News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1913-05-07

y
lAs IN so much a thin{
of intellect as o
disposition therefore should be cloth
ed with goodness.
The only abiding thing, the only
thing that you may take with you into
the future life, is character. 1t is 6
mark of wisdom to look into and pre-
pare for the future Herein lies the
difference between a child and man
the savage and the civilized, the rich
and the poor-the ability, to look into
and plan for the future>aThe power
see finished picture. Character is the
best thing you can leave behind you
A good character is the best tomb,
stone, We are remembered by Whist we
have done. The absence of character
is hopeless, weakness and wickedness
What Is Character?
Intellectual culture is not necessari-
ly character. 1t is often argued that
intellect and moral development go to-
gether History, however, disproves
such a statement. If that were true
the peasant, if pious, even though he
had no education, would be a Shakes
peare or a Milton; then goodness must
accompany scholarship and so every
scholar would be a moral man, which
Is not the case. Intellectual culture
may be and often is accompanied by
character, but it is not identical with
1t. Did intellect save Solomon from
vice, Bacon from bribery, or Byron
from immortality? Coleridge says:
All the mere products of the under,
standing tend to death"
Wealth is not character, although 1t
Is often substituted for it. People
without character, but with money,
often are admitted into respectable
society. Wealth in the hands of weak
men is fearful thing. 1t is not true
that moneymaking has the tendency
to Danish great thoughts and fine feel
ings? Why is SO much immortality con-
nected with wealth?
Reputation is not character. Char
tbCICI 10 WHAT 81 lllfiil 10, ltpuldllOu is
what men think him to be; and often
these two things are reversed by the
revelation of the newspapers. Char.
acter is what a man is before God;
reputation is what he is before men;
reputation is for time, character is
man is when nobody Is looking. A
mans character can no more be
by reputation than a
'ence by whiteWash.
What, then, is character? The
word signifies something scored or en-
sraved, and carries with it an abiding |
significance; so we may speak of char |
lcter as that which sets forth certain |
abiding results which has been scored |
,r engraved in the soul of man by the |
of life. Character is the |
jtamp on our souls of the free choices |
If good or evil we have been making
through life. 1t is that /
which engraves itself upon all we do |
Character is what we are in the hid.
len recesses and not merely on the |
surface of our lives; it is not really |
What men take US to be, but what we
ire before God as our Judge. Charac.
er is a true man, a true woman, at
heir best and highest, living out the
Iictates of their highest, best and
ruest natures.
The man of character is truthful
His armor is his honest thought, and
nipple truth his utmost skill" He
oes not profess a thing that he does
lot intend to do he does not prom.
Sc a thing which he knows is not in
lis power to fulfill. No considerations
an Justify the sacrifice of truth which
ught to be sovereign in all the rela.
ions of life. A lie is never justifable.
some one has said that other vices
re virtues compared to lying, yet
low lightly esteemed is falsehood. Ly.
ng ofttimes assumes the form of di.
,lomacy, eXpediency, moral reserva.
ion, lodging the question, twisting
words, and giving wrong Impressions
Character is characterized by mod.
sty and purity. The bloom on a peach
5 of the very first consideration to its
lie ana peTpeludIIOu, anu lu6 HneSC |
hing about a man or a woman is the
inc bloom on the mind and the con-
cience. This feeling is more eff
ectual for our protection than walls
f granite or gates of brass. Take
are of the delicacy of your mind, re-
ain the power to blush, respect the
larm and shrinking of the soul at the
aintest suspicion of evil Let cynical
eople call you green; thank God for
hat color, and see that you keep it.
or il is infinitely better than the sere
nd yellow leaf OF wasted life. Live
o modestly, so purely, so resolutely
or your God that your whole moral
ature shall continue,
L. q i