The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-06-16

n hawthorne or "A l>onefeilOW Woulu nave
any attraction. Such lives seem tame and
monotonous TO those who are dazzled by
the great prizes OF modern industry and
have not come to realize that the rulers
OF tho world forevermore are those who
furnish the world with It's ideals and as
pirations. To write 'The Burial OF Sir
John Moore may be OF greater service
than Ito take Quebec"
SPIRITUAL LEGACY.
II the student is TO enter into the spir-
ituai legacy OF tho ages. he must have
courage 20 ignore most OF the books
about books, 10 pass irretorto ocula the
huge piles or Action that seems like his
tory and history that IL like fiction, and
come 10 the few great fountain heads OF
the worlds thinking He must resolve
bravely not 10 read s9-l00 OF the hotsam
and Jetsam around him. and learn 10
know I'm intimate friendship and lifelong
communion the master-mind OF tho race
He who has heard the sound OF the real
trumpet does not need TO listen for its
imitation on "A thousand penny whistles.
IL a mans inspiration comes mainly from
the books published within 10 years. he
will surely lie tree without roots, u
thinker without background, and a
blind leader Of the blind. But to the stu
dent of history belongs the poise and
peace OF the larger vision. Those years
are not wasted which usher a son into full
possession OF his rightful heritage.
Surely the same may be said OF the past
OF art and OF science. To trace the slow
growth OF Christian art from the first
crude scrawl on the walls OF the cata-
combs 10 the work of Glatto. Raphael or
Tissot, is 10 acquire understanding OF the
gradual dawn OF both art and religion
I'm sight into the meaning OF both. In
science, TO follow the progress from Rog-
er Bacon TO Lord Kelvin, over paths
efr xvltl, hrnx nTiA hut
fatigable endeavors. ever rising TO clear
er truth and giving us In what we call
the scientific spirit the greatest modern
impulse toward intellectual sincerity and
fidelity--this Is TO acquire emancipation
and equipment at the same time.
So the man who fails to enter into his
religious heritage is but the fragment Of
a man. When we write 1902 at the head
of letter or u deed. we confess that all
our doings today derive their meaning
from what was done In Galilee long ago.
The very books intended 10 demolish
Christianity are dated from the birth OF
It's founder. These 20 centuries take all
their meaning from the gradual growth
OF the Christian spirit and the gradual
realization OF the Christian ideal. The
first step, then, in equipment for modern
life is 10 know the content of that ideal
and 10 see its relation TO the perplexed
strivings OF our time. And IL college
can bring a man thus into sympathy with
the great significant uovements and
leaders OF the past. IL is rendering vastly
greater service than IL its lands and
buildings were sold and given to the
poor.
RICH AND POOR CoNTRAsTED.
who is the truly poor man? 1t is he
who can walk through Libraries unen-
riched, and under the starry sky unin-
splred; he who can travel with no per-
ception of the fossil history in every
palace and frozen music" I'm every cathe-
dral; he who goes through Swiss valleys
with eyes unraised. and American prai-
ries with heart unexpanded. he who re-
ceives no thrill from the sunrise or the
springtime. no Joy from the voices OF
little children or from the hand-grasp OF
"a friend, no summons from the grave OF
prophets. martyrs and sages. Better
thousand times 10 die In body than to
die atop, and find the powers OF insight
and faith and devotion dwindling with
the passing years.
But he Is rich beyond the dreams OF
avarice who by intellectual and moral
sympathy has entered into the lives and
institutions, the laws and achievements,
the struggle and victory of his nation
and his race. He Is never solitary, be-
cause or inner companionship; never ut
terly discouraged, since he knows the
never poor, since he carries inaiienable
wealth OF spirit: never In reckless haste,
since he has learned in history 70 trace
the patience OF God Hence the most
useful public buildings IN a city may be
those which are simply monuments. The
silent memorial shaft inscribed with an
unforgotten name may be worth far more
than the factory chimney. The bronze
statue. In the public square may add as
much TO the common veal as the dwarf
or the steamship and the marble dome
standing high and calm above the city.
speaking of Roman law and Justice. may
DO more 10 upift legislation and to make
public office a public trust than all the
painting engines that run to and fro
around IL.
HOW TO SHAPE THE FUTURE.
Now we can see how out OF such an
education will come the disposition and
the power 20 shape the future There is
no antagonism between the receptive and
the motor powers OF human nature, but
the student who has received most large
ly, II he has assimilated and understood.
is precisely the one who is filed with
noble discomfort with things as they are
and longing TO shape them as they ought
TO be. You are not going to be simply
so many new cogs on the wheels, you are
TO turn the wheels yourselves, or TO put
now NnekiS INTO the OF the
world. AnG you are 10 do this not with
the crudity and haste OF raw and hasty
men, but with the sure method OF trained
intellect.
Those who laid tho foundations of our
government I'm America were not evolv-
ing IL from their inner consciousness. but
out OF ample historic knowledge The
Pilgrims OF the Mayfower were shrewd
students OF Dutch and English freedom.
The commonwealth OF Massachusetts,
sprang from minds stepped in the He
brew theocrasy. Rhode Island was set
tied by the intimate friend OF John Nil
ton and Sir Harry Nnne, who had studied
all European history before ne began his
"lively experiment "Jeffersons long resi-
dcncc I'm France IS written on every build
ing of the University Of Virginia. and ev-
cry paragraph OF the declaration OF inde-
pendence. The founding OF every New
England college was under direct impulse
from oxford and Cambridge. Is the
world wrong today? Are its ideals con-
fused. its social life tyrannical. It's indus
trial life oppressive. its political life cor