The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-09-17


 without. He has given you a moral na- ture, a sense of right and duty and re- sponsibility. Alone among Gods crea- | lures you can say. T ought rms moral sense Is the noblest part or your endowment. It makes the holy or ho- Hes for you. At that shrine you meet your God and hear Him speak. That is the most sacred thing about life for you. Strength and character life and destiny are determined by your treatment of that most holy and divine thing-your conscience. The sources of strength are there. If you stand clear there, you may stand upon your feet before God and man With nothing ts fear for time or eternity. But, remember, that If you are wrong or false or uncertain there in the trib- unal of your own conscience. you must be weak. Nothing can make up for the loss of a good conscience. The sources of strength are within, In your own soul, In your own heart. Men think that they are strong by reason of what they can acquire, add from without and they are mistaken. Strength IS determined not by what man has, but by what he Is. not by acquisitions and possessions, but by character and con science Men strive to enrich the life from without when they need to enrich the life within. And the vital point Is the conscience void of offense, the nor al sense which Is true. That means self respect. and a man who respects h hlp,o nf the pect of God and man.
 With the experience of middle life or age, a man Is disposed to plead with those who are young to keep the con- science above reproach as the most vital thing in life. If you are strong there, you will be strong man. Have as little as possible to con- ceal in your life and so lit- tie as possible to be found out. Then you will not come into the power of any man. No man can injure you greatly, for no man really harm you except yourself. The only weapons which can ever be used against you with much effect are those which you give your enemies by your own wrong doing If there is nothing to be found out about ycu that is wrong you must be strong man. It is the sense of disregarded conscience which makes the sense of weakness. And the time to make sure of strong life is when one is young, with habits and princi- pies in process of formation. If one might be sure that you would not do that of which you would be ashamed, which you know in your own heart to be unworthy of you, which you do not want the world to know-he might be sure that you are to be a strong man.
 A man may in life fall short of large success, but he need not be weak. He may not have the highest place ip trade or society, but he may stand upon his feet and look all men in the face with out reproach. He may not come to great wealth, but he may have in good conscience the richest of all pos sessions. You must expect in this world to take strong mans part and to do what is hard. You are not here to have an easy and pleasant time. You are lost if you make that the ob- ject of your search. You must expect sorrows and disappointments such as take the very heart out of the man. You will come atr times to feel that there is nothing worth living and work ing for. You will have an overwhel- ming sense of the unreality and bar renness of life. You will have tried to accomplish some good purpose and you will have failed. Smarting under the keen sense of defeat, you may be dis posed to say with Gods ancient proph- cts, Tt is etter for me to die than to live," Tt is enough; t < : am not better than nay fathers" But if you have kept good conscience you will get up again and stand upon your feet and go on and do a strong mans work. There may be temporary defeat but not final failure. A good con- science will carry you through to the end of good life-work.
 There is one element of strength to be named. It is the power of efficien- cy and thoroughness and intelligence in work. The young man ought to choose calling in life into which he can go with enthusiasm, determined to take a masters place. He ought to seek a place where faithfulness and intelligence will be appreciated, even if 1t must begin very far down. Then the steady, patient effort must be made to master that business, to become an authority in 1t, a necessary man whose services are valuable. The way to do this lies open for many young men If they have patience and self-restraint, by the study of books, by learning from other men, by economy. That is the way along which the men of position in the community to-day have come. That is the way the men who are to have position and influence in the next generation are going. ..s
 Young men ought. to depend upon what they are in themselves and can do for themselves,rather than on the infiu- ence of friends. The world is full of peo- pie who are trying to find somebody to lean against. The man who has suc- ceeded in getting upon his feet himself is constantly asked to use his influence to help somebody else who has no spirit to help himself. Some men spend a large part of their time 1n seeking for recommendations and influence. Every department of national, state or muni- cipal administration is corrupted by the 11se of political influence in the in-