The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1892-07-01

a week solving the problem of the SUMS dis
lance when he could read it in the almanac In
less than a minute Why work for hours
solving problem when he could read the ans
wer In the appendix Why walk slowly and
toll wearily mp the hill OF sciencr when he can
just ~ well have pony and ride I
This haste for richer results from cheaper
conditions. for larger attainpicnts for less la
Dor Is the master passion of the age This Is
indeed. labOrsaving age The cry Is for
higher wages and shorter DAYS, higher prices
and cheaper goods. for more studies in our
schools and less time, for more rapid advance
ment and less effort The cry Is the largest
results of work with the least possible amount
OF work. We are ,hurrying everything and
shortening every process. We have steam
dried fruit. steam-drfed lumber. steam-bleach-
ed linen, and steam-tanned leather. We have
become so accustomed To rapid methods and
quick results that we even try to hurry the
steps of dame Nature herself. We are impa-
tient of her slow processes. hut we may be
certain that she has processes of her own ana
she VIII never pay full days wages Tor
half days work She always responds just as
she receives. Give her ten hours and she will
give you back a matured mushroom give her
ten days and she will produce g0urd give
her ten weeks and she will give yon hill OF
corn give her ten years and she will give you
"a cottonwood tree; give her century and she
will give you an oak. She will give the cotton
wood in one-tenth the time required for the
oak. but it will never he anything but cotton
wood.
We are striving to hurry the steps of Nature
In human life too. Girls dress like women,
and take their place with women almost be-
fore they reach their teens We hardly have
any girls now, but Onlv half grown childish
women Boys often put on the airs or men,
initiate their bad habits. and often assume
their responsibilities while they ought to tarry
some years in Jericho till their boards do
grow
But genuine manhood and womanhOod.
learning and culture. religion ana grace, are
grOwths, and growth always requires time
and proper conditions. II We shorten the
time or withhold the conditions, we must con
sent to receive the poorer products. The laws
of growth have never changed; they are just
the same they have always been. The
elements of manhood grow in the experience
and they can never he forced in from without
No new paths have ever yet been discovered
to these elemental things OF life. The good
old way of the past Is the good old way still
And the same holds true OF education. There
is no royal road to learning, no! short cut to
culture. A man may reach 1T by different
ways and in different places: In school,
academy or college in tn OFFICE frvs sh9p s Or S On
Burnett, the learned blacksmith. or ike Hor-
ace Greeley the prince of editors. by his case
in the printing office But t whatever atn tae
there must always be the same essential uni
form conditions, long continued application,
steady, persistent, earnest, self-denying work
Many things man may obtain without these,
but they are the uniform price he must pay
for learning and culture He may gain rep
utatiOn for scholarship. he may pass through
college, may receive his diploma, he may even
obtain the highest marks, win the valedictory;
but what these represent, he can never attain.
for Nature will not be cheated. Her rates OF
tuition are precisely the same that they have
ever been. What gave culture and learning
to Aristotle, and Senaca, and Bacon. ana Locke,
aud Kant, and Hamilton, and Agassiz gives
culture and learning to men in all times.
Names may change, forms may vary, means
may differ, but no patent method OF pedagOgue
or priest can give man learning or religious
culture except on Gods established condi-
tons.
The worth and hope and joy of life are meas
ured by just what has grown within us giving
us u new name will not change us, length
ening our names by titles will not make us
larger. Lifting us up to high positions Will
not really exalt us. An owl In an eagles
nest is not an eagle 1t is only an owl out OF
its prop r place But no more absurdly out OF
place than he who thr1sts himself into posi-
ton for which he is utterly untitled. Pigmies
are pigmies still. though perched on Alps,
and pyramids are pyramids In wales. mans
real greatness is III the largeness OF his own
soul A mans real treasure Is in the richness
of his own experience and III his own mental
and spiritual resources. These are the treas
ures of wisdom so grandly epitOmized by the
wisest men OF the ages For the merchandise
of it is better than the merchandise of silver,
and the gain thereof than fine gold. "She Is
more precious than rubies, and all things that
thou canst desire are not to be compared with
her Length of days Is in her right hand, and
i'm her left hand riches and honor. Her ways
are ways OF pleasantness anu all her paths are
peace ~
A true and noble man would blush to bear
u stolen nOnOr, as he would DluSn I'd wear Il
stolen coat. A man of conscious integrity can
wait patiently for results till they come i'll
their proper way. They may often seem to
come very tardily, but all good things must
have time to grow.
'The mills of God grind slow.
But they grind exceeding small"
There is divinely appointed way to every
worthy success Some may reach II sooner
by shorter course, hut the crown they re-
ceive will be a stolen one. and ii Will sooner or
later prove IL crown OF thOrns upon their
Ia fnna Giir tn IA i,phn nh hnn hn
is now doing. the divine law is that he 10 well
the work in which he is now engaged If You
aspire to better place than you now occupy,
the divine rule is fidelity IN the position which
you now I'LL.
1t is your privilege to come into the field of
action in stirring times. In your day there
will probably he wrought more changes in the
social world than have been accomplished in
any epoch since the light first went forth from
Jerusalem A work of preparation has been
going on for the last forty years in theoretical
science, in practical art, in commerce, in trav-
ell in the spread of general intelligence i'm
philosophy and in criticism. the results of
which remain to be elaborated The rays may
be localized in the lifetime of some of those
whom [ address tonight. To live in such
time is grand privilege though 1t involves
great peril. There Is a strange junction of
the mightiest elements of good and evil. The
wisest Judgment Is needed to discriminate be-
tween the two. rhe counterfeit coin comes
to us silvered and stamped to appear like the
genuine, while the genuineSmay be so bruised
and bent that 1t hardly seems like money at
all The glittering falsehOod and the blurred
truth lie before us on every side, so that we
have a strange mingling of Influences muddy
rivuets empty themselves into the clear river
of truth aud claim affinity with its waters
PhosphOrescent mcteOrs born OF corruption
and decay, glisten among the ethereal stars
Lying wonders and spurious revelations throw
discredt upon the real utterances of inspiru-
ton. These are, indeed. strange times, full of
peril, full of hope. In one quarter of the
heavens there is blue sky and glorious sunlight,
in another the dark storm clOud red with Jag
ged fires and hOarse with thunders.
One then who would be successful in the
true work of life who would do his share i'm
directing and shaping the great interests of
humanity in society, In the church, and in the
nation must be able to combine two elements
of character-strOng individual force and
clear, personal discernment. You should not
rush headlong into the strife. nor should you
turn away from the contest, from be wilder
ment and doubt You should be able to dis
criminate sharply between the good and the
evil and to strike cOurage0usly for the right.
To do this there must be n wholesome and
thorough discipline III youth. First of all, you
need to cultivate the intellectual faculties
with the greatest care. Otherwise you cannot
find out what Is your proper position In So
cety. The time has been when general educa-
ton and mental culture were impossible to
all and In u sense useless. Positions of honor
In society and of authority in the state were
reserved for such as were born to them,
gratia Del but by the grace of God it is so no
longer. Look over the broad field of human
p..Nfa a..1. on, l.nxr