Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-08-10
By WILLIAM T. ELLIS

Like all other wars the present is
being fought by young men. An olo-
er authority than DR.. Osler says
Young men for war;" and it was a
ripe old man whose inspired pen
wrote to young men because you
ARE strong" With age comes eau
lion and conservatism; there Is soliie
thing victorious in the very nature
of Youths impetuous, heedless anu
dauntless courage. Heady anu
considerate the young man may oe
and hound TO get many a pump I'm LtVn.
the stones of experience; put a1Ie LIZ
ali he brings things to pass m
one virtue of the enthuslast' iol
which we forgive him many ilui'''
is that he really achieves; 49,, aaad-
Anything is perferabie TO the 20,
ly somnolence of the stanu stn.t a,-iIs
who sits down amid greatest y,,S gNiiS
and helnlessly inquires: Wen
What can Won do about it"' and theh
nn1aavors to get all the pront pos
sible out OF the situation lot nm
saIf The call to the deepest anu
noblest in human nature Whlcil nc "a,
been heard during recent mohtns Wy
millions is hailed by many as ueliE-
erance from this soul-deadenlnS seii-
;ntares+ Better for a glorious fling
at the great adventure of llte IhaRf
a dull and dreary prolongauorh oi
mere existence as a cautious, Ihlii's'
prudential time server. ,.-,. -
There is considerable analogy pc
tween the situation in the worla o.
our time and the condluohS WhlS
youg King Josiah successIul ull! IN,
fronted. In both cases, tfelhelu.out9 a.
and long entrenched evils seehleu "
ar. on6osition. but the high-souled
beralds of truth persisted IN a seem en-
inrlv ouixotic course, and TO-DAY ny
bieh piaces are being hewn down anu
false idols and standards are IoP-
Ming. even as in Josiah's time Ihls
is the iconoclastic wax. 1t Is silalIet silaI
ing idols that have been WorsIIip tl,l ~
for ages. Were it not for the gen a.
conviction that new anu GeCuot L,es'.od -,
der of existence is being uShereu ~,
80. of ne would have heart for the
struggle. ,o..or
The Son of His Remote Ancestor
Shining deeds on the part OF the
boy King were reNersloil W al
older type. His own father hau
been bad; his grandfather Mallas- @
sch. save for a brief perlod Oh re-
nentance at the end of his hte, hau
bean worse, Yet Josiah. walked in
the WAYS of David his father.
''There is so much good in the worst
of u.s. that we every one OF us nave
light and power and inherited tend-
encies enough to be vastly peItel
than we are. Baby Johns PRONE sets
aunts and uncles to eNclaiming over
his startling resemblance to Grana-
father Baker. But there Is Irich
of raising his right eyebrow WhlCh
came to him straight from Grand
father Sharp. He shares with Uncle
Frank a peculiar way of absently
holding on to his left ear. lie
had nv fathers forehead eXclalm-
ed Grandmother Sharp. Babys tath-
er sees that he has ravishnS way
of making love with his eyes such as
no other moral except his mother
sver possessed - and so it goes.
Every one of us is a compound oil
all who have gone before.
Until personality and God enter
IN; then the leading strings OF
heredity become weak and lnetec-
tive, along side of the strong rope
of Will No Josiah is bound TO
20 his fathers way; he may skip a
dozen generations until he finds a
David in whose footsteps he may
walk. The old Adam is strong in
his sons, but the new Adam is strong
er. All of Gods plans make por-
vision for a person following his
nobbliest impulse and nature. we
are truest to ourselves when we are
truest to God. Josiah best repre-
sented the royal line when he was
most like David.
The Preachers Part
The wonder is that this youthful
king should SO early revolt against
the idolatry and wickedness to which
he had fallen heir as Judah's King
but the wonder abates when we re-
call that a man is made by his
friends. Kingsley's wise explanation
of all that he had done or become
was sufficient: "I had a friend.
Josiah was surrounded by many
forms of evil and evil counselors;
but there were also in the land a
noble company of prophets of the
living God to whom his heart warm
ed-Jeremiah, Zephauiah, Habak-
kuk, and Nahum, besides, doubtless,
many others of their ilk.
1t is to be doubted whether any
great reform was ever accomplished
without the stirring tones of a
prophet to recall men to their duty
and to point out to them the straight,
steep path of noble endeavor.
The social awakening, which his
torians will write down as a char
acteristic of our time, is primarily
owing to the insistence with which
high visioned spirits have cried aloud
against the evils of our social eco
nomic and political system. Some OF
these prophets of the new day won
only a cross; but what matter SC
long as humanity wears the crown
similar COMPANY of brave pat-