The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1893-09-27

| ton, select our own material, marx OuV
the site, and build to Our own liking.
"Man is his own star, and the soul that can
Render an honest and perfect man
| Comm aDds all light, all ipf1uercc, all fate:
Nothing to him falls early, or too late.
Onr acts our angels are, or good or i'll,
Our fatal shadows that walk by us still.'
Every thought we have, every feel
| ing we experience, every act we per-
form registers itself on the soul, and
has its Inevitable influence on our
lives. Thus character is undergoing
constant change, for better or for worse,
and being elevated, or else degraded.
:'There is no fault, or folly of my life"
says Mr.. Ruskin, "that does not rise
up against IL e, and take away my joy,
and shorten my power of possession,
of sight, of understanding. And every
past effort of my life, every gleam of
rightness or good in it, is with me
now, to help me IN my grasp of this art
and it's vision" Nothing can work
me damage but myself" said st. Ber-
nard; 'sthe harm that sustain I carry
about with me; and I am never real
sufferer but by my own fault" The
block of rough stone is before US, and
We, with hammer and chisel in hand,
are daily carving out our own destinies
with our own hands. Each fresh
stroke adds to, or detracts from, the
beauty and. symmetry of the figure.
/ Mr.. Lerves, in his Life of Goethe,
truly observes: Instead of saying
that man is the creature of circum-
stance, it would be nearer the mark to
say that man is the architect of cir
/ ct ic hor i1h
builds an existence out of circum-
stance. Our strength is measured by
our plastic power. From the same
materials one man builds palaces, an
other novels; one warehouses, another
villas. Bricks and mortar are mortar
and bricks, until the architect can
make them something else. Thus it is
that in the same family, in the same
| circumstances one man rears q stately
edifce, while his brother, vacillating
and Incompetent, lives forever amid
ruins; the block of granite which was
an obstacle on the pathway of the
weak, becomes stepping-stone on the
pathway of the strong"
The highest type of character can be
formed only by strenuous individual
effort. A noted writer on the subject
declares: What is needed is constant
self-watchfulness, self-discipline, self
control. There may be much falter-
ing, stumbling, and temporary defeat;
| difficulties and temptations manifold
to be battled with, and overcome; but
if the spirit be strong, and the heart
be upright, no one need despair of ul-
innate success. The very effort to ad-
vance-to arrive at higher standard
Of character than we have reached-is
inspiring and invigorating; and even
though we may fail short of it, we
cannot fail to be improved by every
honest effort made in an upward d.
rection. And with the light of great
examples to guide us-represehtatives
of humanity in its best forms-every
one is not only justified, but bound in
duty, to aim at reaching the highest
standard of character. Not to become
the richest in means, but in spirit; not
the greatest in worldly position, but in
true honor; not the most intellectual,
but the most virtuous; not the most
powerful and influential, but the most
truthful, upright and honest.''
Among all the contributory powers
or forces in the formation and deyel-
| opment of character, education occu
pies pre-eminent place. In fact, ed
ucation should have as its primary
and preponderating object the mould
ing and Strengthening of individual
character. In its comprehensive scope,
it is concerned with leading out, train
ing, developing and directing all the
parts of our natures-body, mind, heart
and scul-each receiving its proper
care aud attention and assigned to its
proper place in the vast system. But
if character, the foundation of all, be
neglected. the whole superstructure
falls. An education that does not pro-
vide the means of developing and
thoroughly training any part of our
natures fails just so far to appreciate
and to realize its own high preroga-
tive; and is in danger of making of a
man either sophistical scholar, an
intellectual monntebank, moral dill
letante, or else a ''rogue in grain We
neered with sanctimonious theory"
An insufficient, or a superficial system
of education has dwarting effect upon
mans capacities and powers, and is
apt to result in producing physical
and moral liliputians, or else intellect
ual and spiritual egotists, whose empty
lives make sad blanks in the annals Of
human achievements.
Christian education, under the guild
aDce and control of Christian men, up
held and governed by Christian prin-
ciples, is the only kind of education
which can meet all the requirements
Of our natures, making them expand
evenly and Systematically without ex-
aggeratlng, or Understanding the
true value and Importance of any; and
which produces the highest and no.
blest types Of true manhood. 1t does
not concern itself solely with any one
part of ourselves, but aims at securing
the highest development of every part
Of us-not the intellectual only, but
the physical, moral and spiritual, as
well.
A distinguished educator, in recent
address on the true purpose Of Chris
tian education, declared: IF there is
anything true in our religion it is this
that the object of religion is not to
create some special department in our
human life-is not to put in some in
terest, some accomplishment-but to
make US realize that the object of reli-
gion is the development Of a perfect
manhood; a manhood that shall be
deep, broad, complete in all its facul-
ties; not simply mental, not simply
physical, but also moral and spiritual
"a perfect manhood"
But the tributary sources of the vast
system of Christian education originate
further back than in the college, or in
the preparatory school, or even in the
primary grade. 1t is in the home,
amid the family circle, around the
fireside, at the family altar-yes, even
in the, nursery itself-it is there we
must go 10 find the most important
because the first influences affecting
the forming aud moulding of human
character. 1.-The backbone of charac-
ter is laid at home," says DR.. Smiles,
land whether the constitutional ter
denotes be good or bad, home inf1u-
ences fan them into activity"
Education in its true sense does not
begin with the alphabet, but with the