The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1903-01-05

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, ness with which ne He gave Himself to
| its accomplishment. and in the knowledge
| of Gods will and character which Is
| wrapped up in IL. that we recognize the
| divinity OF Christ and bow before him
| as our Master and God. For here Is the
summit OF divine purpose and OF human
| attainment II God be not here then there
| is no God and none is needed. for we
| have all we need here.
Going back to this central fact OF
| Christianity back 10 Christs life
purpose-we get from II one after an
| other OF the great truths Of Christianity.
! intensely revolutionary that statement.
Men have been burnt at the stake for
milder sayings. We have been taught to
! come TO Jesus with certain presupposi-
tons without them better not come at
all. Presuppositions as TO His nature. His
humanity and divinity. His work, His sac
| rifce and death. But here we are urged
| to seek boldly for His life purpose. In
stead of determining beforehand what
/ that purpose was In terms of His ma
ture we are TO discover His nature in the
character OF His purpose as revealed In
/ His life work. The stamp OF his divin-
! ity wheels from virgin birth to divine toll
and God intent
But II Is the inclusiveness of the pur-
| pose itself that amazes us. 1t Is the key
| TO His nature. the revelation OF Gods pur-
| pose the unfolding OF our privilege and
| our duty. the source Of the great truths
| Of our Christian system. the ihterpreta-
4 tion Of His labors and the secret OF His
| success. His purpose I'm relation 20 His
| life was as the acorn TO the oak all in
| elusive. IL Is for every man. II Is the
highest prerogative Of our manhood The
/, I-go. sir and went mot is not In the true
| sense n man.
! YOUR DISPOSITION.
/ Whatever your talents or your disposi-
! tion IL is a necessity. We are most of us
somewhat I'm the condition Of the son
| described by the mother of the prince Of
| Orleans The fairies were invited 10 the
! birth OF my boy" she says. and each
endowed MIN with some happy quality.
| But one wicked fairy who had been for
! gotten In the invitations came leaning
upon her stick. and not being able to
annul her sisters gifts TO the newborn
| child. declared that the prince should
never know how to make use OF any OF
| them" Genius Is our hope and despair.
| Our despair because Of our misunder-
standing steadfast purpose can remove
mountains.
! Fichte determined upon career of
! deep thought and clear expression, He
! was fond Of rovel reading u destroyed
his habit Of concentrat ting his mind upon
| his purpose. One day he threw his novel
half read into a stream and continued "a
read only those things that made him
| think.
William Carey was one of our greatest
oriental scholars He wrote: "If after my
removal anyone should think II worth
while TO write my life VIII give YOU a
criterion by which YOU may Judge Of its
correctness. II he gives me credit for
being a plodder he will describe me just
ly. Anything beyond this will be toe
much. can plod | can preserve in any
definite pursuit. To this | owe every
thing"
Or Ludlow SAYS: John Fiske confessed
to the lifelong pursuit Of single pro-
I ject. scheme Of thought dawned upon
his mind when he was fourteen years oi
age II assumed shape in 1869 and was
still the theme on which ne was preparins
To write when death accepted the desire
instead Of the accomplished work"
LOYALTY TO PURPOSE
The life Of Edison has been drawn upor
by this same writer "a an illustra tion o
a trained will and unbendlng loyalty e
a single purpose There were over ter
thousand failures before Edison hit upor
the composition ~ the phonograph cylin
der which would most freely receiv,
and most durably hold the tin.
scratches which are To be converte,
into sounds There were over 20. 90
wrong tracks followed for a certain
distance before he came upon his i'm
provement Of the X-Ray instrument
Whatever may be the value OF Edison
, inventions he himself will be revelation
In volitional force. Of power through alb
straction OF mind from unnecessary en-
grossment He is afflicted with partia
| deafness An surist recently promise,
him cure which the savant declined
les'. as he says. he should hear too mucl
I and be diverted from the concentration
| ~ thought upon his chosen problems a.
is one of pair with The ancient Demo
critus. who. according to the legend pa
out his own eyes that his mental sigh
might he the cleaner for abstract phil
, osophy.'
III thine eye offend thee pluck n out.
, III thine hand offend thee cut II on." I
, is better 10 lose these than miss the goal
Such is the strong command ~ Jesus
our talk about our inability is oft-time
an apology for the weakness OF our will
Genius. says Carlyle. is the capacit
for incessant labor" Through persisten
toll with a steady purpose the ordinar,
!. man becomes the exceptional and averag
ability wins the prize " genius.
TALENTS IN A NAPKIN.
Mediocrity cannot faii with N an,
genius only wraps iis fine talents in I
napkin without A.
The facts Of every day experience q,
to prove this and the man who does no
see the lesson of the necessity of n 4,
blind because he will not see
But the necessity for purpose and
the character Of that purpose arc widel,
! differing questions. IL We cannot sue