Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-04-21
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ut is not good that the man should be
alone: | will make him an helpmeet for
nin" Life was not intended for isoIa-
ton The old Romans used to say:
Unus homo, nulluS homo-a solitary
man is no man at all. Lord Bacon
went as far as to say that he who
loves solitude is either wild beast or
a god. 1t has been discovered that
this is quotation from "Politica''-a
work composed by Aristotle, wherein
he says: lie who is unable to mingle
in society, or who requires nothing by
reason of suliicing for himself, is no
part of the state, 50 that either he is
Il wild beast or divinity" The wild
beast turks alone iii search of prey
But that is because he is a beast, and
wild. The divine is happy in isolation
because of his divinity, but normal man
likes company. Bees go in swarms,
cattle go in herds, fishes swim in
shoals. and men combine in a thou
sand forms of fraternal organiza tons.
Let no one boast of living an indie
pendent life. We spend our years in
a social organism. We are members
one of another. We belong to the
same spirit although we have diversi-
ties of gifts. Our differences of adj
ministrations do not interfere with our
relation to the same Lord. We are so
closely related that if one member of
the social organism suffers all will
suffer; and if one member be honored
all the members will rejoice. For none
of us liveth to himself. and none dieth
to himself; but each for all and all for
each.
True life consists in the fulfillment
of relations. A man in absolute indie
pendence and free from all relation
ships cannot possibly exist. As a part
is related to the whole, 50 man stands,
related to the family, the church, the
order. the State and humanity at large.
Let man hasten to confess his obi
cation to the world of workers who toll
for his comfort. Prof. Harris in his
Moral Evolution" tries to show a
cross section in q single days eX
perience of a civilized man. This
scholar describes the services of q
multitude of people working for him
to add to his comfort and happiness.
His food and clothing and books and
papers and furniture contributed from
the hands of million men, women,
and children. In turn he contributes
his mite to add a unit to the common
stock of necessares and luxuries from
which the world draws. Each is work.
ing for all; all are working for each.
This school of life must exert a pro-
found influence upon man. Man is a
receptive being. He is brain and
heart and subject to impressions.
| George Eliot declared that men and
women make men and women; and
Drummond was confident that men are
| all mosaics of other men. We become
| like the people we meet. We take the
features of the person we admire. The
sights we see and the sounds we hear
| become part and parcel of our being.
| Nothing can transpire in our expert
ence without leaving an indelible mark
| behind. 1t is astonishing how much
good goodness makes He that walk
eth with wise men shall be wise. Keep
good company and you shall become
one of the number If one lives with
| angels he will become angelic in nature
and disposition. Thackeray set it down
as a maxim that it is good for a man
to live where he can meet his betters.
4
| it is better and safer to ride alone than
| to have a thiefs company; and such
| is wicked man who will rob thee of
precious time, if he do thee no more
mischief.
1t is surprising how much bad bad
ness creates. He who touches pitch
Will be defiled. He who comes from
the kitchen will smell of its smoke.
He who keeps company with coarse
| fellows will grow coarse himself. He
who lives with wolves will learn to
howl. We take the moral tone of our
environment. In the subtle commerce
Of social life we both give and take
Be not deceived; evil comprehensive
corrupt good morals.
| The day that a youth selects his
| friends, is the day he, determines his
| destiny. When John says farewell to
the old folks on the farm on the banks
of the Kennebec river, and strikes out
for Boston to make his fortune, his fu-
ture career will be the result of the
friendships he forms. If he begins
| Continued on page ~