Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-03-27

ton so much as the implement with
which the wall was being tested. Used
to determine whether the wall was
true or not, it suggested process by
which the characters and lives of men
were to be tested.
There is hardly Il part of life with
out its visions, but the vision that
counts is that which gives us enough
of truth and Righteousness to inspire
our lives. There is nothing which
stimulates to nObler action more than
vision of integrity. Affection, gent
us, intellect inspire men, for they give
visions of life But they count FOR
nothing without integrity at the bot
tom. 1t Is at the basis of life indi-
viduafly and collectively.
Uprightness of character will out
weigh ability and clean life over
balances brains. There never was a
time when there was greater need than
at present to bring down close to the
life of the average man the vision OF
integrity in action. The distressing
discoveries that have revealed the lack
of it in all walks of life have simply
shown that too many of us are con-
cerned with the husk, not the kernel.
Character itself may well be regarded
as a wall, for there is a kind of ma
sonny which we must test by the plumb
of integrity. Analyze character and
we find it is the one great silent force
which moves through the avenues Of
thought, feeling and action, until it
shows others just what may be expect
ed of us. Only one force reigns SUI
preme in that character and keen OBJ
| servers can tell at a glance what that
force is. To use our analogy, there is
but one style of architecture influence
ing our character wall; the sensual
| man is building on bestial lines, the
| miser on those of money-getting, the
| philosopher of wisdom, the broad
minded, spiritual man on those of in
! tegrity and uprightness. And 50 1t
| goes.
There is another point in the anal
| Ogy. There is a vast amount of differ
ent materials being incorporated into
our buildings Earth, lime, stone,
brick, wood and from But each must
be tested by some standard of correct
ness before it is permitted place. SO
in life. Our character wall must not
have embodied in it anything but what
will stand the highest test. In our use
| Of the mental, moral, muscular, politi-
cal and religious material heaped
about us we must apply the test that
will best help to produce a noble re-
suit.
AS we build, courage comes from
the prosaic fact that we can do only
little day by day. Stone upon stone,
tier upon tier, is the old, old law. The
form, style and expression Of life be-
ing slowly turned into character, we
test each days work as we look to-
ward finished result. 1t is antiquat-
ed, but still true, that we do not be-
come devil or a saint in day. We,
as we grow into something different
from all others, must constantly meas
ure ourselves by the standards our Wis
ions have granted us.
It is a miserably sad thing to have
the one opportunity of life come to us,
an opportunity wherein we might show
our integrity and our loyalty, and to
awaken to the fact that slowly acts
have become habits, habits character,
and we are unable to live up to the
opportunity.
1t is serious thing if we personal
Nv foil hR1t still
Kill consciously the visions of integri-
ty in others. In that sense we become
"homocides," for the ancient Greeks
believed the homo stood for the crea-
ture capable of aspiration and imagn-
alton.