Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1903-01-11
ABE WHIPPLE.
Ideals.

Ideals.
observations Of Philosophical Friend
Of Ours.)
"I shall be glad to hear of noble men
Shakespeare.
Classic learning is spoken Of as HUI
manities.'' A great poet says: The pro-
per study of mankind is man The jew
els of human learning are its
high ideals Of manhood and
wornanhood. Wisdom is humanity in its
highest estate, nearest to the divine.
That is more to be desired than gold
or fine gold, more precious than rubiss;
giving to the head an ornament of
grace and a crown of glory. The heroic
and romantic are high manhood or wo-
manhood in action and achievement, or
in endurance and patience.
We live on living people, Of cheer
ourselves with accounts of them. And
our enjoyment Of those who are with US
! or who have gone before lis, is measured
by our appreciation Of them In the light
of our ideals; what we hold as the best
and highest.
The Almighty made US after His own
image. And consciousness Of our high
birth is the impression Of that image on
our souls. But, alas. how is that image
dishgured, distorted, blurred, or obliter-
ated, SO as hardly to be recognized. 4he
study of humanities is the restoration
Of the lineaments of the ORIGINAL; like the
work of Old Mortality in restoring the
epitaphs on the to.nbs Of old h oes.
The ideals Of the common. ignorant,
and low-minded crowd, whether rich or
poor, distinguished or undistinguished,
are low and common. They are mpde
up c. What they like best; just as the
gods the heather represented their
lowest passions / 4 brutalities or their
highest dreams: only all OF the earth
earthly.
The best things that honorable men
and excellent writer's have done have
been to kindle the divine spark within us
by their deeds, or to gather the eIe-
ments Of manhood and make up ideals.
A great poet tells of the sculptor who
gave TO the world IDEAL beauty:
The happy artist mingled in his piece
Each look that charmed him in the fair
Of Greece.
And as he sojourned on the Aegeaa Isles
He wooed their loves and treasured Eli
their smiles.
To faultless nature true. he stole a
! grace
From every finer form and sweeter face
Then shone the tints pure, precious,
| and refined
And earthly charms seemed heavenly,
when combined.
Love on the pictures smiled, expression
poured,
Her mingled treasures there, and Greece
adored
The best thing that each one OF US can
do, in any calling. condition. or business.
is to be all the time looking for the best
and highest examples and ideas and sug-
gestions in our arts and callings, and
be always cherisning than. keeping them
before us. and working after them.
General literature-that is largely
"Ohlectamenta Otii''-delights Of sense
and pleasure. is very suggestive of the
chaf which the wind bIoweth away-or
the mealy. gaudy wings OF the butterfly,
beguiling and enticing grown children.
wasting manhood in purposeless chase;
delighting itself with the rhythmical
rawlings OF an inebriate: or the glitterinE
sentences of wild passion; or the dia-
bolic splendor Of the Antichrist Its
ideals are either none at all OF merely
superficial shows. close to sensual plea
sure.
Shakespeare abounds N ideals OF men
and women. His wise words and SEN
fences have the glitter OF the light
ming and the softness of twilight and the
beauty Of the rainbow. and withal the
freshness Of the morning dew. and the
fragrance of spring flowers.
Sc all the works Of high authors are
glorifed by such inspirations. NOTABLY
and above all. are the prophetic ideals
OF the Messiah set before us In the
Rood OF Isaiah and the Psalms Of David:
And the ideals OF woma nhood the v3r-
tuOus woman Of Solomon and the Kings
daughters in the forty-ifth Psalm
The gathering OF these ideas into a
commonplace book Is about the wlses.
work TO which q Young man can give him
sell. It makes an invaluable portrait
gallery.
sPIRIF5 OF STATE PRESS.
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