The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1902-07-25

nlldNpn N'ISN W us W dhhcs ihC HNNphu VIII S''h'i VI h'i
come to the majority Of those who are here to-day. The third come
TO relatively few; but those few are the men OF rare endowment.
The first that meets YOU is tina, OF MATERIAl.ISM. III Thou
be the Christ. command that these stones be made bread For
years to come this will be dinned into your ears from every side. "Oi
what use is a college education men will ask YOU except as II en-
ables YOU To make a living "f what use are ideal standards" the
press will say, las compared with the hard necessities Of daily HcF'
You will probably be II a position where YOU will feel these hari ne
cesstes.
Far be it from me to say anything against the value OF this suuc.
gle for scf-support. 1t is a hard tasknasier. which keeps YOU irsm
dreaming. 1t furnishes a stimulus which brings out some OF your
best powers in a way in which they never could be developed other
wise. But when in the stress OF this effort. a man iorgcts that there
is anything higher. when he ceases to regard it as a means for the
ordering OF society and makes it an end in itself, then lie destroys the
possibility OF what is best within him. and the greater those POSSIBLE
tiles the larger the loss to the world. There is no more pcrvasivc
danger than thinking that the money standard is everything, that ability
and business, honor and love and marriage re all marketable com
modhics.
Iut for the man who has passed this first set of temptations to.
ward matcriaism and who has learned To make q living without sink
ing all his ideals therein there waits a more subtle sci of temptations
THE TEMPTATIONS OF AMBITION. The millionaire. the 50.
,il leader, the political ctdctain, all have in their hands enormous
power for good. 1t is just because OF the existence oi this power
that the danger comes home closest to the ycry stronrcs, among u.s.
OF subordinaung all other ends To these immediate objects. The
strong man. ii lie worships money, is offered the promise OF many
millions OF dollars; il he worShips political power, the prizes of Office
stand before his hand. Whether they are more surely gained in this
way than any other shall not undertake to say, but certain il is that
the devil will be a, hand to show you overwhelming reasons to be-
ieve that that is the only way in which they can be gained.
To do something out OF the common run Of work. something
whose possibilities have been unreahzcd by the vulgar mind-this is
the dream which all grca, men cherish and to which some Of them
subordinate everything else.
THE WORLD IS FULL OF DAZZLING POSSIBILITIES
IN EVERY DIRECTION. "To him who is tempted by things ma
tcrial there is = kccncr struggle for possessions. with more wealth at
the end and infinitely more possibilities of use of that wealth. To
him who dcspiScs the vulgar accessories OF wealth or OF power there
are wider chances than ever before for the exercise of that power in
scientific discovery or in any of the other forms Of achievement
which shall last when the men and fortunes about us have crumbcd
into dust. Not since the age Of Queen Elizabeth have such possbih-
ties Of enterprise and discovery faced the strong men of the nation.
II your education is worth anything and il your Christianity is
worth ANYTHING let il teach you thus TO LIVE FOR THE PEG
PIE not to get into life for the sake Of what YOU can get out OF it
in wealth and influence. and the Accomplishment Of any of ,hosc
things by which the world measures success, but to FAKE LIFE
FOR WHAT YOU CAN PUT INTO IT, to be a part Of the world
about you and subordinate your wants and ambitions to its needs and
purposes.