The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-11-11

" ~ . ~ "a
moving of a soul is the deepest work.
The sublime, tho beautiful, the pathetic,
these stir men, and not Q sublimatod
philosophy. 1 would rather have the
Lord Jesus say the Golden Rule while
squarely looking In my eyes than to hear
the A~lexandrine School TO Andover. The
thing for which politics suffer Is not
policy, but the wisdom of q simple adj
herence to right--the power OF spirit In
law as seen in the police reform In New
York; Literature suffers today not for
acuteness, but for SOU. Medicine lacks
not skill, so much as a vast pity for the
woes OF the race, like that OF Jesus
Christ. Architecture cries out for char
acter In the builder to give honesty TO
construction. Painting shows often O
technique and finish that leaves little
TO be desired. but the paintings need to
express tho intensity of a righteous wish
for making men abhor sin and love puri-
~. There are plenty who can delineate
depravity to me. i yesrn for the man
who can
MAKE DEPRAvIry ABoMINABLE
to my heart and a thing to be avoided
like an explosive or a poison.
In other words the way OF power lies
| open to character.
Here are men claiming no academic adj
vantages. without medical skill, without
oratorical training, but having a chaTac-
ter that God delighted to honor. And
when they yearned to heaven Goo
crowned their prayer with the presence
OF power, and the lame man was cured.
The character OF the petitioners brought
the power. Faith Is something larger
than mere believing. 1t includes a sense
| of the goodness OF God; 1t includes In
cases like these, so large Y development
| that can take In character. should you
seek for n sick friend a physician, when
you were without means TO recompeDse
him, you would GO to one in whom you
had confidence, as to his skill, es TO his
b~enevolence, and IL possible as to his re-
spect for you The larger power of God
works through men whom He can re-
spect.
i should insult thu young men of Prov
idence were / to presume that they were
interested to obtain a power by shrewd
management or political bargaining. i re-
gard the success of certain notable politi-
cal managers this autumn as one OF the
most deadly influences possible on the
weakly moral young man, because II has a
tendency To invite him to similar policy.
But / beg you to notice that political
prestige was not regained in Pennsylva-
MIA by the man who now holds 1t with
out the previous adoption by him OF a
highly moral statement Of principles
which he promised TO follow in case Of
victory. Even in this world
wICKEDNEss is NOT THE WAY
into solid and permanent power. / can
go into a mans house on some plausible
pretext and once there throttle the strong
est member of the family, and for q time
MAINTAIN my place, perhaps. Blu my pc
iod Of usurpation will end. Ever man goes
to the place whsre he must associate
with people like himself. II, on the otner
hand, / GO to my neighbor's house in the
right spirit, II l furnish there a fountain
of knowledge, of kindness, OF service,
that house will be my own to enter when
ever | wish. / have made a new home,
and il is only q question of time before
the world will be mine.
The strongest hold even of politicians
has been moral power. Take this away
from the W of Webster and what
would be left of him. In the log-cabin
campaign he made the great central bull.
wark by confessing and standing by the
humble origin of his W youth. And
how his glory was marred at last by TAX
ing a position which people thought at
least TO be contrary TO the highest moral
standard. Ii IL unnecessary that l should
cite the numerous examples OF my con-
t~ention, throughout our history, for you
are familiar with them.
But even were II true that you could at
tain to power by some means not the
best, you cannot afford TO WELD as your
own Whit uOts HOk DclOUG 10 you. II
would for ever have cbeapened and final
ly have annihilated the apostles 10 pre-
tend that some knacis Of their own had
made the lame man walk. Glory comes
to men in the use Of power il they point
Us to the source OF IL. A man is dignified
by being able TO call up
ONO AND FAITH M sENTI-
MENTs
in men. II he can do that there must be
such qualities in himself. Man is further
dignified i'm having influence with God.
Suppose yourself a Hercules or a Sandow
no special merit attaches to the accom-
plisbment OF what is easy to sour muscular
powers. But TO drag upward the thought
of a base man indicates that you are in
communication with the Mighty God,
who honors your character in allowing
it &c work good on the world. Any
strong rusher in football can break his
opoDents' limb; to cure IL as soon you
must needs send for an apostle. To cure
il at all you must have faith working
through love, somebody who hopes he
can do it, sets ii carefully; somebody
who will nurse the sufferer with patience.
The power most desired to obtain is
that which requires the exercise of the
noblest faculties of the soul. want to
do that which will, in all my business
and professional life, call into use mercy
and patience. The miserable truth is
that we enter often upon those services
that will not use the best of us, aud what
we call our work leaves untouched the
~mightiest powers In the man. Too often
the symbol of the American nation is the
vast steam hammer erected at Bet lehem,
in the center of the steel producing Sec
ton. This has been looked upon as the
HIGHEST ACHIEVEMENT OF MECHANICAL
POWER.
On it was forged the axle OF that great
wheel said TO be capable Of sustaining a
weight six times as great as the canti-
lever bridge at Cincinnati. And on il
more lately were forged the cranks of
that great engine which is to give motion
to the paragon OF mills in our Fall River
neighbor. This is the American Bethle-
hem, aud the name is significant. But
who shall say that the older Bethlehem is
not the better symbol-the Bethlemem
where the Spirit of God came into touch
with the world? Where began to be
forged in a white heat the Mighty Spirit
on which the wheel OF nature revolves.
the Spirit that sustains the arch OF n
hfUhxVny to the tnnuite- uhero atruck