The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-02-19
RABBI WINFIELD
 DELIVERS GRAFTON Washington and Lincoln Held
 Up as Ideals GREAT NAMES IN HISTORY All Men Not EquaI--some Few Gifted in An Extraordinary Manner. Speaker Discusses True Aris-
 toeracy of Humanity.
GREAT NAMES IN HISTORY

Dr. NJ Newfeld, rabbi of Temple Eman- uel delivered a notable address at the temple Friday night. His theme was
 'The Lesson of Great Lives" Dr. New field said: On this Sabbath connecting the birthday anniversaries of Lincoln and Washington we are under the spell of two mighty names that will tell the story of patriotic greatness and sing the lay of civic virtue as long as the cycles will revolve and the stars shine in heaven s night. By the magic power of these two cancellations. Washington and Lincoln. reinforced by the charm of the name of Moses, whose traditionally accepted birth day occurs about this time also, we may obtain access to secret seats of power and deep fountains of inspiration which to possess has come only to few on God 8 | footstool.
 ! Serious Reflection.
 l The memory of these patron names of humanity should stir us to serious retiec- ton; their lives and their labors voice an appeal and a montion for the mem ory of great leaders is a priceless treas ure to a people, A nations progress re- suits from the presence in her midst of great minds, great leaders-men who are lowered to come closest to the perfection which is in store for the people. Leaders are always needed to lift people nearer to the goal desired.
 l Blot out from historys laboratory the | traces of great mems operations and you are affrightened by the dreary desolatlon of the commonplace, if not vulgarity and weakness which remains. Discussion is frequently indulged in whether the great man is the child of his age or the father of time to come; whether the great genius is bound to the limitations of race, cline or conditions, or rising above these he compels new course which his people must take, a course which without hlm none would have dreamed of and toward which none without his example would have attempted to push on.
 Like Mountain Peaks.
 Great men are often hkened to great mountain peaks, however near these may be to piercing the clouds, however com pletely their ambition Is satisfied to DC kissed by the high light of the new morn' or to be cooled by the lingering breath of declining day, still in their tounda- lions the loftiest mountain peaks are still related to the common rocks and
 pebbles that dot the valleys beneath So great men have in common With others the foundation of common clay.
 Washington would be inexplicable without the background of the colonies. A Lincoln would be inconeeiyable With out the song of the hundred thousands that answered his roll call on both sides of the conflict, which shook this land in the years of the supreme conflict. A Moses would he unintelligible without the en- slaved tribes whom he was to bring 10 the nromised land of physical and moral redemption.
 But without the exalted peaks, the high est mountain ranges would own less or altitude than they have. Without great men the times would be petty and the people dwarfed
 The leaders are above the average; their
 towering stature indicates the possible height which the masses may attain by
 the very example and influence of its great men. By this constant interplay of 1 the ordinary and the extraordinary the masses are lifted up; the next generation stands on higher level than It's predeces- sor
 1 Themistoeles had this in mind when to
 one who tried to belittle him he said.
 You insist that were l on the isle of Lamos and had not the Athenians behind me I should be a little dwarf unknown. An! this Is true enough, but if you re- 1 moved from Lamos and dwelt in Athens, | neither you nor Athens would win fame v l It is well to remember this lesson. Com
 munities and nations illustrate 1t. The great men lift up their nation, however, kin they are to the clay in the common | masses.
 | Men who preach the equality of the hu- man race are often forgetful of the fact | that there must be some few gifted in an | extraordinary manner to compensate for l the undersize of the millions. These few are not the equals of the millions, whose | duty 1t is to follow because they lack the | decision to lead The oft repeated dogma
 that we are all equal Is true only to a certain extent. We are not all equal for consumption, nor for production. Nature Creates Difference. | Nature herself creates differences of condition, of power, of talent. Nature creates bars which we are able to correct only within limited ranges. We have no means to make the dwarf as tall as the giant. We cannot render the dull mind as bright and keen as is the brain upon | which was breathed the flaming breath of genius. Nature speaks dialect that is unms akable. In order to have the larg- | est potencies of life realized in the race,