The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1903-07-31
BIG MEN IN BIG PLACES.

After listening to Rector Little;s
sermon last Sunday on the death of
Pope Leo XIII this thought occurred
to us:
What glorious thing it would be
if all our public and semi-public
places could be filled 10y big men :"
Rector Little himself is big man
and there is such bigness about his
sermons that they make church-going
a privilege and delight.
And how eagerly big men are lis
tened to.
For instance, what great crowds
have swarmed the Methodist church
in this city To hear Bishops Pierce,
Kavanaugh, Galloway and Gambler.
How Plymouth church was always
! packed to hear Beecher and what
hold ali through life Wesley, Spur
geon aud Talmage had upon the
multitudes-the common people" as
the Bible expresses it.
With what intensity the great
masses formerly read the editorials OF
Greeley, Dana, BOwles, Prentiss and
| BrOwnlow and what hold WattersOn
! still exercises on the reading public !!
Why is this? 1t Is because big
ness belongs to man, it is part Of his
creation and no heights are too diff
cult for him TO climb-nO man has
thoughts bigger than other men can
grasp.
To become big one has only to pull
| himself out of the narrow ruts, which
dwarf the intellect, and pull himself
into bigger ones, which gives it bigger
room for growth.
As man becomes tolerant he be-
comes great.
In the course of his sermon Sunday
Mr.. Little said that she was not a
big man who could not be bigger
than his church"
And what a great truth that is.
Suppose that all men had travelled
liz a rut as big a. that what few sins
the church would have to answer for
and what halo of glory would cover
the earth!
Struggling for temporal power all
these years, Leo has shown, by the
bigness of his life, that the Catholic
church is much bigger without it than
with it.
Mr.. Little took for his text the fol-
lowing verse from Matt. 23;1l.
HE that is greatest among you
shall be your servant"
for up TO that time the world was I'M
accustomed TO that kind of greatness.
Conquest was the ancient idea.
But under the teachings of Christ
in the text quoted by the eminent
preacher this idea of greatness Is
rapidly vanishing and sublimer idea
is taking its place.
The preacher did not ierrate nor
underestimate the greatness of such
men as Napoleon, but he compared
the greatness of such men, who had
no higher ideals of the uses of men
than rs food for powder, to the higher
ideals of Christ and those who have
comprehended the full meaning Of his
teachings.
Mr.. Little named eight persons,
born almost within u decade of each
other, who, pursuing course that gave
them broader view of things, haze
left an impress upon the world for its
betterment which will last for ages.
These persons were Gladstone, Bis
marck, Cavour, Gam BETH, Lincoln,
Ruskin, Victoria and Pope Leo.
He could also have stretched the
number to ten and mentioned Ii
Hung and Count Ito, who have GER
taiuly made their influence felt
throughout the inhabitable globe
The eloquent divine strewed the
pathway of those eight with beautiful
flowers. The most Of them rising
from the common walks of life, he
showed how truly blessed j. the
world by their patriotic labors.