Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-04-25

He reformers Of the world are
its men Of mighty purpose.
They are men with the courage
Of individual conviction, men
who dare run counter to the
criticism Of interiors, men who volun-
tarily bear crosses for what they ac-
cept as right, even without the guaran-
tee Of a crown. They are men who
gladly go down into the depths Of 81
lence, darkness and oblivion. but only
to emerge like divers-with pearls in
their hands.
He who labors untiringly toward the
attainment of some noble aim, with
eyes fixed on the star of some mighty
purpose, as the magi followed the star
in the east, is reformer. He who Is
loyal to the inspiration of some great
religious thought and with strong hand
leads weak, trembling steps of faith
into the glory Of certainty is a reform
Or. He who follows the thin thread Of
some revelation Of nature in any Of
the sciences, follows it in the spirit Of
truth through a maze Of doubt, hope
experiment and questioning, till the
tiny guiding thread grows stronger and
drmer to his touch, leading him to some
wondrous illumination of natures law,
10 a reformer.
He who goes up alone into the noun
ta1ns Of truth and, glowing with the
radiance Of some mighty revelation,
returns to force the hurrying world to
listen to his story is reformer.
Whoever seeks to work out for him
self his destiny, the life work that all
his nature tells him should be his,
bravely, calmly and with due consid-
GRAFTON of the rights Of others and his
duties to them, is a reformer.
These men who renounce the CON-
monplace and conventional for higher
things are reformers because they are
striving to bring about new conditions.
They are consecrating their lives to
Ideals. They are the brave, aggressive
vanguard Of progress. They are men
who can stand siege, who can take
long forced marches without mur-
muir, who set their teeth and bow their
heads as they fight their way through
privations that dare to daunt them.
They care natfght for the hardships
and perils Of the fight, for they are
ever inspired by the flag Of triumph
that seems already waving on the cita-
del of their hopes.
When Nature decides on any man as
q reformer, she whispers to him his
great message; she places in his hand
the staff Of courage; she wraps around
him the robes of patience and self re-
lance and starts him on his way.
Then, In order that he may have
strength to live through it all, she
mercifully calls him back for q mo-
ment and makes him-an optimist.
The way of the reformer is hard,
very hard. The world knows little Of
1t, for it is rare that the reformer re-
veals the scars Of conflict, the pangs
OF hope deferred, the mighty waves Of
despair that wash over a great pur-
pose. Sometimes men Of sincere aim
and unselfsh high ambition, weary and
worn with the struggle, have permit
ted the world to hear an uncontrolled
sob Of hopelessness or a word of mo-
mentary bitterness at the seeming
emptiness of all effort.
But men of great purpose and noble
ideals must know that the path of the
reformer 1s-loneliness. They must
live from within rather than in de-
pendence on sources OF help from
without Their mission, their exalted
aim, their supreme object in living,
which focuses all their energy, must
be their source of strength and inspira-
ton. The reformer must ever light
the torch Of his own inspiration. His
own hand must ever guard the sacred
fame as he moves steadily forward on
his lonely way.
The reformer In MORALS in educa-
ton, in religion, in sociology, in .inven-
don, In philosophy, in any line of aspi-
ration, is ever a pioneer. His privi-
lege is to blaze the path for others, to
mark at his peril a road that others
may follow in safety. He must not ex-
pect that the way will be graded and
asphalted for him; he must realize that
he must face injustice, ingratitude, op-
position, misunderstanding, the cruel
criticism of contemporaries and often,
hardest Of all, the wondering reproach
OF those who love him best.