The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1904-06-24
practical men, and fill most of the pO-

that it's light Eliminates the SUBMITS
of mountains and the plains and the
habitations of multitudes of mankind
and wilderness regions, aids the sun
and the stars to guide mariners from
shore to shore, and attends seekers of
knowledge as they delve in dark
mines and dredge the oceans depths;
and by it students of antiquity read on
histories of extinct races, and discover
in buried ruins, revelations of the
splendors of vanished empires. Liber
al education in the colleges fosters
patient study of the book of nature,
whereby practical men learn to utilize
invisible as we'll as the visible forces
which the earth husbands and steady
progress is made towards the destiny
of man which is to conquer the earth
and have dominion over it. Character
can only be estimated fairly by consid
Grafton of individual merit. The poem,
L
d scholar may be deficient in wisdom.
Some men remain ignorant after hav-
norant that they are unable to apply
or appreciate the principles of logic
and so ignorant that they habitually
disregard the rules of good manners.
The dead languages generate no liv-
ing ideas in their minds; their i'm
povershed souls take no delight in
classic literature; philosophy never
lures them into fields for original in
vestigation geometry and comic sec
tons do not reveal to them beauty in
form or proportion; geology fails to
interest them in matter beneath the
vate their thoughts above mundane
things. nor aid them to decide such
mOmentOuS questions as, whether to
order ham and eggs or beefsteak or
mutton chops. But it is unfair to take
account of the imperfections of such
men in judging their fellows. Credit
for learning should be given to a man
who has it, whether he acquired it
within college walls, or by his own un
aided labor in the hours of night. sur
rounded by only the spare furnishings
of the humble cabin Of a fisherman or
IN fslI in
American Bar Association, | have
heard arguments supporting the pro-
position that, regardless of merit, all
who have not enjoyed the advantages
of a college education, and a course of
instruction in a professional training
school, should be excluded from the
learned professions. Foolish argu-
ments, vainly assuming by arbitrary
rules to hedge the ariStOcracy of the
forces cannot be extinguished. Love
laughs at locksmiths. A tinker made
the most profound impression upon the
thought and literature of a century.
benjamin Franklin, Chief Justice Mar
shall, and President Lincoln. the lus-
ire of whose lives time cannot dim.
were self taught. They absorbed
| knowledge from books, and from ma
ture revealed by the actual struggles
and successes and failures of men, and
made themselves masters of philOso-
| ply and craftsmanship and elOquence,
| This is not an argument against the
value of college training, but the les
son from the lives and services of such
men is. that college men should not
be arrogant. Bigotry is always I'M
wise, and especially so in those who
have had opportunities to become en-
iightened. Wisdom rebukes arrogance
and approves merit the more when 1t
shines through adversely. Wisdom an
alyzes instruction, skaters false pre-
tensions, YIELDS discernment and truth
| together, sets righteousness against
desire. tempers justice With mercy,
! yOkes, honesty with charity balances
| prudence with courage, mOderates
| frmness with graCiousness, controls
| impulse by reason, builds faith upon
| the foundation of experience, warns
the heart to give and receive consoIa-
ton from sympathy, adapts the mind
to delight in beauty, music and art
curbs while it incites ambition, re-
strains anger, sanctifies love, enobles
humanity, dspels melancholy, whets
the edge of w.t. polishes courtesy, and
enriches eloquence. 1t is the essence
of logic and the jewel in the casket OF
knowledge. Wisdom dignifies human
ity. 1t is the basis of the inner con-
seriousness which we have of spiritual
life, the receiver at our end of the
wire by which God transmits his mes
sages to us, and the tangible proof
ever at hand that man is something
more than a mere composition Of mat
ter which dissolves when his physical