Year: 1876

full manhood. The statesmen, and above


all the philanthropists and the ministers


OF religion, are made by their avocations.


Their work forbids them to sleep too
long, to play too much, 20 love too deeply
| society, or riches, or food, or drink. 1t


becomes a guardian angel, shielding them


right and left with flaming sword, but


with the arms of love. Thus all the large


mental and moral pursuits of earth be-


come the genii of tie air, that bear the


faithful children from boyhood to man


hood in all the grandeur Of middle life


and old age. 1t is an Eljah's chariot


ready to pass upward on bright clouds.


1t is, hence, fearful injury done the


mind when one is bound up in a pursuit
that comes short of being honorable. To


be secretly and dishonorably extracting


money out Of an office or profession, to
have business which one must conceal
| from his friends, is not only to Iun the
| risk OF punishment IN eternity, but it is


shores of time The mind and soul lose
! their buoyancy. The night comes with
out decent memory, the morning dawns
without hope. There are bright minds
| everywhere, gifted brains in this city,


which are being wrecked, starved, mur-
dcrcd by the ignominy Of the pursuits to


which they have been dragged through


the late months or years. But though


much remains to be said upon the rela-
ton OF ones pursuit 10 his mental culture,
yet time permits us only to enumerale
ideas and not to expand them. We pass,
! therefore, to the remark that the age de-
mands that each of you should seek and
find noble occupation. Let us observe
here that the mere pursuit of livelihood
should never be interpreted as the whole
calling of man. In the very humblest
condition Of man, the struggle for shelter,
clothes and food comes very near being
the whole ideal occupation, but up among
the higher classes, mere mechanics or
merchandising or traffic cannot be ac-
cepted as an adequate filling up of the
heart. There must be some mental and
moral industry added always to the strug-
gle for natural things. For example,
while Tappan and Lawrence were busi-
ness men, they were also publiCists, phi
lanthropistS and while the Ettrick Shep-
herd attended his tlocks he was also
reader and a poet; while Peabody was a
banker, he was also benefactor by regu


lar enlistment and service. By pursuit,
then, one should understand the mental
and moral flow of life apart from and
above the simple pursuit of material
things-an occupation Of the spirit not
only possible but easy and essential. This
employment the age demands. In econo-
my Of earth man is appointed the savior
of man, the Creator Himself remains
behind the veil, that man may not wait
for God, but may himself fly TO the assist
ance of his brother. Out of human inter.
yention have come all the blessings we
enjoy. We are here day in our wide and
rich CiviliZatiOn-rich in language, and art
and ali truth, because in the past the great
barbarian sea of idleness was broken up,
and the great waves of industry began to
roll toward our shores. The light that
envelopes us is the motion of souls that
are now dead We are here in such ad-
vancement because there W ere hearts that
once embarked upon great pursuits God
concealed His omnipOtenCe that man
might reach out his own hand to help the
world. Thccar of civilization is the very
wagon which, having become mircd in IA
heavy road, the owner prayed over to Ju-
piter, and to whom came the answer that
mans shoulder must first bend to the
wheel. The car Of our progress has been
rolled thus far by the shoulders of NOR
tails; the immOrtals, meanwhile, strange
| ly letting down invisible hands from the
clouds. Hence, around your feet is
standing throng to-day-the young, the
unfortunate, the poor, the superstitious,
the ensIaved-looking up to your enlight-
ened face for help. Reform in morals
and customs are perpetual. The intem-
perate are looking to you for help, the
youth are depending upon you to shield
them from temptation; the wicked need
these human saviors to lead them to the
Divine Savior; the State needs new laws,
new officers, new inspirations, the new
creeds, new ministers, the papers new


writers, the whole suffering world more
and trucr friends. The world cannot en-
dure idlcness or Indifference. These two
evils would in one generation cancel the
. .,tN Of Il


Society is like bird: it falls to the
ground the moment it quits Tapping its
wings.


Let us pass now to fourth reflection.
Each one needs fully and honorably oc-
Cupied heart for ones own happiness.


Happiness is strange quality of the soul.
| 1t is not something external which one
may buy. If it were like house or a
book, or even diamond necklace, it
might be bought 1t is, however, slate
of the soul. Youth for the most part re-
ceives it direct from Heaven. God blesses
| those who are not yet able to bless them
selves. Hence, IN all the early years,
! happiness falls down upon most hearts
| like dew or sunlight upon the grass. The
return of spring, the glories of sum ner,
! the rustling leaves and ripe fruit of autumn,
the snowstorm of winter, all alike bring
JOY to the young heart. No doubt you all
| remember the far-off time when the first
| flower of spring and the first white frost OF
autumn gave you the same happiness.
/ But as years come and go, Nature is less
! kind, and like cruel step-father, sends


US away from home to work for any form
of blessedncss Of which the heart may
| dream. Gates OF Joy that stand always
open in youth close up forever in middle
life, and for the most part only one gate
leading to spiritual peace.


1t is indeed a grand gateway, perhaps
more magnificent than the windows
through which streamed the light of
childhood's days-the gateway of a noble
occupation. To go to rest at night from
the labors of a good calling, and to wake


in the morning to its voice, is to find the
| best happiness of all middle and later
years. At times the heart may long
for idlcness, and in weary moments
may picture leisure full OF


pleasure, but these dreams are only de-


lusions, comong not from the souls wis
dom, but from its unrest. Out Of the


busy life of earth has always come di-


vine peace which no aimless career can
ever bring. When the pursuit is not per


mtted to encroach upon the health and