Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1901-03-30

| sake OF the binding. and those worn
with frequent perusal, and without
ever seeing the man or knowing his
name, 1 will tell you his likes and his
dtslikes; his morals, good or bad or
Indifferent; his qualifications for bust
ness or artistic or professional or me-
chanica1 life. The best index to any
mans character is the book he prefers
above all others. Oh, the power of
book for good or evil,
The influence of Books
Through books we sit down and talk
with the mightiest spirits of all the
ages. We accompany Tennyson on his
spring-time walk as he falls upon his
knees in the meadows, crying to his
companion: 'Violets, man, violets,
Smell them" Or we ride with Trajan
in his triumpha1 march, or stand with
Godfrey at the taking of Jerusalem, or
with arctic explorer hear the crash Of
the icebergs, or are received with Her
nando Cortes in the halls of Monte
yuma, or watch in the observatory as
Herschel with his telescope captures
another star. or the ink in the ink
horn turns red as blood, and we are at
Marengo and Arbela, and Eylau and
Borodino and Leipsic; or we sail with
Hamilcar from Carthage to Palermo, or
we see Galilei fighting for the solar
system, and around us gather for con-
versation Aristotle and Plato and Rob
ert South and Sydney Smith and Locke
and Samuel Rogers and Chaucer and
Paul Richter and Swift and Hazlitt and
Leigh Hunt and Talleyrand and Burke
and Edward Irving, while, to make
music for us. Handel and Mozart and
MendelsSohn come in. and we watch
Columbus landing, and see John Har
wards legacy of 1900 paid over for
the founding of Harvard university,
and Joshua Reynolds and David Wilkie
and Rem brandt tell US of their pic
lures. Oh, the books, Thank God for
the books, and thanks be to all the
authors May the inkhorn ever be un-
der divine inspiration,
When a bad book is printed you do
well to blame the publisher, but most
of all blame the author. The malaria
rose from his inkstand. The poison
that caused the moral or spiritual
death dropped in the fluid from the
tip of his pen. The manufacturer of
that ink could tell you that it is made
of tannin and salt of iron and nutgalls
and green vitriol but many an author
has dipped from his inkstand hyper
and salaciousness as from a fountain
of death. But blessed be Gcd for the
authors inkstand in 10000 studies
which are dedicated to pure intelli-
gence, highest Inspiration and grand
est purpose. They are the inkstands
out of which will be dipped the redemp-
tion of the world. The destroying an
gels with their swords seen in Ezekiel's
vision will be finally overcome by the
merciflIl angel with the writer's ink
horn
Newspaper Impressions.
A wrong theory is abroad that the
newspaper impression is ephemeral
Because we read and cast it aside in
an hour and never see it again we are
not to judge that we are parted from
it's influence. No volume of 500 pages
makes such impression upon the people
as the daily newspaper. 1t is not what
we put away carefully upon the shelf
and once in awhile refer to that has as
close relation to our welfare as the
story of what the world is now doing
or has recently done. Yesterday has
more to do with today than something
occurring a century previous. The
engineers who now guide the rail
trains, the captains who now COM
iHduu the SHIPS, IQe drcQ1teclS VINO now
design the buildings, the batons that
now control the orchestras, the legisla-
tors who now make the laws, the gen.
erals who now march the hosts the
rulers who now govern the nations, the
inkhorns that now flood the world
with intelligence-these are what we
have most to do with.
You have all seen what is called in
delible ink. which is a weak solution
of silver nitrate. and that ink you can
not rub out or wash out. Put it there,
and it stays Well, the liquid of the
editorial and reportorial inkstands is
an indelible ink 1t puts upon the
souls of the passing generations char
acters of light or darkness that time
cannot wash out and eternity cannot
efface. Forever indelible. Be careful
how you use it. The impression made
with it will be resplendent or repul-
sive on the day for which all other
days were made.
horn of the worlds evangelization?
oh, how many loving and brilliant and
glorious pens have been dipped into
it! Thomas Kempis dipped into it
and brought up his Imitation of
Christ" Horace Bushnell dipped into
it and brought up Every Mans Life
Plan of God" Thomas Binney dip
ped into it and brought up his weigh
House Chapel Discourses'' Conybeare
dipped into it and brought up the Life
and Epistles of Paul. Archbishop
Trench dipDod into If and hro.,Ub< ur