The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-01-05
VOICE OF THE PULPIT
THE WORLDS GREATEST NEED DE-
CLARED TO BE MORE MANHOOD.
Rev. Charles w. Wendte, Of Oakland,
CAL, Talks ElOquently and Con-
vincingIy on q Vital Topic.

| Be thou strong. therefore. and show thy
| self mani Kings. II, 2.
There never was a time when a man
counted for so much as now. The barriers
| of birth, caste, privilege and fortune have.
| in great degree. fallen. and there Is the
| amplest room for the exercise of individual
| force. 1t is so in every department of life.
! We sometimes speak of the unlimited COM
| petition and combinations of modern bust
| ness life as crushing out the efforts Of the
individual worker. In some measure this
| is true Social science and Christian SYM
pathy are hard at work to correct this evil,
| and new ideals of equality and fraternity
| inspire the economic and political life of our
| day.
But penetrate beneath this system of
monopoly Of which we are complaining, and
| what do we find at the center? A man.
/ human brain has spun the meshes of that
| cunning web, a human will sends its electric
| messages along the lines of that wide
| reaching organization. Who keeps the stock
| quotations flying up and down the financial
barometer? Who boards the gold in his cof-
| fers controls the railroad and newspaper,
consolidates the telegraph systems? 1t is
a man, who is the very soul of the monopo-
| against the subtle letters he throws around
| the common interest, yet there is something
| in the force, audacity and enterprise he
| displays which challenges our admiration.
man will make even a bad cause sue
| coed for a time-yet only for a time. bad
cause bears in it's bosom the seeds Of its
| own decay, and final overthrow is the inevi-
| table result of every attempt to set up hu-
nd no
moral DEGREES of God. Though the iniquity
may flourish for a season, it is predestined
to final ruin, and often buries in its fall the
very men whom its erection has already
cost the better part of their manhood.
When men come to understand better this
inevitable moral ordering. we shall not
find them giving themselves up. body and
soul, as now, to the false worship of Man,
mon and self-aggrandiZement.
Yet these very examples Of greed, cum
ming and unscrupulousness teach us with
sad eloquence the worth Of a man at the
present day. These lordly spectators,
monopolists and financial magnates owe
their pre-eminence to no favor of fortune
merely. Rarely are they born into wealth,
position or power. Uneducated, friendless,
unknown, they worked their own way from
the bottom to the top Of the financial lad
der, and made use of the circumstances anj
events of their time so many rounds
upward into fame and fortune A host of
feeble imtators looks up in envious adj
miration, and seeks to follow. They fail.
not merely because all such Babel building
must sooner or later end in discontinue.
but also because they lack the qualities that
make their prototypes temporarily Success
ful-vitalty, energy. persistence, self-de-
nial patience, courage, the foundations of
all true manliness, and the conditions of
all eminent success.
1t is the same thing in all fields Of human
activity We sometimes say there are too
many ministers, doctors, editors, attorneys
and the like. But Webster spoke the truth
when he said to the young lawyers: "Gen-
tlemen, there is plenty Of room at the top.
The man determines the success Of the
newspaper, the amount Of the fee too often
decides the case for his client before it is
even tried. Or, is a college. philanthropic
institution, church, in trouble? An empty
treasury, empty pews, division among the
members-forthwith the cry is raised: "A
man wanted!" Where is the eminent edu-
Gator, the gifted preacher. who will fill
empty benches, heal strifes and shame
meanness out of sight? When creeds can
and organizations fail. then the man comes
in the holiness of helpfulness, lifts up the
fallen torch of learning in the academic
halls or rekindles the sacred flame Of re-
ligion upon the altar.
There is no need of further illustration
to show that in all human wants, from the
hiring of Patrick in our pantry to the cleo
ton of President, 1t Is the man that
really decides everything.
This super-eminence of men over ideas
and principles may have its discouraging
aspects 1t may seem as II truth and right
ought to determine moral issues, and not
personal influences. But as human beings
are constituted, dependent on each other,
with weak Wills, that need to be braced by
contact with stronger natures with hearts
that love and souls easily kindled TO admit
ration and gratitude, it is not ir pellectu-
al proposition or an abstract prin iple only
that is wanted. The idea, the principle.
must be incarnate in a human life to assure
the victory over error and sin. So. while
we believe in ideas, We should believe still
more in ideas incarnated in living men and
women. The maxims Of the philosophers
may win our assent and yet leave US cold;
but a noble personality. full of faith and
power quickens our feebler pulses, clears
our vision, lifts US out of doubt and apathy
TO faith and fervor, and carries US forward
on the resstless tide Of its larger life and
hope. Ralph Waldo Emerson's serene and
noble character is a diviner legacy to man.
kind than even his immortal writings
Longfellow gave to the world no sweeter
poem than his own gentle. beneficent life
Fortunate is he VINO. in early life, has
been attracted and inspired by some larg-
er nature that came within the orbit of his
moral experience. Who that has ever felt
the magic influence which person Of char
acter and culture exerts on all about him
win not thankfully confess the spiritual in
crease that flowed to him from such q con-
tact. How it enlarged the scope of life for
him. deepened its joys, lessened its trials.
and gave him new readings Of truth and
duty.
The worlds greatest need to-day Is not
more ideas. or more principles. but more
manhood. What IL there on earth nobler?