The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1916-01-06


religious, there is always a man with great l.
dea. The man himself may be very good man, or
very bad man, as the case may be- But the idea
itself is great idea. Ideas are the outgrowth of
heredlty, environment and education. TO know
what man really and truly is you must know his
ancestry. his early surroundings and the education
that has been his. No man is self-made man,
however much may regard himself such.
Every man is the product of forces back of him,
around him and in him. Some ancestral trait some
shaping influence in his surroundings some thoughts
retained from school days shape and make men
more than most are willing to admit This
would spell faalism it not for the fact that in
the midst of the pull of ancestry, in the strength of
environment and the shaping of education man
has his choice
A man comes into the world with certain
mold OF physique, but whatsoever his mold he can
make for himself the kind of character that he will
man comes into the world and finds himself in cir
cumstances that certainly of his own choos
ing. Yet, if he chooses he can make for himself a
character that would be an inspiration for many.
man in his early days may be given certain kind of
education, but when he reaches the age of account
ability he choose for himself how he will use or
misuse the education that he has received. AS re-
CARDS the events of life are fataists. and
regards the of these events the man is free
moral agent.
But while all this may be true, it is also true
men are swayed by powers and force behind them
that must be clearly known and thoroly appreciated
if one would know the man. Ancestral influence
breaks out in strange places and oftimes many
generations removed. Very frequently you hear
very old people speaking of some very young man,
saying: That is his grandfather all over again.
Environment exercises a strange influence in
mans life Frequently you hear this said of men:
You must excuse them for their actions, when they
were young they did not have the privilege of the
young of today. Education has been defined as
string cutting process. Every boy and every girl
for that matter comes into this world original
package. Education does not put anything into
child's mind it simply cuts the string and releases
that which is in the package. But did you ever
know of package being opened, emptled. then well
shaken and even then some of the contents unre-
leased. There is always uncertain quantity about
every man. No two men cast in exactly the
same mold. No two men have exactly the same en-
vronment. No two men have received the same
education You not tell very much what man
is by his personal appearance. Clothes do not make
the man. There is many man with a Websterian
head, James J. Corbett physique. who has less
brains than flea and less strength than caterpil-
ler Many man with crooked back and legs that
dsfgure, has brain well balanced that IN tune,
with the harmonies of life he becomes intellectn-
al giant. You not tell what man u.s. even If
you are conyersant with his environment.
The worst of men have been found in the best
of circumstances, and the best of have been de-
veloped into the worst. You won't have to think
very long before you will he able to some man
of your acquaintance to whom the gods seemed to
have given everything; who born with silver
spoon in his mouth; who has become the despair of
his parents and the disgrace of his friends. You
won't have to think very long before there will
come before your minds eye the picture of some
Lincoln in a rude cabin, or some Booker T. Wash
ington. reared in cellar. You can't tell what
man is even if you know his educational advantages
There is many who is a graduate
from college,. tramplng the country, sleep
ing in parks and haunting the breadline; in 9TH
err instances occupying the cell of felon or the
padded chamber of ma1house. In every
there are two men: frst the you see; second,
the man you do not see The you do not see
is the that counts.
Find out the behind. and the actions of
the man IN front become plain as day, and readl-
ly interpreted and understood. You have seen men
whom you considered inoffensive and harmless, but
in a never-to-b be- forgotten day you discovered them
quarrelsome, combative mean. hateful and revenge
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