Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-11-16

| land through winch II makes It's way. Char
| acter and motives Of teachers determine the
| volume and quality of the stream Of educa-
ton, but equipment determines what it shall
accomplish on Its way. So great Is the pre-
one Is sometimes tempted to think material
aids unimportant. In little Maine town.
miles away from any railroad, Is an academy
Of the old-fashioned type. 1t is beautifully
equipped now, but that Is no part Of the
story. For forty years its only building was
structure which could not have been more
than twenty feet square. even If measured
outside the walls, containing two rooms one
above the other There was plenty of room
outside-all Oxford county-but inside the
only things of which there was plenty were
students hungry to learn and teachers hum
cry to teach. There was no equipment
worth speaking of. but from that school
have gone out men like Percival Bonney and
Josiah H. Drummond and John D. Long and
Hannibal Hamlin. All of which goes to
snow that the first condition Is not equip
ment, but motives and men. None the less,
the second condition Is important. The great
school will have both.
The Scholar In the World.
"The main work of the scholar" said DR..
Whitman, lies without halls of learning
His conclusions are exhibited outside Eff
cheney Is always a test of value. Spiritual
energy. no less than physical. is measured
by what 1T can do. The scholars true title
Is a schs larly man. His attainment is not
ton Is as man. There is no such thing
as learning for its own sake. A philosophy
always implies an art. Social conduct Is
the art corresponding to our philosophy Of
lie. ana, therefore, Is the sure test Of its
truth The hard-handed are not the only
workers. There is toll of mind as well as
OF muscle The skilled workman of the
brain may not be able to WELD pick or
shovel. but he devises the operations by
which pick and shovel are kept going.
There is marketable element in learning.
knowledge is strength and dizziness and
GOODNESS: knowledge commands. The
scholar is knowledge in the concrete. His
place IS In the world. for in the world is
knowledge needed. There the character Of
his attainment is made known. If he has
discovered the secret of truth, conscience
Will find him mighty man, ready for
truths sake to be crucified. This does not
mean that to enter upon his work a man
must know everything. We cannot wait to
become omniscient. But some things are
already settled. There are not two sides to
every question. The presumption in favor
OF Justice against injustice. Of truth
against falsehood, of good against evil,
should never for moment be in doubt.
The background of many solutions is al
ready set. The question Of the hour is not
separate question, but part of great
plexuS. whose relations have already been
determined. 1t is safe to assume that wise
men have lived before US. Progress for
our generation is not likely to run at right
angles to the way of human progress hith-
erto. To find this way is what men cry
for. Only such as have walked out over it
can reveal the way to others. If any such
regards his light as for himself alone, his
selfshness Is sin. But history makes it
pretty clear that there Is a compulsion in
the possession Of truth that makes the man
who holds 1t share his gift with others.
been those who stood nearest to the way
of truth. And year by year the number Is
increased Of those who go forth among
men fitted to answer their hard questions
nj no Inn vA1r hat I,nu
made them acquainted with themselves.
Redemption Through Personality.
THE solution, therefore. is nearer than
| we think. 1t does not lie where most look
for 1t. The confidence of our generation in
external aids borders on the miraculous.
| 1t demands that our possession of material
| appliances shall be turned so as to solve all
enigmas Of today and at once. and make
all men omniscient. happy and good. We
| talk as If some discovery in science or poll
| tics was to lift up the masses and right
the wrongs of the world. If the trouble
were no deeper than that, the way to Utopia
| would be short. But even in these demands
| we get glimpses of the way. The nations
which know most about science and poll
| tics are the nations which have discovered
| that renovation must work first within.
| The way to Utopia lies for no small dis
lance over the difficult road of moral i'm
provement Only scant portion of tbs
Trouble has always had one chief source.
Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the SER
pent. The trouble really was in themselves.
Until men are taught to look within them
selves there is no help. Realization of the
facts is the first step in reformation. Char
ity will still be needed. The gospel of thrift
should be preached no doubt. But what
message has that gospel for man who
has had nothing to eat for three days?
When the sky falls we shall catch larks.'
No doubt. But while We are waiting for
the sky to fall? When all the social re.
demptions have been accomplished 1t will
| be well. But what are We to do with
hungry men In the meantime? None the
less, much Of our charity is curse to the
recipient. Anything is curse that weakens
| manhood. Pictures and books and bread
may pauperize a man. Much of our phil
anthropy partakes of the kindness that
would give the mole an electric light to
| ought to do. is to help make man master
of himself. Better help a man feed himself
| than feed him. Better awaken q sense
| of responsibility than persuade a man
| that he Is the victim Of circumstan-
ces. The power that rules the world
| is not simply love. but law; no weak
| ling negation or dwarf divinity, but
| divine Righteousness that would make men
| righteous. The way upward is the way
| marked by Abraham and beaten hard by
| the feet of all the saints who have follow
| ed him. Ignoring that way is the mistake
| Of those who renounce the cure of souls
L
What men most need Is renewal. with I'M
| pulse born Of fresh hope. The secret of this
| lies in personality. The browning element
| of inspira ton in every age has been con-
| tact with personality able to impart it's own
| life and power. The masses must be lifted
| from above. Their problem will find solu-
| ton only as men who have wrestled through
| it on higher planes offer themselves as COM
| panions and pledges of safe leading. Words
| will not avail. Men need life. 1t is as en-
| bodied in personality that truth Is life.
| land so the word had breath and wrought
With human hands the creed Of creeds,
| In loneliness of perfect deeds.
| More strong than all poetic thought.
Sacrifice the Law of Progress.
| 1.-The mission Of culture lies here. There
| Is in 1t no promise of ease, but ease is neither
the first nor the main condition of attain
ment Sacrifice is the law Of progress. The
| world lives through those who make their
| lives an offering for the good of Others 1t
| is an ancient proverb that in the foundation
| of a building that should abide must inno-
| cent life be inclosed. History has taken
| good care that that doctrine should not be
| forgotten. What the world has that Is
| worth most it has in accordance with the
law of free will offering. Under that law we