Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1902-08-09
THE STRENUOUS LIFE.

/ lJU%.
Human life is thing of solemn inn
portance, it is of the utmost conse-
qrence how we live it. Lived in one
way it is a hateful failure; lived in am
other it is grand success. There is
something in it of such incompatible
value that the attainment viii repay
us for every possible cost of Neari-
ness and of patience, and once attained
will make us feel that we have not lived
il, vain. Our instincts impel us to seek
our own happiness and to crafty our
passions and desires. We shrink from
/ hard and unpleasant work and seek
only for the pleasures that are to be
had in life of merriment and ease.
But are these the true pleasures that
we are striving for? What are the
charms of material beauty and the
delights of bodily pleasures, compared
to the serene pleasures of the intellect,
and the charms of a powerful and cul-
! tured mind? 1t is an undisputed fact,
that people who lead lives actively de-
voted to intelligent work for others,
| grow TO have certain look of serene
and high purpose, which makes them
recognized at once. Such a look is
worth more than all the wealth of
! Crosses. If a mans face were an in
dex to his character, then industry,
diligence and thrift would give every
true laborer an honest place in society,
living in harmony with the law of God
and in the only true condition of
spiritual well-being and progress. If
a man has principles, let him live by
them. lie must fix his aim and then
drive straight at it. He is travelling
along a rugged path, with the gulf of
failure on each side. All kinds of
forces are continually playing on him
to push him first into one gulf and
then into the other, and unless he
braces himself with uncommon firm
ness and foresight, he is lost no matter
to which side he is forced. Nor is he
lost only as regards his own career.
What is far more serious his power of
doing useful service to the public is at
an emo.
This is life of trial and temptation,
an immense problem to be solved,
there must be boldness in facing it,
action in passing through it, and de-
termination in conquering it. Mind
and body must be trained to meet its
strenuous demands. But while the
strong and stern pursue this thought,
there are others who seek enlargement
through the whirl of intoxication and
mad forgetfulness Of laws and limits,
summon the devil of wine, = they cry,
Let the wild delight of the body
bring succ0r to the fettered soul Why
do the gods withhold their pleasures
from us? Why may they alone do
what they will? We will not abide
these limits; we will not climb the
rugged steep to heavens door. Para
disc is ours by privilege of birth, and
the wand of wine shall let us in" But
happily times change, the madness
ceases, and they begin to realize how
wild their aspirations were. The boy
who is going to make great man, or
who will count in any way in after life,
must make up his mind to meet these
mad inducements and turn from them
and to win in spite of thousand such
repulses. He may be able to wrest
he started. He may have to try some
thing entirely new. Grant did well as
boy and succeeded as a young man,
then there came period of trouble
failure, and then the civil war and his
opportunity, and he grasped it and
rose until his name is among the great
est in our history. 1t was not simply
Il happy coincidence that made Grant
famous, but his splendid qualities of
courage and determination. Still his
was not the only form of success to be
attained, the field is immense, larger
than it ever was before and the laborers
are always too few. The industries of
the country are still increasing, they
have not yet reached their climax.
The land is resounding with the mighty
march of progress. Millions and mil
lions of dollars are being handled daily
to become the possession only of those
who are prepared to meet the strenu
Gus moments of life. Hard work and
plenty of it and not the passive resig-
nation of the mind to the stream of
interests. A life of ignoble ease which
springs merely from lack of desire or
of power to strive after great things,
is little worthy of an individual Who
among you would teach that ease, that
peace is TO be the ultimate thing after
which to strive? We do not admire
the man of timid peace. We admire
the man who embodies victorious effort.
! The man who pavn,. yvrpVTS H. x,assrh-