The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-07-01

the one theme of Character and, for
the time being, to treat character as a
composite of all these qualities.
It has been wisely said that There is
one universal honor paid to high and
noble principles of life. which is. that
everyone claims them for their own. "
How rarely do we meet even the most
guilty or depraved who are willing to
| acknowledge their guilt or depravity.
More often the wrong-d oer will lay
claim to virtue and will offer as an
excuse for his sin the plea Of ignor-
ance or thoughtlessness or passion or
want. No one respects honesty more
than does the thief. No one admires
generosity more than does the covet-
GUS No one praises unselfshness more
| than do the selfish. No one esteems
virtue more than he who has lost it,
If, then, we wish the respect even OF
the thief and the admiration even of
the coveteous, and the praise even of
the selfish and the esteem even of those
wanting in virtue, we must cultivate
the qualities they lack
/ l remember talking to a young Wo-
man who, for several years, had been
| in the service of the Salvation Army.
Every night of her life, in the pursuit
of her mission, she visited the lowest
and vilest dens frequented by the
basest and most deprayed men and wo-
men.
Are you not often subjected to in
suit and offensive treatment in such
places?' l asked.
Never, except on one OCCASION" she
answered. "A drunken roisterer in one
of the saloons that visited one even
ing, used coarse language, and the
next day he hunted me up and offered
the most abject apologies and asked
forgiveness on the ground that he had
been under the influence of liquor and
did not know what he was saying"
Continuing, she stated that rarely, if
ever, were her co-workers treated by
the vilest, in any but the most respect
ful and deferential manner.
A somewhat similar story was told
me by Mrs. Ballington Booth, one of
the founders of the Volunteers of
America, who spends a large share of
her time in visiting the most hardened
characters in the prisons throughout
the country. Many of these men, APP
parently dead to all decency, to all SEN
timent and to all dictates of honor,
fairly worship and idolize this simple,
unassuming little woman, who is as
safe and as free from harm among
them as is beloved child in the midst
of its dearest friends.
I have seen this sainted little woman
sway the hearts and minds of nearly a
thousand convicts at the Folsom State
Prison and arouse within them noble
sentiments that perhaps for years had
been deadened. The most depraved
among them love her for her virtue.
The most selfish, wearing the fatal
| prison stripes, love her for her unset
| hshnesS. The most thoughtless and
reckless behind the prison swalls love
her for her devotion to the well-being
! OF the forsaken and the dishonored.
Character stands out in her every word,
her every act. 1t is her noble char
acter which enables her to WELD such
a subtle, such powerful, influence
over the hearts and minds Of the lost
sheep of humanity.
How often has the question arisen
from within, What shall we do with
our boys? Shall we make of them farm
ers. artisans, soldiers, professors or
merchants?" The thought which seems
uppermost In our minds, and which ap-
paIently is our highest concern, is how
to make them successful breadwinners.
place-seekers and fortune-hu 1t is
| quite natural that we should desire to
see our sons we'll placed in life and n
a position to become self-helpful and
self supporting. To feel otherw sc
might mean to encourage them to BE-
come drones and parasites and a bur-
den upon society. 1t is not an unrea-
sonabie desire to hope to see our sons
holding high places, welding power and
the posses sors of wealth, but let us be-
ware! lest, in our desire to push them
onward In life, we forget til at our first
aim should be to make of them men.
l have in my minds eye a father
whose son has attained wealth and
power and station, and who might have
been source of pride and comfort to
his aged and respectable parents, but
the questionable methods pursued by
him in the acquisition of life's prizes
were such as to cause him to forfeit
his self-respect and the esteem of his
fellows. His associates IRE the unprin-
clpled and the morally corrupt; his fol-
lowers are the vicious and the syco-
plants, who hunger after the crumbs
which they hope to lick up as they fall
from his luxurious table. The finger of
scorn and contempt pointed at him by
the respectable members Of society by
whom he is ostracized and Stunned,
cannot but cause him and his wretch
edness and unhappiness, and make
pain the emptiness and the hollowness
OF wealth power and S.atinn acu,Ii, O 4
at the expense Of character
l have in mind yet another parent
whose son occupies an humble place in
society, and who is comparatively OBJ
scure and unknown, but whose erling
character and observation-disclosures have
won for him the respect, the es TEEN a d
the love Of all who know him. Who
can measure the comfort, tine joy and
the b.essedness such a son must bring
to parents? What parent would be
willing to exchange the conditions of
the latter with the conditions surround
ing the son possessed of gold but want
ing in character, possessed of power
but lacking the esteem of his neigh
bors, possessed of station but wanting
in self-respeet? If, then, the question
arises in our minds, What shall we do
with our boys?" let the answer prompt
ly come, Let us, first of ali, make Ct
them men,
Woe unto the son who has left him as
legacy from an indulgent parent, a
mountain of gold and an enfeebled
body, weak mind and a deprayed
heart. Sooner or later such a son Will
rise and curse such a father Sooner
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