The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1908-06-06
LOUIS, MISSISSIPPI SATURDAY. JUNE 1905.
..cHARAcTERu-BEAUTIFUL ADDRESS DE-
IIyERED BIZ REV. DR.. B. r. LEWIS

e.cHARAcTER''- BEAUTIFUL ADDRESS DE-
LIvERED BIZ REV. DR.. B. E. LEWIS
Last Friday Night al Closing Exereises Bay 81.
Louis High School Was Well Received.
Mr.. President, Members of the Faculty,
Students, Ladies and Gentlemen -
It is with pleasure appear before you
to night, and take this opportunity to
express my appreciation OF the honor
conferred on me by the principal OF your
school, in asking me to address you at
this time.
The subject which / have chosen may
seem trite, but I am sure none OF you
who have been kept in touch with pres
ent-day conditions viii, for moment,
say it is unimportant, or even OF minor
import. That subject is
CHARACTER.
We are living in very rapid age. So
rapid we can scarcely keep up with it.
The poor fellow who, perchance, falls
behind is hopelessly out of the race.
Methusalah lived nine hundred and
sixty mine years. In proportion, we live
one thousand. We see more, hear more.
learn more in one year than Methusalah
in his most optimistic moments in a
hundred years could dream possible.
This almost boundless field in which we
may roam and the rapid survey we deem
ourselves called upon to give, has made
us superficial in many OF our concep-
tons and inaccurate in many of our
One of the errors into
which we have fallen is confounding
Character and Reputation. They are
not synonymous. So serious is this err
ror, it is calculated to undermine the
very foundation of our industrial life,
thereby destroying the magnificent
structure of domestic and civic life.
The word Character is from the Greek
term CHARAKTER and means an instru-
ment for making an incision or impress
sion; then, the impression itself. This,
The very man himself;
what he really is.
The word Reputation is from the Latin
word REpuTo, to think, and means what
is thought of US.
One is deep-seated, fundamental, per
manent; the other, superficial, efferves-
cent. A successful leap into the dark,
a fortuitous combination of circumstan.
ces, may make reputation which will
stir the enthusiasm OF a nation; while
time and devotion to duty are required
to develop great character-Hobson
sailed the Merimac into Santiago Har-
Dor with strict orders to sink the ship
and blockade the channel. He failed.
But because the Spanish gunners were
such poor marksmen and didn't kill him,
he has been kissed by more pretty girls
than any man in America. Poor Balgey
stood by the Winslow till shot to death.
The only kiss he received was from his
heart broken mother.
Reputation may be made in day and
lost in moment. Character is the pro-
duct of life time. And while one act
of infidelity may indicate weakness, it
does not destroy till it has borne chill
dren of kindred stamp.
Stalker, in that most admirable essay
on "The Four Men,, both beautifully
and strikingly differentiates between
the two terms. He speaks first of the
man the world sees, then of the man as
seen by his most intimate friend; after
wards OF the man as he sees himself
and, lastly, the man as God sees him.
Another truth in perfect harmony
with all that has been said, yet deeper
than all, is, that thought proyokes ac-
ton. OF act habit is born. Habit crys-
tallized is character. The Good Book
says, "As man thinketh in his heart,
so is he". Find the channel of a mans
thoughts, and in a thousand cases out of
a thousand you can tell either what he
is or what he will be. Here is where
education must play her important part.
Education is not the mere filling of the
mind with facts, the revelation of truth.
1t is rather teaching how to find facts
and discover truth. Then, if education
be not abortive, it teaches also how to
apply that truth to life.
Education, therefore, discovers realms
of thought and themes for thought.
Herein lies greatness and goodness. The
value of great ideas is inestimable;
their power irresistible. Unless our
young men dream dreams and see WIS.,
ions and build castles in the air, they
will never build them on the earth
Here is the imperative necessity for that
educational system which will reach the
masses and lead them into realms Oh
thought productive of greatness and
goodness of character.
When the Eads bridge in st. Louis
was nearing completion, the time came
to swing the mighty span into place
Slowly it swung out over the Father O
Watnrr It'll II reached tne pier. but /