The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-05-29

There IL time we know not when,
A place we know not where;
That seals the destiny OF men
For glory or despair"
Low Aim.
We not only waste our talent and
neglect our talent, but we som etimes
abuse our talent by not aiming high
enough. Not failure, but low aim Is
sin. The great question Is not. did
We do something, but did we do our
best. man deserves nothing at all
unless he does more than the aver
age, unless he aims higher than
somebody else, unless he is trying to
live better and think higher than the
pressing crowd about him. Anybody
can follow the crowd; anybody can
dream the kind of dreams other peo-
pie are dreaming. but we ought to
think higher and dream better, and
strive for more than others. Jesus
asked the question; What do ye more
than others?"
Paul suggests, in speaking of the
ancient Olympic contests. that many
run in the race, but only one rece. yes
the prize. There are hundreds of
hfootball players in the South. but only
few are stars, There are multi
tudes OF doctors and lawyers ana
preachers. and business men, that do.
but there are but few who desire to
ldo more and better. Iago says Of
Deedemona that: "She holds II O vice
in her goodness not to do more than
is requested" Iago jusufies himself
when he makes this comment: II am
nothing IL ! am not critical"
The great Inventions and dis
coveries and moral reforms have been
wrought by men who were not will
/, ing to follow somebody else, but who
wanted to do better: Harvey discover
Ing the circulation OF blood, Colum bus
opening up a new world. Daniel Boone
penetrating the Wild West. Franklin
discovering a new element. Fulton a
new comm cree. Edison laboring over
his dreams in electricity, Luther forg-
ing new faith. Wesley warming the
cold heart OF England--all these and
thousands OF others are men who have
sought TO do most with their talent.
Most OF us do not care to be any bet
ter. We are satisfied and being salts
fed we cannot do any more. You
cannot teach man unless he wants to
learn: you cannot give people what
they DO not wan. you must first of
all awaken in them a desire to want
more before you can give It to them,
II is said that Michael Angelo once
paid a visit to the studio of Raphael
when the artist was absent. On the
easel there was canvas. the out
line of a human figure. beautiful but
too small. Michael Angelo took his
brush and wrote upon the canvas the
word "Amplius" Larger" / am
sure that II our better angel were
allowed to write the divine message
across our work. our thoughts. our
deeds OF kindness our ministries of
love. he would surely write the word
| "Amplius" Larger"
DR.. oliver Wendell Holmes divides
MEN into his thinking into three
classes One story intellects. two
story inteliects and three story intel
intellects are fact collectors: they
have no thought beyond their facts,
the two story intellects are those who
compare. reason and generalize. using
the labor of the fact collectors as
| we'll as their own: and the three story
fntellects with sky lights are the men
who use the facts collected by others
and think through them themselves,
but who also ldealize, imagine and
/ prophecy, their best illumination COM
Ing from above. This idea has been
expressed by Horace Bushnell when
he says, The soul OF Improvement Is
tue Improvement of the soul" There
Ne great many of us who do not
. imagine that We have any RESPONSE
bilittes TO use our talents to their Mt
most. simply because we have not
assumed certain obligations. but we
are not responsible in proportion 10
the things that we assume. but In
proportion to the things that We are
able to assume. we are not respon-
, sihle in proportion 70 the light that
we have. but In proportion to the light
that we might have. The ideal Of
citizenship makes us in some degree
responsible for all conditions whether
good or bad that exfs, everywhere.
no matter how small that degree
Use and Keep.
Unto every one that hath shall be
given. Men who use their talents will
also keep their talents and magnify
their talents Whatever a man keeps
he loses and whatever a man x1ves
away he saves The husbandn,an
scatters his seed and now he has his
harvest. We give the body food and
now we have muscle, brain and bone
We sacrifice and study and now we
have knowledge and power We take
our meney and put II out and now
we have accumulated wealth. Henry
Ward Beecher once said to the young
men In theological school Give,
give. give, never withhold, always
give your best. and you will always
have something better to give" The
acorn tnat slumDers on yonder craig
VIII some day burst its prison cells
and awake into million forests Tho
alphabet has only twenty-six letters.
and yet the genius OF man has
fashioned out of these twenty six let
ters two hundred and thiI1y-five
thousand words. With them they
have made history and philosophy and
geography and multiplied forms of
literature. / once counted the grains
of corn on two ears that sprang from
one seed. and found them 10 con-
tain nineteen hundred grains. We are
told that piece of pig iron worth
Ave dollars, II II Is made into horse
shoes is worth fifty dollars, and II 1t
lie transformed into watch springs is
worth one hundred and fifty dollars
The chromatic scale has only eight
tones with ascending sharps and de-
scending fats, and yet men have
plucked a note from the laughing
cataract. they have fashioned n note
from the sweet MARBLE OF the birds,
they have gathered a note from the
ripping brook as It sung its song on
to the ocean. they have drawn a note
from the sigh OF the trees they have
takea another note from the weird
roar OF the thunder. and blending all
these together they have made the