Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1896-08-19


Matthew, vii, II.
What is the chief object to be sought
for in this life? What one thing stands
pre- eminent above all others as the
thing to be attained at all costs and
/ hazards?
! Is it wealth? Then there is a radical
weakness in the structure of the world.
; for not all can possess it; an element OF
! unfairness which throws discredit on
] the Creator. The Christian religion
must be based on an illusion, for it
teaches us that God is equally the
! Father of all His children, and the
fatherhood which robs some in order
to enrich others may serve such gods
as dwelt on Olympus, the creatures OF
! caprice, but cannot be an attribute of
a Being all wise and all powerful.
| Besides, a little observation shows
that there is much more happiness in
! the work of acquiring wealth than its
mere possession can bestow. Money
does not always enlarge a man; on the
contrary, it frequently belittles him.
It has more than once happened that
as man grew rich he grew small. The
large hearted boy who is SO eager in
the pursuit of money that he can see
nothing else worth toiling for often
becomes narrow hearted man.
Indeed. it is trite truth that a
great fortune is dangerous inheri-
tance. A pair of willing hands with
poverty prophecy better future for
youth than a pair of hands with moth
ing to do and fountain from which
dollars can be dipped in exhaustless
abundance. God never bestOws a
greater blessing than when He gives
one an environment which puts him
on his mettle and makes it impossible
he has earned it.
! Out of hardness and stern necessity,
out of pain and suffering, out of fire.
quent disappointment, comes the best
! thing the human mind can aspire to-
a perfect character. Your reputation
| is what men suppose you to be; your
character is what you are, and to
possess those hardy, rugged elements
of endurance and virtue which mark
Gods noblemen is to be fitted for
earth and to be ready for heaven.
That character is not an inheritance;
| it is an achievement. 1t would be
cheap if purchased at the price of
Golconda, but no Golconda can bay it.
1t is q growth, the slow development
OF years, but it is worth more to him
! who has it than anything this side of
| the stars, and worth more to the
| world, as an inspiration and an incen-
| tive, than all the other elements of
| civilization in splendid aggregation.
Society receives no diviner heritage
than that of man who, when called
to heaven, leaves for our benefit an
example which stirs the heart of youth
to imitation.
And in this great democracy of God
every man may have character. He
has SO arranged the moral universe that
while wealth and fame and genius may
be denied, the most sterling qualities
of character are always granted to
those who are willing to go through
fire that they may come ont pure gold
Character is within reach of all-the
goal of the poor and the rich alike. No
matter what your circumstances may
be whether you are born to humble
or a proud position. whether you work
with hands OF with brains, you can
have a noble character if you are ready
to pay Gods price; but without that
payment you can neither have it here
nor hereafter.
Character, like everything else that
is worth having, is dependent on CON
bic in the rough, and it is only by ten
thousand times ten thousand blows
that it takes the shape of the dream
he has dreamed. No omatter how great
| his genius, he must patiently use the
chisel and the mallet, keeping ever be-
fore him the perfect statue that is to
be, or the marble will remain as un-
! oo0th as when it was auarrieG., The
dream, the chisel and the maHet
So it is in a mans spiritual expert
ence. Patient work with a holy aspira-
tion behind it-these are the materials
out of which saints and heroes are
made. The man who whimpers and
complains of ill luck comes to naught.
The man who is worthy of our praise is
he who takes any fortune and hammers
| it into shape. He does not ask for good
luck, but for the strength to make good
| luck ont of bad.
| Moreover, there is no perfect charac
ter witout religious faith, because faith
is the mother of incentive. If one is to
fall asletp to morrow and wake never
more, it makes little difference what he
does to day. But if he is. to live for
ever. and what he does to day. will re-
suit in good or i'll to morrow, hehas a
motive for self-control which. like the
stream in the boiler, sets the whole ma
chinery agoins and keeps it agoing.
i There are two prime duties--to be-
lieve in God as the best friend you can
have. who will help you to achieve the
best OF which you are capable, and to
believe in yourself as able, with that
help, to fashion godlike character out
OF the varying fortune which falls to
1 our human lot.
1t is worth while to live honestly if
we have a heaven to look forward to,
and certain it is-as certain as that
night follyws day-that our condition
hereafter will be decided, not by our
professions, nor yet by our creed. but
by that combination of qualities which
are summed up in the one awful but
also glorious sword-Character.
| GEORGE H. HEPwoRTH.