguments,
because they do not allow the spirit that is in
They do not know that IL is there. or they stifie
its voice. and have no idea what its powers may
be- The man who does not thoroughly know
himself is the target for all the practices of evil,
aud we surely know how all the tendency of the
. time Is to take a man IS thought away from his
moral aud spiritual condition and TO set it
advantage The wonderful material progress
that the world has made fills mans mind with
thoughts OF n similar greatness for himself, and
he easily gives way little here and little
there from the strict line of honor to reach what
he confidently believes will be so great good
that he can then return and repair the evil. He
finds men who will encourage him aud lead him
ON, men who VIII echo his own arguments until
they seem the very voice of conscience ITSELF
He does not know what spirit he is of, because
he does not think of his spirit Anarchy in
thought leads naturally TO anarchy in morals:
and men who do not know what manner OF
spirit they are will not hesitate to call
fire down from heaven to do what more
spiritually minded men are willing to wait to
have done by the slower methods Of honesty,
wisdom and truth. If, then, this is the truth,
the help lies in some way to make men more
console us of themselves as moral and spiritual
beings This consciousness must so permeate
their being through and through that they can
not escape it. They must be ever conscious of
1t. II for a moment they are tempted by the
easy methods TO fame, or fortune, that men hold
out TO them. the temptation must be driven
back before the knowledge that they are not
men simply for this world but also for the
world TO come: that they do not hold their lives
only in their own hands. but that they are held
in mighter hands than theirs, that they are not
alone. but are surrounded by the ever present
God.
1t was the mission of Jesus to teach men this
aud do you think lie could have done it If He
had called down fire from heaven? He might
might have had greater name; but nothing
but the simple. slow and gentle method could
ever have taught men that they are the children
OF God. Distrust any other method in religion
as in all else nistrust all promises of the hap
piness, peace or JOY OF religion that come in any
other way than by tile slow workings of God {
shop, and IL takes years to perfect human soul
Only let the door be open that the workman
may find his tools.