The Washington herald., 1907-11-12
THE OPTIMIST.


One Of the first lessons which we learn
as children from the church catechism
is that there are three powers within US
10 be exercised; that our first duty Is to
love God with all my heart. with al
my mind. with all my strength" That
is. TO have early impressed upon US the
fact that it is not sufficient in this life
to put our whole strength or our whole
hearts into the duties that lie before US.
for these things Will hardly avail US un-
less we also put our minds into them.
As II is given US 10 cultivate our
strength, TO preserve our tenderness and
cleanliness Of heart. so it is given us 70
train our minds so that We may be fitted
to take our part in the great work Of
the world not only with our hands, but
with our thoughts. The mind is the
atmosphere Of the SOUL as Joubert
wrote in his -Pensees." and William FL
lery Claiming in his "Self-Culture" told
US:
IT is mind. after all. which does the work Of
The world. that the more there is Of mind the
more work VIII be accomplished
1t is the mind Of man that governs his
temper. that regulates his outlook on
life, that fixes his relations 70 his fellow
man. II is upon the attention ne gives
10 his mind and its cultivation that his
measure Of success IN the world depends.
Ruskin, in The Stones OF Venice" wrote:
The mind o. educated man Is greater thar
the knowledge II possssses il IS like the vault II
heaven enounTassing the earth which lives and
hOgnshes beneath Il; but the mind q an educated
! and learned man is like ea0utehouc band with
an everlasting spirit Of cOntaction in H. fastening
together papers which Il cannot open. and keeps
others from opsning
But. surely, not much evidence fs need
ed TO prove the thesis that Il is the men
OF large mind who are OF the g4rates,
value 70 the world What We need IS 10
realize that the cultivation OF the powers
| or the mind lies within ourselves. what
makes Tor largeness OF soul. for clear
ness of thought; for tenderness of heart
makes also for breadth Of mind.
It is rather trite. but entirely true. that
the proper study Of mankind is man. -
/ but il is not given 10 al OF Us 10 have
the power 10 read our feIlow-men AT
/ first hand II is 70 these that books are
given. To train our minds so that de-
velopment may be high We must first
study life and afterward books. from
our knowledge Of life. There is a vital
/ connection between life and literature
/ but man cannot get his knowledge OF
I humanity from books alone. Il is only
/ by cultivation Of the mind that We car
/ attain TO the condition OF true liberty.
/ that we can set our souls free, that we
can see our way clearly 20 the end
/ Ike Joubert's fine saying.
lie; your cry be foF free souls rather than 20.
I free men. Moral liberty is the one vitality impor
tsut liberty the one liberty which l. iJ6Suenssble
TIE other hbcrty j. good and Siluiary only 50 fzl
as II fsFors This. Sgbordnation is in Itself better
I n rs than Independence The one implies order
I and arrangement the other implies o-!y seif-suf
I heiency with isolation The one means harmony
Tie other single tone; The one is the whole. n.
other is but part
Which is but another way Of saying
what Goldsmith said:
| ''For Just sEperence tells. in ey'ry ssH.
That those who think must govern those that toil
/ And al that Freedoms highest aims can reach
/ Is bat 10 lay IT0p0r-iond loads ca each.
/ II is through the mind OF man alone
/ that this gray old world has been hustled
50 far triumphant on its way Il is the
mind Of man that rises high above ths
| contemplation Of the sorrows. the rniser.
4 les. the sufferings OF the countless
swarms Of individuals who have lived
| their lives and had their little day
leaving the thought OF the never-to-be-
understood waste. 10 turn toward the
/ hope OF whittier the great universe Is
] tending. To men Of little minds. the
I overwhelming weight of woe may, in
deed. make this world seem like a ca
| pacious and cruel hopper in which good
and bad. just and unjust are alike
ground up II takes the cultivated mind
10 say with TennySOn-
! Yet doubt not through the ages one inc7rasin,
purpose runs
And the thoughts Of men are Wideued Win IN
| rs-c-rSs oF the SIMS