The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1908-02-13
A LITERARY PILGRIM
written for THE cIrrzEN.l

ing to show that a clergyman or a
woman should never speak or write
on any vital or passing question
agitating the public mind, lest they
find themselves tumbled about or
mixed up in the mire of the public
arena 1t is the clergyman's bust
ness to study moral questions from
la religious point of view and to ad-
Just these problems to life in the
light of truth as taught by our Re-
deemer 1t is a woman's province to
devote her life to whatever elevates
the home. 1t is a woman's duty to
be intelligently interested in what
is being done. To do this she must
study truth and make 1t available to
her needs.
If then these oracles, the clergy
men and women, are to keep silent
on questions of vital interest, who
then is to speak? Is it the politician
of today who has eaten of the fruit
of the tree Of knowledge and has
ethical discernment and intellectual
acumen so finely proportional as to
deserve the white ermine of the ju-
dietary? Is it the representative OF
trusts and corporations who are seek
ing the undisputed possession Of
that which justice would place in
the hands Of others? Or is it the
congressman, the popular agitator,
who has an ak to grind in every vital
issue of public affairs. Shall Phillips
Brookes, Emerson, Sangster, Mrs
Stowe and other great preachers and
teachers keep silent under the rebuke
of this editorial Boanesges? Or like
the spartan youth with the fox gnaw-
ing at his vitals, stand unprotestingly
when with their own eyes they see
the evil of the land? No! But
rather let the preacher and the
woman turn literary pilgrim and well
equipped with chart and compass
with guide book and spyglass become
as 1t were a mirror of humanity, a
reflector of good and evil, to portray
absolute obvious facts as they exist
and administer treatment accordingly,
stout cudgels of reproof for the i'll
and wreaths of laurel for the good.
The editor should recognize their
service as that of critic instead of
cynic, who will be hailed with de-
light as a new prospector who stakes
out a claim and turns out golden
nuggets for him to coin and circulate.
For the deepest thing in humanity is
the moral sense. Touch that and you
press the electrical button that
arouses the indignation of all Christ
ian nations. Probe deeper and the
press will groan in vindictive editor
ais. This requires courage on the
part of the editor and the author, but
truth should be our only weapon.
We should never be dismayed by au-
thority OF force; accept no bride
from title or compromise from rank
But boldly enter the arena and
bravely drag the skeleton from its
closet and bangle it before the world.
Although We may not have design
ated a single individual or place, for
ty different persons or places will
claim the opprobrium. Then will come
the reaction.
The author Is now the sensitive
barometer who through the lowered
pressure of public opinion discerns
the first indications Of an approach
ing storm. This fact alone empha-
sizes his need of common sense, for
all true culture is the product of en-
lightened common sense. Books
and schools cannot create it. They
may teach us better how to apply it.
Il is a wise man once said THE auth
or is the most sensitive of all the
beasts Of the field"
| nave diSO lcdIutu Dy Sdu eA-
perience that this applies to the deni-
zens of cities, towns and localities,
when the author turns his X-Ray in
their direction and reveals what is
good or i'll in their midst. Then it
is that the local editor dons his
seven leagued boots and pursues him
with strides OF detraction. Consequ-
emily the pilgrim becomes a wayfar-
err in the truest sense of the word. For
his unwelcome truth he receives only
personal abuse. When old women
wish to brighten the little children
they tell them that the pilgrim will
catch them. No one calls him by his
first name. There are no babies
named for him and IL he wished for
a nights lodging he wouldn't know
whose door bell to ring. He is in
constant dread that some band of
assassins may knife him in the dark.