Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1892-05-19
The Value Of Character.

In closing discourse To the youth
of hls congregation on the life Of Hon.
Hannibal lIamlin. DR.. George W.
Field Of the Central Congregational
church, Bangor. said
Ia the first place character j. The
grandest thing in the universe Char
acter j. the man, the vital, central. e--
sential part Of the being. while talent
Is only al incident. circumstance.
possibly dependent upon the conforma
ton Of the brain, as a good voice on
that of the throat. As it j. The grand
est thing 80 il is the rare,t thing. Great
character Is rarer than great genius
More men have live! who could be
classed with Goethe, Ca-sar. Shake
speare and Newton than could be
classed with Washington. Socrates.
Luther, Cromwell. The rarc,t, AS well
as The greatest. greatness of which hu-
man nature Is capable Is that Of char
acter. The Divine Man himself. won
derfui as he was in genius. the most
original, profound, fruitful Of human
minds, wss willing that the wonder
fulness of his intellect should he over
looked. forgotten, lost sight Of in the
overshadowng grandeur of his char
acter. Another reason why high char
acter always commands the respect and
honor OF men is because it ALWAYS ear
rles with it-woIks out for itself, soou-
er or later-the highest qualities OF in
tellect. This may seem to contradict
partly some things which have already
SAID. say it especially TO suggest
qualifications, which | have not time
TO state. a high character is never dis
ISOLATED from good mind. from clear
ness Of perception aud soundness Of
Judgment. In its highest forms it
creates sagacity to which genius
gives nothing comparable. As YOU
read the histories of Washington or
OF Lincoln you are constantly surprised
at the superhuman wisdom, the capac-
lty TO understand the course ami work
ing OF events, SURPRISING all the
shrewdness and sagacltv of the more
brilliant, the seemingly stronger men,
who stood by their sides have not
time nor ability to explain this curious
problem. THIS | see. mind not other
wise above the average. when clarified,
purged and purified by the utmost sim
pllclty and cleal ness Of moral purpose.
has power TO read men. to see through
the lntrlcacies of human nature. to I'M
ravel the antiquities of human conduct.
and so to forecast the course of events
(always dependent upon human action)
possesses, say, an insight into man.
and foresight INTO the future. which
the greatest genius, mystified and be-
logged by passion and prejudice, never
possesses. And so it is not altogether
correct TO separate between intellect
and character as | have done. and to
set the one over against the other.
What God has joined together let no
man put asunder. The line between
the mental and the moral nature is al
ways indeterminate. They run togeth-
er and in the best combinations. you
are unable to discriminate in the wis
dom which is their result. how much is
moral and how much is intellectual.
You are unable to tell whether, in the
wise acts and words which issue from
such life. there is more of the right
eousness which comes from clear con-
science. or Of the sagacry which comes
from a clear brain. The strong moral
nature makes the strong intellectual
nature.
And that which is true of extraordi-
nary men in an extraordinary degree
is true in its degree of ordinary men.
There Is not the young man present,
who simply because he has 10 rare
mental endOwments, needs fear but
that he may work out goodlv destiny
if he will do full justice to his moral
nature. or will let it do justice to itself.
Another and last reason l will give
why men honor the man of character |
and exalt him to responsible posts is
because they know they can safely re-
pose their interests in his hands. In
all well-ordered communities, and in
all important and critical times, such
men are always put in the van. Besides
in the fierce competitions of modern
politics no party dare put forward for
high office any but a clean person and |
one with as good record as possible. |
In instances which have occurred in |
rapid succession in England during the
last few years we see with what a wise !
obstinacy the conscientious and virtu-
GUS middle class has set itself against
the promotion to Office, or the ccntin-
uing in office, even OF men of the most
splendid abilities, who by showing
themselves false and corrupt in private
life have rendered it probable that un-
der sufficient stress of temptation thew
would be false and corrupt also in
their public character. Who can tell
how much the success Of Mr.. Hamlin,