The record-union., 1896-09-27
RAMBLING THOUGHTS.
BY MEMO.
(Copyrighted.)

(These Thoughts by a iayman reach n !
quarter OF a million homes, scattered in
every State of the Union In this county |
they can be found in the columns of this |
paper only. as We have made arrange
ments with the author for their exclusive |
appearance)
"A few further words and we will con- |
ciude the remarks that were suggested
ty prolonged inspection of the new
81 certificate. We may sum up the
three preceding articles by saying to
the young men:
Come away from idling to effort.
Rise to an understanding OF the
grandeur of even an obscure life.
Believe in your chances being as good
as anyone's, and act accordingly.
No, if you please we will consider
the fact that the boy in the engraving
is having his eyes opened to the possi
bilities before him by q woman.
Young men, share with me some en-
phatic thoughts regarding the sex of
| your mothers. mark this at the out
set: The real test Of your character
and secret of its strength is rot what
creed you believe Gor each and every
creed has good men believing it and
evil men as Weld. but what degrees of
| respect you have for women If YOU
| look on them with evil desire in your
heart and find excuses for yourself in
doing so, you may say either Ave
| Maria or Our Father a thousand
times with your mouth, and still be
far from the clear, heart intentions that
should go with such prayers
| Or, if you habitually speak slight
irgly of women, sweeping them into the
category of things provided, in their
physical frailty and dependence. for
your pleasure; whether you be high or
low in social standing, you are instead
of making womans sex what you say
| IL is, merely advertising the leprosy
and blotches on your own character.
But if among pure women you find
| incentives to your own purity of
| thought and word and deed; if. to win
| the bless YOU of tnat mother who
| locked death in the face to give YOU
life, you work long and hard; if, to
gain the approval of that pure spirited
one who is neither your mother nor
your sister, you venture Sternly forth
| irto the grim conflict of life where a
| thousand hands are struggling and
emerge with trophies that you humbly
| lay at her feet; if all these thoughts
| and purposes be in you, then are you
| beginning to realize the power of wo-
| man in the world and your feet are
| falling into the marching time of a
| century of progress.
| Sweep your eye over the world;
blessed be the power of thought. YOU
| can do this from the most humble door
way. In the last 100 years this world
| has gained more conquest of the ele-
| ments, more control Of knowledge. more
emancipation Of thought, more freedom
! for the individual to develop himself
to the full than in 1000 years before.
| All sorts of barriers to progress have
| been broken down; the freedom of
souls striven for in the Reformation
has been followed in our century by
| freedom of minds ana of bodies. The
| intense individualism of its early years
! is being followed by an equally intense
altruiSm; for who gains much must give
| much for the good of his race But
| how explain it all? Restrain your
eagerness a moment and look abroad
| once more. Do you remember the isO-
thermal lines in your geography at
school? Some such lines have to be
drawn around and about the world
when We talk of progress. One line
would include China, India, and all
Mahommedan countries as being most
inert and darkened in mind. Another
line would take in Russia and Japan,
as being partially awake. And a third.
speaking broadly, would include the
| most progressive people of the world,
the Europeans and their offspring in
all quarters of the globe. China. with
its vast coal beds, it's ores, and its great
streams, has as many material adj
vantages as We yet it is no further
ahead than it was when the Britons
were naked savages. How shall we
explain these divergences in national
development? One word will suffice:
Woman. In every country where wO-
man is abused and degraded, either by
religious sanction or brutal instinct, |
there do you find sluggishness of ma
tional life and lack of progress. Wher- |
ever woman is honored in the highest, |
there the strides of progress have been |
the most noteworthy. The phenomenon |
is not difficult to explain Great, broad
minded men, conquerors of time and |
space, victors over the unyielding crust |
of the earth, must nave great mothers. |
Great mothers exist only where the OPP |
potunties are plentiful for the devel- !
opment of their own broad-mindedness |
and nobility. 1t is impossible to think
of such men as make the muscle and /
sinew of our broad country, being born |
of the stunted and distorted bodies Of /
Chinese wives. From the poor ill-fed |
Hindoo women, in terror of their male /
relatives, and yet Incapable of break
ing away from the traditions that fet-
ter them, comes what we should ex-
pect to find, a race OF pusilanimous
men, The vicious and cruel Turk, whose /
heart is full of bloodthirstiness is the i
natural outcome of the sensual and en-
ervating atmosphere of haren, where
childish idleness and qualification
are the rule among women.
So, dear fellows the next time you
step quietly behind your patient mother
to surprise her with q kiss as she sits
resting in the fading light of day; and
report your progress to that dear soul |
" hose gray hairs will go down to the
grave in peace if she can but see you
do WELL recognize in her and her sex
the power that has made the progress
i've nations what they are. And if
perchance your heart. from proper mo-
tives, has taught you to esteem the
smile of one dear girl above all the
treasures of earth, when yon come
back from the battle for pure manhood
that you are waging for her sake make
il your delight to lay before her the per-
fected products of the best efforts of
your life; for she shall brin. to you
good and good only. Rejoice in her de-