The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1917-04-07
CALL FOR CHARACTER


rev. bdlltl Glbiliidu AtdIlltt III
the New York Herald Character is
not what you sav YOU are, that Is pro
fessione nor what YOU do that is con.
duct, nor what people think about
you, that is reputation. Character is
what you are. 1t is the central self
the man inside the man.
With truth as the fabric of charac-
ter we have manhood at its best,
The call Of the hour is for character.
No substitutes viii do, no paper cur
rency. no promises TO pay. only the
pure gold of reality viii answer.
I'm this age Of fortune hunting
character is the only fortune worth
accumulating. 1t weathers all gales
of adversely defies all financial pan
les. When the curtain is rung down
and we enter the narrow door of the
sepuleher. all other possessions are
scraped off. Character alone goes
through to God.
Character has three characteristics
-veracitv. which is character ex-
pressed in speech. honesty. which lis
character expressed in deed, SINGER
ity. which is character expressed in
motive and purpose.
Whatever mistakes or follies YOU
may commit. don't lie said a father
taking leave of his boy. Wise adj
vice. because deceit h~oneycombs the
moral nature and makes it collapse
under sudden strain of temptation.
Dishonesty is stupidity. because it
chloroforms conscience. that sensi-
tive nerve of me soul. implanted by
God to show us the difference be-
tween right and wrong. and between
the calls of the angel and the animal
i'm us.
Whatever. honesty costs il is always
"A bargain. Mother Nature teaches
+ sincerity. She has no false pro
phets. She keeps an her pledges.
When the sun is in Capricorn il is
winter. i'm Cancer il is summer.
Hence. when man is ~insincere he is
ont of gear with natures machinery
and out of tune with the symphonies
Of God.
Cervantes said Honesty is the
best policy" but the old Spaniard
might have added That q man who is
honest merely for policy Is nor hon
est. he is polite. Honesty disdains
ali eloaks and the oily tongue which
calls stealing appropriation. which
speaks of the tricks of The trade
instead of the crimes of trade and
reports she won the prize instead
of she gambled.
MANY a home has gone 10 pieces.
many a marriage tie has been shat
tered from lack Of sincerity. Little
acts Of deception have caused the
rift within the lutte. 4 safeguard
against evil is to have no secrets.
Where there is a secret there must be
something wrong. | do not refer TO
legitimate private affairs. but to Sc
crets which. if told. would involve us
in shame. Pity the poor wretch who
for the brief moment of Illicit pleas
ure. walks every dag Swallowed by
the specter of exposure
The call for character makes no
compromise with hypocrisy. Jesus
faulted the pharisees because they
stressed conduct instead Of eharac-
ter. taught rules instead of principles,
filtered the water az the faucet bur
neglected TO cleanse the spring Ont
of the heart are the issues OF lie
Remembrance means letting truth get
its grin on your central self. Out
ward responsibility and polished
manners are only veneer. You can
not purify the cistern by painting
the pump. !.
Character cannot be Inherited II
must be acquired. II is the result oil
the continual doing Of the right
things. No man ever gets ready Tor
a crisis at a moments notice. What
he does at the critical moment de
ponds on what he was doing yester-
day and the day before, and the day
before that. Our habits, like good
flesh. make for disease. Begin your
good habits early i'm life. Few men
form any new habits after so
takes all their time to steer their
old ones. Blessed is the maj who
thinks character building worth
while and builds the structure, not
out of driftwood, but ont OF granite
blocks.
Build IL well whate'er you do.
Build il straight and strong and true
Build ii high and long and broad.
Build il for the eye of God.