The Washington herald., 1907-11-17
THE OPTIMIST.
Have more than thop showest.
Speak less than tbou knOwest,
Lend less than thou cwest.
Learn more than thou trowest.
Set less than thou throwcst.


Learn more than thou trowest.
Set less than thou throwcst.
That Is one OF the rules Of conduct in
life of which you shall md many in
stances scattered throughout the PLAYS
and poems Of Shakespeare. and as moral
guide Shakespeare will usually be found
safe and sane. That quotation froa
King Lear contains much of the sum Of
moral philosophy which all Of us need.
| II life is TO be a tolerable thing.
For. after all, though the wicked may
seem TO prosper and the unrighteous 10
get rich and be held esteemable, :here Is.
help a man to carry himself braveIy and
honorably through life. and that is de-
cency OF conduct-moraiity. love that
, lecture OF Frederick Q. Robertson in
which he says:
In that fearful loneliness Of spirit when those
who should have been his friends and cosmselors
only frown upon his misgiTmgs and every
thing SEEMS wrapped IN hidcous uncertainty I know
but way in which may zone forth from
his agony scathless-it Is BY holding fast To those
/ things which certain Stil-the grand simple
landmarks Of morality. In the darkest hour through
which human soul pass. whatever else il
n II
God and no future yet even then e is better TO be
generous than selfish better 20 b. chastc than Ii
ccltiOuS better % be true than false better to be
brave than 20 be coward. Blessed beyoad ali
earthly besscdness is the who IN the tenn
pestuous darkness Of the soul has dared 20 hold
last 10 these venerable landmarks
Is not that true? Can we not all feel
that il is true from the results OF our
own experience? Surely we all know that
as We carry ourselves through life. so
life will treat us. Outside things may
| seem TO assail US, but they have no real
power for harm. The impulse to good or
evil is within ourselves; IL is IN the sacred
shrine Of our own souls to which none but
ourselves can enter
I do not mean, IN thus insisting on
morality as an ever-present good and a
means 10 the only real happiness which
man may win. that one should be namby-
PANTY, holding himself aloof from his
fellow-men. looking for evil and running
away from It. No man can hide himself
from himself. and all the evil there is in
the world for each OF US is within our
own hearts and minds and souls II we
but choose, the outside things. cannot
touch US at all Henry Ward Beecher
once said:
Morality IS diameter and conduct. such as is re-
quired by the circle community in which man 5
lie happens 70 be placed
1 beg TO differ with this Judgment. I
think that morality is something higher.
nObler. less tirne-serving than this Am l
moral because in the company OF thieves
1 am only thief? II my "circle or COM
munity" happens to be a hard-driHking.
hard-swearing. easy living community. am
I moral because I am no worse than my
/ neighbors2 Not So There Is no com
| pany. no circle, no community can set the
standard for my conductor for yours.
/ The matter is In your own hands. What
ideals you have belong 10 you-not 10
the community. II is not for any man to
gauge his conduct or his moralities ac-
cording 10 the accepted doctrines OF the
/ Pharisees. In these matters a man is 10
/ himself the Only law.
Without morality there Is no happiness
possible-no lJpe To live the senseless
immoral life is not only 10 waste the
hours, each one OF which spells oppor-
tunity, but it is 10 dwarf the soul, mar
row the mind, and to walk In pain with
grim remorse and sorrow and the ache
here is the heart. No:
Virtue the strength and beauty q the soul
j. the best gift Of heareni a happiness
That, even above the smiles and fruWus q fate.
Exalts great natures fayurites, wealth
That ne'sr enclmbeT. nor can be transferred
II is fine 20 think Of the glorious OPP
portunities Hfe gives us-we may win TO
be heroes If Ne viii. we may do great
work. we may serve God with our ten
derness. but after all the chiefest duty
and the chiefest Joy is 10 be moral-and
good. There the only real happiness lies
BE good and let who win be clever.
Do noble things, not dream them. all DAY long:
And 20 make life death. and that vast forever
One grand sweet song