Robert W. Woodruff
Library
Gift of
Randall K. Burkett
EMORY UNIVERSITY
Special Collections & Archives
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Traits of Character
ILLUSTRATED
IN
BIBLE LIGHT
TOGETHER WITH SHORT SKETCHES OF
Marked and Marred Manhood and Womanhood
BY
H. F. KLETZING, A. M.
AUTHOR OF "PROGRESS OF A RACE"
AND
E. L. KLETZING, A. M.
PRINCIPAL IN CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
THE ELLIS-MARTIN CO.
JACKSON, TENN.
"Books should to one of these four ends conduce:
For wisdom, piety, delight or use."
Copyright, 1898
by
HENRY F. KLETZING
All rights reserved
SOLD ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION
TO
OUR MOTHER
Whose Chris+I':ke character and self-denying life, have
been Me molding forces in our lives, this
voiume is affectionately
inscribed
BY
THE AUTHORS
in
Earth holds many wondrous scenes called temples, battle¬
fields, cathedrals, but earth holds no scene comparable for
majesty and beauty to a man clothed indeed with intellect,
but adorned also with integrities and virtues.—Newell Dwight
Hillis.
Be noble; and the nobleness that lies
In other men, sleeping, but never dead.
Will rise in majesty to meet thine own.
—Lowell.
Invincible determination and a right nature are the levers
that move the world.—Pres. Porter.
IV
PREFACE.
Truth is much more forcibly impressed upon the
mind when accompanied by illustration, either in inci¬
dent, anecdote, example or in a drawing or picture.
Where the mere statement of truth in the abstract may
fail of results, the illustration comes to the aid of truth
and impresses and fixes the thought upon the mind.
In the following pages we have attempted to combine
the two ideas. While the picture impresses the truth in
one way, the printed page by example, figure or anecdote
adds power of retention and increases the amount of
truth conveyed. We lay claim to no originality of
thought further than the manner of arrangement and the
method of conveying the truth to the mind.
Realizing the inspiration that noble deeds give to
many a life and the advantage gained in noting the causes
of failure, we have added short and striking biographies
of prominent men and women.
The sidelights are truths mostly illustrated in lighter
vein.
THE AUTHORS.
April, 1898.
v
"Chisel in hand stood a sculptor boy,
With his marble block before him;
And his face lit up with a smile of joy
As an angel dream passed o'er him.
He carved that dream on the yielding stone
With many a sharp incision;
In heaven's own light the sculptor shone,
He had caught that angel vision.
Sculptors of life are we as we stand
With our lives uncarved before us,
Waiting the hour when, at God's command,
Our life dream passes o'er us.
Let us carve it, then, on the yielding stone,
With many a sharp incision;—
Its heavenly beauty shall be our own;—
Our lives, that angel vision."
vi
CONTENTS
PART I
pages
Traits of Character, Illustrated ... - 8-207
PART II
Marked Manhood and Womanhood - 208-309
PART III
Marred Manhood and Womanhood - 310-341
PART IV *
Sidelights 342-363
VH
Character Building,
MAN'S CHIEF BUSINESS IN LIFE.
A wise man is strong.—Solomon.
CHARACTER.
"One ruddy drop of manly blood the surging sea outweighs."
The truest test of civilization is not the census, nor the size of
cities, nor the crops; no, but the kind of man the country turns out.—
Emerson.
Better not be at all
Than not be noble. —Tennyson.
My road must be through Character to Power; I will try no
other course, and I am sanguine enough to believe lhat this course,
though not perhaps the quickest, is tbe surest.—Canning.
God created man in his own image, hence manhood
is an ideal, and in as far as man fails to exhibit the God¬
like in his character does he fall short of true manhood.
The highest object of life is the possession of a good
character. The foundations of civil security, the
progress and civilization of nations depend upon in¬
dividual character. Character is power in a much higher
sense than that knowledge is power.
CHARACTER.
How have the truly great attained to the honored
positions they hold? Not by rank, for many were of
lowly birth; not by wealth, for the inheritance of not a
few has been poverty; not by talents, for many were
not men of genius in this respect. Force of character
rather than any of these has frequently made men of
moderate powers to surpass the brilliant and wealthy
even in the competition and jealousy of public life.
We say money is power, but character is power
in a truer sense.
Jefferson once said that not a throne in Europe
could stand against Washington's character, and in com¬
parison with it the millions of the Rothschilds looked
ridiculous.
Wellington said that Napoleon's presence in the
French army was equivalent to forty thousand soldiers.
Of John Hall it was said, "The man behind the
sermon is the secret of power."
Benjamin Franklin attributed his success as a pub¬
lic man not to his talents or his powers of speaking, but
to his known integrity of character.
The personal character of Alexander I., Emperor
of Russia, was said to be equivalent to a constitution.
Success depends more upon what you are than
what you know.
Character, not ability, elected Washington and Lin¬
coln to the presidency.
A man who has lost his character may weigh as
much and know as much, may be as wise and as zealous,
may have as much property and as prominent a station
as before, but his influence for good is gone forever.
Men cast him out as worthless. Character is everything
to a man. That gone, and there is no place for him in
the universe.
10
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
1 am the Truth.—Jesus Christ.
TRUTH.
Truth is the backbone of character. Nothing is
beautiful or strong or permanent without truth. All
qualifications that go to make up noble manhood count
for naught where there is not a persistent adherence to
truthfulness. As the mirror reflects objects as they are,
without alteration, so truth presents everything as it is.
God's word is the great mirror of truth. He who would
know himself as he is, must frequently observe himself
in the light of this mirror. The mask of hypocrisy is
here thrust aside. Before this great and accurate mirror
it is possible for every man, whatever his qualifications,
to measure up to the full stature of noble, royal, Christian
manhood.
Francis Horner of England was a man of no extraor-
TRUTH.
li
dinary talents. He died at the early age of thirty-eight
more truly beloved, trusted and admired than most men
of his time. The secret of his success was not in wealth,
or rank, or genius, or eloquence, for in none of these
did he stand out prominently. Men on all sides sur¬
passed him in these qualities and attainments, and yet
he will be nobly remembered when the more nobly born
and favored will have been forgotten. The secret lies
in Sydney Smith's statement that Francis Horner had
the ten commandments stamped upon his forehead.
Thackeray says: "Nature has written a" letter of
credit upon some men's faces which is honored wherever
presented. You cannot help trusting such men; their
very presence gives confidence. There is a promise to
pay in their very faces which gives confidence, and you
prefer it to another man's indorsement."
Who make up the really great men of any age? It
is those who have truth woven into every fiber of their
being.
During the American Revolution General Reed was
offered a large bribe by the British if he would desert
the cause of his country. Although he was very poor
his reply was that the king of England was not rich
enough to buy him.
What a fascinating power is associated with a man
who is true! The very name of a Gladstone, a Wash¬
ington or a Lincoln inspires the youth who has a purpose
with a greater determination not to seek ephemeral great¬
ness but to be true at any cost. Garibaldi's soldiers and
officers were ready to die for him at any time. WThen
he called for forty volunteers to go where it was sure
that many would meet death, a whole battalion rushed
forward and lots had to be drawn, so eager were they to
obey.
12
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Ye are the light of the world.—Jesus Christ.
A BURNING AND A SHINING LIGHT.
The lighthouse Pharos, one of the seven wonders of
the world, at the mouth of the harbor of Alexandria, in
Egypt, was 400 feet high and lasted for 1,600 years. The
fire, constantly kept lighted on its summit, was visible for
forty miles.
As the beams from the lighthouse thrown out over
the ocean are the means of saving many precious lives, so
in the moral world Christian manhood throws its beams
of light far out on the sea of life and guides many a tem¬
pest-tossed soul and saves it from the hidden rocks and
sandbars. On the sides of the great Eddystone light¬
house is cut the motto, "To give light and to save life."
Like some friendly beacon standing on a rocky coast, or
A BURNING AND A SHINING LIGHT.
13
at the entrance of a harbor, we are all permitted to warn
men from the evil or guide them toward the good. Verily
everyone is called to give light and to save life.
Many a voyager on life's ocean has found guidance
and deliverance from the kindly rays of help that have
shone out from some consecrated Christian, when waves
of sin were beating high, when sunken rocks of tempta¬
tion were just ahead, or when the winds of opposition
were driving the helpless one toward the rocks and shoals
of unbelief. Let your light shine. The light is not to be
hid under a bushel or anything else. Its mission is to
shine.
What a development in the power of light from the
tallow candle to the oil lamp, the kerosene lamp, the gas
light, the arc light, and who is ready to say that we will
not in a few years have newer methods of producing still
stronger light? and all this light is made to shine, to shine
into and dispel darkness. Thus is the moral light of the
world to become more powerful as the years go by, and
to penetrate and disperse the darkness—the darkness of
ignorance, of superstition, of moral obliquity, of sin in
every form.
I long for men and women who, in the realm of help¬
fulness, will make their life-study the study of develop¬
ment in power to bless. Already there is lodged in every
one of you enough power to make you a great help to the
world. You have light, you have thoughts, views, aspi¬
rations ; you know what is good in life. Oh, if you would
only let the light shine.—J. G. McClure.
Out into the darkness it is ours to shine. Noise has
naught to do with shining, nor has commotion, but power
has. How light penetrates darkness! How it finds a way
into darkness! No one can tell another the exact things
he should do in life, but this he can tell, that everyone
should shine.—J. G. McClure.
14
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Unto the upright there ariseth light.—Psalmist.
LIGHT WITHOUT HEAT.
John the Baptist was denominated a burning and a
shining light. There may be heat where there is no
light, and also light where there is no heat. There are
phosphorescent gleams of light in the firefly, decayed
wood, and the sparkling sea wave, but no appreciable
heat; and there is heat in the blood of all living animals,
but no light.
In the northern regions, the aurora, or northern
light, shines with great brilliancy and is exceedingly
beautiful. The whole phenomena of waving wreaths,
flickering flames, rays, curtains, fringes, bands, and flash¬
ing colors, the strange confusion of light and motion, now
high in the heavens, then dropping like curtains of gold
and silver lace, sparkling with a wreath of rubies, emer-
LIGHT WITHOUT HEAT.
15
aids and diamonds, penetrating dark gulches and light¬
ing the whole landscape as with tens of thousands of elec¬
tric lights—all this gives a picture that can faintly be de¬
scribed in words.
Such a scenery, intensely beautiful as it is, is abso¬
lutely without warmth. As the light flashes across the
scenery, revealing huge mountains of glistening ice, in¬
stead of warmth, it sends a chill over the well-protected
observer. These auroras may well represent the lights
of worldliness that give no saving warmth to the soul.
The pleasures of the wturld may for a time present to
the eye apparently beautiful and attractive Scenes, and
yet all these, like the auroras, leave the soul in a frosty and
chilling atmosphere. No matter how brilliant and at¬
tractive they may be, they have no power to bestow life-
giving warmth.
As the sun in his course gives both light and heat to
our earth-, that would otherwise be a cold, desolate waste,
thus the true Sun of Righteousness, with healing in his
wings, brings the warmth and light of life to> all hearts
that are open to receive.
"More light," says the gifted poet Goethe, in his ex¬
piring moments. Well does his biographer say that the
morality of that day will pass a severe judgment on the
man who>, professing the profoundest subjugation to law
and order in everything else, seems to have shrunk from
the golden clasp of legitimate marriage—the man who
was so light to lend his heart and so fearful to give his
hand.
Goethe was a remarkably talented writer, but morally
and spiritually his writings are like the aurora. Facing
eternity, his cry was not for more light of the intellect, but
for more of the light that gives warmth—the light that
comes to and radiates from every Christian heart.
16 TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
With God, all things are possible.—Jesus Christ.
IMPOSSIBILITIES.
The Alps with their snow-capped peaks, with their
dangerous precipices and the awful abyss beneath, with
overhanging rocks and mountains of snow that may
with the slightest change, even of the atmosphere, result
in a destructive avalanche—these Alps were considered
well-nigh impassable. But when Napoleon was in¬
formed by his engineer, who had just explored the wild
passes of St. Bernard, that it would be impossible to take
the artillery across, he replied, "There shall be no Alps!
Impossible is only found in the dictionary of fools." At
the head of an army of 30,000 men he ordered an advance,
and with horses and artillery he overcame dangers, diffi¬
culties and obstacles and swooped down upon Italy like
an Alpine eagle upon its prey.
When Daniel Webster was delivering his memora¬
ble speech at the dedication of Bunker Hill Monument
the crowd pressed forward to such an extent that some
IMPOSSIBILITIES.
17
were fainting and some being crushed. Officers strove
in vain to make the crowd stand back; they said it could
not be done Some one asked Mr. Webster to make an
appeal to them. The great orator came forward,
stretched forth his hand, and said, in his deep, stentorian
tones, "Gentlemen, stand back!" "It cannot be done,"
they shouted. "Gentlemen, stand back!" said he without
a change of voice. "It is impossible, Mr. Webster, im¬
possible." "Impossible?" repeated Webster. "Impossi¬
ble? Nothing is impossible on Bunker Hill;" and the
vast crowd swayed and rolled back like a mighty wave of
the ocean.
The word impossible was hateful to Chatham, as it
is to all vigorous natures who recognize the latent, the
reserved power, in men and nations. "Never let me hear
that word again," said Mirabeau. Lord Anson sends
word to Chatham, then confined to his chamber by one
of his most violent attacks of the gout, that it is impossi¬
ble for him to fit out a naval expedition within the period
to which he is limited. "Impossible?" cried Chatham,
glaring at the messenger. "Who talks to me of impossi¬
bilities?" Then starting to his feet, and forcing out great
drops of agony on his brow with the excruciating torment
of the effort, he exclaimed, "Tell Lord Anson that he
serves under a minister who treads on impossibilities!"
—Whipple.
"Impossible," said the Maine legislators, when Neal
Dow proposed a prohibition bill. "Then we will make
it possible," was the reply, and that noble man made his
influence felt throughout the Pine Tree State until the
bill was engrossed on the statute books of the state.
What a splendid declaration that is of Paul's: If
God be for us, who can be against us? He does not
answer, for no answer is necessary. Nothing can stand
in the way of a determined soul that obeys God.
F8
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Buy the truth and sell it not.— So'omon.
TRUTH AND ERROR.
Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the good or evil side.
—Lowell.
Here is the good old ship of truth sailing majestic¬
ally over billow's and waves, outriding the most severe
and dangerous storms of the ocean, while Error, although
sailing out into the ocean apparently under as favorable
circumstances, has her sails rent in twain and goes down
before the slightest storm. See those who have taken
passage in her frail bark! When the hour of extremity
comes they jump overboard and are lost.
Truth.is the perception and representation of things
as they are. Truth is the foundation of all knowledge
and the cement of all society. It is impossible to love
one in whose truthfulness we cannot confide. It is not
necessary, as some think, that "good breeding" should be
sustained through falsehood or affectation. A social sys-
TRUTH AND ERROR.
19
tem that involves the practice of subterfuge is wrong in
its basis and corroding in its tendencies. It is related
of Cyrus that when asked what was the first thing he
learned, he replied, "To tell the truth." The true character
acts rightly, whether in secret or in the sight of men.
That boy was well trained who, when asked why he did
riot pocket some pears, for nobody was there to see, re¬
plied, "Yes, there was; I was there to see myself; and I
don't intend ever to see myself do a dishonest thing."
No dishonest man ever wished that his breast was
made of glass or that others could read his thoughts.
Falsehood and affectation may at times appear to give
one gain or standing in society, but sin is sure to find us
out, and, like the passenger of the ship "Error," every un¬
true man must suffer shipwreck.
Habits of the strictest truth ought to be inculcated.
No species of deception can be practiced without injury
to the practicer. An apprehended or realized detection
of mistakes and exaggerations has many a time sent a
blush to the cheek and palpitation to the heart.
There is no middle ground. What is not true is
false. Imagine the delightful emotion with which
Petrarch must have received the tribute of public ap¬
plause when, on his appearing as fitness in a cause and
approaching to take the oath, he was informed that such
was the confidence of the court in his veracity that his
word was sufficient without an oath.
Are you a true man? Can your word be depended
upon?
To thine own self be true;
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
—Shakespeare.
20 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Set your affections on things above.—St. Paul.
THE MUCKRAKE.
When Christiana was in the house of the Interpreter,
she saw in one of the rooms "a man that could look no
way but downward, with a muckrake in his hand.
There stood also one over his head with a celestial crown,
and proffered him that crown for his muckrake; but the
man did neither look up nor regard, but raked to him¬
self the straws, the small sticks, and dust of the floor."
When the meaning of this figure had been explained to
her, then said Christiana, "Oh, deliver me from this
muckrake!" That prayer, said the Interpreter, has lain
by till it is almost rusty. Straws and sticks and dust
with most are the great things now looked after. That
rusty old prayer is worth taking out and oiling up for
THE MUCKRAKE.
21
fresh use in our day—Lord, deliver us from the muck¬
rake.
In the cut opposite, the one who proffers the crown,
being wholly ignored and rejected, is departing from the
man, who, in great anxiety to rake up the dollars, is near-
ing an awful precipice over which his present course will
carry him. This man's looking downward instead of
upward, holding to his muckrake and rejecting a shin¬
ing crown, has its illustrations in many practical phases
in this life. It applies to the man who lives for money,
for pleasure, for honor, for position, or for fame, where
the spiritual needs are entirely forgotten. But the appli¬
cation may be made even wider than this and embrace the
everyday duties and pursuits. Well may we pray, Lord,
deliver us from this muckrake. Fixing the eyes on the
muckrake and rejecting the shining crown is what makes
life miserable and death dreadful. In seeking pleasure
or following the customs and fashions of the day our eyes
may be kept downward and away from the crown.
In seeking honor and reputation the muckrake be¬
comes peculiarly perilous. If we follow the straws of
popular applause and ephemeral praise, the sticks-of pub¬
lic opinion and the dust of criticism, we are sure to get
our eyes upon the muckrake instead of on the crown.
This truth is as applicable to small spheres and
duties as to large ones. The muckrake policy defeats'
the best results in many philanthropic, religious, mission¬
ary, educational and charitable enterprises. But it
may also enter into the home, where too much scrubbing,
sweeping and overexactness may crowd out the nobler
qualities, the higher welfare, and the moral worth of the
home. The same is true in society. Everywhere in this
life the crown and the muckrake are in competition. We
are looking upward or downward. The muckrake or
the crown holds your attention. Which is it?
22 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Be not wise in thine own eyes.—Solomon.
OVERCONFIDENCE.
Here is a man who is on the verge of a precipice.
All unheeded he pushes forward. Scorning- the advice
of a friend, he proposed to judge for himself, and in over-
confidence in himself he rushes on to ruin. Heedless of
the earnest admonition of others, he plunges into the
abyss.
In the moral world this picture is even more true
than in the physical. Impetuous and self-willed youth
say, "I know better than my parents or friends." "I do
not need your advice." "I am able to take care of my¬
self." These and similar thoughts cause him to trust
in his own judgment and rush headlong into the moral
pitfalls found everywhere. It is only when it is too late
that he is ready to receive the admonitions of others.
OVERCONFIDENCE.
23
The spirit of the overconfident man is graphically pic¬
tured by the poet in the following lines:
"Believe as I believe, no more, no less;
That I am right, and no one else, confess;
Feel as I feel, think only as I think;
Eat what I eat and drink but what I drink;
Look as I look, do always as I do;
And then, and only then, I'll fellowship with you.
"That I am right, and always right, I know,
Because my own convictions tell me so;
And to be right is simply this—to be
Entirely and in all respects like me;
To deviate a hair's breadth, or begin
To question, or to doubt, or hesitate, is sin,
"I reverence the Bible if it be
Translated first and then explained to me;
By churchly laws and customs I abide,
If they with my opinion coincide;
All creeds and doctrines I concede divine,
Excepting those, of course, which disagree with mine.
"Let sink the drowning, if, he will not swim
Upon the plank that I throw out to him;
Let starve the hungry, if he will not eat
My kind and quantity of bread and meat;
Let freeze the naked, if he will not be
Clothed in such garments as are made for me.
" 'Twere better that the sick should die than live,
Unless they take the medicine I give;
'Twere better sinners perish than refuse
To be conformed to my peculiar views;
'Twere better that the world stand still than move
In any other way than that which I approve."
On the other hand, there are those who lack confi¬
dence in their own abilities, timid, fearing ones who
always underrate their own efforts. Mankind is, how¬
ever, not largely afflicted with this class. There is a
golden mean which we may all strike and in which lies
the real successful life.
24 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Thou desirest truth in the inward parts.—Psalmist.
TRUTH VINDICATED.
Truth crushed to earth shall rise again;
The eternal years of God are hers;
But Error, wounded, writhes in pain,
And dies among his worshipers.
-Bryant.
Father Time is here represented as slaying with his
scythe Falsehood and bringing forth Truth, who had for
a time been overcome and retired from view. Falsehood
with her sisters, Envy, Malice and Slander, had for a
season gained the mastery, but Father Time, coming to
the rescue, slays Falsehood and her allies and restores
Truth to her place of power.
Truth generally, when first presented, meets with
opposition and in not a few cases is apparently suppressed
and overcome by Error, Stupidity and moral Blindness,
but ultimately Truth triumphs.
History records many instances in which advocates
of reform were persecuted and compelled to endure many
and severe sufferings before the cause so nobly defended
TRUTH VINDICATED.
25
and so dear to them prevailed and overcame the preju¬
dices of those who, under the guise of conservatism, re¬
tarded every onward move.
Galileo, who declared that the earth moves around
the sun, was compelled to renounce publicly his doctrines
and to refrain from teaching them. It is difficult to be¬
lieve in this day that at the age of seventy Galileo was
compelled, not only to go before the altar and retract his
statement that the earth moves, but also to suffer three
years of imprisonment and to bind himself by a solemn
oath never to maintain or support this theory either in
his conversation or writings.
His heroic spirit, however, resented, as is seen from
his own statement. Immediately after renouncing at
the altar the theory that the earth moves, he rose and
quietly said, "Nevertheless it moves." Has time vindi¬
cated his theory?
Another remarkable case of time vindicating truth
is seen in the life of Oliver Cromwell. This man was
denounced as a hypocrite, a tyrant, usurper and fanatic.
Even after his death his body was taken up and hung
upon a gallows to show contempt of his memory. The
close of the nineteenth century finds truth vindicated in
that the ablest writers of to-day hold him to have been
the wisest statesman, the most religious and virtuous
ruler ever placed at the head of a nation.
Elijah P. Lovejoy was wantonly shot down at Alton,
Illinois, in 1837, because he championed the abolition of
slavery and insisted on his right to publish his views.
He died almost unbefriended, and sixty years after (1897)
a monument is erected to his memory, while an advocate
of that relic of barbarism, slavery, can hardly be found
anywhere.
Falsehood may have its hour, but it has no future.
26
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
He that uttereth a slander is a fool.—Solomon.
SLANDER.
Slander is here represented as shooting his poison¬
ous arrows at his victim under cover of night. Too
cowardly to do his work in the light, he always seeks
darkness and covert means to carry on his destructive
work. Someone says, "So deep does the slanderer sink
in the murky waters of degradation and infamy, that
could an angel apply an Archimedean moral lever to him,
with heaven for a fulcrum, he could not, in a thousand
years, raise him to the grade of a convict felon."
Slander is a blighting sirocco; its pestiferous breath
pollutes with each respiration; its forked tongue is
charged with the same poison; it searches all corners of
the world for victims; it sacrifices the high and low, the-
king and the peasant, the rich and poor, the matron and
maid, the living and the dead; but delights most in de¬
stroying worth and immolating innocence. Lacon has
justly remarked, "Calumny crosses oceans, scales moun-
SLANDER.
27
tains and traverses deserts with greater ease than the
Scythian Abaris, and, like him, rides upon a poisoned ar¬
row."
There is a sad propensity in our fallen nature to
listen to the retailers of petty scandal. With many, it is
the spice of conversation, the exhilarating gas of their
minds. Without any intention of doing essential injury
to a neighbor, a careless remark, relative to" some minor
fault cf his, may be seized by a babbler, and, as it passes
through the babbling tribe, each one adds to its bulk,
and gives its color a darker hue, until it assumes the
magnitude and blackness of base slander. Few are
without visible faults—most persons are sometim.es in¬
consistent. Upon these faults and mistakes petty scan¬
dal delights to feast.
Among many species of animals, if one of their num¬
ber is wounded and falls, he is at once torn to pieces by
his fellows. Traces of this animal cruelty are seen in
men and women to-day. Let a woman fall from virtue
and nine-tenths of her sisters will turn and tear her to
pieces, and the next day smile on the man who ruined
her! O, shame! Reverse the action. Loathing for
the unrepentant wretch and tenderness for the wounded
sister. Tenderness and pity and help for both alike if
they repent and reform. But never trust him who has
been a betrayer once. No kindness demands this risk.
Censure and criticism never hurt anybody. If false,
they cannot harm you, unless you are wanting in charac¬
ter; and if true, they show a man his weak points, and
forewarn him against failure and trouble.—Gladstone.
To persevere in one's duty and to be silent is the first
answer to calumny.—Washington.
A whisper wandered round
From ear to lip—from lip to ear—
Until it reached a gentle heart,
And that—it broke— Mrs. Osgood.
28 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.—Solomon.
THINKING AND DOING.
"Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He who can call to-day his own;
He who, secure within himself, can say,
To-morrow do thy worst, for I have lived to-day."
Amy was a bright girl but was too apt to waste time
in dreaming instead of doing.
One day the village storekeeper offered her twelve
cents a quart for blackberries, at the same time telling
her where she might find large ripe ones.
This was good news to Amy, as her parents were
poor and she very much needed new shoes.
Delighted at the thought of earning money, she ran
home to get a basket, intending to go immediately to
pick the berries.
THINKING AND DOING.
29
Then she thought she would like to know how much
she would earn by picking.
Before she had finished, dinner was ready, so she put
off picking the berries until the afternoon. After din¬
ner she started for the berry patch, but found that some
boys had been there before dinner and had picked all the
ripe ones. She could not find enough to fill a quart.
Thig simple story aptly illustrates what older per¬
sons very frequently are found guilty of doing. How
often men decide to do good and noble deeds but never
accomplish them, because they spend so much time in
thinking of doing these things that they never do them
until it is too late. This noble and generous deed, this
kind and encouraging word that you were contemplating,
should be carried into action now. Our thinking of do¬
ing what never is done will never merit a crown of re¬
joicing. A poet sings:
I know a land where the streets are paved
With the things which we meant to achieve.
It is walled with the money we meant to have saved,
And the pleasures for which we grieved.
The kind words unspoken, the promises broken,
And many a coveted boon
Are stowed away there, in that land somewhere—
The land of "Pretty soon."
There are uncut jewels of possible fame
Lying about in the dust,
And many a noble and lofty aim
Covered with mold and rust,
And oh! this place, while it seems so-near,
Is farther away than the moon.
Tho' our purpose is fair, we never get there—
The land of "Pretty soon."
The road that leads to that mystic land
Is strewn with pitiful wrecks,
And the ships that have sailed for its shining strand
Bear skeletons on their decks.
It is farther at noon than it was at dawn,
And farther at night than at noon;
Oh, let us beware of that land down there—
The land of "Pretty soon." —Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
30
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Inwardly they are ravening wolves.—Jesus Christ.
HYPOCRISY.
"He is the greatest monster, without doubt,
Who is a wolf within, a sheep without.
Who dares think one thing and another tell,
My heart detests him as the gate of hell."
The wolf in sheep's clothing is a fitting emblem of
the hypocrite. Every virtuous man would rather meet
an open foe than a pretended friend who is a traitor at
heart. Among all things and persons to be despised,
what is more base or vile than the pretender?
The hypocrite desires more to seem good than to
be so. He is like the scorpion that thinks that when its
head is under a leaf it cannot be seen. He is zealous in
little things but negligent in the more important. He is
more troubled by the outbursts of a sinful disposition
than by the disposition itself.
Pretension usurps the highest seats, puts on the
robe of sanctity and utters aloud, to be heard of men, the
prayers that the true heart breathes in silent confidence
HYPOCRISY.
31
into the ear of a loving Father. Nowhere is the hypocrite
a greater usurper than in the realm of religion.
Pretense never stood in so eminent a position as it
does at the present hour.* If you walk through the
streets of London, you might imagine that all the shops
were built of marble, and that all the doors were made of
mahogany and woods of the rarest kinds; and yet you
soon discover that there is scarce a piece of these precious
fabrics to be found anywhere, but that everything is
grained, painted and varnished. I find no fault with this,
except that it is an outward type of an inward evil that
exists. As it is in our streets, so it is everywhere; grain¬
ing, painting and gilding are at an enormous premium.
Counterfeit has at length attained to such an eminence
that it is with the utmost difficulty that .you can detect
it. The counterfeit so near approaches to the genuine
that the eye of wisdom itself needs to be enlightened be¬
fore she can discern the difference.—Spurgeon.
Cnidus, a skilled architect, building a watch-tower
for the King of Egypt to aid mariners at night, caused
his own name to be engraven upon a stone in the wall
in great letters, and afterward covered it with mortar
and upon the outside of that wrote the name of the king
in golden letters, pretending that all was done for the
honor and glory of the king. The architect very well
knew that the dashing of the water would in a little time
consume the plastering and then his name and memory
should abide to after generations. Thus there are many
in this world, who pretend to seek only the glory of God,
but if there were a window to look into their hearts, we
should find nothing there but self-seeking.—Spencer.
O, what authority and show of truth
Can cunning sin cover itself withal.—Shakespeare.
32 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Seek ... if ye can 6^4 a maB.—-Jerottnah.
F7NDING MEN.
The above cut represents the Grecian philosopher,
Diogenes, going through the streets of Athens in the
daytime, with a lighted lantern in his hand, seeking for a
man. Jeremiah says, "Run ye to and fro through the
streets of Jerusalem and seek in the broad places thereof
if ye can find a man."
The object for which these men were searching
seemed to be a scarce article, and it has not become too
numerous to-day. 'The world needs men. They are
needed in every avenue of life.
"Give us men!
Strong and stalwart ones!
Men whom highest hope inspires,
Men whom purest honor fires,
Men who trample self beneath them,
FINDING MEN.
33
Men who .make their country wreathe them
As her noble sons,
Worthy of their sires!
Men who never shame their mothers,
Men who never fail their brothers,
True, however false are others;
Give us men, I say again,
Give us men."
Sir Humphrey Davy, when asked what was his
greatest discovery, replied, "The discovery of Michael
Faraday." The finding and bringing forth of the youth
who afterward achieved so much in scientific research
was to Davy greater than his own many scientific revela¬
tions. History is full of instances showing that often¬
times the grandest work ever done has been in the way of
finding those who have developed into eminent and dis¬
tinguished benefactors of mankind.
It may be instinctive to desire to be first ourselves,
but it is braver, nobler and more praiseworthy to forget
self in the effort to bring forward some unrecognized
hero. Andrew's best day's work was when he brought
Peter to Jesus. Although he was cast into the shade by
the great achievements of his brother Peter, yet we owe
much to the loving, self-forgetful Andrew, the great
leader of the apostolic band.—M. M. Dana.
Those who labored to reform Gough, Reynolds and
Murphy, those who found and brought forward great
men of all ages, have rendered an inestimable service to
mankind. Seeking and finding men is always rewarded.
The world is always looking for men; men of char¬
acter; men who are not for sale; men who are true to
the core. We may not all be great in the eyes of the
world, but in His sight we are truly great if we do o^r
duty, even though our work be that of finding mien who
shall do greater works than we have done.
3
34 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Guide me with thy counsel.—Psalmist.
LOSING THE THREAD.
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time
we fall.—Confucius.
Nor deem the irrevocable past
As wholly wasted, wholly vain,
If, rising on its wrecks, at last
To something nobler we attain.
—Longfellow.
A young man, visiting Rome, examined the in¬
scriptions on the walls of the catacombs. Instead of tak¬
ing a guide, he preferred to be free to move around as he
wished, and took a torch and a ball of cord. He fast¬
ened the cord at the entrance and unwound it as he passed
in with his torch through the lowly, winding ways. He
felt no fear, for he had but to wind up his ball of cord
and he would be led to the entrance. All went well for
a time. He became very much interested in the in¬
scriptions on slabs and tombs, made by Christians cen-
LOSING THE THREAD.
35
turies before in memory of their friends who were buried
there while concealing themselves from the persecutions
of the Roman pagans. While he was thus engaged he
stumbled and fell, losing his ball of cord and his torch.
What added to his misfortune was that his torch went
out. In complete darkness he got down on the ground
and felt around for the cord, but his efforts were all in
vain. Despair seized upon him, for he would likely per¬
ish if he could not find the cord. After groping about in
the darkness until he became completely exhausted he
fell and fainted away from fear, fatigue and hunger. When
he be'came conscious, he found that in grasping the
ground he had again gotten hold of his cord. Springing
to his feet he followed its leadings and soon again came
to the opening, and there knelt, thanking God for His
goodness in permitting him to come to the light.
There are many who, in losing the guiding threads
of their lives, lose their right to happy and useful lives
here and blessedness hereafter. Parental restraint and
advice is spurned. The youth of to-day too often depends
upon his own resources anid judgment to guide him
through life. Threads of industry are lost by the idle
and profligate who have no employment and do not
want any, for the world owes them a living. Threads of
virtue are lost by scorning the advice of friends and
listening to the plausible statements of the destroyer of
souls. Proof of this is seen in the many young women
who are leading lives of shame, and in the men, who,
going by the way of the saloon and the brothel, have
dragged down innocent and artless womanhood into
depths where every ennobling trait of character is a
stranger.
True, when once lost, these threads are sometimes
regained. But how much better never to have gone
astray.
36
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
This one thing I do.—St. Paul.
HAVING AN AIM.
A light snow had fallen and a company of schoolboys
wished to make the most of it. It was too dry for snow¬
balling. It was proposed that a number of boys walk
across a meadow near by and see who could make the
straightest track. On examination it was found that
only one could be called straight. When asked, two of
them said they went as straight as they could without
looking at anything but the ground. The third said, "I
fixed my eye on that tree on yonder hill and never looked
away till I reached the fence."'
We often miss the end of life by having no object
before us.
In one of his fiercest battles, it is known that Philip,
King of Macedon, lost his eye from a bowshot. And
HAVING AN AIM.
37
when the soldiers picked up the shaft which wounded
him, they perceived upon it these words: "To Philip's
eye!" The archer was so certain of his skill that he had
announced his aim beforehand. It is a pitiable mistake,
when one comes to care, like a lawn sportsman, more for
a stately posture and a graceful attitude than for the
mark he aims at.
Once when the British Science Association met in
Dublin, Mr. Huxley arrived late at the city. Fearing to
miss the president's address he hurried from the train,
jumped into a jaunting-car and breathlessly said to the
driver, "Drive fast, I am in a hurry!" The driver slashed
his horse with his whip and went spinning down the
street. Suddenly it occurred to Mr. Huxley that he had
probably not instructed the driver properly. He shouted
to the driver, "Do you know where I want to go?" "No,
yer 'onor," was Pat's laughing reply, "but I'm driving
fast all the while." There are many people who go
through the world in this way. They are always going,
and sometimes at great speed, but never get anywhere.
They have no definite purpose and never accomplish
anything.
It is the man that has an aim that accomplishes some¬
thing in this world. A young man fired with a deter¬
mined purpose to win in a particular aim has fought half
the battle. What was it that has made men great in the
past? One dominant aim! Names of great men at once
suggest their life purpose. No one thinks of a Watt
aside from the steam engine, a Howe suggests the sew¬
ing machine, a Bell the telephone, an Edison the electric
light, a Morse the telegraph, a Cyrus Field the Atlantic
cable. A man of one talent, fixed on a definite object,
accomplishes more than a man of ten talents who spreads
himself over a large surface. To keep your gun -from
scattering put in a single shot.
38
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
I bare you on eagles' wings.—Exodus.
PROVIDENTIAL LEADINGS. '
As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her
young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, bear-
eth them on her wings; so the Lord alone did lead him.—
The inspired writer in the above passage refers to
the well-known fact that when the young eaglets are
old enough the parent eagle so stirs up the nest that they
are obliged to leave it and are compelled to make use of
their wings. The parent bird flutters over and 'about
them, spreads out her wings, and when their efforts fail,
bears them upon her own wings to a place of safety.
Thus their wings are strengthened with use and they are
taught to fly and to depend upon themselves. To see
the parent tearing to pieces the comfortable nest and to
render homeless the young eaglet seems cruel to an
observer who does not understand the motive of the par¬
ent bird. Why should not the eaglet be left undisturbed
in its comfortable nest, where it may remain for weeks?
PROVIDENTIAL LEADINGS.
39
The parent bird too well knows that as long as it remains
in the nest its wings will not become strong and it will
consequently be helpless and dependent. Seeing the
young eaglet use its wings dexterously in a short time,
the observer understands that it was a desire for the well-
being of its young that prompted the mother-bird to dis¬
turb the quiet of the nest.
Is there not a valuable lesson for all to learn from
the action of the eagle? How often do men build them¬
selves nests of ease and luxury and determine to settle
down comfortably,, when the strong arm of an over¬
ruling Providence disturbs their would-be rest and over¬
throws their plans. Oftentimes have men looked upon
their lot as a hard one, upon God's dealings with them as
almost unkind. It is only after they have been brought
to realize the full development of God's plan that they
are able to say from the heart, "All things work together
for good to them that love God." Jacob, when mourn¬
ing the loss of Joseph in Egypt, said, "All these things
are against me." Joseph," looking backward, said, "God
meant it unto good." Paul, who was persecuted and who
endured untold sufferings, asserts that these light afflic¬
tions work out for us an exceeding and eternal weight of
glory.
Parents can also take a lesson from the action of
the mother-bird. Children should be made to depend
upon themselves. Many children, and this may be more
true of children of wealthy parents, are petted and
fondled by anxious, loving parents, until they are of no
good in the world, because they have not learned to de¬
pend upon their own strength. Notable examples are
the two sons of millionaire Geo. Pullman, who, on ac¬
count of their shiftless and profligate ways, found it
necessary to withhold part of their rightful inheritance
and to appoint a custodian of all allotted to them.
40
TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
They shall mount up with wings.—Isaiah.
FAITH REMOVES FEAR.
The bird often perches on a frail branch that bends
and yields beneath its weight, or is swayed by the lightest
breeze. It has, however, no fear, even though the out¬
ward and material support should give way, for it has
wings, those supports in itself which God has given. Sg
faith, the gift of God, renders one in a measure inde¬
pendent of external props, and buoys up the soul, though
all earthly aids be withdrawn.—E. P. Thwing.
It must be a stirring moment in the life of a little
bird when, thrust fluttering from the nest, it discovers
that it need not fall—that its wings can bear it up. Hugo
has brought the thought very close to us in the beautiful
lines:
FAITH REMOVES FEAR.
41
"Be like a bird that halting In her flight
A while on boughs too slight,
Feels them give away beneath her, and yet sings,
Knowing that she hath wings."
Very often in these lives of ours we rest for a time
on "boughs too slight." We depend on our own
strength, on the promises of friends, on circumstances
that seem so favorable, and suddenly we find them giv¬
ing way beneath us. But even then there is no need
for us to fall helplessly. Let us spread the pinions of
faith and love, and soar upward, singing praises to Him
who gave us our wings, not only to prevent our falling,
but that we should mount joyfully into the cloudless blue
of heaven itself.
It is a clear delight for the soul to have trust in
the fidelity of another. It makes a pillow of softness for
the cheek which is burning with tears and the touch of
pain. It pours a balm into the very source of sorrow. It
is a hope undeferred, a flowery seclusion, into which
the mind, when weary of sadness, may retreat for a
caress of constant love; a warmth in the hand of friend¬
ship forever lingering on the hand; a consoling voice
that dwells as with an eternal echo on the ear; a dew of
mercy falling on the bruised and troubled hearts of this
world.—Harper's.
The effect of abating faith means disorder, wicked¬
ness, the decay of homes and of governments. It means
the French Revolution and the reign of such men as
Robespierre and Mirabeau. It means riot and uprising
and communistic excitement. Life would then be but a
burning, sandy desert, surrounded on all sides by a dark
and impenetrable horizon. An endless starry night
would settle over the world, and instead of the hymn of
praise and the song of hope there would everywhere be
heard the piercing wail of anguish and despair.—S. P.
Linn.
42
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, for our vines have tender grapes.
—Solomon.
LITTLE FOXES.
The little foxes infesting the vine and bearing- away
luscious fruit represent those unsuspected, insignificant
little causes that nibble many clusters of domestic happi¬
ness, marring the noble institution of home, and granting
to communities of people far less happiness than their
circumstances and their traits entitled them to expect.
The foxes that spoil the vines may be very little
foxes, but they do a tremendous work and become of vast
importance. The little and unimportant things in our
lives often make up those lives, form our characters
and determine our future destinies.
Fault-finding is a little fox that many people let run
quite freely among their vines, with the idea that he helps
the growth of the grapes. But let us look over life and
cisk, How much of the fault-finding that prevails has the
LITTLE FOXES.
43
least tendency to do any good? How much of it is
well-timed, well-spoken and deliberate, and How much
of it does not profess to do more than to give vent to
an irritable state of feeling?
Repression.—The bitterest tears shed over graves are
for words left unsaid, deeds undone. How much more
might we make of our friendships if our thoughts of love
blossomed into deeds; and yet many of us have a habit
of repression in regard to all that is noblest within us.
This little fox may seem too small to do any mischief,
yet he has spoiled many grapes of happiness. Let us
say the kind things that rise in our hearts, do the loving
deeds that we long to do, till the hearts of those around
us, instead of being so many frozen islands, shall re¬
sound with the echo of bird voices, answering with a
constant melody of love.
Self-Will is another active little fellow who has de¬
stroyed more grapes than can be estimated. Are the little
differences that rise up in a family or community worth
the ill-tempered words apt to grow out of a discussion?
Are the little criticisms we make on one another worth
the destruction of quietude and happiness? Rather let
every man and woman learn to give up in little things
with good grace.
Irritability.—This* is a state of nervous torture; it
really approaches physical depravity. There are some
conditions of the nerves such that even an angelic spirit
in a body thus disordered could not more than simply
endure. The warding off of this little fox can be ac¬
complished in two ways: First, by keeping ourselves
out of irritable bodily states; second, by controlling th-;se
states when they environ us.
44 TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
There is a way that seemeth right, but the end thereof is death.
—Solomon.
TWO WAYS.
Jean Paul Richter has pictured an aged man at the
close of a wasted life recalling- the hour of his youth
when his father placed him at the entrance of two roads,
"one leading into a peaceful, sunny land,, covered with a
fertile harvest, and resounding with soft, sweet songs;
the other leading the wanderer into a deep, dark cave,
whence there was no issue, where poison flowed instead
of water, and where serpents hissed and crawled." Stung
with remorse at the result of that hour's choice, he cries
out for the return of youth. His prayer is granted, for he
is still a boy at the parting of the ways, and has seen in
a dream the consequences of a wrong choice. The two
ways—the way that leads into the land of peace and fruit-
fulness, of light and life, and the way that leads into the
land of unrest and darkness and death—are before us
now. The .choice is ours now, but we know not how
long it will be. "Therefore, choose you, this day."
Pythagoras compared life to the letter Y. It is the
TWO WAYS.
45
diverging of the broad and the narrow ways. It is easy
to go in the right wajr at first. It is comparatively easy
to cross from the wrong to the right way at the begin¬
ning. But each day's progress widens the distance. Ob¬
stacles grow greater, till at last it is almost impossible to
change.
A painter once painted the portrait of a lovely child.
That heavenly countenance cheered him in his work as he
gazed upon it in his study. Years after he resolved to
paint its opposite.. He could find no face ugly enough
until at last he found it in a hardened wretch confined
for life in a prison cell. After painting the terrible face
imagine his astonishment when he learned that it was
that of the same person that he had painted before. The
lovely, innoc'ent child had become the hardened, profli¬
gate criminal. In the bosom of every child there slum¬
bers in embryo the demon of destruction and woe or the
angel of purity and light. Each individual must choose
what it shall be.
An old legend says that a fool and a wise man
journeyed together and came to a point where there,
was a parting of the ways—one was broad and pleasant
and the other narrow and rough. The fool desired to
take the broad way, but the wise man, knowing that
the other was the shorter and safer, preferred that. The
fool, so urgent in his demands, prevailed upon the wise
man at last, against his better judgment, to take the
pleasant path. Robbers took them captive, and in turn
both they and the robbers were taken by officers of the
law. Before the judge the wise man pleaded that the
fool was to blame, and the fool pleaded that he was oflly
a fool and that no sensible man should have heeded his
counsel. The* judge punished both equally. Man-him¬
self must suffer if he does not choose the path of virtue
and life.
46
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
As we have, therefore, opportunity, let us do good unto all men.—
St. Paul.
IMPROVING OPPORTUNITIES.
"No clock can tick for us the moments gone."
The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his oppor¬
tunity when it comes.—Disraeli.
Two centuries ago a great sun dial was reared in
All Souls' College, Oxford, England. Over it were writ¬
ten in letters of gold the Latin words, "Horae pereunt
et imputantur—" "Hours pass and are set down to our
account." It is said that many young men were stimu¬
lated thereby to the most conscientious use of hours and
opportunities as they passed. The benefit was seen in
the long lives of usefulness and faithfulness of many of
these noble youth.
improving opportunities.
47
I think that "opportunity" is like the doctrine of
election. You can tell nothing about it from "the front,"
but may see '/millions in it" from the "other side."—
J. G. Woolley.
There never was an angel of God, however bright,
terrible or strong, that was able to roll away the stone
from the grave of a dead opportunity.—Mrs. Harper.
The event of a lifetime may be found in an opportune
moment of time. William J. Bryan saw his opportunity
and, by the utterance of a few sentences at an opportune
time, made that which was unthought of possible, and
became one of the most aggressive presidential candi¬
dates in our country's history. Vanderbilt saw his oppor¬
tunity in steamboat navigation; Rockefeller in petroleum;
Elizabeth Fry in the prisons of England; Philip Armour
saw his opportunity in Grant's order, "On to Richmond."
He went to New York and sold pork at $40 a barrel.
It afterward fell to $12 and he made two millions.
Gough, in representing men who do not seize their
opportunity, said that some men have three hands—a
right hand, a left hand and a little behindhand.
Opportunities come to all. The days of every life
are full of them. But the trouble with too many of us
is that we do not make anything out of them while we
have them. The next moment they are gone. One man
goes through life sighing for opportunities. If only he had
this or that gift, or place, or position, he would do great
things, he says; but with his means, his poor chances,
his meager privileges, his uncongenial circumstances, his
limitations, he can do nothing worthy of himself. Then
another man comes up close beside him, with like means,
chances, circumstances, privileges, and he achieves noble
results, does heroic things, wins for himself honor or
renown. The secret is in the man, not in his environ¬
ment.—J. R. Miller.
48 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Thou knowest not whether shall prosper.—Solomon.
UNSEEN INFLUENCES.
"How do you know there is a kite in the air?" said
a man to a boy who was holding a string leading sky¬
ward. "I see nothing and you see nothing." "But I feel
it pulll" was the prompt reply.
So with many unseen influences coming from various
sources. We cannot explain their origin, but somehow
they mold and shape our lives; somehow we feel them
pull our hearts upward and onward.
We associate with men whose thoughts are en¬
nobling, whose lives are refined and have an aim, whose
conversation is elevating, whose manners and bearing
are courteous and dignified, and unconsciously our own
lives are taking on the same traits, our characters are
expanding in the same direction. On the other hand,
let our companions be those whose thoughts are de¬
basing, whose lives are coarse and aimless, whose con¬
versation is commonplace and borders on the vulgar,
UNSEEN INFLUENCES.
49
whose manners are rude and offensive, and unconsciously
and involuntarily we, at least in some respects, show the
influence of these surroundings upon our own lives.
Sailing from Cuba, a sailor thought he had gained
sixty miles one day, but the next observation showed
that he had lost more than thirty miles. There was an
unseen undercurrent. The ship had been going forward by
the wind but going back by a current. A man's course
may often seem to be right, but the undercurrent is some¬
times carrying him in a direction the very opposite of
that which he thinks he is going. Unseen influences
may be debasing or elevating. Every man has an influ¬
ence over someone else. This influence may be far-,
reaching or otherwise, according to circumstances. It is
impossible to deny or to be free from the responsibility
of exerting an influence upon others. Each one must,
however, decide for himself whether this influence shall
be ennobling or degrading.
Many a pliable youth, whose future was still unde¬
cided, has had his destiny determined by a word, a look,
a touch, a shadow. Thousands of men have been de¬
stroyed in-this world who never knew, nor even sus¬
pected, that it was some small circumstance that deter¬
mined their destruction. Thousands of men have been
led by some unseen influence to choose the better part
and to give their lives for the uplifting of hujnanity.
"I have no more influence than a farthing rush¬
light," said a workman, in his blouse. A friend replied:
"Well, a rushlight does much. It may burn a haystack or
a house; it helps one read a chapter in God's word. Go
your way and let your little rushlight so shine before men
that they may glorify your Father in heaven."
4
50 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Evil shall not overtake us.—Amos.
OVERTAKEN BY THE TIDE.
'Twas evening, and the setting sun
Threw beams of fire athwart the lea,
As two young forms, their errand done,
Hied home beside the heaving sea.
The way was long—the rocky shore
Stretched round for miles beneath their eyes;
Yet o'er the waters, straight before,
Their father's sheltered cabin lies.
"Come, sister, come,"' the elder cried,
"We'll cross the moist and spongy sand;
Our swifter feet shall race the tide,
And reach yon jutting point of land."
They go; but ere they far had crossed,
The flood had turned with foaming crest-
Came roaring in—and all seemed lost,
As terror filled each childish breast.
OVERTAKEN BY THE TIDE.
51
They looked behind—the treacherous sea
Had rolled between them and the shore,
And where in front their way should be
Now surged the waves with hideous roar.
The younger gazed with staring eyes
That glittered with ecstatic fear,
And watched the foaming walls arise
That nearer rolled, and still more near.
The elder prayed, "O God, our Lord!
Who long ago in Galilee
Didst still the tempest by thy word,
With pity now our peril see!"
That prayer was heard, for faith had prayed,;
A boat leaps swiftly o'er the waves;
Their earthly parent flies to aid,
And, praising God, his children saves!
—£. J. Pope.
Thus does youth often venture in paths that. seem
safe for the time being, but hardly having entered upon
them they are overtaken by tides of temptation, of doubt,
of unbelief, of sin. How often have promising youths,
strong and vigorous, started out believing themselves able
to withstand any flow of the tide, but how often, even
ere the noonday of life was reached, have the tides of evil
associates, bad habits, sinful pleasures and self-indul¬
gence rolled over them, leaving them physical and moral
wrecks! Better take the more safe path, even though
to youthful eyes another may seem more inviting. Bet¬
ter not take the first glass of strong drink, better not
smoke the first cigar, than to depend upon your strength
to quit when you wish. Thousands who were of the same
mind as you have gone down before these awful tides of
habit, pleasure and sin. ' Better take the Irishman's ad¬
vice, who, after being in this country for some time, wrote
to his friend in Ireland: "Dear Patrick', if you have not
started, go back." Do as Solomon says, "Leave off be¬
forehand."
52
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Launch out into the deep.—Jesus Christ.
IN DEEP WATER.
A passenger said to the pilot of a steamboat: "You
have been a long time, I suppose, at this business?"
"Yes," answered the pilot, "upward of twenty years."
"You know, then, every rock and shoal in these waters?"
"Not by a long way," was the reply. "How then dare
you act as pilot?" inquired the passenger. "Because I
know where the deep water is." That was all that was
necessary to safe piloting. As long as the man at the
wheel kept the boat in deep water she was safe. Many
ships have been wrecked because the men in charge
failed to see that their course was taking the vessel out
of deep water. Safety lies in keeping in the channel.
That pilot unconsciously expressed an important
truth that all will do well to observe. It is not at all neces-
IN DEEP WATER.
53
sary for us to know the extent and character of all the
evils that exist. But we do need to know where the path
of right and duty lies.
The suggestion that we ought to know just what
evils exist in order that we may avoid them is a danger¬
ous one. Young men often think that they must look
on the face of vice in order to recognize virtue when
they see her. There could be no greater mistake. Vir¬
tue can be recognized without any such perilous experi¬
ments. Keep to the deep water young man. It is not
required of you to name and describe all the rocks of evil
that lie outside of the channel. Your place is not among
the reefs and shoals but where there is plenty of clear
water between your vessel's keel and the bottom. The
honest inquirer need not be in doubt as to where the
path of a clean and useful life lies. It will not help'and
it may hinder him to become acquainted with the
"crooked ways" of wicked men. It is better to be called
ignorant and "verdant" and be innocent than to be among
the knowing and besmirched ones. With intentions
and purposes, however noble and elevating, the investiga¬
tions of the theater and the dens of vice and infamy must
leave their mark on manhood's innocent brow. Young
man, avoid these awful rocks and shoals and keep in
deep water. It is not only a waste of time, it is running
a fearful risk to acquaint yourself familiarly with evil.
The same truth holds in the religious world. It is
better to know what God says than to know what the
errorist and critic of God's word says. It may be the
business of the cartographer to map out the rocks and
shoals, but the pilot's business is to keep the vessel in
deep water. Many have been wrecked on the shoals
of unbelief in attempting to investigate error. The best
refutation of error is the teaching of the truth. The
safest way to extend religion is the living of the truth.
Whatever else you do, keep in deep water, young man.
54
TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
Rather . . . than to enjoy the pleasures of sin.—St. Paul.
AVERNUS.
Pleasures are like poppies spread;
You seize the flower, its bloom is shed;
Or like the snowfalls in the river,
A moment white—then melts forever.
—Burns.
Avernus means birdless and is the name of a small
and nearly circular lake in Campania, Italy. It is located
in the desolate crater of an extinct volcano. The ancients
say that a sulphurous and mephitic vapor rose from the
infernal depths and hung over the dark waters, poisoning
the atmosphere and stupefying the sense of the eagle and
the nightingale that tried to pass from shore to shore.
The wing suddenly became powerless, and the eagle,
with his pride, and the nightingale, with his song, fell
into the river of death.
AVERNUS.
55
There is a lake of pleasure, of folly, of sin, lying'near
the homes of the young. A deadly air hangs over it. The
young, forgetful or ignorant of its fatal vapors, spread
their wings upon its hither shore—those wings made in
Heaven and good enough for angels. But at last their
flight is checked, and be the heart once proud like the
eagle's or sweet with song like the lark's, alike it falls
into the dark flood. Every young heart of man or woman
carries with it a vitality that may make and a genius that
may beautify a vast empire. As God implants in the
young bird a power that makes it at last spread its
wings and cast itself upon the soft air, so into the young
bosom, which He loves more than He loves the sparrow,
He has emptied an. urn of enthusiasm, of hope, of senti¬
ment, of love, of ambition, which are to become the wings
of all subsequent flight. Trusting yourselves, my young
friends, to these wings, the great air of the world will
softly bear you up. But to permit this holy vitality
to exhaust itself in a saloon beneath the pavement, to
compel the inspiration of a young heart to spend its divine
resources upon a drunken song, or to study only the
shape and colorings of a toilet, to turn away such, a
gifted spirit from the enthusiasm of learning, of art, of
culture, of religion, and make it beat its bright wings
only in the foul atmosphere of vice, is the most painful
of all the pictures seen in the drama of man.—David
Swing.
A bee found a pot of honey ready made, and began
to sip out of the dish rather than to fly about the meadows
and gather little by little the sweetness from the cups
of flowers. When it began to get tired it found that
its wings were all clogged and would not open, nor could
it drag its body out of the mass. So it died, buried in
pleasure.—J. Edmond.
56 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
The soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing.—Solomon.
ON THE BORDERLAND OF CRIME.
An idler is a watch that wants both hands;
As useless if it goes as when it stands.
—Cowper.
"Work is as necessary for peace of mind as for
health of body. A day of worry is more exhausting
than a week of work."
The bird that ceases to use its wings does not hang
in mid-air, but drops like a stone to the ground, and by
a law almost as certain he sinks into evil habits whose
time and faculties are not engaged in innocent and good
employments. So much is this the case that though the
periods of relaxation are desirable there is danger in
unduly prolonging them. "There are few, indeed," says
Addison, "who know how to be idle and innocent; every
diversion they take is at the expense of some one virtue
or another, and their very first step out of business is
into vice or folly." The purest water left to stagnate
grows putrid and the finest soil thrown into fallow
ON THE BORDERLAND OP CRIME..
57
soon throws up a crop of weeds. Had David, as in other
days, followed his army to the battlefield, he had periled
his life but saved his character; escaping a temptation that
owed perhaps more than half its power to the luxurious
ease and idleness of a palace. Idleness is the mother of
mischief, and who would keep their hands from doing
wrong must employ them in doing good.—Guthrie.
There is nothing that wastes strength like idleness,
and nothing that keeps one's strength like tireless ac¬
tivity. Alice Rollins, in a little poem, tells of a potter
at his work whose one foot was kept busy turning his
swift wheel, while the other rested patiently on the
ground. When sympathy is expressed in "How tired
his foot must be!" the potter corrects the error as to
the source of weariness:
"Slowly he raised his patient eyes,
With homely truth inspired;
No, marm, it isn't the foot that kicks,
The one that stands gets tired."
If you want to get tired, do nothing. The man that
is idle is least ready to lend a helping hand, while the
man who is doing most is always ready to> do one thing
more. Shun idleness as you would a deadly foe.
The man who did not think it respectable to bring
up his children to work in later years heard from his three
sons. One was a driver on a canal; another was arrested
as a vagrant; the third had gone to an institution to
learn to hammer stones under a keeper.
George Schorb says laziness is the unpardonable sin.
Nature abhors a vacuum, especially in the head. If it
is not filled with good, the bad will surely find something.
If the soil is not cultivated weeds will grow. It is im¬
portant to direct the occupation of a people, but much
more important to direct their leisure. . Idleness should
always be considered a disgrace.
58 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
As a man thinketh in liis heart so is he.—Solomon.
ERECT OR STOOPED-SHOULDERED.
A man cannot aspire if he looks down. Look up¬
ward, live upward.—Marden.
The youth who does not look up will look down,
and the spirit that does not soar is destined perhaps to
grovel.—Disraeli.
If we look down, then our shoulders stoop. If our
thoughts look down, our character bends. It is only
when we hold our heads up that the body becomes erect.
It is only when our thoughts go up that our lives become
erect.—Alexander McKenzie.
Stooped shoulders are a deformity and a serious
detriment to good health. One of the first principles of
physical beauty, strength and healthfulness is erect car¬
riage. Man's upright carriage is one of the strong marks
of distinction from the brute creation, and the Creator
has made it essential to physical perfection and fullness
ERECT OR STOOP-SHOULDERED.
of days. A stooped form is unnatural. Keep the body
straight. This is important.—S. P. Spreng.
There is a personality, within this outer stature,
which also has form, proportions and carriage. It is
the true self. This inner man originally was erect, up¬
right, holy. But sin came and smote him into deformity.
Originally he looked upward; since his fall his thoughts
are downward, and he continually goes from bad to worse.
He stoops earthward. All the imaginations of his heart
are evil. If our habitual thoughts are down and not up,
then our character is sure to bend—and is bent and we
are returning to the deceitful and destructive ways of sin.
It is essential to spiritual healthfulness that we hold our
heads up and that we strictly maintain an erect carriage.
This erect bearing is one of the strong marks of distinc¬
tion between the followers of Christ and the servants
of sin. There should be no stoop-shouldered Christians.
But it is to be feared that if the veil were drawn aside
and we were enabled to see the spiritual man as he is in
multitudes of Christians, we would behold a sorry lot
of deformities.—S. P. Spreng.
A noble aspiration gives the youth a manly, erect
bearing On the other hand, to have no aspirations or to
aspire to that which does not ennoble life gives the
individual the stoop-shouldered appearance.
John Ruskin is said to have given away most of his
fortune in his efforts to teach English artisans what is
beautiful. George W. Childs, Philadelphia's nobleman;
Elizabeth Fry, England's prison reformer; W. E. Dodge,
New York's philanthropist; Frances E. Willard, the
leader in temperance work; Gladstone, the invincible, and
a host of others of God's nobility, have risen to such
great heights because of an aspiration towering far above
selfish ambition or the love of glory, riches and outward
advantages.
60
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Honor thy father and thy mother.—Jehovah.
FILIAL AFFECTION.
During the French Revolution an innocent girl and
her father were imprisoned. When the massacres of
September commenced and the sight of blood seemed to
increase the rage of the assassins the girl's father was
led forth to be executed. The young girl threw herself
between her father and her enemies so that a sword lifted
against her father could not be struck but through the
body of his child. The courage and filial affection for a
moment stunned the assassins. She seized the favor¬
able opportunity and plead for his life. One of the
monsters proposed that she should drink a glass of
blood and her father would be saved. She shuddered and
retreated, but filial affection gained the ascendency and
she yielded to the horrible condition. The cry of "Par¬
don" was heard, and she fell into her father's trembling
FILIAL AFFECTION.
61
arms, who was overcome by such powerful affection and
so providential a deliverance. Even the outrageous
assassins shed tears, and the father and daughter were
conducted to a place of safety.
A gentleman of Sweden was condemned to suffer
death as a punishment for offenses committed in the
discharge of an important public office which he had
filled acceptably for many years. His son, eighteen
years of age, learning of his father's doom, rushed before
the judge who had pronounced the fatal decree, and,
throwing himself at his feet, prayed that he might suffer
instead of his father. The magistrate, satisfied of the
sincerity of the youth, laid the whole matter before the
king. The king was so deeply affected by the son's
reverence and love for his father that he pardoned the
father and appointed the son to a confidential office.
Hebrew tradition gives an account of a Gentile gem
merchant who had a very valuable sapphire, unsurpassed
in brilliancy and color. A Jewish elder was sent to.
search for such a stone. The gem merchant informed him
that he had what was desired but could not get it at
once, as it was in a room in which his aged father was
sleeping, and money could not induce him to wake his
father. The elder was compelled to return at once, and
offered him many times its value for the gem,, but the
merchant could not be persuaded to disturb his father.
He lost a very profitable sale, but he had something
better—the consciousness of having the blessing that
comes from a son's filial affection.
Some may suppose these to be extreme cases, but
there are many examples of children risking their lives
and all to show their affection for their parents.
Do your parents know of the filial affection toward
them? Show it in every possible way now and make
their lives the happier. To-morrow it may be too late.
62 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
A cliild is known by his doings.—Solomon.
FILIAL INGRATITUDE.
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child.
—Shakespeare.
Ingratitude! thou marble-hearted fiend,
More hideous, when thou show'st thee in a child,
Than the sea monster.
—Shakespeare.
He that's ungrateful has no guilt but one;
All other crimes may pass for virtues in him.
—Young.
A poor negress, a slave in the Mauritius, with great
labor and long parsimony, had saved as much money
as enabled her to purchase her daughter from their com¬
mon owner; being content to remain in bondage for the
pleasure of seeing her child walking at large, with shoes
on her feet, which are there the badge of freedom among
people of color, no slave being permitted to wear them.
FILIAL INGRATITUDE.
63
Soon after the affectionate mother, happening to come
into a room where this daughter was sitting, very natur¬
ally and unconsciously sat down beside her, as she had
been wont to do. A moment or two afterward the
daughter turned round in a rage and rebuked her, ex¬
claiming, "How dare you sit in my presence? Do you
not know that I am a free woman and you are a slave?"
How often in this land that boasts that the shackles
of the slave are broken does it occur that parents are
the slaves of their children in everything but in name.
The love for the child prompts the parent to self-denial
in the extreme, and then, when the child is grown and
has formed associations that are not congenial to the
highest welfare, the son or daughter repays the debt
of gratitude by resorting to that most unpardonable of
crimes—ingratitude. This feeling of ingratitude steals
by degrees over the soul until the parent is subjected to
the conditions that become the servant and slave.
The young man that refers to his father as the old
man and to his mother as the old woman may be igno¬
rant of the fact, but there is no mistake about it that he is
not the grateful son that he should be, and is in great
danger of moving down the inclined plane that ends
in recklessness. The young woman that can enter so¬
ciety and enjoy the fashions and fleeting pleasures of
youth while her mother is by necessity compelled to lead
a life of drudgery at home may awake to real facts when
it is too late, when regret of the past will not efface from
the mind the acts that made her an ungrateful daughter.
Young man, young woman, your parents will soon
leave you. Nothing will so fill your life with true happi¬
ness as to know that you did your utmost to repay
your parents for their self-denying life in order that you
might prosper.
64
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
His sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not.—Samuel.
PARENTAL NEGLECT.
Be wakeful, be vigilant;
Danger may be
At an hour when all seemeth
Securest to thee.
—Caroline Bowles Southey.
A father took his little girl of a few summers out
walking one pleasant afternoon. In their rambles they
found themselves near a ledge of rocks. The tempting
breeze caused the father to sit down to enjoy it. Almost
unconsciously he fell asleep. The little girl amused her¬
self in picking flowers and grasses. Venturing nearer
to the edge of the rock, and looking down, she saw a
beautiful flower, as she supposed, just within her reach.
Stooping down and leaning over she grasped the flower,
but in so doing she lost her hold and fell into the depths
PARENTAL NEGLECT.
65
below. Her cry of anguish as she fell awoke her father,
who, hastening to her relief, could do nothing but pick
up the lifeless form of his loved one, with the little hand
still clutching the flower. The regret and remorse of a
lifetime could not cancel the effect of that moment of
neglect.
There are other parents whose children are in dan¬
ger, morally and spiritually, of pitfalls more destructive
than any precipice. The parents who permit their chil¬
dren to run at large without knowing what company
they are in, or who permit their children to be out at
night without knowing where they are, may be awaked
from their slumber of neglect by the cry of anguish
that comes from a lost or ruined life.
Parents may think that their children are able to
judge for themselves, that they are too wise or too
cautious to permit their foothold to be lost, that they
are too well trained to yield to the temptations to evil, that
they no longer need the care and oversight of earlier
years. They may, however, find that in unguarded mo¬
ments an enemy has been sowing seeds that are spring¬
ing up and are yielding a harvest of tares.
The public was recently informed of a youth of a
well trained Christian family whose parents led a very
busy life. They were satisfied that "our boys are all
virtuous and have no bad habits." Imagine their sur¬
prise to find that a promising son had almost ruined
himself by cigarette smoking. Although under their
daily care, they had not observed that bad companions
were misleading one of their household until the ruinous
effects of the cigarette had left its mark upon him.
This circumstance suggests the care necessary in
training the youngi How frequently the case that the
young man or young woman has fallen over the preci¬
pice, before the parents are aware of any danger!
5
66
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
That ye should follow his steps.—St. Peter.
PARENTAL INFLUENCE.
A little boy and his father were walking through a
garden where there were tender vines.
"Now, papa," says Ned, "you be careful
That you step in just the right place,
For right in your footsteps I'm stepping."
"Ah! that," sighed the father "is the case."
Let's stop now and think ere we journey,
Would we travel the road just ahead
If we knew that our own cherished darlings
Would follow the path we have led?
—Ada Clarke.
A 'good story is told by Dr. Johnson of a father
hearing the voice of his child behind him as he was pick-
PARENTAL INFLUENCE.
67
ing his way carefully along the mountainside, "Take a
safe path, papa; I'm coming after you." Ah! if older
Christians, while passing along the rugged hill of life,
would only remember that young Christians and chil¬
dren are coming on after them, how much more circum¬
spect would they be concerning the path taken. Would
any father visit the theater, the gambling saloons, the
tavern, the place of licentiousness, holding his little
boy by the hand? Will Christian parents permit them¬
selves to frequent doubtful places of any kind with the
almost dead certainty that their children will follow them
there? Will unconverted parents continue to press on
their downward course while they hear the little feet of
their darlings pattering after them? Will anyone allow
himself to mislead a little child? 1
"What will you take?" was the question asked an
observant boy at table, and referring to the drink he
might desire.
"I will take what father takes." The father had re¬
ceived from the waiter a glass of intoxicating drink.
The father heard the boy's remark, set aside his
glass, and called for water.
The saddest of all experiences is the consciousness
that an opportunity for right doing has been lost.
Fathers and mothers, your opportunity in behalf of
your boys and girls is to-day—now! Don't let it slip
from you.
Our opportunity is to-day. Voltaire made the age
of five the limit inside which character substantially is
settled. That limit cannot be set with safety very far
ahead. I don't want to be so absorbed in the cares and
pursuits of my generation as to forget the next.
68
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Shew thyself a man.—David.
THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER AND HERO.
Our hero, the Christian, stands out with a helmet
of salvation on his head, a shield of faith on his arm,
shoes of gospel peace on his feet, his loins girt about
with truth, a breastplate of righteousness, the sword of
the spirit in his hand. Such a soldier does not enjoy
lying about the fort; he likes the open air of the battle¬
field where courageous deeds are to be done.
We frequently associate heroism with daring deeds
in time of danger or with the clash of bayonet and boom
of cannon on the battlefield, but there are heroes of a
still higher order. Our day needs heroes in all the walks
of life. The heroic Christian soldier rises above what the
world calls fame and success. He has the courage to
THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER AND HERO. 69
withstand every evil, and, although beaten back and dis¬
comfited, is ready to stand single-handed, if need be,
bearing every attack upon Christian manhood.
Many a modern young man has an inordinate
hankering after publicity. Some would crown as heroes
the winners in a game of baseball or football, where very
little brains and no moral worth are required. The effort
of our dajjy papers is disgusting and ruinous to our
youth. Heroes, did I say? These are not heroes.
Higher, purer, nobler and more worthy are the aspira¬
tions of the royal manhood of to-day. Moral worth is
the true measure by which every man's stature is de¬
termined. 'England's prince is no longer great because
he is a prince. Every man is measured by- what he
is. Everyone has in himself the possibilities
of Christian manhood. A sound mind, a well-balanced
judgment, an inflexible purpose, a magnanimous soul,
together with a never-yielding faith in a Divinity that
shapes our ends will, yea, must, make a hero of any
young man. Moral heroes! Spiritual heroes! These
are the birthright of every American citizen, the heritage
of every man and woman. Do not sigh for an oppor¬
tunity of exhibiting valor. To rise requires an effort.
Any man can slide down hill.
Of all heroes, God's heroes are the noblest. Heroes
of long-suffering, forbearance and charity; heroes of
unostentatious self-denial, of the household, lowly, toiling
ones, climbing mountains of sacrifice under heavy crosses,
without a human hand held out in sympathy; men and
women shut out from stimulating activities, faithfully
performing earth's lower ministries, pointing souls to a
purer, nobler life in Him who is our life.
Friend, you may be a hero; you ought to be one.
Awake the dormant powers within you.
Be not like dumb, driven cattle,
Be a hero in the strife. —Longfellow.
to
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.—Isaiatu
ABOVE THE CLOUDS.
Alpine tourists tell of climbing peaks through the
mists until they stand above them under the cloudless
sky. In the valley beneath lies the waveless ocean of
white fogs and vapors. Listening, they hear the chiming
of bells and the sounds of life and labor below. Now
and then a bird darts up out of the cloudy sea, perches on
a crag and sings a glad song to greet the brightness, and
then dives down again and disappears.
When in Madeira Mr. Corderoy rose early one
morning, hoping to reach the summit of a certain moun¬
tain to gaze upon a magnificent scene and enjoy the
balmy air. He had a servant with him and they had
ascended about two thousand feet when a thick -mist
was seen descending upon them, quite obscuring the
ABOVE THE CLOUDS.
73
whole face of the heavens. Mr. C— thought there was
no chance left but at once to retrace their steps. As the
cloud came nearer the guide ran on penetrating the mist
and calling to Mr. C— ever and anon, "Press on, Mas¬
ter, press on! There is light beyond." He did press on,
and in a few minutes the mist was passed, and they gazed
upon a scene of transcendent beauty. All was bright
and cloudless above; beneath was the almost level mist
concealing the world below and glistening in the rays
of the sun like a field of untrodden snow. Says Mr. C—:
"There was nothing between us and heaven. I have
often thought since there was nothing like 'pressing on'
in every trial of life, assured that although the mists of
earth may hang around us at certain stages of our jour¬
ney, there is light beyond."
Someone says that it is one of the mysteries of our
life that genius, that noblest gift of God to man, is nour¬
ished by poverty. It is often necessary that man push
on through the mists of poverty, adversity, and even
persecution, before he reaches the clear sunlight of an
elevated position of hopes and expectations fully realized.
Succeeding centuries show the mighty purposes God was
working out in the apparent failure and humiliation of
some of the noblest men of the past.
Paul wrote a number of his best epistles while con¬
fined in a prison at Rome. Bunyan wrote his "Pilgrim's
Progress" on the untwisted paper used to cork the bot¬
tles of milk brought for his meals. The civil war re¬
vealed to us the strength of a Lincoln. Garrison and
Wendell Phillips would probably never have been known
had it not been for slavery. Milton was blind and poor
when he produced his greatest works.
Noble, virtuous manhood persistently pushes
through the mist and rises in the sunlight above the
clouds.
72
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Beware of covetousness.—St. Luke.
THE DOG IN THE MANGER.
'Tis strange the miser should his cares employ
To gain those riches he can ne'er enjoy;
Is it less strange the prodigal should waste
His wealth to purchase what he ne'er can taste?
—Pope.
yEsop's Fable of the Dog in the Manger is old, but
the subjects of application have by no means all passed
away. The dog lay down to sleep in the fresh, sweet
hay placed in the stall for the horse, and would not
permit the horse to eat the hay, although he could not
eat it himself.
There are persons whose only happiness seems to
be in the effort to keep others from the enjoyment of
blessings to which they are entitled. This spirit often
THE DOG IN THE MANGER.
73
exhibits itself even in childhood. "If I cannot have it,
he shall not have it, either," says the boy who is denied
what may seem to be a pleasure to him. As the child
grows up the same spirit accompanies it in the home, in
the social circle, in business and even sometimes in the
sacred pew. When this spirit takes hold of an indi¬
vidual it grows, and of all evils is the most treacherous.
Many a man, when he begins to accumulate wealth, be¬
gins to acquire this spirit of covetousness. The miser
does not in hoarding his dollars gain happiness. Every
dollar added to his pile increases the covetous spirit. He
does not enjoy his wealth, and he envies those who make
good use of their means. With him it is get, get, get.
Others may perish or suffer for lack of food, but he has
no heart in anything except to acquire and to hold. What
is most to be guarded against is the first approaches of
this spirit. Selfishness and self-gratification lead to it.
No one should be wrapped up in his own interests to
the extent that he loses all interest in the rights ana
happiness of others. Once this spirit gains possession
of an individual and he is always ready with excuses for
his conduct.
James, who ate all the grapes, excused himself by
saying that when he had eaten half he happened to think
that he had eaten his sister's half instead of his own, and
expressed sorrow for his sister. This boy's excuse is as
plausible as is that of many kindred selfish spirits.
In what strange contrast is the spirit that seeks to
make others happy—a spirit that has actuated all great
and prominent men and women that have been a blessing
to the world. Study the lives of great men and women
of the past and then seek to acquire their spirits, and you
will never be in danger xrf the dog-in-the-manger spirit.
74
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Charity shall cover the multitude of sins.—St. Peter.
CHARITY.
Don't look for the flaws as you go through life,
And even when you And them
It's wise and kind to be somewhat blind,
And look for the virtue behind them.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
Judge not;
What looks to thy dim eyes a stain
In God's pure light may only be
A scar brought from some well-won field,
Where thou wouldst only faint and yield.
—Adelaide Proctor.
Alexander the Great had an ugly scar on his fore¬
head, received in battle. When an eminent artist was
requested to paint his portrait, he said: "If I retain the
scar it will be an offense to the admirers of the monarch,
and if I omit it it will fail to be a perfect likeness—what
CHARITY.
75
shall I do?" He hit upon a happy expedient. He
sketched the emperor leaning on his elbow, with his
forefinger on his brow, covering the scar upon his fore¬
head. There was the likeness with the scar hidden.
Thus should we study to paint each other with the
finger of charity upon the scar of a brother, hiding the
ugly mark and revealing only the beautiful and the good.
A young lady was giving concerts in the provinces
of Germany, and added to her renown by announcing
herself as a pupil of the celebrated Liszt. Arriving at
a small provincial town she advertised herself in the
usual way, but to her astonishment learned later that
Liszt was included in the list of new arrivals at the. hotel.
Her deception would now be exposed. In her despair
she adopted the wisest course, and went direct to the
great musician himself and acknowledged her great
wrong and humbly implored his forgiveness. Learning
more of her history as an orphan struggling with pov¬
erty, he asked her to rise and play a piece intended for
her proposed concert. He stood near and gave her ad¬
vice and suggestions, and, when it was concluded, said:
"Now, my child, I have given you a music lesson. You
are a pupil of Liszt, and you will please to add to your
programme another piece and announce that you will
be assisted by your master, and that the last piece will
be played by the Abbe Liszt." Could any reproof be
keener than such forgiving kindness—such noble gen¬
erosity as this? But Charity is ingenious in covering
"a multitude of sins."
At the battle of Fredericksburg many Union soldiers
were lying wounded on the field for more than a day.
A Southern soldier took a supply of water and went
down among the wounded and relieved their sufferings.
Both armies suspended hostilities for more than an hour
to give this brave youth ao opportunity to carry on his
act of mercy.
76 TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
The people shall labor in vain.—Jeremiah.
FRUITLESS LABORS.
Here we see a little boy raking in a hayfield. He
is apparently imitating the men. He goes through the
motions, but in one respect he fails. The teeth of the
rake are turned upward. The raking is much easier
this way, but he gathers no hay. He labors, but his
labor is in vain.
How like this little boy is the labor of many people.
They apparently are always busy but never get anything
accomplished. Their labor amounts to nothing because
it means nothing to them, or because there is no definite
grip of purpose in what they do.
Everything depends upon the spirit with which we
work. A keen observer said, in passing a building that
was in process of construction, "I can always tell whether
those fellows are doing 'time work' or 'piece work.' In
one case the blows of their hammers drag along slowly,
and seem to say, 'By the day, by the day;' in the other
FRUITLESS LABORS.
77
case the hammers strike briskly, and say, 'By the job,
by the job.' " The spirit that prompts our actions is
manifest to those around us, whether we are conscious
of it or not. The work that counts carries with it the
energy and best life of the worker, where the teeth of a
fixed purpose are set downward, and where the raking
is for results.
There are men in every occupation, men toiling for
bread, men attempting to secure a home, manufacturers,
mechanics, men of leisure, students, men in reform work,
men in Sabbath-school and church work, as well as
women in the various occupations which they fill, who
do much, if not all, of their raking with the teeth turned
upward. While the raking is easier, they never gather
anything, and having nothing of the inspiration that
comes from visible and tangible results, their life-work
becomes monotonous and void of interest.
In happy contrast is the work of those whose en¬
ergies are all absorbed in a determination to win in life's
great struggle at any cost. The work may be humble
and the chances may seem to be against us, and yet when
the teeth of a resolute purpose are set into the work
something must come to pass.
Kitto was a deaf pauper. A hopeless case, you say,
and yet he became one of the greatest of Biblical scholars
of his age. Disraeli, the young Hebrew, when hissed
from the House of Commons, said: "The time will come
when you will hear me." True to his purpose he forced
his way through race prejudice and surprised England
itself as he stood at the head of that nation. Henry
Fawcett, England's most popular Postmaster-General,
lost both of his eyes when quite young. To his grief-
stricken father, who had, while hunting, shot him in the
eyes, he said: "Never mind, father, blindness shall not
interfere with my success in life."
78 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
The path of the just is as the shining light.—Solomon.
UPWARD STEPS.
A noble deed is a step toward heaven.—Holland.
Every man has the capability of choice. He must
choose for himself whether his life shall tend upward or
downward. No one can face upward and step in that
direction unless he is sincere. Sincerity is the first step
to virtue and noble manhood. This quality is essential.
Without it a man is not a man; without it no really great
work was ever achieved. Look at all the really great
and good men. Why do we call them great and good?
Because they dare to be sincere; they dare to be what
they seem to be.
With this quality in possession, faith in God leads
upward. With every advancing step the view is en-
UPWARD STEPS.
79
larged and the sphere of usefulness is increased. The
eye must, however, be kept upward. Many have failed
here in supposing that real success means gaining wealth
or doing something unusual. This is a false standard
and has ensnared many. He is the most of a man who
enriches the lives of those around him, who lives not
for himself but for others.
A traveler, once fording the Susquehanna on horse¬
back, became so dizzy as to be near losing his seat. Sud¬
denly he received a blow on his chin from a hunter who
was his companion, with the words, "Look up!" He
did so and recovered his balance. Looking on the turbu¬
lent water endangered his life, and looking up saved it.
No man is safe in taking a look downward, just
this once. That look may cost him his standing place,
and which the earnest effort of the remainder of his life
may never regain. Did you never write a letter, and just
as you were finishing it let your pen fall on it, or a drop
of ink blot the fair page? It was the work of a moment,
but the evil could not be entirely effaced. Lord Broug¬
ham one day occupied a conspicuous place in a group
to have his photograph taken, but at an unfortunate
moment he moved. The picture was taken, but his face
was blurred. It takes a lifetime to build a reputation,
but only a moment to destroy it. This suggests that no
man is safe unless he continues his course upward.
Many have risen high in the steps leading to true man¬
hood and Godliness, but in an unguarded moment they
looked downward and fell. Almost any community can
cite such a case. Look upward, young man. Find
your place in life and fill it. Choose upward, ever to¬
ward that which is elevating and ennobling. Let your
ambition be to be remembered, not as a great scientist,
lawyer, scholar, doctor, or merchant, but as a great man,
every inch a man, a Christian gentleman.
80
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Going down to the chambers of death.—Solomon.
DOWNWARD STEPS.
A man need not be a philosopher to roll down hill.
Going" down is easy when once the mind is made up not
to go upward. A downward course is generally pre¬
ceded or begun by indulging in vain thoughts and har¬
boring them. No man who indulges in idle and evil
thoughts can go upward. Here is where quite fre¬
quently the fatal mistake is made. Our thoughts ara.
ever forming our characters, and whatever they are most
absorbed in will tinge our lives.
Let vain thoughts once enter and control the mind
and evil desires at once spring up. Having taken the
first step it is easier to take the second.
When to mischief mortals bend their will,
How soon they find fit instruments of ill.
—Pope.
DOWNWARD STEPS.
81
Deception, self-deception and deception of others,
then naturally follows. The individual reasons with
himself that the sin to which evil desires prompt is but a
small affair of which one can easily repent at any time
and be forgiven. Or it may be considered not as a sin
but as a human weakness. Deceptive reasoning sug¬
gests something like the following: "All men have their
failings. I have mine. Why do I have these desires,
unless they are to be gratified?" By this method of
reasoning all avenues to truth are closed and the heart
becomes hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, and
then it is an easy matter to violate a plain command of
God with little or no self-condemnation. When once
self-deception has taken hold of man, his eyes are closed
to the light and his mind becomes blinded and insensi¬
ble to the truth of God. The downward steps are then
easy, whether it be strong drink, lewdness, or any other
form of evil, destruction just as certainly awaits him,
while the arch-fiend is waiting in joyous glee to welcome
him.
After the downward course is begun it is an easy
matter to throw off all sense of shame and to bid defiance
to all threatenings against sin.
Charles Lamb, one of the brightest spirits quenched
by drink, wrote mournfully: "Could the youth to whom
the flavor of his first glass was delicious look into my
desolation and be made to understand what a dreary
' thing it is when a man feels himself going down a preci¬
pice, with open eye and a passive will, to see his de¬
struction, and not to have the power of will then to stop
it, and yet to feel it all the way emanating from himself;
to perceive all goodness emptied out of him and yet not
to be able to forget the time when it was otherwise—
how he would avoid the first temptation to drink!"
6
82
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Hide me under the shadow of thy wings.—Psalmist.
YOUR SHADOW.
A wad some power the gifttie gie us
To see ourselves as ithers see us.
—Burns.
Miss Smuller in a little poem represents Mr. and
Mrs. Wren intending to build a nest in a quiet place.
While sitting on a twig over the water Mrs. Wren is
made to say:
"But do look down, my dear, and see:
Two other birds! Who can they be?
That's what I'd like to know.
How aggravating! Who are you
Who dare to trespass thus?
There's only room enough for two.
I thought that everybody knew
This place belonged to us.
YOUR SHADOW.
83
Don't nod your head at rne, I pray,
How cross you do appear!
Come, Mr. Wren, we'll go away;
I'm sure I have no' wish to stay
With scolding neighbors near.
Ah, there they go ! Well, then, my dear,
Of course, we'd better stay.
Now I reflect, it's all quite clear,
Just yield a point, and there's no fear
But you will have your way."
"Only shadows" sometimes separate firm friends.
Shadows may be a blessing or a curse. It depends al¬
together upon what use we make of them. Standing
in the light the dark prospect upon which, we gaze
may really be our own shadow. Shadows reveal defects.
A little boy, on a moonlight night, thought he saw
a ghost, and ran away from it as fast as he could. The
faster he went the faster it followed. When he turned, it
turned; until, at last, he tripped and fell, and then found
out that it was his own shadow.
Shadows reveal our good qualities as well as our
defects. Happy is he who does not become vain in love
of these. Lowell says that the wise old Greeks repre¬
sent the lovely youth Narcissus as resisting every charm
until he came to look in a still, clear pool. It shone like
a mirror. In it he saw his own beautiful form' and fell
in love with it, thinking it a deity. That love, necessarily
unrequited, was his death, as all self love must ever be.
While we may draw many profitable lessons from
our own shadows, it is an encouraging thought that we
may hide under the shadow of the Almighty. When the
burning sun of oppression, criticism and false accusation
is oppressing us in our onward course, we may find
refuge beneath the "shadow of His wings."
84 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
The foundation of God standeth sure.—St. Paul.
FOUNDATIONS.
Don't risk a life structure upon a day's foundation.—
The Scripture likeness of a house built on the rock
and of a house built on the sand is very familiar, never¬
theless the looking after foundations is as much neg¬
lected to-day as ever.
The government building at Chicago, a large, mass¬
ive structure and apparently well built, so that it might
stand for a century, was recently torn down, not because
the superstructure was not firm, but because the founda¬
tion at several places was found faulty. Thus, at a
great expense, the old building is removed and a new
structure is erected, all because the foundation was not
safe. Men fail of their best efforts because they were
unwilling to prepare well in days when preparation was
the one duty.
FOUNDATIONS. 85
The foundation for greatness must be laid in youth.
Young men frequently make a serious mistake here.
They are content with following the pleasures of youth
instead of improving early opportunities for preparation
for life's great work. Wellington frequently said that
Waterloo was fought and won while he was a school¬
boy. It was what he learned then that prepared him
for that great battle. Inattention to the foundation has
ruined many a structure. Inattention to the intellectual
and moral development and preparation has ruined many
a life.
See yon building rise. While men were engaged in
laying the foundation there was nothing attractive about
it. Dirt and stones and mortar are not sightly objects.
It is only when the superstructure is rising that the at¬
tention of the passer-by is given to> it. This is why not
more attention is given to foundation work. Many. a
youth who has attracted attention by doing work suc¬
cessfully thinks that his foundation is sure, and looks
only to the superstructure. Many a college graduate
has dreamed of greatness while delivering his final ora¬
tion as the applause of friends greets his ear; but too often
he is never heard of afterward. Life consists pf more
real and earnest things than brilliant graduating orations.
Do not mistake the applause of others as success.
Avoid the idol which many worship—the love of noto¬
riety and applause. Look to-the foundations, intellec¬
tually, make thorough preparation for your life work,
morally, shun even the appearance of evil, spiritually,
build on Christ, the only foundation.
Build it well, whate'er you do;
Build it straight and strong and true;
Build it clean and high and broad;
Build it for the eye of God.
—Marden.
but first of all look to the foundations.
86
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
His hands refuse to labor.—Solomon.
TRAMPS.
Here we have a scene at once practical and of every¬
day occurrence. To say that these men are discussing
the issues of the day seems ludicrous, and yet that is
what they are presuming to do. The man that is not
willing to earn a living by honest labor generally has a
panacea for every ill brought about by idleness and pov¬
erty. The word tramp ought, however, to have a wider
application, as suggested in the following story:
A conceited young European who came to America
complained that he found no "upper classes" here. An
American asked him what he meant by the "upper
classes," and he explained that he referred to those who
had never done any work, nor their fathers before them.
"Oh," said the American, "we have many of that class
of persons here, but we call them by a different name; we
call them tramps." The reply was just, for the most re¬
spectable thing in the world is honest labor.
While there are many who refuse to labor, preferring
the idleness of the tramp to an honest living, there are
THAMPS.
87
among the -class called tramps not a few who, if they
knew how to find employment, would gladly engage in
honest toil. There are unfortunate ones who have not
had opportunities, and are not able to help themselves,
and who might be converted into industrious, respecta¬
ble and honorable citizens, were a helping hand extended
to them.
The hand of charity is too sparingly extended, as
suggested by a story of a Western deacon. A tramp
came to his door one day and begged for some bread.
The deacon took him in, lectured him on the sinfulness
of his life, and finally asked him if he knew the Lord's
Prayer. The tramp did not. The deacon offered to
teach it to him, while he cut some slices of bread. "Our
Father"—he' began. "What!" said the tramp, "is he
your Father and my Father?" "Yes," answered the
deacon. "Then, brother," was the unexpected rcftort,
"couldn't you cut that slice a little thicker?" Words of
encouragement would revolutionize the lives of many of
these unfortunate ones.
Then, again, many have been dragged down by the
awful power of appetite. Are all these beyond rescue?
Yes, if the more fortunate ones make no effort to help
them break the power that binds them. It is frequently
the case that the influence or disinterestedness of others
tends to hurl them into still greater depths. Poor fellows!
Are there not thousands that can be rescued before they
reach that point? Let us be careful how we treat even
a tramp. Kindness may save him.
There are spiritual tramps. They go wandering
around from church to church, making a home nowhere,
doing no work in any church. They follow sweet ser¬
mons, fine singing and the last sensation. They have
never decided where they want to settle, and are rightly
called spiritual tramps.
88 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
ASSUMED SIZE. ACTUAL SIZE.
They love the praise of men more than the praise of God.—St. John.
EGOTISM.
One of the largest and weakest qualities in man is his egotism.—Swing.
Egotism is the nomination and the election and coronation of self as
king.—Swing.
"Do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypo¬
crites do," says Jesus to his followers. This custom
seems to have prevailed in the East,- but has not been
confined to that locality. The only difference between
the men of that day and this is that the form of the
trumpet is changed. The spiritual egotist is represented
by the following: "Mr. Brown, what is the state of re¬
ligion in your town?" "Bad, sir; very bad. There are
no Christians except Mr. Davis and myself, and I have
my doubts about Davis."
It is said that the egotism of Napoleon never per-
EGOTISM.
89
initted him to acknowledge guilt. While he spent much
of his time on St. Helena in talking of himself and his
career, he referred to his transgressions as indifferent
acts, but never expressed a regret nor showed uneasiness
of mind nor remorseful feelings.
Kneller, the artist, once said to a-sitter, "Flatter me,
my dear sir; I paint better when you flatter me."
Surpassing all these in vanity is the exclamation of
Farinelli, the noted musician. "What a divine air!" said
an admirer to him, when he ceased playing. "Yes," said
the Italian, as he laid down his violin, "one God, one
Farinelli."
A man was asked why he talked to himself so much.
"Well," said he, "there are two reasons. In the first
place I like to talk to a sensible man, and in, the second
place I like to hear a sensible man talk."
Another said: "There are two things that bother
me. One is how the world got on before I came into it,
and the other is how it is going to get on after I leave it."
Few things are harder than to admit unreservedly
that we are in the wrong, and thus our arch enemy
makes our self-conceit a vehicle of deadly calamity.
There are people who go about complaining of ill-
usage received from others and declare themselves vic¬
tims of bad luck that makes their best endeavor of no
avail, and even forces them to the commission of terrible
crimes; when, if they only had the faculty so aptly de¬
scribed by Burns as seeing ourselves as others see us,
human foes and adverse fortunes would disappear from
view behind the apparition of self, a hidden, strong and
relentless enemy.
The egotist is never happy. He is bent on worship¬
ing himself and is always living in fear lest someone
else receive the praise due him. Other people with their
interests are unimportant compared with self.
90
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Presumptuous are they, self-willed.—St. Peter.
PRESUMPTION.
None pities him that's in the snare,
And warned before, would not beware.
—Herrlck.
The presumptuous man is overconfident, self-willed,
blind, headstrong, venturesome without reasonable pros¬
pect of success and heedless of the usual probabilities of
safety. Rash, adventurous, foolhardy, he is ever ready
to assume too much, and thus brings upon himself the
evil effects which are but the natural results of exposing
oneself to danger.
In the above illustration this man proposes to enjoy
the so-called pleasure of ease and self-gratification, even
though he knows that he is in imminent danger of being
torn up by wild beasts.
The presumptuous man is ever ready to apologize
PRESUMPTION.
for a rash act by the expression, "I did not think." He -
does not wait to examine into the safety and security of
investments, but impelled by first impressions he acts
hastily and repents afterward. For examples, note the
numerous victims of mining, lottery and other schemes
whereby it is presumed that fabulous wealth comes by
the turning of the hand. How many would have saved
themselves from the pangs of remorse, poverty and hard
labor had they but taken a second thought.
Cotton Mather used to say that there was a gentle¬
man mentioned in the nineteenth chapter of Acts to
whom he was often and greatly indebted—viz., the town
clerk of Ephesus, whose counsel was, "Do nothing
rashly."
This is not only good advice, but, if heeded, would
bring untold blessings and avert numerous calamities
among all classes of men. The young man in seeking
pleasure or employment, the merchant and business
man in making investments, the professional man in fol¬
lowing his calling, all will profit by consulting the "town
clerk of Ephesus."
The man that is controlled by evil and sinful in¬
fluences is full of presumption. It blinds his eyes, it
hardens his heart, it sears his conscience, it fascinates his
imagination, it perverts his judgment, it gives a wrong
bias to the will, it effaces from the memory recollections
of the beautiful and the good and hides from his view
his guilt, his danger and his immortality. The path of
sinful pleasure is strewn with Plutonian flowers, whose
odors stupefy the senses and make the victim dream of
happiness that he will never enjoy. "Rejoice, O
young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee
in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine
heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou that
for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
92 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Meddle not with them . . . given to change.—Solomon.
THE CHAMELEON.
Here is an animal not as attractive as it might be,
but the study of it is nevertheless interesting. It is
called the chameleon and is found in Madagascar and
Africa. It is a lizardlike reptile. It has what is called
a prehensile tail, by means of which it can fasten itself to
the limb of a tree. It has the power to change its color
more oir less with the color of the objects about it or
with its temper when disturbed. In a cool, dark place it
is nearly white or grayish, on admitting the light it
changes to brown, bottle-green or blood-red of various
shades and more or less mottled in arrangement. All
movements of its body are slow, except that of its
tongue, which moves with a great velocity in catching
insects. The glutinous secretion on its tongue helps it
in capturing insects. It has air sacs in different parts
of the body. These are connected with its large lungs,
THE CHAMELEON.
93
and when full of air the animal looks_ bloated; the next
minute it may appear lean and shrunken, having emptied
these sacs. The story that the chameleon lives on air
gained currency partly from this circumstance, and
partly from the almost invisible quickness of motion of
the tongue.
But what of this animal? What lessons does it
teach us? Who cannot make the application? Is it true
that in politics, in religion, in morals, in disposition and
in appearance there are chameleons in the human race,
those who are constantly changing and ever changeable?
Figuratively speaking, we find men who change their
color with every passing breeze, or, like the chameleon,
may look bloated one minute and shrunken the next.
There seem to be not a few men, and women, too, who
are afflicted seriously with the "universal joint." It is
very difficult to find where such individuals stand, and
when we think we find them, in the language of the
Irishman, "They are not thar."
Take, for example, the elections in our large cities.
One party carries the day by an overwhelming majority,
and the very next election gives the opposite party just
as large a majority.
In the church this chameleon swells to full size on
all prominent occasions, but in the prayer meeting and
when works of charity are to be engaged in the lean
and shrunken condition is assumed. In the presence of
the church the garment of light is worn, while in the
home, in business and in the daily routine of duty it
takes a darker hue. Have you ever seen anything that
resembles this chameleon? Anything that changes its
appearance to suit the occasion? Do not look too far
away from home for it.
94
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
I sought for a man that should stand in the gap.—Ezekiel.
STANDING IN THE GAP.
There are gaps to fill. These may be filled by ex¬
posing oneself for the protection of something, by
making defense against assailing danger. Filling a gap
may consist in a word of comfort to a sorrowing one, a
look of sympathy toward a discouraged one, an expres¬
sion of interest in a disheartened one struggling
against temptation, doubt and unbelief. It may be the
extending of the helping hand to the downtrodden or
oppressed, or the elevating of the moral tone of a com¬
munity, a society, or a church. It may be the suppres¬
sion of an evil, the breaking of the bread of life to the
dying or the rescuing of a single soul. It may be a
young McCall giving himself for Africa's teeming
multitudes, or it may be the quiet, unassuming worker,
who, in narrower and unknown circles, is just as freely
giving his life to save and to elevate his fellow-man. It
STANDING IN THE GAP.
95
may be the struggling father who is laboring beyond his
strength to feed, to clothe, to sustain the little ones
whom he loves better than his own life, or the toiling
mother whose intense love for her children causes her
to give her own life rather than that they should suffer
for food or for anything that may hinder the develop¬
ment of possibilities.
Whatever the gap it ought to be filled. It is hon¬
orable to fill gaps. It is written of Moses that he stood
in the breech to turn away the anger of the Lord from
the children of Israel. Sometimes it is difficult to find
men who are willing to stand in the gap to ward off
individual, social, political, moral or spiritual evils.
Such a case is recorded in the Divine Word.
Why these openings that are not filled? Why, at
the close of this century, blessed and chosen of God,
should there be any of earth's wanderers who become
a prey to his foes because there is no one to give a word
of cheer, a look of approbation, an encouraging stimu¬
lus to withstand evil? Why a scarcity of social, politi¬
cal and religious reformers? Why an absence of en¬
thusiastic effort in so many lines of benevolent and re¬
ligious work? Why a scarcity of means and workers in
home and foreign missions? Because men are not will¬
ing to stand in the gap. With some this means, "Here
am I, send me," and with others it means, "Here is my
pocketbook, take it." The gaps or openings to be filled
to-day are not for men, but each opening is awaiting
a man, who is not to lie down or sit down, but to
stand in the gap and, if need be, defend that gap at the
risk of his life.
Why should not you be that man?
96
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Diotrephes loveth to have the preeminence.—St. John.
SEEKING PROMOTION.
The race of Diotrephes is unfortunately not extinct.
What a strife there is among men for these "chief
rooms" of this world! How men wrangle, and debate,
and bribe, and sell their manhood for some seat in the
legislature, or a petty office in a county seat! And what
of this selling of what is honorable and good, to get
into what is considered by the world's people as
"first class society," or to be a leader of fashion, or
of our club, or society. How comes this infatuation
to be boss, leader, ruler, dictator, and have chief
seats and first places? How comes this strange thirst
to be richer than our neighbor, better dressed, able
to put on style, belong to a "set" in society where
only a few can go? This mad self-preference which can
SEEKING PROMOTION.
97
be content to see thousands suffer while we founder at
a millionaire table? Oh, what is this abnormal pos¬
session of humanity which can be content to live on
the sufferings and tears of another part of humanity?
There is an assumption of superiority in this rush for
the upper seat in the world which betokens a self-
assumed, presumptuous idea of fitness for the place. This
of itself betokens a certain measure of unfitness. The
one most worthy of the place is called to it. He does
not put himself in it. The place calls for him. It is
not hfe rush for it. Moses, David, Gladstone, Lincoln,
were demanded for these high callings. On the part of
neither was there insane seeking, wire-pulling and in¬
trigue to get into office. To be worthy of a place is a
first qualification. To have the place call you is a sec¬
ond.—Isaiah Reid.
Then again, it is never honorable to rise to position
and fame by pulling down others. If you cannot rise
without pulling down others, it is more honorable to
remain on the lower rounds of the ladder. Many men
have concluded that they were fitted for a place, and,
in pushing upward, have learned their mistake with sad
results. If we are faithful where we are and con¬
tinue in building up a noble character God will look
after our promotions. True promotion depends
more upon worthy character than upon a mere op¬
portunity of an opening.
Seeking promotion by the way of worth of character
is honorable, but seeking it by way of scheming and
wire-pulling never pays. Let others manipulate the
chicanery of the party in political machines. Men may
enthrone the unworthy; God never does. Rather be a
crowned hero of God's and fill some humble place in
life than wear the undeserving and unmerited garlands
of honor, that will eventually lead to ruin.
7
98
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.—
Psalmist.
CONFIDENCE.
A party of American tourists
were spending some days amid the
picturesque mountain regions of
old Scotland. These highlands lend
fascination and charm to multi¬
tudes that risk their lives in the ef¬
fort to scale the heights which only the eagle has visited.
This party was studying the works of God in the jocks and
flowers, as well as enjoying the beautiful scenery, which
everywhere abounded. One of the enthusiastic botanists
of the party, in looking over the precipitous sides of the
mountain, saw far below on a narrow ledge of pro¬
jecting rock some beautiful specimens of rare flowers,
which he was very anxious to obtain. No one in the
party would venture to secure these much desired blos¬
soms. Near by were a father and son, with their faith¬
ful dogs, guarding 'a flock of sheep on the pasture slopes.
They offered the boy a large reward if he would con¬
sent to have a strong mountain rope tied around his
body and to be lowered to pluck the flowers for them.
The father at once consented, but the boy, although he
was a fearless mountain climber, and had often been
CONFIDENCE.
99
lowered over the dizzy crags to the sea-bird's nest, hesi- -
tated to accept even so liberal an offer. The tourists
attempted to show him that the rope was strong enough
fof half a dozen men His real fear was made apparent
when, after gazing at the company and then at the
strong, stalwart form of his father, he replied: "I will,
if my father holds the rope." This was agreed to, and
the coveted flowers were soon obtained.
Several valuable and practical lessons can be learned
from the conduct and reply of this brave mountain boy
who had such faith and confidence in his father's strength
and love.
In the busy scenes of life we are often calied upon
to place confidence in others. Well, if like the boy, we
are not too eager to hazard life or property for a tempt¬
ing reward, without first carefully considering whose
word or arm is being trusted. Many, by an overanxious
desire to become wealthy, have placed confidence in de¬
signing and unscrupulous persons, and have thereby
brought upon themselves great loss or even utter ruin.
The reply of the boy suggests the strong confidence
that may be placed in those whom we find true. Then
again, with Omnipotence upholding, there can be no
place of duty too dangerous for anyone of us. When
God's strong arm sustains us, what have we to dread?
This noble boy who, without fear, hangs over the dizzy
mountain crag, because his father's strong arm holds the
rope, teaches us a lesson of trust in the "Everlasting
Arms." When duty calls us to places of danger, where
precaution may assail or death may threaten, why should
we fear to face any foe, in labors to elevate humanity,
as long as we have the assurance that there is willingness
and ability in Him who says, "Go . . . I am with you
alway."
200
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Who hath gathered the wind in his fists?—Solomon.
CATCHING THE WIND.
The following is taken from Spurgeon's John Plow¬
man's Talks:
You cannot catch the wind in a net. Some people
get windmills in their heads and go in for all sorts of
silly things. They talk about ruling the nation, as if
men were to be driven like sheep, and they prate of
reforms and systems, as if they could cut out a world
in brown paper with a pair of scissors. Such a body
thinks himself very deep, but he is as shallow as a milk-
pan. You can soon know him as well as if you had gone
through him with a lighted candle, and yet you will not
know a great deal after all. He has a great head, and
very little in it. He can talk by the dozen, or the gross,
and say nothing. When he is fussing and boasting of
CATCHING THE WIND.
101
his fine doings, you soon discover that he makes a long
harvest of very little corn. His tongue is like a pig's
tail, going all day long, and nothing done.
This is the man who can pay off the National debt,
and yet, in his little shop, he sells two apples in three
days; he has the secret of high farming, and loses more
at it than any man in the country. The more he studies,
the more he misses the mark.
He is going to be rich next year, and you will then
see what you shall see; just now he would be glad of
half a crown on account, for which he will give you a
share in his invention for growing wheat without plowing
or sowing.
It is odd to see this wise man at times when his wits
are all up in the moon; he is like Chang, the Chinaman,
who said: "Here's my umbrella, and here's my bundle,
but where am If" He cannot find his spectacles, though
he is looking through them; and when he is out riding
on his ass, he pulls up and says, "Wherever is that
donkey ?"
I have heard of one learned man who boiled his
watch and stood looking at the egg, and another who
forgot that he was to be married that day, and would
have lost his lady if his friend had not fetched him
out of his study. Think of that, my boy, and don't fret
yourself because you are not so overdone with learning
as to have forgotten your common sense.
The regular wind-catcher is soft as silk and as green
as grass, and yet he thinks himself very long-headed; and
so indeed he would be if his ears were taken into the
measurement. He is going to—well, there s no telling
what. He is full of wishes, but short of will, and so his
buds never come to flowers or fruit.
102 TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
m WINKELRIED'S STATUE.
Neither count I my life dear unto myself.—St. Paul.
PATRIOTISM.
In 1386 the battle of Sempach was fought between
the Austrians and the Swiss. The Austrians, armed with
long lances, greatly outnumbered the Swiss, who were
armed with short weapons. An unexpected movement
of the Swiss surprised the Austrians, who prided them¬
selves in superiority of numbers and equipments. The
Swiss, trusting in God, were confident of success, but
sixty of their number were cut down before the Austrians
lost a single man. Defeat was staring them in the face,
when suddenly a brave and fearless Swiss changed the
whole scene. Arnold von Winkelried, at this critical
moment, stepped forward from the ranks, and, shouting
to his comrades, "I will cut a road for you; take care
of my wife and children," he dashed on the enemy, and,
catching hold of as many spears as his arms could en-
PATRIOTISM. 103
compass, he bore them to the ground with the whole
weight of his body. His comrades rushed over his corpse,
burst through the gap made in the Austrian ranks, and
began a fierce hand-to-hand encounter with their clubs
and battle-axes. The Austrians, impeded by their heavy
armour and long lances, made a brave stand, but, becom¬
ing panic-stricken, were completely routed, losing in the
fearful carnage that followed nearly three thousand men,
while the Swiss loss was only one hundred and twenty.
The heroic action of this Swiss patriot, Winkelried, is
beautifully expressed in a poem by Montgomery, from
which we cull the following lines:
"Make way for liberty!" he cried;
Made way for liberty, and died!
Few were the numbers she could boast,
But every freeman was a host,
And felt as though himself were he
On whose sole arm hung victory.
It did depend on one indeed,
Behold him—Arnold Winkelried!
There sounds not to the trump of fame
The echo of a nobler name.
"Make way for liberty!" he cried,
Then ran with arms extended wide,
As if his dearest friend to clasp;
Ten spears he swept within his grasp.
"Make way for liberty!" he cried;
Their keen points met from side to side;
He bowed among them like a tree,.
And thus made way for liberty.
Swift to the breach his comrades fly;
"Make way for liberty!" they cry,
And through the Austrian phalanx dart,
As rushed the spears through Arnold's heart;
While instantaneous, as his fall,
Rout, ruin, panic, scattered all;
An earthquake could not overthrow
A city with a surer blow.
104 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Despise not thy mother.—Solomon.
ASHAMED OF HIS MOTHER.
It is a sad day in the life of a boy when he is for any
cause ashamed of his mother, and it is a day of keenest
sorrow to a loving- mother when she is made to feel that
her children are ashamed of her because she is lacking 111
any of the graces and acquired refinements of life.
A story is told of a poor and ignorant woman who
had the highest ambition for her son, her only child. She
worked early and late at her loom as a weaver of rag
carpets, she denied herself everything but the bare neces¬
sities of life, that Harry might go to school instead of
working for his own and her support. She set herself
resolutely to work to earn money to send him to college.
She grew old and bent at her loom, but hers was a
labor of love and she never complained.
ASHAMED OF HIS MOTHER.
105
"I'll have my pay for it all when I see Harry gradu¬
ate," she said. "It'll be the happiest day of my life if I
live to see it."
"I have to," she said, when her friends protested.
"You know I'm going to see Harry graduate and I'll be
obliged to have some clothes fit to wear. Then it'll
cost a good bit to go- to the college town where he is.
And there's the new clothes ifor Harry to graduate
in—I want him to look as nice as anybody. I must go
to see him graduate. It's to be my pay for all the years
and years I've worked so hard for him."
But, alas! she did not see Harry graduate. In the
midst of her preparation for the journey there came a
letter from her boy, in which he frankly admitted that "it
might be embarrassing to both of us if you came to see
me, you are so unused to the usages of city life; and your
country ways would be criticized in a manner that would
be very annoying to us."
The real meaning of the letter was but too apparent
to her. He would be annoyed—he would be ashamed of
her! She tried to believe that "Harry was right," but
in her heart she felt the full force and bitter cruelty of
the letter. Love could not blind her to it. She read
it again and again through her tears, and then burned it,
that no eyes but her own might ever read of her boy's dis¬
loyally. And while the fire consumed it the cherished
hope of years became as ashes also, and her heart re¬
ceived a wound that no lapse of time can ever heal. But
there must come a day when her son will be made to
feel the selfishness and sinfulness of ever having been
ashamed of such a mother.
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child.—Shakespeare.
106
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Turn not aside after vain things.—Solomon.
VAIN PURSUITS.
What boy has not at some time chased a butterfly?
There is something attractive in the sport, even though
he knows that his running is in vain. Many times he
thinks he has overtaken the object of his pursuit, to
find that it has escaped his grasp. At last it settles on
a wall. Now he has it surely, for he has placed his hat
right over it. But again, to his surprise, the golden tints
on its wings attract his attention in the sunlight above.
Still he pursues, now losing sight of it for a time, then
again more certain than ever of success, as it lights upon
a flower or shrub; but always meeting with the same
result—just as he has it, it is gone. Repeated failures
do not turn him away* Complete exhaustion alone com¬
pels him to give up his vain pursuit.
How like the little boy are those who have reached
mature years and who might, if they were to stop and
VAIN PURSUITS.
107
think, profit greatly by the sports and amusements of
childhood days. Like the boy, we do not see our folly
until we have spent time, energy and money in gaining
that which we never apprehend.
Take for example the report of gold being found in
the Klondike region. Thousands are ready to leave com¬
fortable surroundings and paying positions for the hard¬
ships and privations of that desolate region. And why?
To gain that which not one of a thousand gains—wealth.
It would seem that the hardships and failures of multi¬
tudes that went searching for gold in the days of the
California gold fever, as well as the repeated failures of
more recent dates, would suggest a more careful course
to pursue. But the American mind is bold, daring and
venturesome and will not profit by the experiences of
others. Even for a butterfly-prospect of getting rich
they, with open eyes, rush into extreme hardships and
even death.
What shall it profit a man if he gain all the gold on
the banks of the Klondike and die of starvation in the
midst of his treasure?
Seeking wealth in the gold fields of Alaska is only
one of the many vain pursuits that men follow. Others
resort to chimerical speculations and visionary schemes
which promise large returns, but the promise is the only
reward given.
Others again follow vain pursuits in pleasure which,
if innocent, may award no further loss than that of valu¬
able time, but, too frequently, these pursuits lead to the
way of death. The path may be innocent at first, but
frequently it leads to prodigality, intemperance and im¬
morality. American manhood and womanhood is too
noble and exalted to spend it? energies on butterfly pur¬
suits.
108
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Ephraim is joined to *his idols.—Hosea.
HABITS.
Habits are soon assumed, but when we strive to strip them off
'tis beiug flayed alive.—Gowper.
A faithful horse had done service for many years
in a bark mill. At length he became old and blind and
stiff. Kindness then prompted that he be turned out
to pasture the remainder of his days. But, to the aston¬
ishment of his owner, every day, when it was time to
work, the horse would start on a tramp, going round in
a circle, just as he had been accustomed to do for so
many years. Passers-by would stop and look at the old
horse as he went around, just as if he was working as in
days gone by. The force of habit had fixed itself upon
him.
Youth everywhere is forming habits either good or
bad, and the future is largely determined by the habits
acquired in early life. The idle, careless youth becomes
HABITS.
109
the profligate, worthless man. The careful, temperate,
industrious youth becomes the strong, reliable and trusty
man. As a rule, men do not become truly great when
bound down by evil habits. Now and then men, like
Gough, are found who break away from early-formed
habits, but these are the exception and not the rule.
Many good and great men have in later years been
overcome by habits formed in early life. General Grant
and Phillips Brooks were men universally honored and
esteemed, but their lives were shortened by their habit
of smoking.
The young man who permits an evil habit or a
secret vice to fasten itself upon him may not under¬
stand how his efforts to be free in later years are to be
defied. Let him take warning from Gough, who says, "I
would give this right hand to redeem those terrible seven
years of dissipation and death." The indolent cannot by
a wish become industrious, nor the spendthrift frugal,
nor the libertine virtuous. The habit of controlling our
thoughts in lines of truth, virtue and cheerfulness will
insure beauty and harmony in character. . The will is
the monarch on the throne. Let it assume its right.
Now is the time. Regret will not change your course.
If you are unfortunate enough to have acquired bad
habits, break them at once before they gain a greater
hold on you. You may think them absolutely under
your control, but thousands have made the same assump¬
tion and havejound themselves woefully mistaken. You
may not be able to overcome and subdue these habits in
your own strength, but there is a power stronger than
any earthly power that can help you to conquer. God's
almightiness has in many cases broken these. Cast your¬
self upon Him. Trust Him to break these bonds and He
will do it.
110
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Honor the Lord with thy substance.—Solomon.
THE LAST WILL.
It is the custom now of men of wealth, in their last
wills, to make large bequests to various charitable, edu¬
cational and religious institutions. Professor Swing says,
"The wills of the rich are often penitential tears falling
over a misspent life, telling us how wealth should be
administered when one's cheek is still in bloom and the
star of the soul shines out in its first magnitude."
While in many cases these gifts have been a blessing
to mankind, we still hold that the principle suggested
by Professor Swing in the above extract is much the
safer and better one. Who has not heard of the will of
some wealthy man being broken by a flaw, and the large
sum set aside to purposes altogether different from that
intended by the donor. The facility with which a man's
THE LAST WILL.
Ill
last will and testament can be broken, and the disgusting
publicity which is given to the sanctities of the domestic
life through the rapacity of litigating heirs, should make
the poor man satisfied to leave only an untarnished name
to posterity and the rich man anxious to be his own
executor by disposing of his property while he lives.
There is another aspect that deserves consideration.
Why should a man who has honestly accumulated wealth
prefer to have that wealth benefit mankind after he has
gone? Is there no real pleasure in distributing wealth
while living and-thus being a witness to one's own bene¬
factions? What gain is there in deferring all this until
you are ready to step into the grave?
There are thousands in our country who intend to
bless mankind by gifts of benevolence. In the near
future, when a little more wealth has been acquired, they
are going to endow colleges and found libraries, mu¬
seums and homes for the friendless. And they are sin¬
cere in these intentions. They fully decide that their
memories shall be revered for their beneficent gifts.
The real truth, however, is that, of these thousands of
promising hearts, very few enjoy the golden days when
benevolence is a pleasure to them. In the prime of life,
when the powers of the mind are in full bloom, when
eloquence, literature and art present their best produc¬
tions, this is the time for works of benevolence and re¬
ligion. Why leave all this to the weakness of old age,
and probably die without carrying out their intentions?
Is it not true that old age and a second childhood have
frequently made an entirely different disposition of wealth
than manhood in its prime would have done? A writer
says that we pass our life in deliberation, and die in it.
As far as possible, be your own executor, and the age
in which you live will feel your influence.
112 TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
Your labor is not in vain.—St. Paul.
IMPATIENT OF RESULTS.
This little boy is hoeing up seeds that he planted
yesterday, to see whether they have sprouted. His father,
smiling1 at the innocent amusement of the boy, is looking
for ripe fruit before the time. Both are making the
same mistake.
One of the characteristics of Americans is our im¬
patience of results. We want to see the growing plant
immediately upon the sowing of the seed; we want to
reap the harvest with the least possible cultivation of
the crop. There is no doubt that, within certain limits,
this impatience has its advantages. It makes us alert,
eager, quick, ready in resources. But it has equally ob¬
vious disadvantages. Its tendency is to be satisfied with
superficial results. It leads, not infrequently, to harsh
and unjust judgments of those who are doing work that
IMPATIENT OF RESULTS.
113
in the end will tell but that is not at once crowned with
a showy success.
There are many instances where we are impatient
of the results that attend our labors. We want to gather
the fruit before it has had time to ripen. Time is usually
an element in any permanent, success. There are those
who, by a stroke of genius or of fortune, mount at a
bound the ladder of fame or pecuniary success. It is, how¬
ever, by no means certain that they will stay at their glit¬
tering elevation. Those who do stay are generally those
who climb step by step. The fact that now and then one
clears the distance with a leap inclines others to impa¬
tience. Illustrations of these truths are not wanting. We
are sometimes impatient of slow gains, and many may
prefer the sudden fortunes of speculation to the slow and
sure method of small but steady increase, even though
there is the risk of sudden failure. Many men, lured on
by the bait of sudden riches, have risked and lost their
all. It pays in this respect to be patient and not permit
the desire for immediate results to overcome the better
judgment of the man of sober moments.
The young must especially learn this lesson. How
many have made a failure of life because they were
not willing to toil on slowly but surely, awaiting in due
time the desired results. It is right for up to desire
results. We must do so if we would succeed, but we
can desire speedy results without becoming impatient.
In all moral,- reform and religious work the same
principle holds. Patient, earnest, steady toil wins in the
end. Apparent results may be slow in becoming visible.
The parent in training the child, the Sabbath-school
teacher in sowing the seed, the pastor in earnest labor,
the reform worker in his self-denying labors; all these
may labor without seeing results. But this labor is not
lost. It is sure to bring results'.
8
L14 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Theudas boasting himself to be somebody.—Acts.
BOASTING.
We rise in glory, as we sink in pride;
Where boasting ends, there dignity begins.
—Young.
The Mongols illustrate boasting by the following
s-tory:
Two geese, when about to start southward on their
autumn migration, were entreated by a frog to take him
with them: On the geese expressing their willingness
to do so, if a means of conveyance could be devised, the
frog produced a stock of strong grass, got the two geese
to take it, one by each end, while he clung to it by his
mouth in the middle.
In this manner the three were making the journey
successfully, when they were noticed from below by a
BOASTING.
115
boy, who loudly expressed his admiration of the device,
and wondered who had been clever enough to invent
that method of locomotion. The frog opened his mouth
to say, "It was I," lost his hold, fell to the earth and
was dashed to pieces.
The boasting man generally lives for himself and
in himself. He is ever ready to tell of his great deeds,
and the hero of all his stories is the one who tells them.
The great difficulty with the boaster is that he over¬
estimates his strength. He must first of all learn that
God did not make him to be a great man; while his tales
may at first be pleasing, they soon become stale and he
becomes a bore upon society.
Be careful that you do not commend yourself. It
is a sign that your reputation is small and sinking if your
own tongue must praise you. Let your words be few,
especially when your superiors or strangers are present,
lest you betray your own weakness and rob yourself of
the opportunity which you might otherwise have had
to gain knowledge, wisdom and experience by hearing
those whom you silenced by your impertinent talking.—
Sir Matthew Hale.
Sir Thomas Overbury says that the man that has
nothing of which to boast except his illustrious ancestors
is like a potato—the only good belonging to him is under
the ground.
With what happy feelings does a candid mind turn
away from the boaster to the individual controlled by
the opposite spirit. Self and self-interests are lost sight
of in the determined effort to give due credit to others,
to recognize the good qualities of others and to commend
them on all proper occasions.
Humility is the base of every virtue,
And they who dig the deepest build the safest.
God keeps all his pity for the proud.
—Bailey.
116
TEA ITS OP CHARACTER.
I will arise . . . and lie arose.—St. Luke.
GOOD RESOLUTIONS.
"I will arise and go to my father," said the prodigal,
in the "far country." The resolution was a good one
and proper to be made, but by itself alone it left the
needy young man to fill himself with husks among the
swine.
"And he arose," was his deliverance, for it was put¬
ting the resolution into practice.
Resolutions are worthless without a corresponding
action. Better not form resolutions than not carry them
out when they are formed. "I will arise," must be fol¬
lowed by "and he arose," or the Feather's house is not
regained.
It is in execution that we are all most likely to come
short. For the prodigal son to resolve that he would
arise and go to his father was a comparatively easy mat¬
ter; the real pinch of difficulty began to be felt when he
commenced to carry out his resolution and started upon
GOOD RESOLUTIONS.
Ill
his journey toward the old parental homestead. So
with everyone, the real pinch of difficulty comes, not in
forming good resolutions, but in performing them.
Many men permit their lives to slip away with their
large purposes unaccomplished and their smaller inten¬
tions unrealized, simply because they never transform
the "about to be" into the "shall be." There are many
striking examples of failure through lack of immediate
and present effort. "Unwise delay" has killed many a
well-designed project. Vague planning is worthless
without the transforming of the plan into downright
accomplishment of some sort. Maxims are good only
when they are crystallized into actions. The plan you
have in mind, what can you nozv do toward its fulfillment?
"We aim to make this publication the best family
sheet in the country," wrote an editor of a newspaper.
To which the editor of a rival sheet made reply: "Neigh¬
bor, why do you always keep aiming? Why don't you
shoot sometimes?" It is the shooting that brings down
the bird.
To nourish in the heart noble aims and purposes
is not in itself sufficient for the attainment of life's true
end. The noblest aims have been known to evaporate;
the noblest resolutions have been known to melt away
into thin air. Coiyviction of duty, right desire, and good
resolve are all needed; but they are not enough. Con¬
viction must be carried out; desire must be transformed
into deed; resolve must crystallize into solid fact.
Day-dreaming is an unprofitable business. "Wish¬
ing, of all employments, is the worst."
To fulfill our mission we must "do noble things, not
dream them all day long." Gathering up our strength,
pulling ourselves together, as we sometimes say, we must
concentrate all our energy upon some definite thing, ex¬
claiming with the apostle, "This one thing I do."
118
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
The good that I would do.—Romans.
GOOD INTENTIONS.
The world is full of people of good intentions. Like
in the above scene, many a rich man is seated in his
comfortable home, indulging in good reflections, in pro¬
jecting plans for doing good on a large scale, in bringing
abundant relief to the poor. In imagination he has made
a great many people happy. But he is so engrossed in
his good intentions that he never gets ready and never
has the time to carry out any of his charitable plans.
Although he is surrounded with everything necessary
to be comfortable, he often sighs when he sees the suf¬
ferings and hardships that poverty brings, and indulges
in the wish that he might be able to relieve them. He
keenly realizes that he must provide for his own wants
GOOD INTENTIONS.
119
first. How willingly he would gratify his benevolent
wishes if he only could.
He ri.des in the street car, but he is tired, and his
earnest reflections upon how he may be the founder of
some noble institution that will bless mankind prevent
him from observing that in the same car in which he has
a comfortable seat there are several hard-working women
compelled to stand while men of means Qccupy the seats.
This class of men, and women, too, is far too numer¬
ous—men who form excellent plans and projects for
doing great things, and who are always thinking about
what they could do and would do, if they had the means,
while they utterly neglect to do any of the thousand little
useful things-which are within the power of everyone.
An explosion occurred in a mine in England. Many
came and worked with a will. The crowd of bystanders
expressed sincere sympathy with the ill-fated miners.
Among them was a young man who seemed to be very
sincere and very free in his expressions of sympathy, but
who had not offered to "lend a hand" to remove the
earth. "Young man, your brother is down there," cried
a bystander. This suddenly changed the attitude of the
young man. Pulling off his coat, he grasped a shovel
and went to work with a will.
If only all these people of good dispositions and
intentions could recognize a brother or a sister in the
thousands everywhere who need help daily, what a
change would be wrought. How intentions would fly
into activities! How self and self-interests would be
forgotten in the effort to do good to others, in the effort
to alleviate the pains and sufferings of humanity. Not
only great deeds, but little acts and words of kindness,
scatter gloom and give sunshine where it is most needed.
On a tombstone was found this inscription, "Here
lies a man of the best intentions,"
120
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Turn us, O God, and cause thy face to shine.—Psalmist.
TURNING WINTER INTO SPRING.
In the midwinter season many people fall, naturally,
into the error that the sun emits less heat than during
the midsummer. But while we are shivering with the
cold, the fact is that the mighty furnace of the sun is
glowing with the same heat as in July—a heat so intense
that every square foot of its vast surface gives off enough
energy to drive the colossal engine of the Centennial
Exhibition—a heat that would melt a column of ice fifty
miles in diameter as fast as it shot toward the sun, even
though it flew with the speed of light! The simple reason
why we all shiver in February is that our globe lies at
another angle toward the solar furnace and receives only
its indirect radiations. The change is in our position.
There is only one way by which nature turns winter
TURNING WINTER INTO SPRING.
121
into spring; it is by bringing the face of the earth into
a new position toward the sun rays. Then the snow¬
banks vanish, the seeds sprout, the grass peeps out, the
buds open, and the sun reneweth the face of the year.—
Theodore L. Cuyler.
This astronomic fact teaches us many important and
practical lessons. Much of the unhappiness and the dis¬
agreeable in life can be accounted for if we look within
ourselves. We often attempt to make a scapegoat of
"unfavorable circumstances" and of our "hard lot," while
all the time the change so much desired could easily
be brought about if we were to place ourselves at another
angle to our surroundings. Too often we place ourselves
at the point of view that the Quaker had when he said,
"All the world is queer, except thee and me, and thee
is a little queer."
That former friend, who has become estranged, as
you think, by no fault of yours, may possibly be won
again, if you were only to change your attitude toward
him. He may think as you do, and a slight misunder¬
standing may lose you a friend. Suppose you take the
initiative and show that as far as lies in your power you
propose to break down all barriers of hard feelings. This
frigidity of winter can in many cases be turned into the
glow of spring by a kind, encouraging or appreciative
word. Or do you know the worth of a smile? The
gloom of winter can all be driven away by the smile of
approbation. You desire to turn winter into spring, my
friend? Then do not so much try to change circum¬
stances as to change your angle of vision.
As the earth teems with new life when brought into
a different position with respect to the sun, so the soul
that seeks God's face, God's favor, will find that the
winter will be past and gone and the time of the singing
of souls will come again.
122
TRAIT'S OF CHARACTER.
Remove thy foot from evil.—Solomon.
THE SAFEST METHOD.
The man who tries how near to the buzz-saw of temptation he can
put his hand will never be able to point out to others the folly of
his course.—Ram's Horn.
An Irish nobleman was in search of a coachman,
and, as the situation was a desirable one, there were
many candidates for it. Calling them together, his
lordship asked the first:
"Now, how near the edge of a precipice can you
drive me in safety?"
"Oh," answered Pat, "at four feet off I'd under¬
take to go along aisy with fresh horses, and never a taste
of an accident should your lordship have."
"You must drive well," said the nobleman. And
then h : put the same question to the next applicant, who
promised to go with equal safety to closer quarters.
THE SAFEST METHOD.
m
A third was sure he could drive within a foot, and then
the competition became so eager, his lordship had offers
of being driven within a few inches of the edge.
"And how near would you go?" asked his lordship
of a quiet man, who had remained silent.
"Sure, I'd kape myself and your lordship as far
away as I could," was the reply.
"Then you're the man for me," cried the noble¬
man, and engaged the sensible driver on the spot.
"I can drink or leave it alone."
So has said every man who has died a drunkard.
This is the confident statement of every moderate
drinker.
But down they go, 60,000 to 80,000 every year.
We see the bloated, miserable God-forsaken
wrecks all about us every day, and yet that smile of
assurance in your own will power comes up again and
you say, "They have gone down, but I—never."
A young man stood at the bar of a court with a
verdict of guilty against him for some crime. Before
he was sentenced he addressed the court and said: "My
downward course began in disobedience to my parents.
My father plead with me to forsake bad company, but I
thought I knew as much of the world as my father did.
I spurned his advice. I thought I knew when to stop;
but when I turned my back upon my home temptation
came upon me like a drove of hyenas, and hurried, me to
my ruin." Mark that confession, young men, who are
beginning to be wiser than your parents, and take the
safest method.
The only safe method to deal with evil is to keep
as far removed from it as possible. The happy time
coming will not be realized in any other way. Why not
nake that time to-day by choosing God and the right.
124
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
It is a little one.—Lot.
LITTLE THINGS.
Little self-denials, little honesties, little passing words of sym¬
pathy, little nameless acts of kindness, little silent victories over
favorite temptations—these are the silent threads of gold which, when
woven together, gleam out so brightly in the pattern of life that
God approves.—Frederic W. Farrar.
A picture in a public gallery in London gives a
scene in the Higher Alps. A noble eagle in flight is
pursued by scores of birds. The hawk and other
large birds he can keep at a distance. Whenever they
come too near he tears them with his claws or strikes
them with his beak. The humming-bird, a tiny thing
compared with the eagle, has joined the other birds in
their attack upon the eagle. He can do more injury
than all the others. He sits on the head of the king of
birds, pecking away and scattering the feathers as the
eagle soars higher. The humming-bird is small and has
a small beak and little strength, but sitting on the vital
LITTLE THINGS.
125
part, and constantly teasing, he frequently injures the
brain of the eagle and causes his death.
How often is it the case that we allow little things
to annoy us, to destroy our peace, our happiness, our
health. Great troubles we manfully meet and conquer,
but little things, little humming-bird troubles, get near
our hearts, and we fail to comprehend that only God's
infinite grace can help us overcome.
A little boy who held a sixpence near his eye said,
"Oh, Mother, it is bigger than the room," and when he
drew it nearer still he exclaimed, "Oh, Mother, it is big¬
ger than all outdoors." A silk fiber stretched across the
glass of a telescope may hide a star. A hair may strangle;
a giant. A pebble dropped into the ocean from an in¬
fant's hand will stir the waters to their great depths and
their widest bounds. Little things have turned the tide
of a great battle, crushed a dynasty, obliterated an em¬
pire and changed the map of a continent. Little things
frequently shape the policies of governments and make
and unmake public men. Little things raise men from
poverty to wealth and destroy the accumulations of years
of hard and honest labor. In earlier years we may
have planned wisely and cautiously, but some little thing
—some concealed switch—may have turned us from our
course entirely. A very small self-gratification, a very
little love of pleasure, a very small thread, may hide the
light from view and turn Us on the wrong course.
There can be no little transgression of God's infinite
holy law. There can be no little sins. Little "short¬
comings," little "indiscretions," are not found in God's
vocabulary. Nothing is little in the eye of God. Noth¬
ing is too little for the pen of the recording angel.
It is the little rift within the lute
That, by and by, will make the music mute.—Tennyson.
126 TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
Train up a child in1 the way he should go.—Solomon.
DECEIVING CHILDREN.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave.
When first we practice to deceive.
—Scott.
A short time ago a gentleman took his little son on
a railway excursion. The little fellow was looking out
of the window, when the father slipped the hat off the
boy's head. The latter was much grieved at his sup¬
posed loss, when papa consoled him by saying he would
"whistle it back." A little later he whistled and the hat
reappeared. Not long after the little lad flung the hat
out of the window, shouting: "Now, Papa, whistle it
back again!" A roar of laughter in the carriage served
to enhance the confusion of perplexed papa.
Children soon learn to know whether the parents'
word is to be relied on or not. A child about five years
DECEIVING CHILDREN.
127
old was rude and noisy. The mother kindly reproved
her, saying: "Sarah, you must not do so." The child
soon forgot the reproof and became as noisy as ever.
The mother firmly said: "Sarah, if you do so again I
will punish you." But not long afterward Sarah "did
so again." A young lady present said, "Never mind, I
will ask your mother not to punish you." "Oh," said
Sarah, "that will do no good. My mother never tells
lies."
Robert Hall once said to a mother: "If you do not
wish your child to grow up a liar, never act a lie before
her. Children are very quick observers, and soon learn
that that which assumes to be what it is not is a lie,
whether acted or spoken."
This deception on the part of parents, if followed
up closely, exists to an alarming extent. Parents who
would not for a moment think of uttering a falsehood
yet act in such a manner or present matters in such a
light to the child that there exists a doubt in the child's
mind as to the integrity of the parent.
This deception is sometimes carried into our re¬
ligious life and festivities. Who doubts the logic of the
little child's question after a Christmas festival when
being told that there was no Santa Claus, innocently
asked, "Well, is there a real Christ?"
Dr. Leonard Bacon once preached a sermon on what
he called the obverse side of the Fifth Commandment—
the duty of parents to be worthy of honor. The child is
born into the world with this right. His pure eyes look
to his elders for example. His soul waits for impulse and
inspiration from them. Woe unto that parent Who, by
unworthy character or by neglect or by deception, causes
one of these little ones to stumble; it were better that a
millstone were hanged about his neck and that he were
drowned in the depths of the sea.
128
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil,—Isaiah.
CHANGING GUIDEBOARDS.
A number of boys, wishing to have some fun,
changed the guideboard at the crossing of two roads.
The result was that a physician, who had been called
in haste to attend a case of accidental poisoning, followed
the guideboard and took the wrong road and arrived
when the patient was beyond recovery The physician,
unacquainted with the roads was not to blame for the
mistake, and the boys meant no harm. But the result!
Innocent jokes! How often they have resulted in
permanent injury or in loss of life. Not infrequently
has the victim of the joke been a member of the same
family. A young girl was very much afraid of fire¬
crackers. Iier brothers, knowing her dread, determined
to have a little innocent fun, and lighted a number, and,
unnoticed, placed them under a seat in the yard which
she was occupying. The result was that she was thrown
into spasms, and became a helpless, hopeless invalid.
CHANGING GUIDEBOARDS.
129
Many persons have paid a very high price for what
they supposed would be only a little innocent fun.
Do you remember that poem of Southey's about Sir
Ralph the Rover? On the east coast of Scotland, near
Arbroath, a good man had placed a float with a bell
attached on the dangerous Inchcape Rock, so that in¬
coming ships, unwarned in the darkness and storm,
might be warned and keep away. In a moment of devil¬
try Sir Ralph the Rover cut away both bell and float.
This was a cruel thing to do. Years passed by. Sir
Ralph roamed over many parts of the world and at last
returned to Scotland. As he neared the coast a storm
was raging. Where was he? Where was the ship drift¬
ing? Oh, that he knew where he was! Oh, that he could
hear the bell on Inchcape Rock! But years ago, in his
thoughtlessness and sinful folly, he had cut it away with
his own hands. Listen to the grating sounds heard amid
the storm! In the grasp of the breakers the ship is
hopelessly tossed about, and at last strikes that very
rock. Amid curses of rage and despair the ship goes
down, bearing with.it him whose sin has found him out.
He sinks to rise no more until the great day of judgment.
Another aspect of this subject. In a higher and
more important sense there are those that change guide-
boards. The young man who follows the advice of asso¬
ciates should be sure that the guideboard has not been
changed.
Many young men have been led to give up the
simple faith of childhood and pious parents when in our
higher institutions of learning. Philosophy and the so-
called power of independent thought are substituted for
a consecrated, holy life. It is dreadful to change a guide-
board that physical death ensues; it is much more so
when the issues involve eternal life and eternal death.
Q
130
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Work out your own salvation,—St. Paul.
PARASITES.
An idle life is death anticipated.—Goethe.
Better far be burned at the stake of public opinion than die the living
death of parasitism.—Drummond,
Prof. Henry Drummond says that parasites are
paupers of Nature. They are forms of life that will not
take the trouble to find their own food, but borrow or
steal it. The parasite has no thought for its race or for
perfection in any shape or form. It wants two things—
food and shelter. In the picture above we give three
forms of the parasite.
The Dodder is a plant, a vine that fixes itself to some
other plant, as to hops, flax, the nettle, etc., and, decay¬
ing at the root, is nourished by the plant that supports
it. The Hermit Crab takes up its abode in the cast-
off shell of some other animal and, like Diogenes in his
tub, lives a very lonely but a very active life.
The Hermit Crab is not altogether a parasite, but
within its body is frequently found a bunch of rootlike
processes, called Sacculina. This organism has neither
legs nor eyes, nor throat, nor stomach, nor any other
organs, and is a typical parasite.
Parasitism is always accompanied by degeneration,
PARASITES.
131
and scientists tell us that this is true of the Sacculina,
which might have been a crustacean. Let the parasitic
life begin, and away go legs, jaws, eyes and ears, the
organism becoming a mere sac, absorbing nourishment.
There are many other parasites found in the higher
forms of life which we cannot name here.
The third parasite in the picture belongs to the
genus Homo. Have you ever seen this specimen?
Here again this parasite expects to find food and shelter
without earning them. It is impossible to name the dif¬
ferent varieties. They are found in the physical,
mental, moral, and spiritual world. The general law
of parasites, as stated 'by Drummond, is that anything
which secures food to the individual without the ex¬
penditure of work is injurious and accompanied by de¬
generation.
All that can be said of idleness generally might be
fitly urged in support of t'his great practical truth. All
nations that have prematurely passed away, buried in
graves dug by their own effeminacy; all those individuals
who have secured a hasty wealth by the chances of specu¬
lation; all children of fortune; all victims of inheritance;
all social sponges; all satellites of the court; all beggars
of the marketplace—all these are living and unlying
witness to the unalterable retributions to the law of par¬
asitism.—Drummond.
In the religious sphere the parasitic habit makes
awful ravages on the souls of men. While truth and
knowledge seem to increase, life and character are de¬
grading. A mere adherent of the church presents to
the world a false conception of the religion of Christ.
Vital Christianity in the home will in most cases prevent
parasitic children.
132
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
He did it with all his heart and prospered.—2 Chronicles.
CONCENTRATION.
Be a whole man at everything.—Gurney.
Archimedes one day drew a mathematical figure
in the sand, and was so intent upon the solution of his
problem that he had but one request to make of the
Roman soldiers who had been sent to kill him. His
request was that his life might be spared long enough for
him to finish the solution of his problem, but even this
was ruthlessly denied him.
In order to succeed in life it is necessary to have a
certain amount of concentration. Duties may be varied,
but the duty of the moment demands the whole strength
of man. Many men are laboring hard, but not having
the faculty of concentrating their powers upon a single
subject at hand, their arduous toil often means nothing
CONCENTRATION.
133
but defeat, while others, who concentrate their forces and
dispel worry from the mind, with much less labor turn
defeats into telling victories.
How often the school boy finds it a difficult task
to give his whole attention to the lesson at hand. It
requires not a little effort on his' part to become the
diligent student who knows what application is. In every
great success the power of concentration is clearly seen,
overcoming difficulties, driving away discouragements.
Dividing the energies and powers of a man is the
curse of many a business life, and frequently hinders
progress in other fields. Coleridge is said to have left be¬
hind him about forty thousand treatises on metaphysics
and divinity—not one of them complete. How much
greater blessing men might be to the world if there were
not this scattering of energies.
Gladstone is a remarkable example of the power of
concentration. Whatever the work he had in hand, in
his long and eventful life, took hold of him so entirely
that he had to be roused from it as most are roused from
sleep. The rare power of being totally-indifferent to his
surroundings was invaluable to him as leader of the
House of Commons.
William Pitt, although in some respects not a worthy
example for young men, teaches an important lesson on
what fixedness of purpose will do. Neglecting every¬
thing else, he bent all his energies in acquiring political
supremacy, and for a quarter of a century stood at the
head of one of the most powerful nations of the world.
Concentration that wins is shown by Sidney Smith'
when he suggests that we read so heartily that dinner-
times comes two hours before you expect it. Charles
Kingsley says: "I go at what I am about as if there was
nothing else in the world for the time being. That's the
secret of all hard-working men, but most of them can't
carry it into their amusements."
134
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Fearing lest they should have fallen upon rocks—St. Paul.
DANGER NEAR THE COAST.
Vessels are not often wrecked in mid-ocean. It is
only when the coast is neared that danger is imminent.
The same truth holds in the moral world. The life that is
headed toward the deep seas of purity, honesty and noble
manhood is not in danger, as is the life that has cut away
from the "old life," but is still moving in the shallow
waters near the shore. Hezekiah Butterworth beautifully
illustrates this truth in the following lines:
When life was young my white sail hung
O'er ocean's crystal floor;
In the capes alee was the dreaming sea,
And the deep sea waves before.
DANGER NEAR THE COAST. 135
And a Glo'ster fisherman called to me
From the pier's extremest post:
''Strike out, my boy, for the open sea,
There's danger near the coast!"
From the seaport town I went away,
And a Christian man returned,
And I told in the old home church one day
The truths my heart had learned
When the grizzly fisherman said to me:
"Of strength we may not boast;
Strike out, my boy, for the open sea;
There's danger near the coast."
"False lights, false rocks, are near the land,
The reef the lar^d-wave hides,
And the ship goes down in sight of the town,
That safe the deep sea rides.
'Tis those that steer the old life near
Temptation suffer most;
Strike out again for the open main;
"There's danger near the coast!"
And so on life's bay I sail away,
Where free the sea winds blow,
As I sailed from the old home port that day,
And the rocks of the Norman's Woe.
And when I steer the old life near,
The fisherman, like a ghost,
On the wave-rocked pier I seem to hear—
"There's danger near the coast!"
This truth finds application in religious circles. The
individual or the community that is not ready to swing
out away from evil, but delights to linger near its shore,
will never be bold and aggressive in defending the right,
will never be strong in any sense.
What community does not know of men who were
rescued from the "old life" and for a time were ex¬
amples of promising manhood, but, believing them¬
selves strong, they ventured "near the coast" and were
overtaken. This is true not only in the grosser vices
of intemperance and lust, but also in the "little" things
that lead to indifference and apathy in the "new life/'
If Christians were generally to heed the warning,
"There's danger near the coast," the Church would be
revolutionized in a day,
136 TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
Redeeming the time.—St. Paul.
PROMPTNESS.
General Washington's private secretary once apolo¬
gized for his delays by saying, "My watch is out of order."
"Then," replied Washington, "you must get a new watch
or I must get a new secretary." Pompey once said, "It
is not necessary for me to live, but it is necessary that I
be at a certain point at a certain hour.
Franklin said to a servant that was frequently late
and was always ready with an excuse, "I have generally
found that the man that is good at an excuse is good for
nothing else."
Some persons have the habit of being behind time.
They arrive at the breakfast table a little late. Their
letters are mailed just after the time of closing the mails.
The train has just left as they appear on the scene. They
are not apt to break engagements, only that they always
come a little after the time.
Grouchy, Napoleon's marshal at Waterloo, was only
a few minutes late. The few minutes were improved by
PROMPTNESS.
137
Blucher, the general on Wellington's side, and decided
the victory of the day and sent Napoleon to St. Helena.
Persons who are not prompt in all their doings
sometimes think that they themselves only are injured
by their neglect, while in fact lack of being prompt and
punctual is a marked inconvenience, discourtesy, and
often a positive loss to someone else. Delay on your part
often means stealing time that belongs to others. Delay
in answering a letter, in speaking a word, in proffering a
helping hand, in performing a piece of work, may not only
result in no good, but in positive evil.
Promptness is a characteristic of truly great men.
As a rule, the most truly successful and competent men
of the community are always prompt. "I have no time,"
or, "I will go a little after time so as not to lose time,"
are the men who are always hustling and never accon>
plish anything.
Dr. Fitch says: "I give it as my deliberate and sol¬
emn conviction that the individual that is tardy in meet¬
ing an appointment will never be respected or successful
in life."
Five minutes late! Who can estimate the result?
A conductor's watch is behind time—a frightful collision
occurs; a leading firm needs funds that are available to
its agent, the agent is tardy in transmitting—the firm
becomes bankrupt.
Victory or defeat, success or failure, a useful life or a
wasted life, princely manhood or a shattered humanity—
all these may hinge upon an important five minutes.
"Too late" may be written on the tombstone of
many a wasted life—too late in rising, too late in busi¬
ness, too late in meeting engagements, too late in efforts
to benefit mankind, too late in religious duties and at
last,
"Too late! too late! will be the cry,
Jesus of Nazareth has passed by."
138
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
PURITY.
A woman paused where a chandelier
Threw in the darkness its poisoned spear;
Weary and footsore from journeying long,
She had strayed unawares from the right
to the wrong;
Angels were beck'ning her back from the den,
Hell and its demons were beck'ning her in;
The word of a sister, like one who forgives,
Drew her back, and in heaven that sweet
word lives.—Anon.
At the Columbian Exposition, in one of the corri¬
dors of the Art Building, stood a marble group, repre¬
senting an outcast woiman, who, trembling with fear and
cowering with shame, seeks protection from one whom
she instinctively recognizes as a new found friend. Her
timid, upward glance reveals a soul in which the shades
of the guilty past are contending in mortal combat with
the newly awakened aspiration and hope for a better life.
Bending over, as if to shield her by his mantle from
PURITY.
139
those who drew back their garment's hem, for fear of
defilement, and looking down into her very soul with an
expression of infinite sorrow, compassion and pardon, is
the Christ of Galilee, the friend of sinners. No Christian
could catch the Master's thought, thus vividly embodied
by the sculptor, without feeling a measure of his
"passionate passion for souls," "that pours itself out for
the lost."—Mrs. Rev. L. Grosenbaugh.
No line of Christian work shows more clearly the
imprint of divinity than this oneness with God in helping
to take away the sin of the world by uplifting fallen
womanhood. Yet those engaging in rescue work soon
find that an almost impassable gulf separates these vic¬
tims from the possibility of returning to a pure life, the
double standard of morals upheld by society for the sexes
probably forming the greater part of the chasm.
So long as girls must work for a mere pittance that
will not provide for the actual necessities of life, and are
told, when complaint is made, that they are expected to
resort to other resources, we can but expect young
y/omen to accept friendships which prove destructive to
virtue and from whose power they are unable to escape.
A mother's influence can go far to prevent the im-
partation o-f false views of life by the current and modern
novel, and to open the eyes of her daughters to the grand
possibilities and golden realities of pure, untarnished
womanhood. Mothers should also endeavor to remove
temptation from unwary feet by the training in purity,
courage and chivalry of their sons, as well as their
daughters.
That Christian sympathy and helpfulness are awak¬
ening on this question is seen in the establishing of the
many rescue homes in our large cities, notably the Flor¬
ence Crittenton Homes, found in nearly every large city
of the United States.
140
TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
"MY PAPA"
Keep thyself pure.—St. Paul.
THE TRIUMPHS OF MANHOOD.
There is nothing that man may justly pride himself
in more than in a clean, pure life. There is nothing- that
degrades a man and brings shame and reproach upon him
as when he turns aside and mars and blots his record of
virtuous conduct. It is only while the crown of purity is
on his brow that man can pride himself in exalted, noble
manhood. Fortune and wealth may not have favored
him, he may be little and unknown in man's sight, but
with a clean record, a beautiful character, he is one of
God's noblemen.
"First pure," says the inspired Word, and then
records the triumphs of a Joseph who overcame a subtle
temptation.
"First pure," says God's Word, and then records
as a warning to all future generations the sad effects
of uncleanness and licentiousness. What name brings a
dreadful blot upon the otherwise clean and virtuous
record of a David? Bathsheba. What rent in twain
THE TRIUMPHS OF MANHOOD. 141
Solomon's magnificent kingdom? Polygamy. What
destroyed the nations of antiquity? Their secret vices.
Of John Milton it is said that when he was a mem¬
ber of the English legation to Italy, allurements and
temptations were thrown in his way, and although no
man saw him, yet he calls God to witness that he kept
himself pure. Daniel Webster never allowed anything
indelicate or profane in the stories to which he listened,
and under no circumstance was he known to1 utter any
language which might not be repeated in a lady's draw¬
ing-room. Charles Sumner, a man of great personal
charm, a favorite guest in the most brilliant circles of
society, never deviated from the path of Spartan recti¬
tude and virgin beauty. To these might be added a
brilliant galaxy of true-hearted, illustrious, names.
Let no one who prizes virtuous manhood think that
he ought to explore the way that leads to death. It is
a dangerous experiment to enter heaven by the way of
hell. Let the dearly bought experiences of others sug¬
gest the proper course.
The idea of a double standard of morals, allowing
men freedom to indulge themselves, while expecting a
white and stainless life from their sisters, is delusive and
full of mischief. All honor to the noble women who are
pressing home the truth, "If chastity is a law for woman,
it must be so for every woman without exception; and
if it is a law for every woman, it follows necessarily that
it must be equally so for every man."
Notice the striking contrast between the serene and
peaceful ending of a virtuous life of more than three-score
years and that of the profligate Byron, who at thirty-six
wrote:
"My days are in the yellow leaf,
The flowers and fruits of love are gone;
The worm, the canker and the grief,
Are mine aloM-"
142
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
"O Lord, we thank Thee that Thou "Thank God, I found a loaf of
hast provided abundantly for US. bread in a barrel in an alley."
The rich and poor meet together.—Solomon.
SIDE BY SIDE.
In our large cities there is a distance of a hundred miles between the
fashionable and unfashionable side of a brick wall .—Joseph Cook.
One of the questions agitating the large and con¬
gested centers of our nation to-day, and one that has
consequently become national in importance, is the grow¬
ing hatred between the poor and the rich. In all ages
this hatred has existed. Centuries ago Alcibiades ar¬
rayed the poor of Athens against the rich. The result
was that Athens was devastated, the rich becoming poor
and the poor becoming deported slaves under the Rom¬
ans. And thus it has ever been. Forced measures have
ever intensified the feeling and widened the breach be¬
tween classes and clans. The poor resented the contempt
of the rich and the rich oppressed the poor the more.
Class hatred may apparently have cause for existence
in those countries where hereditary classes hold sway,
but in our country, where there is no artificial aristocracy,
where there is no impassable gulf between the classes, but
SIDE BY Stt>E.
143
where the boy born in the hut or log cabin has the privi¬
lege to aspire to the highest position, here, there is no
excuse for class hatred. Wherever this spirit is nour¬
ished and fostered, there is the probability of retarding
the solution of the problem. Society is alike indebted
to the poor and the rich. There is a constant shuffling
of the scenes. The poor of to-day become the great in¬
dustrial leaders of to-morrow, while the children of the
rich are frequently found among the sons of toil of the
next generation. The obscure become renowned and
the renowned pass into obscurity. In this constant
change neither can say, "I do not need thee," to the other
class.
A more genial and helpful spirit would soon exist
were each class to consider how helpless it would be
without the other. Capital is utterly helpless without
labor, and labor equally so without capital. Rather than
to increase the spirit of chss hatred, let each man see
that ability is sure to receive recognition and bend his
energies in making the most of himself. In our public
schools, so beautifully and web squipped, the poor man's
son is on a level with the rich man's son. To each is
given the same instruction, and frequently it is the poor
boy that is brought into prominence and usefulness. It
would almost seem that the adversity that the poor boy
must encounter makes him all the more hardy to endure
the storms and to stand above the common level, while
the case of the child of wealth makes him effeminate
and helpless. Our public schools are a great factor in
solving the class question. We plead for a more toler¬
ant and sympathetic spirit on each side. This will, more
than any agitation, place all on a common level.
144
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Weep with them that weep.—St. Paul.
SYMPATHY.
We often do more by our sympathy than by our labors.—Canon Parrar.
"Like moonlight on a troubled sea,
Brightening the storm it cannot calm,"
so sympathy softens a sorrow it has no power to move.—1Thwing.
An eminent clergyman sat in his study, busily en¬
gaged in preparing his Sunday sermon, when his little
boy toddled into the room and, holding up his pinched
finger, said, with an expression of suffering, "Look, papa,
how I hurt it!" The father, interrupted in the middle
of a sentence, glanced hastily at him, and with the slight-
SYMPATHY.
145
est tone of impatience said, "I cannot help it, my boy."
The little fellow's eyes grew bigger, and as he turned to
go out lie said, in a low voice, "Yes, you could; you might
have said, 'Oh!'"
Among the various forms of Christian duty, that
trait of character called sympathy, that fellow feeling
that makes our sorrows one, deserves a high place.
Among the toiling, lowly ones of earth's teeming millions
there is many a life made bitter, many a hope relinquished,
many a heart crushed for the lack of human sympathy.
What heartaches, what woes, what discouragements
might be dispelled as mists before the rising sun, were
the sympathetic look, the kindly word, the helping hand
not so often withheld. Oh, that expression of sympa¬
thy! It costs the giver nothing, but is an anodyne to
nerves all unstrung by the tension brought on by the
hardships of life. Then, also, there should be the sym¬
pathetic ear to hear the story of grief and sorrow and
for lack of which many endure deep suffering and per¬
haps fall into actual sin. Nothing cuts like neglect, and,
on the other hand, nothing heals wounds, softens trials
and cheers the soul like sympathy. No one is above
the word of cheer in the hour of adversity. To make a
man who has met with adversity in financial matters
feel that matters might be worse, and that he still has
what is of more value, friends and character, is a benefit
that cannot be estimated in money value. "What can I
do to help you?" sends a thrill of hope and courage to
the despondent heart. For want of just such sympathy
many a good man and woman has felt the sword of
cold neglect pierce the very soul.
Christian sympathy in the hours of bereavement
lightens the load of grief wonderfully. The visits and
messages of a Jonathan to a David strengthen the faith
in an unerring Providence.
10
146
tkaits of character.
To be seen of men.—Jesus Christ.
THE STRUGGLE FOR APPLAUSE.
" O Popular Applause I what heart of man,
Is proof against thy sweet, seducing charms?"
Always be as solicitous to shun applause as assiduous
to deserve it.—Chesterfield.
Our artist here represents men struggling to grasp
the bubbles of honor, fame, titles and applause. This
representation is not at all unlike the struggle going on
all around us.. These air-inflated bubbles are carried
along by the breeze. They fascinate the unwary and
attract the attention of unthinking youth.
Oh, this struggle for applause! How many a noble,
gifted youth has it turned from the path of usefulness
and virtue and sent him seeking after empty honors.
Only when much of life is spent in this useless pursuit
does the victim at times see his error and turn away
in disgust. It is remarkable what a great price many
are willing to pay for the fleeting plaudits of mankind.
True honor, ease, comfort, peace of mind, the happi¬
ness, fortunes and destinies of others are all sacrificed
for the gratification of a vain desire that never satisfies.
THE STRUGGLE FOR APPLAUSE.
147
The artless youth that threw away his satchel of books
and, turning away from school, ran after the rainbow is
to be commended rather than these applause seekers.
The young man that has turned away from true
worth of character and has his eye on the applause that
comes from titles, position and place of honor generally
overestimates his strength and abilities. It is natural
for him to do so. Infatuated by the one desire, nothing
is great that does not have its source in his own be¬
clouded mind. The reputation and character of others
may be blasted and ruined, if thereby he can climb toward
his desired object.
Mr. Hervey was once complimented by a friend on
account of his writings. "Oh, sir," said he, "you would
not strike the sparks of applause if you knew how much
corrupt tinder I have within."
Suppose the desired goal is reached, what is gained
thereby? Napoleon had a true estimate of the worth
of applause when he returned from his successful wars
in Austria and Italy, amid the huzzas of the people. A
friend said to him, "It must be delightful to be greeted
with such demonstrations of enthusiastic admiration."
"Bah!" said Napoleon, "this same unthinking crowd,
under a slight change of circumstances, would follow
me just as eagerly to the scaffold." He well knew the
fickleness of the multitudes. Honor, titles, fame, are
fleeting and never satisfy. All these are insignificant
compared with the "Well done, faithful servant," of the
Master. Seek God's approval first and life must be a
grand success. Nothing short of God's abounding
grace can remove from the heart this inordinate desire
for office and place. Be content to be dead to applause
that 110 desire shall arise to be great or good or wise in
any but His eyes.
148
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Thou shalt not covet.—Jehovah.
COVETOUSNESS.
An avaricious or covetous man is never content
with what he has. A circle cannot fill a triangle. Even
if the whole world could be encircled, the heart of the
avaricious man could not and would not be satisfied
or filled with it. The avaricious man is like barren,
sandy ground of the desert which sucks in all the rain
and dew with greediness, but yields no fruitful herbs
or plants for the benefit of others. A covetous rich man
does no good with his riches while he lives.
Beware of growing covetousness, for of all sins this
is one of the most insidious. It is like the silting up
of a river. As the stream comes down from the land,
it brings with it sand and earth, and deposits all these
at its mouth, so that by degrees, unless the conservators
watch it carefully, it will block itself up and leave no
OGVETOUSNESS.
149
channel for ships of great burden. By daily deposit it
imperceptibly creates a bar which is dangerous to navi¬
gation. Many a man when he begins to accumulate
wealth commences at the same moment to ruin his
soul, and the more he acquires, the more closely he blocks
up his liberality, which is, so to speak, the very mouth
of spiritual life. Instead of doing more for God, he
does less; the more he saves, the more he wants, and
the more he wants of this world, the less he cares for
the world to come.—Spurgeon.
Avarice sometimes overreaches itself, as is illus¬
trated in the following:
A very rich merchant who had an only son made
his will, by which he gave all his wealth, which amounted
to three hundred thousand francs, to certain monks, leav¬
ing them to give to his son such sum as they wished.
The merchant died; the monks took all to themselves
without wishing to give anything to the heir. The latter
complained to the viceroy, who, having seen the will,
asked the monks what they offered to the son. "Ten
thousand francs," they replied. "You wish, then, to
have all the rest?" "Yes, my lord, we demand the exe¬
cution of the will." "That is just," said the viceroy,
"but you do not understand it properly. It is said that
the son shall have that which you wish. You grant ten
to the heir; it is two hundred and ninety thousand francs
that you want. Ah, well! following the clause of the
will, this sum is set apart for the son. I order you to
give it to him; the ten thousand francs remaining are
therefore yours." They were obliged to submit
The Parthians having conquered the Roman gen¬
eral, Crassus, who invaded their country, the Parthian
king is said to have poured into his mouth melted gold,
saying, "Now be satiated with what thou covetedst
through life."
150 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
I know thy works.—Revelation
POSTHUMOUS PRAISE.
Human nature is at its best and highest only when
there is a sense of appreciation either human or divine.
We detest flattery, but we plead for a more timely recog¬
nition of benefits received from others, of acts of love
and kindness, of toiling ones who become wearied with
burdens along life's stormy way. Many are dying for
want of a word of encouragement and appreciation, which
to them is often better than medicine! Criticism, with
its chilling influence, may be given in unsparing doses,
while for some reason commendation is so frequently
withheld until it is of no benefit to anyone. Margaret
Preston makes emphatic protest against this procedure
in the following lines:
"What use for the rope, if it be not flung
Till the swimmer's grasp to the rock ha.s clung?
What help' in a comrade's bugle-blast
When the peril of Alpine heights is past?
What need that the spurring psean roll,
When the runner is safe beyond the goal?
POSTHUMOUS PRAISE.
151
What worth in eulogy's blandest breath
When whispered in ears that are hushed in death?
No! no! if you have but a word of cheer,
Speak it while I am alive to hear!"
We pronounce finished and highly figured eulogies
over the dead and decorate their caskets and graves with
beautiful and costly flowers, whereas we withheld the
few words of cheer that might have lengthened their
lives and increased their usefulness. In the midst of
this strange neglect it is consoling to know that the great
Master says to every struggling heart craving sympathy,
"I know thy works." Even a cup of cold water given
to needy ones does not escape his notice.
Too often we entertain the best of intentions, but
put off their fulfillment, until to our profound regret the
opportunity is forever passed. We conclude that:
"We'll see that friend, and make him feel
The weight of friendship true as steel;
Some flower of sympathy bestow;
But time sweeps on with steady flow,
Until, with quick reproachful tear,
We lay our flowers upon his bier."
Sing sweetly and strongly of the virtues of the dead,
but recognize as well the virtues of the living and in¬
spire them to still better things.
"You have been a good mother to us," said the
grown children, as they were called to her bedside. "You
never told me that before," whispered the mother, and
passed away.
Strew flowers, if you please, upon my grave,
And laud, if you wish, after I depart
But to benefit me, bouquets now I d have,
Of loving sympathy to cheer my heart.
Speak the word now, while above the sod,
It may help a weary one nearer God.
152
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
A flattering mouth worketh ruin.—Solomon.
FLATTERY.
Hold I
No adulationl 'tis the death of virtue!
Who flatters, is of all mankind the lowest,
Save him who courts the flattery.— Hannah More.
'Tis an old maxim in the schools,
That flattery is the food of fools;
Yet now and then, your men of wit
Will condescend to take a bit.—Dean Swift.
The distinction between real praise (that is, hearty,
genuine commendation of what is worthy in another)
and flattery is very aptly illustrated in the anecdote of
the pastor who, having outworn his welcome, was with
difficulty persuaded to resign his charge. No sooner had
he done this than he was fairly overwhelmed with ex¬
pressions of regard and esteem. On the Sunday when
he was to preach his farewell sermon an unusually large
congregation assembled. Imagine the consternation
when the pastor announced that, since making known
his intention to resign, he had received so many proofs
of his people's devotion to him, that he had decided not
FLATTERY.
153
to leave them, but to continue at his post so long as he
was spared for service.
In compliments, two and two do not make four;
and twenty and twenty fall very short of forty. Deal not,
then, in that deceitful arithmetic.—Robert Hall.
No flatterer can be a good friend. A more wily
and dangerous enchanter does not exist on the face of
the earth, and yet it is the very life and soul of the fashion¬
able world, for when it is absent the atmosphere is filled
with vapors and complaints.
Spiritual flattery has ruined many a promising youth,
many a talented student, many a gifted minister. There
is a. dangerous crisis when a proud heart meets with flat¬
tering lips. One of the chief means of dulling the
Christian graces and deadening the spiritual life is spir¬
itual flattery in which the virtues of Christians are un¬
duly praised.
He died at night. Next day they came
To weep and praise him; sudden fame
Those suddenly warm comrades gave.
They called him pure, they called him brave;
One praised his heart, and one his brain;
All said you'd seek his like in vain—
Gentle, and strong, and good; none saw
In all his character a flaw.
At noon he wakened from his trance,
Mended—was well! They looked askance;
Took his hand coldly; loved him not,
Though they had wept him; quite forgot
His virtues, lent an easy ear
To slanderous' tongues; professed a fear
He was not what he seemed to be;
Gave to his hunger stones for bread;
And made him, living, wish him dead.
—E. R. Sill.
Flatterers are the worst kind of traitors; for they will
strengthen thy imperfections, encourage thee in all evils,
correct thee in nothing, but so shadow and paint all thy
vices and follies, as that thou shalt never, by their will,
discern evil from good, or vice from virtue.—Raleigh.
154
TRAITS OF CHARACTER,.
They murmured against the good man.—Matthew.
FAULT-FINDING AND COMPLAINING.
Some murmur if their sky is clear
And wholly bright to view,
If one small speck of dark appear
In their great heaven of blue;
And some with thankful love are filled
If but one streak of light,
One ray of God's good mercy, gild
The darkness of their night —Archbishop Trench.
"What are you crying for, child?" asked a mother.
"Archie hurt me." "How, pray?" "I was going to hit
him, when he ducked his head and my fist went against
the wall." Just as reasonable, just as plausible as this
boy's statement, is much of the complaining and fault¬
finding of to-day. The real difficulty lies in the dispo¬
sition rather than in external forces.
An old deacon one day went into a blacksmith shop.
The blacksmith soon began to talk about what some
Christians had done, and seemed to have a good time
over it. The old deacon stood a few minutes and listened,
and then quietly asked him if he had read the story in
the Bible about the rich man and Lazarus. "Yes, many
FAULT-FINDING AND COM PLAINING. 155
a time, and what of it?" "Well, do you remember about
the dogs—how they came and licked the sores of Laz¬
arus?" "Yes, and what of that?" "Well," said the deacon,
"do you know you just remind me of those dogs, content
merely to lick the Christians' sores." The blacksmith
suddenly became quiet and had no more to say about
failing Christians.
Oliver Wendell Holmes says, "The human race is
divided into two classes, those who go ahead and do
something, and those who sit and inquire why it was not
done the other way."
Do not, however, fail to distinguish between fault¬
finding and criticism. To say that it is "easy to criticise"
is not a fact. Anyone can find fault, but it takes a well-
balanced mind to give a just criticism. The fault-finder
is not in sympathy with you, while the critic is your
friend. No one delights in the visits of the fault-finder,
but every progressive, fair-minded man courts the opin¬
ions of the critic. Only as we see our mistakes can they
be remedied. Criticism is a worthy employment, fault¬
finding never. The chronic grumbler or objector de¬
serves nothing but our sincere sympathy. He is gener¬
ally out of harmony with much that is good and beautiful
and quite frequently with himself. He sees everything
through the green glasses which he has adjusted and
cannot be convinced that he is in error. There he comes
now! He is coming to tell you of his neighbor's short¬
comings. He complains to you of the weather, the sea¬
son, the times, the government; in short, of everything
and of everybody except himself. Fault-finding, com¬
plaining, grumbling, murmuring is unprofitable business.
If you have unawares acquired the habit, abandon it at
once.
156
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
What shall the end be?—St. Peter.
STARTING WRONG.
"The beginning is half of the whole."
"Dear me," said little James, "I buttoned just one
button wrong, and that makes all the rest go wrong,"
and he tugged and fretted as if the poor buttons were
at fault for his trouble.
"Patience, patience," said his sister. "The next time
look out for the first wrong button, then you'll keep all
the rest right."
What a practical lesson can be drawn from this
little boy's mistake. How frequently the first act leads
to great evils and sad ends. The little boy struck his
brother. That was the first wrong deed. Then he de¬
nied it. That was another. Then he was unhappy and
cross all day because he did not tell the truth.
A young man is convicted of the crime of murder
STARTING WRONG.
157
and must suffer the extreme penalty of the law. His
broken-hearted mother visits him and says, "How can
it be that my boy so gentle, so sympathetic, my boy,
the pride of my life, should come to an end like this?"
"Mother," he says, "I did not intend to do it, but
once starting on the wrong course, I rushed forward till
in a drunken stupor I committed the crime. Oh, the
first wrong act! It has brought me here to-day!"
Many a youth who is cheered by brilliant possibil¬
ities has had a sad end because of a wrong beginning.
Many a useful life is marred and hindered in the atterppt
to greater usefulness by the mistakes of early days.
Much time is spent in trying to correct the mistakes of
youthful days. A wrong start, if it does not always lead
to ruin, at best greatly hinders the full development of
manly Christian character. A right start may not always
be followed by a virtuous, honorable, respected life,
but it is a great incentive thereto. Even though there
should be a deviation from the path of duty, recollections
of former virtuous days and the voice of conscience fre¬
quently help to a return to the principles actuating at
starting.
Start right, young man! A bad foundation has
ruined many a stately and costly building. Have a clear
and well-defined aim and plan. The man that starts on
a journey but has no objective point generally gets no¬
where. The man that has no aim in life, however hard
he may labor, never accomplishes anything. As drift¬
wood on the current he is a creature of circumstances.
No one begins well in life who has not a well-defined
aim, who has not decided what his- life shall be. Do
not stop with a definite aim,, but, like the sculptor boy
who sees the beautiful, finished statue in the rough marble
stone, carve out that ideal life with the chisel of perse¬
verance into a well-developed Christian manhood.
158
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
I can do all things through Christ.—St. Paul.
A DETERMINED WILL.
"So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
So near is God to man,
When duty whispers low, 'Thou must,'
The youth replies, 'I can.' "
Give a youth resolution and the alphabet, and who shall place limits to
his career?—Marden.
The saddest failures in life are those that come from not putting forth
of the power and will to suceeed.—Whipple.
"Only Omnipotence can hinder a determined will, and Omnipotence
will not oppose a determined man who is set in the right direction."
A striking example of what a determined will can
do is seen in the career of Abraham Lincoln. As a boy
he was very poor and had none of the advantages of edu¬
cation that the youth of to-day enjoy. At one time he
learned that one of his neighbors had an arithmetic. He
borrowed the book and in the evenings after a hard day's
A DETERMINED WILL.
159
work he lay upon the log cabin floor and by the light
of the hearth copied the essential parts of the book.
Such determination is rarely seen, but it was this spirit
that placed Lincoln, in spite of poverty and many dis¬
couraging features, at the head of one of the greatest
nations of the world.
Is there one whom difficulties dishearten? He will
do little. Is there one who will conquer? That kind of
a man never fails.—John Hunter.
Mirabeau says, "Nothing is impossible to the man
who can will." The will is a mighty factor in determin¬
ing man's future. "There are three kinds of people in
the world—the will's, the won'ts and the can'ts. The
first accomplish everything; the second oppose every¬
thing; the third fail in everything." This idea of the
importance of will-power must be emphasized, and yet
we would not by any means indorse the sentiment that
there is nothing in circumstances. Not every man that
wills so to be will rise to the height of a Bonaparte, a
Gladstone, a Lincoln. There is not always a way where
there is a will. Not every man can make of himself
just that which he chooses. There is, however, noth¬
ing like a determined will. All men of note have been
men of determined wills. Will power has forced itself
up through poverty, through deformity and misfortune,
through discouragement and prejudice, through defeat,
if you please, and has at last crowned with laurels its
happy subject. Grant, Washington, Wellington, Napo¬
leon, Disraeli, Pitt, Thurlow Weed, Cooper, Girard, Ther¬
mopylae, Waterloo, Trafalger are all names that suggest
a command of extraordinary will-power. A resolute de¬
termination is half the battle of life, but accompanied by
an untarnished character and an unfaltering faith in God,
its achievements are beyond computation.
£60 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Forgetting those things which are behind.—St. Paul.
STOPPING TO WORRY.
A man is hurrying- to the depot to catch a train.
11^ slips on an orange peel or banana skin and the irre¬
sistible temptation is to turn back and see just where
and how he slipped. He will stand a better chance of
catching his train by letting the old slipping place alone
and looking out for 'the next slipping place, than by
turning round and walking backwards, with his eyes on
the place where he slipped last, and his mind full of
worry because he did slip there.
We all make mistakes, and if we have our eyes
open we find out that they are mistakes. One of the
greatest that mankind makes is to stop and worry over
a mistake already made.
Worry makes many a life miserable fretting over
troubles that never come, over evils that never occur,
over imaginary defeats, over mistakes of the past.
STOPPING TO WORRY.
161
Worry, not work, kills. It is worry rather than work
that enriches the cemetery. And what good comes of
worry? None, absolutely none, whatever.
Prof. Amos R. Wells says that neither brutes nor
angels worry and advises that we get rid of worries not
by degenerating to the stupid brute, but by rising to the
trustful disciple. '"There are two ways to get rid of
worry. One is by less forethought; the other, by more.
One is by forgetting the coming evil; the other, by re¬
membering the coming joy. One is by less sensitiveness,
the other, by more spirituality. One is by carelessness
concerning the opinions of others; the other, by thought
for the happiness of others. One is by disregard of suc¬
cess; the other, by care for our powers to succeed.
One is by less love; the other, by more. One is by a
weaker conscience; the other, by a stronger faith."
Shall we not recognize the elevation in charac¬
ter, the pleasure and the intense delight in always
and everytime choosing the latter course? Do not
worry, whatever you do. Worry has never helped
anyone. Do not descend into a plane below it, but
manfully rise above it. Yousayyoucannotdo.it. You
can do it with God's help. With a firm trust in God's
ability to help you, bring to bear upon all circumstances
all the cheerfulness, hope, trust, common sense, courage
and whole-hearted enthusiasm and persistence you can
summons, and worry will vanish like mists before a
morning sun. Others have troubles as well as you.
Contrast them with yours and the light that falls upon
your own blessings will cause the burdens you have to
bear to lighten and disappear.
There is no trouble so great that prayer, courage,
determination and faith cannot overcome it, and no
earthly shadow so deep and dark that the light of heaven
may not shine through it.
XX
162 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Let no man's heart fail.—David.
BRIGHT SIDE OF FAILURE.
He fails who climbs to power and place
Up the pathway of disgrace.
He fails not who makes truth his cause,
Nor bends to win the crowd's applause.
He fails not—he who stakes his all
Upon the right, and dares to fall.
What though the living bless or blame,
For him the long success of fame.—R. W. Gilder.
Robert Bruce, discouraged and disheartened by re¬
peated defeats, one night reached a poor hut under whose
thatched roof he tried to rest till morning. Throwing
himself upon a heap of straw he lay upon his back with
his hands placed under his head. As the morning dawned
he gazed at the rafters of the hut disfigured with cob¬
webs. Forgetting for a time the apparent hopelessness
of the enterprise in which he was engaged, and the mis¬
fortunes he had encountered, he watched a spider try¬
ing to swing itself by its thread from one rafter to an¬
other, but failing repeatedly, each time vibrating back
to the starting. Twelve times did he notice its unsuc¬
cessful attempt. Not disheartened at its failure, it made
BRIGHT SIDE OF FAILURE.
163
the attempt once more, and lo! the rafter was gained.
"The thirteenth time," said Bruce, springing to his feet.
"I accept it as a lesson not to despond under difficulties
and shall once more venture my life in the struggle for
the independence of my beloved country." History
records the result. Success crowned his efforts, and it is
said that he never afterward met with any great defeat.
If the little ant does not succeed the ninety-ninth time
in carrying its food to its home it makes the hundredth
effort. Sometimes we learn more wisdom from failures
than from success.
A little boy was asked how he learned to skate. He
replied, "Oh, by getting up every time I fell down."
Peter Cooper failed in making hats, failed as a cabi¬
net-maker, locomotive builder and grocer, but as often
as he failed he "tried again," until he could stand alone;
then crowned his victory by giving $1,000,000 to help
poor boys in time to come.
Horace Greeley trLed three or four lines of business
before he fqunded the Tribune, and made it worth
$1,000,000.
Patrick Henry failed at everything he undertook un¬
til he made himself the ornament of his age and nation.
Stephen A.Douglas made dinner tables and bedsteads
and bureaus many a long year before he made himself
a giant on the floor of Congress.
Abraham Lincoln failed to make both ends meet by
chopping wood; failed to earn his salt in the galley-slave
life of a Mississippi flatboatman; he had not even wit
to run a grocery, and yet he made himself a grand charac¬
ter of the nineteenth century.
Phillips Brooks failed as a teacher in a Boston
Latin school, but, undaunted by disappointments, and
predictions of friends, he became one of the richest na¬
tures and noblest preachers of the century.
164
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
STONEWALL JACKSON. GEN. BURNSIDE. j
Opposing Brigadier Generals at Bull Run.
Cast down, but not destroyed.—St. Paul.
VICTORY IN DEFEAT.
The failures of the past prepare the triumphs of the future.—Max Muller.
Tumble me down, and I will sit
Upon my ruins, smiling yet;
Tear me to tatters, yet I'll be
Patient in my necessity;
Laugh at my scrap of clothes, and shun
Me as a fear'd infection;
Yet scare-crow like I'll walk as one
Neglecting thy derision.—Robert Herrick.
Henry Ward Beecher, in his only novel, "Norwood,"
has this to say of the battle of Bull Run, fought in
1861:
"On the 21st of July was fought the battle of Bull
Run—a most victorious defeat. It ended all over-confi¬
dence in the North. It inspired the South with such
vainglorious confidence that it failed, for a year or more,
to put forth that power which it had, and then it was too
late. It ended all lingering ideas of peace. It cast the
most profound gloom upon the loyal states—a night of
shame and sorrow. But out of that night there arose a
VICTORY IN DEFEAT.
165
morning* of purpose such as had not dawned before!
There was to be a long and thorough war, and prepara¬
tion must be broad and thorough! The whole after-fruit
of this defeat upon the North was bitter to the palate, but
wholesome to the people and salutary to the Govern¬
ment."
It is all very well to tell me that a young man has
distinguished himself by a brilliant first speech. He
may go on, or he may be satisfied with his first triumph;
but show me a young man who has not succeeded at first,
and nevertheless has gone on, and I will back that young
man to do better than most of those who have succeeded
at the first trial.—Charles J. Fox.
Goldsmith endured privations and untold hardships
before his "Deserted Village" and his "Vicar of Wake¬
field" won him success and fame. Samuel Johnson, who
wrote, "Slowly rises worth by poverty depressed," was
held in the clutches of poverty and debt until his Dic¬
tionary, a work of seven years, was published. Then his
name was on every lip, while universities hastened to
bestow degrees. Elias Howe, the inventor of the sew¬
ing machine; Arkwright, celebrated for his inventions
in cotton spinning; Arthur Cavanagh, a noted member
of Parliament, born without arms or legs; Columbus dis¬
missed from court as a fool; these and hosts of others
encountered cruel failure, which only strengthened their
purpose, as the winds and storms do the oak. The
determined soul laughs at failures and makes stepping-
stones to greater victories. John Bunyan utilizes his
imprisonment in a dungeon by writing "Pilgrim's Prog¬
ress" and makes his name known and cherished through
the ages down to the end of time. Then push on through
adverse circumstances with a gallant heart. Pay the price
of great achievements and thou shalt win.
166
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
CHARLES XII.
His heart was lighted up to his destruction.—Chronicles.
DEFEAT IN VICTORY.
While there may be victory in defeat, there may also
be defeat in victory. When Charles XII. of Sweden set
out on his audacious career he gained a brilliant victory
over the Russians at Narva. Dr. Horton says that that
was, strictly speaking, his ruin; it launched him upon a
series of brilliant but ineffectual victories which brought
no good to Europe and infinite harm to Sweden. From
her great king's "successes" Sweden has never yet, and
now, perhaps, never can recover. Happy king and happy
country if her forces had been routed at the beginning
and the king had been sent home to govern and develop
his country! The world teems with ruined lives which
were started on their path of ruin by a delusive Narva!
"From our victories, good Lord, deliver us; from our
misleading successes and alluring accidents of luck."
DEFEAT fN VICTORY.
167
Alas for these successful men whose lives are un~
checkered with failure and trouble! Is not God, as Jeremy
Taylor put it, "severely kind" to them? Might they not
pray for some of the chastisements which a Father does
not spare his children? Is not even disaster welcome
which teaches self-sacrifice, compassion, charity, religion?
The last thing we should desire for those whom we love
is rapid and startling success. "Deliver us from pre¬
mature success" should be our prayer; "let it come, if
at all, as our nature is strengthened to receive it and
secured against its dangerous influences." A sudden
gleam of its false light may send us along a fatal course
and land us in a quagmire.
"Ruined by success" is an epitaph that might very
appropriately be placed upon the tomb of many a hap¬
less youth. Flattery and praise, even at times so well
meant but so cruel in fact, given when in the start a
brilliant effort is made, have brought ruin to many a
one who rested where bright deeds were done. The
chilling blasts of adversity, the storms of failure and
defeat have on the other hand nerved the arm of many
who have snatched victory from apparent defeat.
Look at that noble youth, the pride of fond parents.
All that parental affection and wealth can give are freely
his. With a naturally bright intellect he rises and easily
stands first in his college class. On graduation day his
brilliant and rhetorical address awakens unbounded ap¬
plause. "A brilliant future," say his admirers. But
mark! He has not learned to stand alone; he knows noth¬
ing of the strengthening properties and nerve imparted
by difficulties, obstacles, failures and defeats. The first
wind of adversity lays him low. He has not learned the
art of rising, and, depending upon the great achieve¬
ments of the past, sinks hopelessly out of sight.
"He who stops where bright deeds were done,
May look for stars beneath the midday sun."
168
TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
A GERMAN GIRL RETURNING FROM MARKET.
Gather up the fragment.—Jesus Christ.
ECONOMY.
Economy—the poor man's mint.—Tupper.
Beware of little extravagances; a small leak ;will sink a big ship.—
Franklin.
Whatever be your talents, whatever be your prospects, never speculate
away on the chance of a palace that which you may need as a provision against
the workhouse.—Bulwer.
George Schorb says, "What's the good of your
pocket if it has a hole in it? Payday with some families
ECONOMY.
■169
means the day to pay debts, because they are a month
or more behind. There is more than one kind of intem¬
perance. Intemperance in eating, as a rule, costs more
than intemperance in drinking. Many poor families buy
everything they see in the markets, eat too much, and
throw enough into the stove and garbage-box to sup¬
port a small family."
The want of economy has ruined many a man who
otherwise was possessed of excellent traits of character.
Not a few men in our large cities are receiving hand¬
some salaries, but the month's expenses are always equal
thereto; they never get ahead; they never accumulate,and
hence, never have the extreme satisfaction of owning a
home of their own. "Live within your means" is a good
motto, but a still better is, save something to-day for a
time of need.
Too many practice economy on the principle con¬
trolling the Irishman. He was urged to lay by some¬
thing for a rainy day. When asked soon after ha*v much
he had accumulated, he replied, "Faith, nothing at all.
Yesterday was a rainy day and I spent it all—for drink."
We urge economy but with the same emphasis dep¬
recate miserliness. There is a happy medium between it
and extravagance. This golden mean is not hard to find.
Choosing either of the others will surely ruin the char¬
acter. We are, however, as a people rather inclined to
extravagance than to avariciousness. Economize and
bear, if you must, the ridicule of the extravagant. Their
folly will be short-lived.
Economize in the use of your time. It is by making
use of the spare moments, the odds and ends of time
which some so carelessly throw away, that great men
have risen to prominence. It is by making use of the
moments and filling each, well as it passes that men suc¬
ceed in crowding so much into a short lifetime.
Economize your strength and all your powers for
useful ends.
170 TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
We are well able to overcome it—
We are notable to go up against the people.—Numbers.
AS YOU SEE IT.
Twelve spies reported of the land-of Canaan. Ten
saw nothing but giants. Two saw a land flowing with
milk and honey. And thus it has ever been.
Two boys went to hunt grapes. One was happy
because they found grapes. The other was unhappy
because the grapes had seeds in them.
Two men, being convalescent, were asked how they
were. One said: "I am better to-day." The other said:
"I was worse yesterday."
When it rains, one man says: "This will make mud."
Another: "This will lay the dust."
Two boys examining a bush, one observed that it
had a thorn. The other that it had a rose.
AS YOU SEIE IT.
171
Two children looking- through colored glasses, one
said: "The world is blue." And the other said: "It is
bright."
Two boys eating their dinner, one said: "I would
rather have something better tha-ft this." The other said:
"This is better than nothing."
Two men went to see New York. One visited the
saloons, and thought New York wicked. The other vis¬
ited the homes, and thought New York good.
Two boys looking at skaters, one said: "See how
they fall." The other: "See how they glide."
A servant thinks a man's house is principally kitchen.
A guest that it is principally parlor.
Two boys having a bee, one got honey and the other
got stung. The first called it a honey-bee, and the other,
a stinging-bee.
Two boys got each an apple. One was thankful for
the apple. The other was dissatisfied because it was not
two.
"I am glad that I live," says one man. "I am sorry
that I must die," says another.
"I am glad," says one, "that it is no worse." "I am
sorry," says another, "that it is no better."
One man spoils a good repast by thinking of a bet¬
ter repast of another. Another enjoys a poor repast by
contrasting it with none at all.
One man is thankful for his blessings. Another is
morose for his misfortunes.
One man thinks he is entitled to a better world and
is dissatisfied because he hasn't got it. Another thinks
he is not justly entitled to any and is satisfied with this.
One man enjoys what he has. Another suffers what
he has not.
One man complains that there is evil in the world.
Another rejoices that there is good in the world.
172
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things.—Revelation
OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES.
The more difficulties one has to encounter, within and without, the
more significant and the higher in inspiration his life will be.—Bushnell.
Nature, when she adds difficulties, adds brains.—Emerson.
Many men owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficul¬
ties.—Spurgeon.
John Carter, whom our artist has sketched, is one
of the remarkable men who have achieved success un¬
der more than ordinary difficulties. When he was
twenty years old he fell from a high tree and was taken
up as dead. He lived but was paralyzed from the neck
downward. Thus he lived fourteen years longer. He
learned to use the pencil with his mouth. The beauti¬
ful etchings drawn in this way were admired by the best
artists. Such invincible courage and self-reliance
"ought to put strength into the weakest heart that shrinks
disheartened from its appointed lot in life." It puts to
shame those who with sound bodies and perfect senses
are overcome by the trivial obstacles in their way.
No man has yet found a royal road to victory that
OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES. 11Z
is worth having. If victory is indeed achieved it is at
the expense of hard and persistent toil—of repeated and
continued encounters with opposing forces. Difficulties
are but tests to increase our faith and earnestness. They
are to man what the resistance of the air is to the bird
or the surface of a kite. God has hidden away the
treasures and secret forces of nature that man may by
searching develop the intellect and strengthen the char¬
acter.
Disraeli might have given up after his first speech
in the House of Commons. The light of events give
sublimity to his words, "The day will come when you will
be glad to hear me." Tennyson might have been dis¬
heartened by the sharp reviews of his first volume.
Thackeray might have given up when the publishers
rejected "Vanity Fair." George Stephenson might have
yielded to despair when his railroad and locomotive were
laughed out of the Parliament committee. It is said that
Anaxarchus, when his bones were being crushed, cried
out, "Thou canst not crush my mind."
"Paradise Lost" is now an essential in every library,
and yet we do not often stop to think that its author
was the blind Milton. Palissy, the potter, overcame the
hardships of poverty, abuse and ridicule, anid after six¬
teen years became famous. Afterward this sincere,
earnest and courageous man was thrown into the Bastile
as a heretic. His works to-day are almost beyond price.
Arkwrfght, celebrated for his inventions in cotton spin¬
ning, was of humble origin and attained to success only
after much opposition and many privations. Ask these
and a thousand other men whose names are inscribed
indelibly on history's page, ask them if it pays to per¬
severe in the face of apparent insurmountable difficul¬
ties. Their records give no uncertain reply.
174
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Louis Agassiz, who refused to lecture at any price, because he had no
time to make money.
If riches increase, set not your heart on them.—Solomon.
THE DELUSION OF RICHES.
Contentment is nature's ric.hes.-^Socrates.
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay.—Goldsmith.
To be content with what we possess is the greatest and most secure of
riches.—Cicero.
At the laying of the cornerstone of the Washington
monument, July 4, 1848, Mr. Winthrop said: "Build it
to the skies—you cannot outreach the loftiness of his
principles; found it upon the massive and eternal rock—
you cannot make it more enduring than his fame; con¬
struct of the purest Parian marble—you cannot make
it purer than his life."
Webster said that if our American institutions had
done nothing else but furnish the character of Washing¬
ton, that alone would have entitled them to the respect of
mankind.
THE DELUSION OF RICHES.
175
In the light of these commendations, that might be
greatly multiplied, may we not do well to stop and ask
ourselves, what, then, this striving for wealth as the
highest ideal of life means? Is it indeed a delusion, and
are the highest ideals best reached from the humble
home? Prof. Swing says that nearly the whole column
of great names stands upon the bedrock of humble prop¬
erty. Our statesmen, our thinkers, our writers,
our judges on the bench, our orators, have all
been born poor. The pursuit and the possession of
money clip the wings of the soul. In all the history of
man the pursuit of gold has warred against the develop¬
ment of self. All through literature, all through art, the
plain cottage, the unpretending home, stands for the
triumph of earth.
Yes, the sentiment prevalent in our day that wealth
gives success, is a delusion, a great delusion. The
tendency of riches is to cause men to deteriorate in those
qualities that are most elevating and Christlike. Where
wealth increases, there is needed more moral strength to
keep from influences that demoralize.
"Cash or Character," is the form that the question
takes with many men in their accumulation of wealth.
Riches never give character, although there are not a few
men of wealth whose force of character was strong
enough to withstand the temptation of riches. Wealth
tends to make men trust it. It often makes them in¬
dolent, proud, self-indulgent. Luxury insidiously eats
away the nobler traits of character.
One of the happiest traits of character is to be rich
without much money—rich in intellect, rich in ideas, rich
in deeds, rich in health "and cheerfulness, rich in soul.
Where is the millionaire that in nobility stands as an
equal to a Gladstone, a Henry Wilson, or a Sumner?
176
TRAITS OF CHARACTER,
Charles H. Sptjrgeon, who would not speak for fifty nights in America
at one thousand dollars a night, because he said he could do better by staying
in London, trying to save fifty souls in that time.
Neither count I my life dear unto myself.—St. Paul.
THE SUCCESSFUL LIFE.
According to the most common idea among men, he
that makes the most money is the most successful. The
standard so often adopted to measure or weigh every¬
thing by a money value is a false one. Money has its
uses. The lack of it is hard to bear. But they are not
the highest and best powers that are called forth in the
acquisition of money. To amass a fortune is not neces¬
sarily the highest success. To miss a fortune is not of
necessity a dismal failure. Poverty and scanty means are
in no way or sense desirable, but we would make very
emphatic and press upon the attention of youth every¬
where that man's success or happiness is not measured
by his bank account.
THE SUCCESSFUL LIFE.
377
The successful man is the one that understands the
true meaning of life, that takes its outlook on to another
stage of existence, but has the heart to rejoice in human
affections, that shows sympathy toward his fellow man in
all his dealings, that can find true enjoyment in doing his
daily work of whatever character that be, that has an eye
for the beauties of nature all around him, that, while not
destitute of honorable ambition, has learned contentment
with his lot in life, and that is ready to do what he can to
make the lot of others brighter and better. This man
is not controlled by the rule of gold, but by the golden
rule.
We often set up as a model the man with a large for¬
tune, rather than the man of integrity of soul, and urge
our youth to emulate him. If fortune fails to smile on us
in filling our coffers, we count that we have not made a
success in life.
A man may be a merchant prince and in commercial
prosperity a grand success, but if lust of accumulation has
eaten out all the finer qualities of the soul, the sympathy
and affection for others, the desire to make others happy,
the determination to live for God and the welfare of hu¬
manity, he is a lamentable failure.
The highest and best sense in which a life is a suc¬
cess is within the reach of everyone. The successful life
is a happy one, availing itself of the many advantages of
personal culture, enjoying the sweetness and comfort of
home, no matter how simple or even scanty the material
furnishing may be. Above all money considerations, we
may develop sterling, manly characters and have here
and now the joy of heaven in our hearts and the life of
heaven in our lives.
Character, true, sterling, Christian character, is in
itself success. Without it even the millionaire is a failure.
12
178
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Ye looked for much; it came to little,—Haggai.
TRIFLES.
"The smallest crust may save a human life;
The smallest act may lead to human strife;
The smallest touch may cause the body pain;
The smallest spark may fire a field of grain;
The smallest deed may kill the truly brave;
The smallest skill may serve a life to save;
The smallest drop the thirsty may relieve;
The slightest shock may wake a heart to grieve;
Naught is so small that it may not contain
The rose of pleasure or the thorn of pain."
The people of Holland watch for the smallest leak in
the dyke. They well know that if permitted to increase, a
TRIFLES.
179
few hours may bring devastation to their homes and their
lands. Above is illustrated the boy who, in passing
the dyke, heard the trickling of water. He placed his
finger into the leak and for a whole night remained at his
post rather than permit the waters to sweep away their
homes. Exhausted, he was found next morning, and for
this brave act was generously rewarded. The water
issuing from the leak was a trifle, but not so the results,
had it not been for the bravery of the boy.
An infidel German countess, dying, gave orders that
her grave should be covered with a solid slab of granite,
and around it square blocks of stone. These were to be
fastened together by clamps. On the stone were cut
these words: "This burial place, purchased to all eter¬
nity, must never be opened." A little seed sprouted under
the covering and the tiny shoot found its way through
between two of the slabs and grew there until it burst the
clamps asunder and lifted the immense rocks.
Alpine guides sometimes come to places where vast
avalanches lie above. These are often so exactly bal¬
anced that the echo and vibration of the air produced
by shouts and loud talking are sufficient to break the last
icicle that holds it, and down it comes. In passing such
places, the guide does not permit a word to be spoken.
Thus the smallest circumstance may determine destruc¬
tion. As trains are destroyed by the movement of a
switch no more than the tenth part of an inch, so trifles
sometimes determine, in a critical hour, men's fate for
time and for eternity. Thirty years ago a man brought
a handful of gypsy moths to this country for scientific
experiment. Some escaped, and it has already cost the
state of Massachusetts $700,000 to exterminate them.
Evil thoughts multiply even more rapidly and are more
destructive.
180
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
In honor preferring one another.—St. Paul.
CIVILTY.
A modest, sensible and well-bred man would not insult me, and no other
can.—Cowper.
Conduct is three-fourths of life.—Matthew Arnold.
A well-dressed young- lady, in hastily turning a cor¬
ner in a large city, ran against a little ragged newsboy
and almost knocked him down. Instead of passing on
as many would have done, she quickly turned around and
said, "I beg your pardon, little fellow; I am sorry that
I ran against you." The little boy, who had never had
anyone offer him an apology, was perplexed, but quickly
gained self-possession and said, "You are welcome, and
the next time you run against me you can knock me
clean down and I'll not say a word." He was touched
CIVILTY.
181
with kindness shown to him. What burdens of life could
be lifted if good, refined mariners were used in address¬
ing those less fortunate than ourselves.
Good manners should not be a sort of affectation
that can be put off and on at pleasure, but in the true
gentleman are part of himself. Sincerity, charity and
unselfishness, a friendly feeling toward our fellow men,
are all needed to make up a refined individual. President
Quincy, of Harvard University, was once riding in a
stage coach. A poor colored woman entered; he arose
and gave her his seat.
Thomas Jefferson, riding with his grandson, met
a slave who took off his hat and politely bowed. The
President recognized the salutation and returned it by
lifting his hat. The grandson wholly ignored the respect
shown by the negro. Jefferson said, "Do you, my grand¬
son, permit a slave to be more of a' gentleman than you
yourself are?"
Queen Victoria once showed a haughty spirit toward
her husband, Prince Albert. He resented it and locked
himself in his room. In a short time someone knocked.
"Who is there?" inquired Albert. "It is I, the Queen of
England," was the haughty reply. The Prince made no
further reply. Some time after the Queen came again
and gently tapped, saying in a low voice, "It is I, Victoria,
your wife." The door was opened at once and the dis¬
agreement ended.
Douglas on being abused in the Senate, said, "What
no gentleman should say no gentleman need answer."
There is at this day, undeniably, among the rising
generation, a lack of courteous demeanor in the family.
Of all the places in the world, let the boy understand
that home is the place where he should speak the gentlest
and the most kindly, and there is the place, above all,
where courteous demeanor should prevail.
182
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance.—Solomon.
CHEERFULNESS.
"Smile once in a while,
'Twill make your heart seem lighter,
Smile once in a while,
'Twill make your pathway brighter.
Life's a mirror; if we smile,
Smiles come back to greet us—
If we're frowning all the while.
Frowns forever meet us."
CIHBERlFULNEIS'S.
183
Cheerfulness does not depend on one's circum¬
stances or condition. It is a matter of one's spirit, not of
one's possessions. A bright face and sunny looks are
often seen on one who is in sickness or in bodily pain.
Next to the sunlight of heaven is the cheerful face.
One glance at it lifts us out of the mists and shadows
into the beautiful realm of hope. One cheerful face in
the household will keep everything warm and light
within; even though it be a very plain face, its cheery
smile sends the blood dancing through the veins for joy
and scatters the shadows of gloom and despondency.
Said a person to an old man, "I suppose you are on
the shady side of seventy." "No," was the reply, "I am
on the sunny side, for I am on the side nearest to heaven."
Southey says that the Spaniards put on spectacles
when^about to eat cherries so as to make the fruit look
larger and more tempting. In like manner should we
make the most of our enjoyments and turn our backs
upon despair, gloom and depressed spirits.
Hide your aching heart behind a sweet smile—and
laugh. Laughter is a tonic. It should be indulged in
for health and comfort's sake. Titus used to say that he
had lost a day when it was passed without laughter. The
pilgrims of Mecca considered it so essential a part of
their devotion that they called upon their prophet to save
them from sad faces.
Giggling is silly. In its use and propriety it differs
greatly from laughter. Do not giggle. But have a good
hearty laugh once in a while.
Cheerfulness makes men preeminently useful. If
you wish to live a useful life, then prolong it-and make
the most of it by wearing a cheerful countenance. Cheer¬
fulness gives us physical, mental and moral vigor. It
is the normal atmosphere of the soul,
184
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
A MOTHER'S BLESSING.
Forsake not the law of thy mother.—Proverbs.
The character, teaching, example and training of
the mother are, generally, the destiny of the child. From
the Christian home, which cannot exist without the
Christian mother, must flow forth the stream of virtue
that shall refresh the arid and parched deserts of sin and
unbelief. The mothers, for the most part, "make the
children," either for good or for evil. Byron's mother
was proud, ill-tempered and violent. Nero's mother was
a murderess, Lord Bacon's mother was a woman of
superior mind and of deep piety. Washington's mother
was pious, pure and true. The intelligence, piety and
executive ability of Susanna Wesley made her, through
her sons, so remarkable that she was called "the mother
of Methodism." If the inquiry is made as to the great¬
ness of a man, the answer is generally found in noble
A MOTHER'S BLESSING.
185
motherhood. Garibaldi says of his mother, "She was a
model for mothers. I owe to her angel-like character the
little good that belongs to mine." George Herbert says,
"One good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters."
James Watts' mother was a cheerful, intelligent woman,
always encouraging her son in his inventive genius.
"The kiss of my mother made me a painter," says Benja¬
min West. "I have found out who made you," said a
gentleman to John Quincy Adams. "What do you
mean?" said Adams. The gentleman replied, "I have
been reading the published letters of your mother, and
they tell what I mean." "Yes," said Adams, "all that is
good in me I owe to my mother!"
Melanchthon says of Luther's mother, "She was
especially notable for her chaste conversation, godly fear
and diligent prayer, and was looked upon as a model of
virtue and honesty."
What noble youth does not ascribe any success with
which he may have met to a mother's blessing, a mother's
prayers, a mother's nobility of character? "Give
me," says Garibaldi, "the mothers of the nation
to educate and you may do what you like with
the boys." Often amid the trying scenes of an eventful
life the memory of a mother's parting blessing has given
new inspiration to a discouraged and probably almost dis¬
heartened soul and spurred it on to victory.
Dr. Cuyler says, "I doubt if I ever would have been
drawn to the service of Christ Jesus but for the faithful¬
ness of that home preacher who rocked my cradle. At
the starting point of nearly every minister's life stands a
Christian mother. Dr. Potts requested all of us students
in Princeton Theological Seminary who had praying
mothers to rise up, and in an instant nearly the whole one
hundred and fifty were on their feet, living witnesses of
the power of a mother's prayers, influence and example."
186
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Their poverty abounded unto riches.—St. Paul.
FAMOUS SONS OF POVERTY.
It is not usually the case that from the ranks of
wealth and ease men come forth to do grand things.
Poverty has in many cases wrought wonders, while
wealth has enjoyed herself in her abundance. Guthrie
says that those birds soar the highest that have had
the hardest upbringing. Warm and soft is the pretty
nest where, under the cover of her wings, amid green
leaves and golden tassels and the perfume of flowers, the
mother bird, of sweet voice, but short and feeble flight,
rears her tender brood. Not thus are eagles reared.
Their cradle is an open shelf; their nest a few rough
sticks spread on the bare rock, where they are exposed to
the rain and the blast that howls through the glen.
FAMOUS SONS OF POVERTY.
187
Such is the nursing of the bird that afterward soars in
sunny skies and with strong wings cleaves the clouds
and rides upon the storm. Even so God often nurses
amid difficulties and hardships those who are destined
to rise to eminence and accomplish great deeds on earth.
The leaders of forward movements in all lines of
activity have, as a rule, come from the poorer classes.
Men prominent in invention, discovery and scientific
research have usually gone through the school of
adversity. Luther was the son of a poor mountaineer;
Kepler spent his days in want; Faraday's faithful care
as scullion in Davy's kitchen led him from poverty to
world-wide renown. Newton was the son of a poor
widow. Ferguson's parents were too poor to send him
to school, but as a shepherd's boy, with a string and a
few beads he marked the movement of the stars. James
Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, was a poor, sickly
child. George Stephenson, the inventor of the locomo¬
tive engine, was a common collier working in the mines.
Linnaeus, studying botany, was so poor as to be obliged
to mend his shoes with folded paper and often to beg
his meals of his friends. Robert Burns, Scotland's
born-poet, if ever poet was born, endured the sorrows
and trials attendant upon a constant struggle to keep the
wolf from the door. It was his own experience that
made him able to so thoroughly identify himself with
the suffering poor as to voice their sentiments, aspira¬
tions, regrets and griefs.
Richard Arkwright, noted for his inventions in
spinning, was of humble origin and was brought up in
poverty. At one time he had to be furnished with a suit
of clothes before he could appear to vote at an election.
And yet this man, knighted by the king and universally
honored, died, worth more than two millions of dollars.
188
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Every man shall bear his own burden.—St. Paul.
LIFTERS AND LEANERS.
There are two kinds of people on earth to-day,
Just two kinds of people, 110 more, I say.
Not the rich and the poor, for to count a man's wealth,
You must first know the state of his conscience and health.
Not the humble and proud, for'in life's little span
Who puts on vain airs is not counted a man.
Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Brings each man his laughter and each man his tears.
No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift, and the people who lean.
Wherever you go, you will find the world's masses
Are always divided in just these two classes.
And oddly enough, you will find, too, I ween,
There is only one lifter to twenty who lean.
In which class are you? Are you easing the load
Of overtaxed lifters who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner, who lets others bear
Your portion of labor and worry and care?
—Ella WheelerWileox.
Did you ever see a boy leaning on his neighbor in
school? Of course you did. The scene depicted by our
artist is of too frequent occurrence to need explanation.
If schooldays were to end this spirit of leaning, then
it might be a trivial affair, but this same spirit is ex¬
hibited in all avenues and walks of life. In a certain
sense we are all dependent upon one another. "No
LIFTERS AND LEAKERS.
189
man liveth to himself." But in another sense we ought
to be able to help ourselves and others instead of being
leaners and dependent upon others.
The reason why there is a score of leaners to one
lifter is found in the fact that there are so many who are
willing to be helped by others, rather than help them¬
selves. Much of the misery and suffering brought about
by poverty could be averted were there not such an
inclination to lean. Others have plenty, and why do
they not owe us much of that which they cannot use?
To depend upon them seems so much easier than to
struggle for oneself. At the bottom of the make-up
of these leaners there is always a large vein of laziness.
The man that is tirelessly industrious has no time to
lean. He is always helping himself and is looking
around to help someone else.
Are there leaners in the moral and religious world?
Who has not seen them? Not in prayer-meeting, for
they are too busy to attend; not in looking after and
caring for the sick and neglected ones, for they believe
in delegating that work to others better fitted. These
leaners are always ready to take the credit to themselves
when anything of note has been accomplished, but when
earnest, hard labor is at hand they are wanting. Oh, these
leaners! What burdens they might lift from the shoul¬
ders of others, if they were only to do their part in lift¬
ing. Lifters or leaners, which shall it be?
Leaners, always borrowing but never lending.
Leaners in business affairs, depending upon others to
carry them through financial straits. Leaners in politics,
always voting the party ticket, because others do. Lean¬
ers in church and state. Leaners everywhere. What a
motley crowd! Be a lifter, and benefit the world by
your presence.
190
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
MRS. LIVINGSTONE'S GRAVE IN AFRICA.
Bear ye one another's burdens.—St. Paul.
LIVING SO AS TO BE MISSED.
"Live so as to be missed" was the motto of Robert
Murray McCheyne, an able and devoted minister of
Dundee, Scotland, who in his short lifetime furnished
the best illustration of his own motto. Although his
work was done and his career was ended before he was
thirty years of age, and although he passed away more
than half a century ago, yet the work that he inaugurated
lives, and his early departure is still deplored by those
who knew him.
It is possible for everyone to live so as to be missed.
Greatness of intellect or of wealth are not essential for
this purpose, but greatness of soul, a spirit of helpful¬
ness, a magnanimity that reaches all men is a necessity
in the fulfilling of this motto. Dr, F. A. Noble says:
LIVING SO AS TO BE MISSED.
191
"To me that is a pathetic touch in the Scripture
narrative in which it is said: 'And Deborah, Rebekah's
nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the
oak; and the name of it was called Allon-bacuth.' This
nurse had done her work in love and with fidelity, though
it was a lowly work, and they laid her away tenderly
under 'the oak of weeping.' She was missed as her
mistress was missed. There is many a faithful old gate¬
keeper or sexton, or gardener, or foreman, or confiden¬
tial agent, who is missed as genuinely when gone, though
not so widely as a proprietor or capitalist."
It is the faithfulness in the performance of the duty at
hand that makes men revere our memory after we are
gone. "Only remembered by what I have done," wrote
P. P. Bliss a short time before the Ashtabula catastro¬
phe that ended his useful life, and yet, down through the
ages of time his sacred songs will be sung, a warning
to the thoughtless, an invitation to the weary and heavy-
laden, and a comfort to the Christian pilgrim as he moves
up the pathway of light.
Livingstone, who died in the heart of Africa, alone
and without friends, to soothe a dying pillow, has done a
thousand-fold more for the enlightenment of the Dark
Continent than he could have done while alive. Those
who gave their lives in pioneer mission work, like Henry
Martyn or Alexander Duff; those who died as martyrs
to the cause of freedom and liberty, as a Lincoln; those
who lived lives of helpfulness, all these, although dead,
they yet speak. They need no tall shafts to keep their
memories green in the hearts^ of their fellow citizens.
It is these lives of helpfulness of devoted men and
women that live on after they are gone and that awaken
in the youth of every age an enthusiasm; it is these lives
that make practical the motto, "Live so as to be missed."
192
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
I will make thy name great.—Jehovah.
THE SECRET OF GREATNESS.
Great may he be who can command
And rule with just and tender sway;
Yet is diviner wisdom taught
Better by him who can obey.
Blessed are they who die for God
And earn the martyr's crown of light;
Yet he who lives for God may be
A greater conqueror in His sight.
—Adelaide Proctor.
An African prince who was sent on an embassy with
costly presents for Queen Victoria, from an Ethiopian
court, preferred a modest request that England's beloved
sovereign would tell him the secret of England's great¬
ness and glory. Her majesty did not, like Hezekiah,
show the embassador her diamonds and her precious
jewels and her rich ornaments, but, handing him a beau¬
tifully bound copy of the Bible, said, "Tell the prince that
this is the secret of England's greatness."
An African heathen was eating putrid fruit. He
was given a magnifying glass, that he might see the real
condition of the fruit, alive with worms. The native
was disgusted at the sight, but instead of throwing
"THE SECRET OF GREATNESS.
193
away the fruit he threw away the glass. How like the
man that looks into the word of God and sees his true
condition. Instead of following his convictions, he re¬
jects God's word and cherishes his sins. Like the Afri¬
can above, there are many who would be great and still
reject that which alone makes men truly great—the
Law of the Lord. Man may for a time assume the role
of greatness before men, but there are no staying quali¬
ties to such greatness. It quickly fades away in the sun¬
light of truth.
In happy contrast with these aspiring ones are the
lives of many who may be little and unknown, but who
in practical life exhibit the spirit of the Book of books.
Among these, and these alone, are found the truly great,
God's noblemen on earth.
During a plague in Marseilles the physicians de¬
cided that nothing could be done to save the people
unless a victim could be dissected and the natuVe of the
disease learned. But who would do this? Dr. Guyon
rose and said he would do it. He wrote his will, bade
his family farewell, entered the hospital, made the dissec¬
tion and examination, wrote out the results, and in a
few hours wras dead. But now the physicians could
treat the disease and the plague was stayed. Was Dr.
Guyon, actuated by so noble a motive, wanting in true
greatness?
True greatness lies not in wealth nor in social posi¬
tion, not in what men may say or think of us, but in great¬
ness of soul. The men great in the eyes of the world
may be unknown to Him whose it is. to judge and to
reward true greatness.
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time:
—Longfellow.
13
194
TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
CKOMPTON INVENTING THE SPINNING JENNEY.
Of whom the world was not worthy—St. Paul.
THE WORLD'S INGRATITUDE.
The greatest benefactors of mankind have prose¬
cuted their work amid the frowns and intense opposition
of the multitudes. It is only after they are dead that we
begin to appreciate their work and then, to atone for
neglect, or even opposition, we commemorate their life-
work by great monuments.
To Dr. Wm. T. G. Morton, who discovered the use
of ether, causing insensibility to pain during surgical
operations, and whose life was a heroic struggle against
adverse circumstances, the world owes a debt of grati¬
tude. Although designing men attempted to claim the
discovery and prevented the United States Government
from rewarding this heroic, self-denying man, and al¬
though he died in sadness, because of the infringements
upon his rights, yet his life was a success.
THE WORLD'S INGRATITUDE.
195
Roger Bacon was sentenced to ten years' imprison¬
ment for making known his discoveries in science.
Socrates, one of the wisest and noblest men of his
time, after a long career of service in denouncing the
wrongs of his age, and trying to improve the morals of
his people, was condemned to death and obliged to drink
poison.
Bruno, for his advocacy of the Copernican system,
was seized by the Inquisition and burned alive at Rome
in 1600, in the presence of an immense concourse.
To these may be added the thousands who died a
martyr's death, because of their persistent adherence to
the Christian faith.
Dr. Talmage said of Charles Sumner, "Now that he
is dead the whole nation takes off the hat. The flags
are at half-mast and the minute-guns on Boston Com¬
mon throb, now that his heart has ceased to beat. Was
it always so? While he lived, how censured of legisla¬
tive resolutions, how caricatured of the periodicals, how
charged with mean and ridiculous motives, how, when
struck down in the Senate chamber, there were hundreds
of thousands who said, 'Good for him, served him right!'
O Commonwealth of Massachusetts! who is that man
that sleeps to-night in your public hall, covered with
garlands and wrapped in the stars and stripes? Is that
the man whom only a few months ago you denounced
as the foe of Republican and Democratic institutions?
You took twenty-five years in trying to pull down his
fame, and now you will take twenty-five years in trying
to build his monument. You were either wrong then
or you are wrong now. Was there ever better comment¬
ary on the hollowness of all earthly favor?" O, Ingrati¬
tude! what years of labor, what supreme efforts are spent
in attempting to atone for thy base and relentless wrongs.
Better to cease thine infamous work before thy victims
lie beneath the sod.
196
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
William Pitt, who became prime minister of England, at twenty-four.
I write unto young men because ye are strong.—St. John.
ACHIEVEMENTS OF EARLY MANHOOD.
Gladstone says, "There is in every young man the
material for good work in the world; in everyone, not
only those who are brilliant, not only those who are
quick, but in those who are solid, and even those who are
dull or seem to be dull."
Dullness is not always an evidence of lack of brains.
When Isaac Barrow was a boy he appeared so stupid
that his father said, if God took away any of his children
he hoped it would be Isaac. Yet that boy lived to be
one of the greatest divines of the Church of England.
Napoleon's teacher said he would need a gimlet to put
learning into the head of the future conqueror of Europe.
ACHIEVEMENTS OF EARLY MANHOOD. 197
Sir Walter Scott, Dry den, Swift, Goldsmith, Gibbon,
Adam Clark and many others were notably dull boys.
Note some of the achievements of young men:
Newton made some of his most important discov¬
eries before he was twenty-five.
William Wilberforce began his anti-slavery efforts
before he was sixteen, and was a member of Parliament
at twent}\
Franklin wrote for publication when fourteen and
edited and published a newspaper and "Poor Richard's
Almanac" before he was twenty-six.
Elias Howe invented the sewing machine before he
was twenty-six. At about the same age Eli Whitney in¬
vented the cotton-gin and Dr. Thomas Morton discov¬
ered the use of ether as an anaesthetic to relieve pain
during surgical operation.
Charles Fox was in Parliament at nineteen.
Cromwell left the University of Cambridge at
eighteen.
John Bright was never at any school a day after he
was fifteen years old.
Gladstone was in Parliament at twenty-two, and at
twenty-four he was a lord of the treasury.
Lord Bacon was graduated at Cambridge at six¬
teen, and was called to the bar at twenty-one.
Peel was in Parliament at twenty-one.
Henry Clay was in the Senate of the United States*
contrary to the Constitution, at twenty-nine.
Webster was in college at fifteen, gave evidence of
his great future before he was twenty-five, and at thirty
he was the peer of the ablest men in Congress.
Keats and Shelley died before they were thirty.
Samuel Colt invented the Colt revolver at twenty-
one.
Spurgeon was preaching at sixteen.
198
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Your zeal hath provoked many.—St. Paul.
POWER OF ENTHUSIASM.
Enthusiasm! What has it not accomplished? Tht
record of the world's advancement in discovery and in¬
vention, of progress in science, art and literature, is a
continuous rehearsal of the victory of enthusiasm over
hardships, discouragements, opposition, poverty, preju¬
dice, slander, persecution and physical disabilities. En¬
thusiasm leaps over mountains of hindrances or tunnels
its way through them, while cold indifference is declar¬
ing that it cannot be done.
Joan of Arc, the simple Maid of Orleans, possessed
with an enthusiasm that knows no defeat, with her sim¬
ple, yet consecrated, equipments, thrills with intense
fervor an army that mighty rulers could not control. It
was her intense earnestness that swept over France, in¬
spiring the multitudes with faith, courage and hopeful¬
ness, that fought the battles of a nation and that has made
POWER OF ENTHUSIASM.
199
her a heroine down to the end of time. Gladstone, one
of the ablest and best of England's prime ministers, at
nearly ninety years of age is an inspiration to manhood
everywhere. His intense earnestness placed him at the
head of a mighty nation and gave vivacity and youthful
vigor in old age.
Enthusiasm gives spirit, zeal and determination,
even to old age.. Humboldt finished his "Cosmos"
when ninety years old. Galileo wrote on the laws of
motion at seventy, and at seventy-seven sought to adapt
the principle of the pendulum to clocks. Robert Hall,
when an old man, began the study of Italian. Welling¬
ton held to military work, even after eighty years of age.
Newton revised his "Principia" when above eighty.
Watt studied German at eighty-five and Thomas Scott
studied Hebrew at eighty-seven. Of Goldsmith it was
said that he was a plant that flowered late in life. En¬
thusiasm makes old hearts young and gives to age a new
lease of life.
Joshua Reynolds was once asked to criticise a pic¬
ture. "Capital composition, correct drawing, color, tone,
lights, and shadows excellent," said he, "but it wants—
that!" snapping his fingers.
Charles Kingsley says, "People smile at the enthusi¬
asm of youth, that enthusiasm which they themselves
secretly look back to with a sigh, perhaps unconscious
that it is partly their own fault that they ever lost it."
It was the power of enthusiasm that, when in mid¬
life Sir Walter Scott found himself bankrupt with enor¬
mous liabilities, he set himself to write his way out and
produced his masterpiece, "Ivanhoe," while sick in bed.
The same spirit came upon Carlyle when the manuscript
of the "French Revolution," upon which he had labored
so long a time, had been reduced to ashes by the mistake
of a servant girl.
Not by might, nor by power.—Zechariah.
RESISTING TEMPTATION.
In ancient mythology we find two famous characters
who sought to pass safely by the island of the Sirens
somewhere near the west coast of Italy. These en¬
chantresses were fabled to have the power of charming,
by their song, anyone who heard them., so that he died
in an ecstasy of delight. When the ships of Ulysses ap¬
proached these deadly charmers, sitting on the lovely
beach endeavoring to lure him and his crew to destruc¬
tion, he tilled the ears of his sailors with wax, and then
had himself bound to the mast while he sailed within
sound of the bewitching strain. By this painful process
they escaped.
On the other hand, when the Argonauts, in pursuit
of the golden fleece, passed by the Sirens, singing with
enchanting sweetness, Jason commanded Orpheus, who
was on board the ship, to strike his lyre. His song so
RESISTING TEMPTATION.
201
surpassed in sweetness that of the charmers that their
music seemed harsh discord. The Sirens had been con¬
quered with their own weapons. Melody had surpassed
melody.
There is an important lesson taught here, one thai
all men everywhere are inclined to forget. We all must
sail by the Sirens of temptation to evil. With some the
exercise of a strong will power may give victory, but
more frequently defeat comes to him who depends upon
a strength inherent in himself. While the painful process
of tying oneself to the mast may at times set aside defeat
yet, the desire for happiness being imbedded in our very
nature, "the downward gravitation of our souls toward
sinful pleasures can be overcome only by bringing
heaven so near by faith as to cause a superior upward
gravitation by what Dr. Chalmers styles the expulsive
power of a new affection." Alas! how many lives that
might have been great and noble have gone down, not
having the strength so freely given of God, but trust only
in their own power of will. On the other hand what
noble manhood has resulted from taking on board the
Orphean lyre.
Man is inclined to trust in human strength and
ingenuity rather than in the power that rules the world.
Many men have resorted to the "Keeley Cure" to resist
the temptation of drink, while the more effectual "Cal¬
vary Cure " is looked upon as very improbable and un¬
certain. We do not object to the "Keeley Cure," but
it is much more worthy of manhood to magnify the
grace of God and to know that depraved appetites can
be removed by this higher power. In short, let all who
are besieged by temptation, learn that there is a better,
a safer remedy at hand than human help—the trans¬
forming power of the spirit, whereby there is a complete
renovation of the desires and pleasures. The lyre of
Orpheus is always a better safegaurd than the wax of
Ulysses. Try it.
202
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Destitute, afflicted, tormented.—Hebrews.
WORSE THAN SLAVERY.
Slavery is a positive curse. We freed at the price of
blood the black slaves of the South, but all over this land
of boasted liberties there are those who, on account of
the avariciousness of wealthy men, as well as the gigan¬
tic evil intemperance, with its accompanying iniquities,
the gambling den and the brothel, are living at a dying
rate. The slave was provided with proper food and
clothing, but these white slaves found in the sweatshops
of our large cities or suffering on account of neglect of
those whom passions and appetites control, are eking out
an existence for which death itself would be a glad and
welcome exchange. The anguish of one of these
wretched lives is portrayed by Coates in the following
lines:
Dark is the night!—How dark! No light! No fire!
Cold on the hearth the last faint sparks expire!
Shivering, she watches, by the cold hearth side,
For him who pledged her love—a happy bride!
WORSE THAN SLAVERY.
203
""Hark! 'Tis his footstep!—'Tis past! 'Tis gone!
Tick!—Tick! How wearily the time crawls on!
Why should he leave me thus? He once was kind!
And I believed 'twould last—how mad!—how blind!
"Rest thee, my babe!—Rest on!—'Tis hunger's cry!
Sleep!—for there is no food!—The fount is dry!
Famine and cold their wearying work have done—
My heart must break!—and thou!"—The clock strikes one.
"Hush! 'tis the dice box! Yes, he's there, he's there:
For this!—for this, he leaves me to despair!
Leaves love! leaves truth! his wife! his child! For what?
The wanton's smile—the villain—and the sot!
"Yet I'll not curse him! No! 'tis all in vain!
'Tis long to wait, but sure he'll come again!
And I could starve and bless him, but for you,
My child!—his child!—Oh, fiend!" The clock strikes two.
"Hark! How the sign-board creaks! The blast howls by!
Moan! Moan! A dirge swells through the cloudy sky!
Ha! 'tis his knock! he comes!—he comes once more!—
'Tis but the lattice flaps!" Thy hope is o'er!
"Can he desert me thus? He knows I stay
Night after night in loneliness, to pray
For his return—and yet he sees no tear!
No! No! It cannot be. He will be here.
"Nestle more closely, dear ones to my heart!
You're cold! You're freeezing! But we will not part!
Husband!—I die!—Father!—It is not he!
O God! protect the babes!" The clock strikes three.
They're gone! They're gone! the glimmering spark hath sped!
The wife and children numbered with the dead!
On the cold hearth, outstretched in solemn rest,
The babe lay frozen on its mother's breast!
The gambler came at last—but all was o'er—
Dead silence reigned around.—The clock struck four.
204
TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
Our hope is lost.—Ezekiel.
LOST AT HARBOR'S MOUTH.
The above is a scene at the wharf of a fishing vil¬
lage. Some of the boats were out when the gale came
up and went down in trying to make the harbor. Not
a soul was saved. Sympathy is being expressed for the
young wife whose husband was among the drowned fish¬
ermen. A gloom of sorrow has been cast over the whole
place. This is not an unusual occurrence with fishing
villages where danger and death constantly stare them
in the face' and calamity often overtakes them.
There are many sad and heartrending scenes simi¬
lar to the above. There are many sad ruins of large and
stately cities like Thebes and Nineveh of old. But of all
these sad pictures there is nothing that approximates in
sadness the ruins of a wasted life. There may be a long,
eventful and useful life, but in making' the harbor at
its close the character that has stood beyond the noon
and into life's evening may go down in sadness and
despair. A Solomon's wisdom, excellence and virtue are
LOST AT HARBOR'S MOUTH.
205
all lost in a sad ending. Nothing is sadder than to have
the end discrown all the long character building of pre¬
ceding years. What the world remembers is not Ben¬
edict Arnold's heroic march through the wilderness of
Maine to Canada, nor his matchless and unselfish brav¬
ery at Saratoga, but rather his treachery. There are
dangers in life's last years as well as in its first years.
The wreck of the steamer Oregon, with her smokestacks
and masts sticking out of the water, just outside New
York harbor, suggests that the voyage behind her
counted for nothing when she ignobly missed her port.
How unspeakably sad in Solomon's case that God's
offer of long life, a perpetual line of kings from his own
dynasty and prosperity for millions of people, should be
rejected for a fleeting pleasure soon to be closed by death.
And yet the lesson that Solomon's life teaches must be
learned over and over again. The brightest dawning may
end in storm. An old man may be untrue to the noble
dreams of youth. Indulgence in worldly joys and sensu¬
ous delights may retard and finally arrest a race well be¬
gun. No length of service of God, no attainments in
divine wisdom, place us at a height from which it is im¬
possible to fall. A good beginning is important, but a
good ending is essential.
A ship once came into port after having been out
on the sea for a long time. The coal gave out; then
everything in turn that would burn, cargo, stores, spars,
furniture had to be burned to bring the vessel to the
harbor. She anchored at last with nothing left worth
anchoring. Many rich men come into the port of old
age having, in their aim to accumulate wealth, burned up
everything of manhood, character and hope—rich prob¬
ably in the world's eyes, but wretched wrecks in God's
sight.
206 TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
At evening time it shall be light.—Zechariah.
AT EVENTIDE.
What more peaceful and restful scene than the close
of a calm summer's day, as the sun just hidden below
the horizon sends his tints of golden and crimson light
across the sky, giving to all nature the spirit of tranquil¬
lity and quietness! Fitting emblem of the eventide of
life, when the cares and burdens of earlier days are laid
aside and there is a quiet waiting for the time of release
from this "tenement of clay."
We glory in the achievements and attainments of
early manhood, and yet, after we have exhausted our
resources in praises for noble, aspiring youth, we are
compelled to acknowledge that the end crowns the work
and that there is nothing that exhibits such a spirit of
sublimity and grandeur as the hoary head of one who
AT EVENTIDE.
20?
with unblemished, virtuous and Christlike character
comes down to the evening of life full of moral vigor,
with mental and physical prowess well preserved by rea¬
son of an abstemious, well-ordered and well-regulated
life. While we honor the morning of life for its achieve¬
ments, we must still admit that mature manhood has
acquired the chief distinction where the exercise of the
highest order of mental ability is demanded. Socrates
uttered his grandest sayings near the close of his life
of seventy years. Plato was a pupil until forty and did
not begin teaching philosophy until he was more than
fifty. Bacon wrote his "Novum Organum" at sixty.
Lord Mansfield has a world-wide fame as a jurist, but
he acquired it after he was fifty. Humboldt began his
"Cosmos" at seventy-five. Haydn's "Creation" was
written when he was seventy. Michael Angelo finished
the "Last Judgment" at sixty-seven. Benjamin West
painted the celebrated picture, "Christ Healing the
Sick," in his sixty-fifth year. The aged may
not be so well fitted for the bustle and turmoil
of active life, but this is not a reason why they should
retire from the responsibilities and cares connected with
the guidance of the world's movements. The faculty of
wisdom is a diviner gift than the faculty of energetic
action. The oldest communities mold the character of
the rest. The counsels of veteran statesmen and jurists
are most operative in shaping our public institutions.
The experience of the aged saint gives character and
stability to the Christian world. The crowning virtue
and glory of old age is an adornment of the Christian
graces. Those who live with life's great end in view
never outlive their days. Their closing days suggest
a going up into the mount of vision rather than a decline
into the vale of death. Their end is peace.
Not wealth but welfare is success;
Beneficence life's crown must bring,
For nothing lives but righteousness,
And character is everything.
—HezeHah Butterworth.
208
MARKED
MANHOOD
and
WOMANHOOD.
209
210
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
WILLIAM E. DODGE.
For sixty-six years a professed Christian; for sixty-
five years engaged in business pursuits; for fifty years a
leader in commercial enterprises and religious and benev¬
olent undertakings; giving freely of money, personal influ¬
ence and time to philanthropic work; seeking eagerly
the highest good of his fellow-men and the glory of
God—such is the record of William Earle Dodge, New
York's most famous philanthropist, who died Feb. 9,
1883, in his seventy-eighth year. Mr. Dodge was of
Puritan stock. Born in Connecticut, and having a very
limited school education, he was taken by his father to
New York, where at the age of thirteen he began his
business career as a boy-of-all-work in a wholesale dry
goods house. At twenty-one he entered upon business
fc" himself. For many years he managed the firm of
Phelps, Dodge & Co., one of the most prosperous as
well as largest houses in the country.
Although deprived of an educational training, he
became a well-informed man. He was an exceedingly
public spirited man, taking an interest in every move-
WILLIAM E. DODGE.
211
ment that might benefit mankind, always ready to give
largely of his means. In one sense he was his own
executor, for it was not unusual for him to give to char¬
itable, benevolent and religious work more than a hun¬
dred thousand dollars a year.
The crowning glory of Mr. Dodge's life was his
sincere, simple, symmetric and fruitful Christian char¬
acter. He was the embodiment of the Scriptural idea of
stewardship. Stewardship is a matter of principle, not
of amount. To him much was given, and he was found
faithful in much. He was a- princely giver to many
good enterprises. He was greatly interested in the tem¬
perance work, and was so consistent in his views on the
Sabbath that he withdrew his interest, first from the
Erie, then from the New Jersey Central Railroad, when
those roads began to run Sunday trains.
To his mother more than to anyone else was Mr.
Dodge indebted for his early training in the ways of
truth and in the forming of a character that prepared him
for eminent excellence and usefulness in life. Her earnest
and constant prayer for her children, together with a life
consistent with her teachings and prayers, made her
strong in shaping her noble son's life.
Mr. Dodge will be known to coming generations
not so much as the sagacious business man, the prince
among merchants, but as the Christian philanthropist.
He was always giving to the poverty-stricken, to needy
young men preparing for the ministry, to church-build¬
ing, to the temperance cause, to missions. He gave not
only money, but personal energy and influence, to the
day in which he exchanged these noble activities for the
higher ones in heaven.
212
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
PETER COOPER.
"The great object that I desire to accomplish by the erection of this in¬
stitution is to open the avenues of scientific knowledge to the youth of our
city and country, and so unfold the volume of nature that the young may
see the beauties of creation, enjoy its blessings, and learn to love the Author
from whom cometh every good and perfect gift."
This sentence was written on a scroll and placed in
the corner-stone of Cooper Union. They indicate the
purpose of the founder of that great institution. Peter
Cooper was born in New York City, February 12, 1791.
The family was poor. Peter was one of nine children,
and, with his father changing his occupation every sev¬
eral years, there seemed to be anything but a bright pros¬
pect for young Peter. His father moved from town to
town, and always seemed to be in debt. When Peter
was seventeen, with a mother's blessing, he started out
for himself. He had saved ten dollars, and with it
started for New York. There he was attracted by an
advertisement of a lottery. He invested his money in
PETER COOPER.
213
a ticket and lost it all. "It was the cheapest piece of
knowledge I ever bought," said he years after. It ef¬
fectually cured him of any further desire for gambling.
He soon found work as an apprentice. He was to remain
four years and to receive his board and twenty-five dol¬
lars a year. Money that he earned for working overtime
he spent for books and in securing the services of a
teacher in the evenings.
He soon started business for himself. At thirty-
three he began the manufacture of glue, which by tireless
energy and intense application became a very profitable
business.
"If I ever get rich I will build a place where the
poor boys and girls of New York may have an education
free." True to his purpose, in 1855 the foundation of
Cooper Union was laid. The dream of his youth became
the perfected plan in old age. He lived to be ninety-
two, and for many years enjoyed the prosperity of an in¬
stitution to which he had given two million dollars.
Mr. Cooper was simple in his habits and especially
free from ostentation. Money was his instrument, not
his master. He made money to benefit, not to prey
upon, the community.
Just before his death he said, "My sun is not setting
in clouds and darkness, but is going down cheerfully
in a clear firmament, lighted up by the glory of God.
I seem to hear my mother calling me, as she used to
when I was a boy: 'Peter, Peter, it is about bedtime.' "
Noble life! Blessed end! Time will never efface the
benign influence and benediction of Peter Cooper's
life on succeeding generations. Better by far, and more
enduring than a costly marble statue, is the grateful re¬
membrance in which this true benefactor is held by the
thousands who year by year are fitted for life's great
work in the institution which his munificence provided.
214
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE.
England's "Grand Old Man" was born at Liver¬
pool December 29, 1809. At twenty-three he was elected
to Parliament and for more than sixty years took an
active interest in the affairs of the British Government.
Three times he was Prime Minister and measures
brought forward by him were always in the interests of
peace and the strengthening of the government. He
always was on the side of the people and reform, and
against aristocracy.
Aside from his devotion to politics, he has spent
much time and written much upon Homer and upon
different theological subjects. In March, 1894, then
eighty-four years of age, he resigned as Prime Minister
and after that, devoted most of his time to other subjects,
although in any critical moment his vigorous pen was
wielded in the interests of humanity, notably the Arme¬
nian massacres. He upbraided his government for slow¬
ness of action, and called for prompt measures to end
WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE.
215
the atrocities. In 1896 Mr. Stead said, "Mr. Gladstone,
although eighty-six years old, is far and away the most
potent personality in Great Britain. He has retired from
politics, but until death has closed that eager eye and
stilled that eloquent tongue, nothing can diminish or
impair his authority."
His economy of time is seen in that he always car¬
ries a book in his pocket, lest spare moments escape while
waiting for a train, or for men who are late in an appoint¬
ment. His enormous capacity for work and his remark¬
able preservation in old age he attributes to evenness
of life, regularity of habits, absence of worry and the
power to command sleep. Although in his eighty-ninth
year he still takes an interest in many things and finds
recreation in turning from one to another. "In all my
political life," says he, "I have never been kept awake
five minutes by any debate in Parliament." This rare
.ability to turn the hours for repose into real recupera¬
tion has much to do with his long and useful life.
The first element in the secret of his continued vigor
is the simplicity and fervency of his religious faith. A
text over the mantelpiece in his bedroom explains the
tranquillity that has saved him from the nervous exhaus¬
tion that has carried off many other men. The text
is, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is
stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee."
Mr. Gladstone's kind and sympathetic spirit is shown
in the treatment given to a poor crossing-sweeper, for
whom he always had a kind word when passing. One
day he was missing. Mr. Gladstone inquiring of his
mate learned that he was ill. This Prime Minister, al¬
though the affairs of the greatest kingdom in the world
pressed heavily upon him, with genuine simplicity of char¬
acter, found the address of this crossing-sweeper, visited
him, read the Bible to him and prayed.
216 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
LOUIS KOSSUTH.
The Hungarian patriot and leader of the Hungarian
revolution was born in 1802. Although of noble rank,
his parents were poor. Early in life he became distin¬
guished while editor of a paper in which he advocated
views too liberal for the government, but which took
strong hold of the people, and especially of the youth
of his country. He was imprisoned; but upon being
released he took up the cause of the people, the emanci¬
pation of the peasants, the elevation of the citizen class
and the freedom of the press. After the French revolu¬
tion in 1848 he demanded an independent government.
Although he accomplished much in this direction, the
opposition as well as dissensions among his associates at
last compelled him to abandon his work and to flee as
an exile into Turkey. His extradition was demanded by
Austria and Russia, but these demands were refused by
the Porte. Through the intervention of the United States
and England he was liberated, and not being permitted
LOUIS KOSSUTH.
217
to pass through France, sailed for England, where he was
received everywhere with popular favor.
By act of Congress he was invited to the United
States as a guest. He arrived Dec. 6, 1851, and received
a more magnificent reception than had ever been ten¬
dered to a" foreigner. It is said that a multitude of at
least fifty thousand awaited his arrival in New
York City. From neighboring towns and villages,
the multitudes kept pouring in, until more than a hun¬
dred thousand, wild and almost frantic with enthusiasm,
greeted the honored guest. He remained in the United
States for some time, visiting the principal cities, and
everywhere was most cordially received. He addressed
meetings of Germans,- French, Italians, Hungarians and
Americans in their native tongue, showing a remarka¬
ble linguistic gift. While he was cheered by the people
for his grand exploits and his persuasive oratory, he
failed in the main object of his visit to this country—to
procure the intervention of the nation in the affairs of
his native country.
Upon his return to Europe he modestly retired. Un¬
willing to accept citizenship in Hungary, now subject
to Austria, or to receive the contributions of his admir¬
ers, he spent the remainder of his days in procuring a
subsistence by his own labors. He preferred retirement
with honor and self-respect to a fictitious glory. Although
once dictator of his country and now universally honored,
he taught languages, wrote for magazines and prepared
books, living and dying in poverty.
When promised protection in Turkey this exiled
patriot replied, "Between death and shame I have never
been dubious. Though once the governor of a generous
people, I leave no inheritance to my children except that
of an unsullied name. God's will be done. I am pre¬
pared to die. These hands of mine are empty but clean."
218 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
into the infection of hospitals; to visit the forsaken, and
to compare the distresses of all men in all countries. His
was a voyage of discovery, a circumnavigation of charity."
This noted philanthropist and prison reformer lived
a quiet and retired life in England,scarcely known beyond
JOHN HOWARD.
219
the circle of friends who had become greatly attached
to him by his generous spirit in aiding the poorer classes,
in providing better homes for them. His parents died
before he was twenty, leaving him abundant means of
support, but delicate health suggested a trip to the Con¬
tinent in his twentieth year, in which he was taken pris¬
oner by the French, and, in dungeons not fit for human
beings, endured untold sufferings with most cruel and
barbarbic treatment. This, however, fitted him more fully
for his great work in later years.
When Howard was forty-six years old he was elected
high sheriff for his county. His election opened up a
new avenue in which his philanthropic and fellow-feeling
spirit found delight to labor. Beginning in his own
country, he visited the prisons, and rested not until the in¬
humanities and barbarities in prison management and
treatment were brought to light and prison reform in¬
stituted. Having completed his work in the prisons
of Great Britain, he turned his attention to France, Hol¬
land and Germany, visiting the prisons of each in turn,
and doing what he could to correct abuses. His first
volume, giving account of his visits and his work, was
spread widely, and awakened unusual interest in his work.
He continued in this chosen work during the remainder
of his life and published a number of volumes. Every¬
where he found abuses and grievances, often • shocking
and disgraceful to a civilized country. He was often
subjected to great hardships and dangers, but this did
not in the least prevent his continuing to labor for unfort¬
unate prisoners. He died at Cherson, Russia, January,
1890, where he had taught a malignant fever while vis¬
iting a Russian hospital. He died a martyr, after living
an apostle. Greatness among men is not always great¬
ness before God. The name of a truly great man is a
living force after he is dead. John Howard was greater
before God than a Napoleon.
220
TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
GEORGE PEABODY.
"Bear in mind, that, to be truly great, it is not nec¬
essary that you should gain wealth and importance.
Steadfast and undeviating truth, fearless and straightfor¬
ward integrity and an honor ever unsullied by an un¬
worthy word or action, make their possessor greater than
worldly success or prosperity. These qualities constitute
greatness." These were the noble sentiments uttered by
the founder of Peabody Institute at the dedication, upon
his return to America after an absence of twenty years.
George Peabody was born in Massachusetts, 1795, of
poor parents who, although hard-working and respected,
could give to their children no further legacy than that
of an ordinary district school education, an untarnished
name and a determination to make the most of life. At
the early age of eleven he was compelled to leave school
and was thrown upon his own resources. Serving sue-
GEORGE PEABODY.
221
cessively as errand-boy and clerk in a grocery store and
later in a dry-goods establishment, his close attention to
business, his manly bearing and his pleasing disposition
won for him a host of friends, and before he was twenty
he was a partner of a firm, dealing in dry-goods. His one
purpose—attention to business—gained for him remark¬
able success so that at forty he stood at the head of a large
and wealthy establishment. In 1843 he severed his busi¬
ness relations with the firm and established himself as a
banker in London and accumulated a large fortune.
Mr. Peabody is remembered not by the great for¬
tune that he succeeded in amassing, for many others have
like him accumulated millions but have long since been
forgotten to the world. His memory is revered because
of the use he made of his money. He did not simply
provide for its good use in a will to be executed by others
at his death, but, with sound sense and judgment, he
placed the money in his lifetime where he believed it
would do the greatest good. His own statements show
that nothing in life gave him so much pleasure as to see
that his large benevolences were a blessing to humanity.
He gave about ten millions for the benefit of the poor and
unfortunate and for educational purposes. Two and a
half millions were spent in improving the condition of
London's poverty-stricken and laboring classes; three and
a half millions were set apart as a fund for the education
of the negro of the South. He founded a number of
schools, notably Peabody Institute, and endowed libra¬
ries.
Remarkable career! you say, and yet this great man
himself said, "There are many whose early opportunities
and advantages are greater than were my own. I have
achieved nothing that is impossible to the most humble
boy."
222
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
AMES WATT, one of the world's most
illustrious mechanics, was born at
Greenock, Scotland, January 19, 1736.
His delicate health prevented his tak¬
ing- a complete course in a university.
At the age of eighteen he was apprenticed to a London
maker of mathematical instruments, but ill-health soon
compelled him to return to his home. In 1757 he
was appointed mathematical instrument maker to the
college at Glasgow. Here he labored for some
JAMES WATT.
223
years under difficulties, eking out an income by
making or mending fiddles. His great love for knowl¬
edge and his interest in mechanical novelties, with
the advantages that the college afforded, made him
a diligent vStudent of science and an experimenter in the
application of science to the arts. During the winter of
1763-64 a working model of the Newcomen engine, kept
for the use of the natural philosophy class in the college,
was sent to him to be put in repair. Watt quickly found
out what was wrong with the model and easily put it into
order. With the view of remedying its defects, he com¬
menced an extensive series of experiments, and was soon
rewarded with valuable discoveries. He found out that
in the model before him about four-fifths of the steam,
and consequently of the fuel, was wasted. The genius of
this inventor, overcoming many serious obstacles, pro¬
duced a steam engine of practical benefit to the human
race. It came into his hands a toy; it left them a mighty
instrument of beneficent progress.
Comparing his invention with the atmospheric en¬
gine of Newcomen, it must be admitted that it is not with¬
out justice that the popular voice has awarded to James
Watt the name of inventor of the steam engine.
Watt did not escape the usual experience of invent¬
ors, playfully described by Wilkins Micawber as "the
pressure of pecuniary liabilities." His means were lim¬
ited and in order to prosecute his experiments he had to
obtain the assistance of friends. For five years he aban¬
doned the prosecution of his various plans and sought a
living by pursuing the profession of civil engineer. All
sorts of attempts were also made to snatch the laurels
from Watt's brow, but fortunately these were of no avail.
He triumphed over opposition, and in 1800 withdrew
ftom business, enjoying nineteen years of domestic felic¬
ity in the bosom of his family.
224
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
DR. MARCUS WHITMAN.
In 1832 four Indians made their-way from Oregon
to St. Louis for the purpose of obtaining the "white man's
Book of Life."
Responding to this call, Dr. Whitman "established a
mission among the Cayuse Indians at Walla Walla.
In a few years over 300 Indian families were under
the influence of the mission. They were living in houses
and had learned that their livelihood was better secured
to them by farming than by hunting and fishing. But
educated Indians could not be deceived in bartering furs
as the savages could. Consequently Dr. Whitman's ef¬
forts were opposed by the agents of the Hudson Bay
Company.
In October, 1842, while Dr. Whitman was attending
a sick Indian at the Fort in Walla Walla, a messenger
arrived there, announcing that 140 Englishmen and
Canadians were on their way to settle Oregon.
There was great rejoicing among the traders over
this move to claim Oregon for Great Britain and thus
drive out the Yankee missionaries who were disturbing
their profitable trade with the Indians. Dr. Whitman
was told that already negotiations had been begun with
DR. MARCUS WHITMAN.
225
the American Government by which Oregon would be
given to Great Britain. He hastened home to tell his
wife that he must go to Washington to save Oregon to
the United States. In twenty-four hours he, with one
companion, had started on one of the most perilous rides
known to history.
The earth was their bed at night. Dried grass was
the only feed for the horses.
Over snow-capped mountains, through the lava beds
of Idaho, swimming ice-cold rivers, encountering savage
beasts and still more savage men, lost in snowstorms,
cold, hungry and in peril of life and limb—on, on they
pushed through the dead of winter, until in March, five
months after leaving, Dr. Whitman stood before President
Tyler, pleading for Oregon. Daniel Webster, Secretary of
State, considered Oregon too far away to be of any use
to the United States. But President Tyler positively
promised that American interests there would not be bar¬
tered away until Dr. Whitman had time to make settle¬
ments and thereby claim ownership.
During that summer Dr. Whitman returned across
the mountains with over eight hundred immigrants.
They built comfortable houses and took possession for
the United States.
Dr. Whitman continued his work among the In¬
dians. Their language was reduced to writing and their
children were gathered into schoolhouses and taught to
read and write. Women and girls were taught to spin
and cook. A code of laws was adopted acknowledging
the authority of the United States. This was ratified by
treaty in 1846. Incensed by this act the traders poisoned
the minds of the Indians, and on November 27, 1847, Dr.
Whitman, his heroic wile and thirteen others were mas¬
sacred by the people they had come to civilize. Whit¬
man College at Walla Walla bears tribute to his mem¬
ory.
15
226 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
CHARLES SUMNER.
Charles Sumner first became known to the world in
1845, when he was called upon to deliver the Fourth of
July oration in his native city of Boston. His fearless
exposition of the nobler sentiments that should control
nations gained for him a hearing in two continents. He
entered public life when it seemed that the whole nation
had grown into a state of moral apathy. The fervor of
revolutionary freedom had died out, and in the haste for
riches, open to a new country, the legal code was adopted
as the morals of the people.
The rights of man to man were disregarded. Noth¬
ing was morally wrong that was legally right. It needed
the voice of Sumner to point the nation to its true grand¬
eur; that it must be established by deeds of justice and
beneficence. Sumner performed this duty nobly. To a
man of his attainments this course was social ostracism.
As he applied the principles of Christianity to the every-
OHlAEOBS SUMNER.
227
day affairs of men and of nations, his friends were
amazed. His zeal for the Golden Rule in politics severed
many of his former associates, to whom he became known
as the Christian layman of New England.
In his chosen profession he never attained distinc¬
tion. He was not a great lawyer. His ability lay in his
skill to apply the science of law to the rule of right. In
after years when he represented the reform forces in the
United States Senate his bitter opponents, who had ridi¬
culed him as the "briefless barrister," were forced to ad¬
mit that while they were building for themselves a wide
reputation, with clients and fees seeking their patronage,
he was studying national and international law. In the
last branch he seldom met his equal. This acquaintance
with legal opinions became his greatest weapon when
assailed by the united slave power in the Senate. He
cited authority for every proposition he made. Unable
to silence him with argument, the baser passions of his
enemies were aroused. In 1856 he made his celebrated
speech, "The Crime Against Kansas." Shortly after
Preston Brooks, member of Congress from South Caro¬
lina, entered the Senate chamber and approaching Mr.
Sumner while he was leaning forward at his desk in writ¬
ing, he struck Mr. Sumner over the head with a cane until
he lay senseless on the floor. Four years passed before
Sumner recovered sufficiently to take his place in the
Senate. Until his death he strove to gain equality of
rights for all. He loved humanity. He hated war. He
probably was the first to attempt to practice the law be¬
tween nations that holds between individuals.
His last important act was to press his civil rights
bill, which placed the negro on a perfect equality with
the whites so far as the law was concerned. Sumner
was a great man. His influence is still felt by the Amer¬
ican people.
228 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
WENDELL PHILLIPS.
Graduated from Harvard in 1831, he began the study
of law. Surrounded by refinement and culture, and liv¬
ing in a time when the slavery question gave occasion
for oratorical display which continually sounded in his
ears, he could scarcely avoid indulging in visions of dis¬
tinction and renown that were awaiting him.
Meanwhile ideas were being formed in his mind.
He heard the public denounce Garrison for proclaiming
the first principle of the Declaration of Independence.
He saw that free speech was threatened and that all men
were equal only in name. Then came the struggle. He
must choose a life of ease and enjoyment or one of un¬
popularity and apparent defeat. He must be a leader
in culture and refinement or the champion of degraded
humanity. Born near the "cradle of liberty," he was
born again on that memorable day when he saw the
"Broadcloth mob" drag Garrison through the streets
WENDELL PHILLIPS.
229
which were dedicated by his Puritan fathers to the cause
of freedom—reborn an abolitionist, with a life work as
broad as liberty and including all humanity. The great
question that had taken hold of his soul spoke through
his lips. "I love inexpressibly these streets of Boston,
over which my mother led my baby feet, and if God grants
me time enough I will make them too pure for the foot¬
steps of a slave."
His first public speech was made in Faneuil Hall,
denouncing the murder of Lovejoy, and from that time
he was the leader of the anti-slavery cause.
His power as an orator was such that his most in¬
tense enemies could not stay away when he was to speak.
Drawn to him, though hating him, he held them spell¬
bound through many addresses, only to have them wreak
their hatred thereafter by mobbing and stoning him. He
advocated liberty preferable to slave Union; disunion to
bloodshed. But when the first gun was heard at Fort
Sumter, he welcomed war as a means to a new Union
of freedom and equal rights. Other statesmen and ora¬
tors have championed great reforms, but they only spoke
the views of an organized party. Phillips stood distinct¬
ively alone. Without a party, he was denounced by the
press and hated by the "upper class." But he stood un¬
daunted. He gave his life for the uplifting of degraded
and oppressed humanity. When the slave was freed -he
became the advocate of other great reforms. His life task
was to form public opinion upon vital questions of the
day by fearless and honest discussion. He felt for the
laboring man. He appealed to the nation in justice and
reason for the enfranchisement of the wives and mothers
of America. He espoused the cause of prohibition and
prison reform. As a man of letters he achieved fame.
His life was an unselfish devotion to the cause of others,
and an inflexible fidelity to the great principles of our
American Republic—freedom and liberty.
m
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
" The most valuable gift of a man or woman to this worldis not money,
nor books, but a noble life."
JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER.
While more than forty volumes of Whittier's works
have been published and widely circulated, and while
his poems, largely inspired by current events, and their
patriotic, democratic, and humane spirit, have taken a
strong hold on the public, breathing, as they do, more
peculiarly the American spirit than those of any other
of equal fame; yet over and above this, that which has so
peculiarly and so tenderly endeared him, not only to the
American people, but to those of other lands as well, is
his noble, well-rounded, beautiful life.
Whittier was born at Haverhill, Mass., Dec. 17,
1807. His early life was spent on a farm and his father's
early death caused him to return to the farm and labor
for the support of his mother and sisters. At twenty-
eight he was elected a member of the Massachusetts
Legislature. He early identified himself with the Anti-
JOHN GREEINLEAF WHITTIER.
231
slavery movement and in 1836 was appointed secretary
of the American Anti-slavery Society,' and removed to
Philadelphia, where in 1839, in editing the ^Pennsyl-
vania Freeman," his office was sacked and burned by a
mob. From this time he was one of the most prominent
anti-slavery men in the country, and his writings, both
prose and poetry, were largely in support of that cause.
Whittier once said that he was more proud that his
name should appear signed to the Declaration of Princi¬
ples adopted by an Anti-slavery society, than on the title
page of any of his volumes. In strange contrast is the
following, which appeared about the same time in a
Columbia, S. C., paper: "Let us declare that the question
of slavery is not and shall not be open to discussion—
that the very moment any private individual attempts to
lecture us upon its evils and immorality, in the same
moment his tongue shall be cut out and cast upon the
dunghill."
Sympathy for the oppressed is far more conspicuous
in his writings than indignation against the oppressor.
Being a Friend or Quaker, his love for peace is con¬
spicuous—and yet, intense patriotism sometimes kindles
his writings into almost martial ardor. Whittier's
writings are remarkable for their sweet, loving tone, and
his life was beautiful with the happiness of noble aims
fulfilled—a life that has always hinged on that brief law
"Dare to be true." Toward the close of his life his books
furnished him a comfortable income.
Whittier's beautiful life, his friendly and generous
spirit, so clearly shown in all his writings, made him
"sweetly familiar" to all the world. On a beautiful
morning in 1892, he said, "My—love—to—the—world,"
and passed
" To find at last beneath thy trees of healing
The life for which I long,"
232
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
LOVEJOY MONUMENT, ALTON, ILL.
ELIJAH PARRISH LOVEJOY.
E. P. Lovejoy was one of the heroes as well as a
martyr of the Abolition cause. Fearing only God, per¬
secution made no impression upon him. He was born
in Albion, Maine, in 1802. His father was a Presby¬
terian clergyman. When about twenty-five years of age
Lovejoy moved to St. Louis, Mo., where he established
a school, and in 1833 a religious paper called the "Ob¬
server". In his paper he was outspoken in denunciation
of human slavery. He was frequently threatened with mob
violence and, in July, 1836, decided to remove to Alton,
111. Within a year his office was destroyed three times
by mobs, and in reply to continued threats of violence,
he said: "If the civil authorities refuse to protect me
I must look to God, and if I die I am determined to make
my grave in Alton. But, gentlemen, as long as I am an
ELIJAH PARRISH LOVEJOY.
233
American citizen, and as long as American blood runs in
my veins, I shall hold myself at liberty to speak, write
and publish whatever I please upon any subject, being
amenable to the laws of my country for the same."
Money for a fourth press was raised by friends of
free speech in Ohio. The press was received at Alton
about midnight of Nov. 6, 1837, and stored in the ware¬
house of the leading firm in the city. Volunteers
guarded it, but a drunken mob made an attack and
attempted to> fire the building. In attempting to pre¬
vent this effort of the mob, Lovejoy was shot and died in
a few minutes. The event caused great excitement
throughout the country, some defending, others excusing
and many more denouncing Mr. Lovejoy. While many
held that he was entitled to the honors of a martyr to
the freedom of speech and of the press, there were men
high in influence and public station, who did not hesitate
to declare that he had "died as the fool dieth."
In this case, as in many others, truth seemed to be
crushed to earth for a season, but time fully justified him.
The grave of Mr. Lovejoy 011 a bluff overlooking the
Mississippi was unmarked for many years, but a monu¬
ment ninety feet high, surmounted by a bronze statue of
Victory, now stands above it, reminding those who visit
it of the sacrifices which it has cost to maintain in this re¬
public the freedom of the press. This monument, a
magnificent piece of work, built of light granite, costing
$30,000, was dedicated Nov. 8, 1897, with imposing
ceremonies. Thus was honored the man who, while
living, was not permitted to express his sentiments with¬
out endangering and at last giving his life in doing so.
Lovejoy's name will deservedly live long in American
history with that of Garrison, Phillips and other aboli¬
tionists.
234
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
"Willam Lloyd Garrison was put into this cell on
Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 12, 1835, to save him from
the violence of a respectable and influential mob who
sought to destroy him for preaching the abominable and
dangerous doctrine that 'all men are created equal,' and
that all oppression is odious in the sight of God.,,
The above words were written on the walls of his
cell, where Garrison was confined, who, while attending
an anti-slavery society meeting, was taken by an in¬
furiated mob and, with a rope around his body, was
dragged through the streets of Boston, and would no
doubt have been killed, but for the intervention of the
Mayor, who with great difficulty rescued him from the
rage of the mob and lodged him in jail. Garrison's only
crime was that of being editor of the "Liberator," a
paper devoted to the anti-slavery cause.
WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
235
Garrison was born in 1805 at Newburg, Mass. His
father was a man of literary taste and ability but, falling
into dissolute habits, deserted his wife, who, for the
support of the family, had to act as professional nurse.
Young Garrison, poor and not having a chance at school,
was very early in life thrown upon his own resources.
He, however, had a rich legacy in his mother's prayers,
her blessing and her letters. Until her death these letters
were an inspiration to him in his work. He engaged
early in the printing business and at sixteen contributed
anonymous articles for the "Newburyport Herald" that
were very favorably received by the public.
At twenty-one he became proprietor and editor of
the "Free Press," in which he was accustomed to set up
his own editorials in tjpe, without writing them out. The
vigorous expression of his anti-slavery views in the
"Genius of Universal Emancipation," of Baltimore, of
which he was editor for a time, led to his imprisonment
for libel. He was released by Mr. Tappan, a New York
merchant, who paid his fine. In 1831 he returned to Bos¬
ton and started the "Liberator," which he carried on for
thirty-five years, until slavery was abolished. In this
same year the Georgia legislature offered $5,000 for the
arrest, prosecution and conviction of Garrison. He was
often threatened with assassination, but in spite of all he
successfully persevered. He visited England four times
in the interest of the anti-slavery cause, and was each time
enthusiastically received by many prominent men. Upon
his return the last time his friends presented him with
$30,000. He died in New York in 1879. "His name is
venerated wherever Christianity softens the hearts and
lessens the sorrows of men."
Garrison's motto, on taking charge of the "Liber¬
ator," will live with generations yet unborn—"I will be
as harsh as truth and as uncompromising as justice. I
am in earnest. I will not equivocate; I will not excuse;
I will not retreat a single inch—and I will be heard."
236
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
It is usually the case that great leaders, especially
in reform work, spring from the class that has pushed its
way through privation and poverty to distinction and
eminence. In this respect William Wilberforce is a
notable exception. The only child of a wealthy mer¬
chant, who died when William was nine years old, the
idol of his mother, who was more than willing to lavish
upon her child all the money he asked for, this youth,
naturally bright and witty, entered upon a life of ease and
pleasure, the gayest of the gay.
Wilberforce left college at twenty-one, in 1780, and
was at once elected to Parliament from Hull, his native
town, his election costing him about $40,000. He en¬
tered at once into the gayeties and fascinations of London
life. He came very near becoming a hopeless victim of
WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
237
the gambling table. More than once his diary reports
a loss of fioo at the faro table. He was saved only by
being brought under the influences of those higher prin¬
ciples which subsequently controlled his life. Through
his friend and companion, Isaac Milner, he was induced
to read Doddridge's "Rise and Progress of Religion,"
also the Greek Testament. This changed his whole
course in life. From this time forth he was an example
of Christian manhood. In the same year he organized
an association for the discouragement of vice, and in the
following year, 1788, began his great life-work for the
abolition of the slave trade.
Wherever the name of William Wilberforce, one of
the most brilliant and gifted men of the times in which he
lived, wherever his name is known, there is associated
with it the idea of the emancipation of the slave. He met
with powerful opposition and was more than once re¬
pulsed by Parliament. But his determined spirit and
the justice of his cause won for him the admiration of all,
and in 1806, Parliament, by an enthusiastic majority,
passed a bill for the total abolition of the slave trade. He
at once, aided by many outside of Parliament, entered
upon a campaign for the total abolition of slavery itself.
Declining health compelled him to retire from Parlia¬
ment in 1825, but his successor, T. Fowell Buxton, took
up his work, and in 1833, three days before his death,
Wilberforce received the glad news that the bill for the
total abolition of slavery had passed. Thus, almost at
the hour of death, was this great man permitted to see the
triumph of the truth for which he had given many years
of his life. Wilberforce distinguished himself in Parlia¬
ment by his eloquence. He is the author of "Practical
View of Christianity," which met great favor and
success. His life, spent for the benefiting and uplift¬
ing of humanity, is held in precious memory.
238
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
The most remarkable man of negro blood yet pro¬
duced in the United States is, without doubt, Frederick
Douglass. Born in slavery in Maryland, he managed
secretly to learn to read, and finally succeeded in running
away and reaching New Bedford, Mass. Here at first
lie found use for his trade of ship carpentry, and later,
after study, and some practice as a speaker, he became a
preacher. His ability as an orator brought him to the
notice of such men as Garrison, and he made many ad¬
dresses in the anti-slavery cause. His prominence
caused him to be pursued, and he went to England, where
he made remarkable addresses. He became editor of a
paper in Rochester, N. Y., that championed the cause
of freedom. This occupation was interrupted by another
visit to England, because he was endangered by his
knowledge of the plans of John Brown, although he did
not himself approve of Brown's scheme. Returning
FREDEKICK DOUGLASS.
to America, he resumed his place on the paper. When
the war broke out, he had much influence in causing the
enlistment of colored troops, and his own sons entered
the army. After the war he was connected with the
Freedmen's Bank, and after its failure he was greatly and
unjustly attacked. President Lincoln felt for him the
highest regard; under President Grant he was com¬
missioner to San Domingo, under Hayes and Arthur he
held offices in the District of Columbia, and under Har¬
rison he was minister to Hayti. He has generally been
regarded as the leading representative and counselor of
his race; and his intellectual ability, his eloquence, his
wisdom as a counselor, the influence he had in
awakening the country, the manner in which he filled the
offices to which he was appointed, and his character,
gave his people cause to be proud of him.
From a speech at a Fourth of July celebration in
Rochester, before the emancipation, we extract a few
sentences, which, taking into account the state of the pub¬
lic mind at the time, show the courage of the man: "Why
should I celebrate your Fourth of July? What freedom
have I and my people to celebrate? Above your shouts
and the roar of your cannon I can hear the £rack of the
slave whip, the clanking of the chains and the groans of
my oppressed brethren in the South. You were willing
to bare your breasts to cannon to evade a tax on tea, but
you turn a deaf ear to three millions of human beings,
made in the image of God, who are vainly pleading to
you in chains that they may own their own bodies. Every
stripe upon your flag represents the blood and bondage
of my people and every star glitters to your country's
shame. You have coiled up in the youthful bosom of
your republic the serpent of slavery, sucking her life's
blood, and sending its poison into every member of its
body."
240
TRAITS OP CHARACTER,
REV. S. F. SMITH.
The author of our national hymn, "America," was
somewhat aimlessly turning over the leaves of a German
music book one dismal day in February, 1832, when his
eye fell upon the music known as "God Save the King."
The music pleased and he was at once inspired to write a
patriotic hymn of his own in the same meter. The re¬
sult is best told in the author's words: "Seizing a bit
of paper, I at once began to write, and in half an hour the
hymn stood as it stands to-day. It was not my purpose to
write a national hymn. Soon afterward I gave a copy to
Air. Mason, and to my surprise I found that he used it at
a children's celebration in Park Street Church, Boston,
where it was first publicly sung," It soon became national.
On the following page we give a facsimile of an
original manuscript.
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242
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
JOHN BUNYAN,
John Bunyan was born at Elstow in 1628. Accord¬
ing to his own account, he was descended "of that rank
that is the meanest and most despised of all the families
in the land." In youth he had been taught to read and
write, but he confesses "with shame that he did soon
lose that little he learned." He followed his father's trade
and became a wandering tinker. He was idle and
vicious and was an adept and a teacher in evil. At sev¬
enteen, he entered the army, "where wickedness
abounded." At twenty he married a pious woman,
though as poor as himself, not having a dish or a spoon
between them.
Her only portion which she brought to him con¬
sisted of two books—"The Plain Man's Pathway to
Heaven," and "The Practice of Piety," left her by her
father when he died.
JOHN BUNYAN.
243
The reading of these books aloud with his wife, and
her example awakened in him a desire to reform his
wicked life. For two years he struggled through hope
and despair. He felt the power of Apollyon and the
strong defenses of Doubting Castle between glimpses of
sunshine penetrating his soul. He joined the Baptist
Church, and, having become a Dissenter, was shut up in
Bedford jail for twelve years, with no other amusements
but the "Book of Martyrs" and the Bible. During the
day he tagged laces and made wire snares to support him¬
self and family. At nightfall the evening prayers were
said and the blind child, who spent the day with him,
received the fatherly blessing. The last good-night was
said to his dear ones. A candle dimly lighted the cell,
but there was fire in his eye and all the involuntary im¬
ages that once haunted his troubled soul were made to
act and speak through his pen as living agents.
After twelve years of undeserved sufferings in prison
he was liberated and became a great preacher, pastor and
peacemaker. He met his death from exposure on a
journey to reconcile an estranged father and son.
But his great work in life was the writing of "Pil¬
grim's Progress." Not only in the English language,
but in many languages, even in Chinese, the most popu¬
lar book in Christian literature next to the Bible is "Pil¬
grim's Progress."
Books may be divided into two classes, making the
literature of knowledge and the literature of power.
Knowledge informs, but power moves. "Pilgrim's. Pro¬
gress" distinctively belongs to the latter class. Bunyan,
though uneducated, not being able to spell correctly, yet
by his simple and Christlike spirit has been able to
move the world. His books will never die. The writ¬
ings of no other author are so widely read.
244 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
MARTIN LUTHER.
On the tenth of November, 1483, in a miner's hut, in
the little village of Eisleben, Germany, the Apostle of
Reformation was born, which event proved to be an
epoch in history. His parents were industrious, worthy
but poor. At a great sacrifice they kept him in school.
His mother, a devoted and pious woman, spared no pains
to give what w'as possible from their scanty earnings to¬
ward his support. This was, however, insufficient, and
Luther often went hungry. His love for music, es-
MARTIN LUTHER.
245
pecially playing the flute, aided him in obtaining bread.
But even this was often denied him. 'Tired, and fainting
with hunger, he one day sat down upon a bench before a
cottage, and sang a plaintive song. The cottager's wife
invited him in and fed him with coarse but abundant
food. Frau Cotta, learning of his half-starved condi¬
tion,'thenceforth had a plate for him and a warm nook in
the chimney corner. Next we see Luther, the rising hope,
of German scholarship, entering the monastery at Er-
furth.
Then at Rome, driven to increased austerity of life by
the wicked aspects surrounding, he, on his knees, climbs a
weary, winding staircase, but finds another stairway be¬
fore him, whose top reaches to heaven. Then in 1521,
before an imposing assembly of emperor, pope, princes
ci.nd dignitaries, he utters his remarkable statement that
shook the continent of Europe, closing with the word^
"I can retract nothing unless I am convinced either from
Scripture or by clear argument. Here I stand. I can do
naught else, God help me. Amen."
For ten months this hero of Worms is found in Wart-
burg Castle, translating the Bible and laying the foun¬
dations of the Reformation. He had been secretly con¬
veyed to this castle by friendly hands, instigated by the
Elector Frederick, to hide him from the wrath of men.
Luther was always found standing level on the rock
of reason, holding high above his head in every flood, the
Word of God. After finishing his great work he retired
at sixty-three to his native Eisleben, worn out with the
heat and burden of the day. There he lay with closed eyes,
surrounded by his family and friends. Suddenly opening
his eyes, he asked once more to gaze upon the starry heav¬
ens, and then, bidding all farewell; he charged them to
pray for the extension of God's Kingdom and to bear
testimony that he died in the faith he had taught.
246
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM.
John Wesley was born at Epworth, in England, June
17, 1703. His father was rector of Epworth, and his
mother was well educated; a wise woman and a devoted
Christian.
The home training he received did much toward
forming a character which exerted such a marvelous in¬
fluence upon his own age, and those which have followed.
Educated at Oxford, he was ordained as priest in the
Church of England in 1728. Dissatisfied with his own
religious experience, he sought and found great spiritual
power, and burning with Christian zeal, he went every¬
where preaching the gospel. Many were convicted and
converted under his ministry. These were organized into
societies to be trained .into strong Christians.
From those converted under his ministry, and from
others who desired to aid in carrying on a work which
TH® FOUNDER OF METHODISM.
247
so plainly evidenced that it was of God, were raised up
helpers and preachers. These, increasing in numbers,
met together in conference under Mr. Wesley, that they
might receive his counsel.
The preachers multiplied—heard the call from Amer¬
ica, and from other lands, and now Methodist Conferences
are held and Methodist doctrines taught and practiced
by many millions in Europe, Asia, Africa, America and
Oceanica.
Mr. Wesley died on March 2, 1791, in the eighty-
eight year of his age, and his remains were interred ill
the burial ground of City Road Chapel, in London.
Through the influence of his preaching, example,
spirituality, and writings, many have been greatly blessed
who are not Methodists, and his monument is seen in the
Methodist churches and families throughout the world.
As Luther's name stands for the doctrine of "Re¬
generation by Faith," so Wesley's name stands for the
doctrine of "Christian perfection." which negatively
"teaches no state attainable in this life, like that of the
angels, or of Adam in Paradise, or in which there is
an exemption from mistakes, ignorance, infirmities, or
temptations;" but positively, "that all saints may, by
faith, be so filled with the love of God that
all the powers of the soul shall be recovered
from' the abnormal, perverted, sinful condition, and, to¬
gether with the outward conduct, be controlled in entire
harmony with love."
John Wesley was a clear and simple preacher and
a man of fervent piety, but of a disposition very far re¬
moved from asceticism. Wesley did much in increasing
spirituality in the churches. Wesleyan Methodism in its
primitive power is aggresive, and, while increasing the
spirituality of the churches, is successful in reaching the
masses; but wealth and worldliness have destroyed the
spirituality and power of many of the churches oi to¬
day,
243
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
CARDINAL NEWMAN.
"Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom,
Lead thou me onl
The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead thou me onl
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me."
Cardinal Newman was a great writer. He was also
a great preacher. His fame was not limited to England
alone, and yet by the masses he is known, not so much as
the great writer and preacher, as the author of "Lead,
Kindly Light," which, on account of its significant and
practical sentiments, has endeared itself to the hearts of
Christians of all beliefs everywhere.
John Henry Newman was born in London, Feb. 21,
1801, and was educated at Oxford. He might, with
ease, have attained to literary eminence and distinction
and won for himself laurels in the field of literature, but
his unswerving consecration to the work which he set out
to do, held him inflexibly to his purpose. He was or¬
dained when twenty-three years old. Several years after
CARDINAL NEWMAN.
249
he was presented to the vicarage of St. Mary's, Oxford,
in which church the sermons which he delivered at a late
period had an extraordinary influence in forwarding' the
religious movement with which his name is permanently
associated.
The plainness, evenness, simplicity and sincerity of
Newman's life won to him all hearts. Although many
did not agree with views that he held, yet his life was so
powerful that it compelled universal admiration and rev¬
erence. He died August n, 1890. . The grandeur, great¬
ness and genuineness of his life had won to him. all
hearts.
Richard Hutton says, "What is perfectly clear to
anyone who can appreciate Cardinal Newman at all, is
that from the beginning to the end of his career he has
been penetrated by a fervent love of God, a fervent grati¬
tude for the Christian revelation, and a steadfast resolve
to devote the whole force of a singularly powerful, and
even intense character, to the endeavor to promote the
conversion of his fellow-countrymen, from their tepid and
unreal profession of Christianity to a new and profound
faith in it.
"In a century in which physical discovery and ma¬
terial well-being have usurped and almost absorbed the
admiration of mankind, such a life as that of Cardinal
Newman stands out in strange, and almost majestic,
though singularly graceful and unpretending, contrast
to the eager and agitated turmoil of confused passions,
hesitating ideals, tentative virtues and groping philan¬
thropies, amidst which it has been lived."
"So long Thy power hath blessed me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
' The night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile
Which I have loved long since, and lost a while I "
250
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
CAREY AND HIS PUNDIT.
WILLIAM CAREY.
"Mr. Duff, you have been speaking about Dr. Carey;
when I am gone, say nothing about Dr. Carey—speak
about Dr. Carey's Savior." These were the parting
words to Mr. Duff, the young Scotch missionary, when
he last visited Mr. Carey when he was about to
die. He died June 9, 1834, in his seventy-third year,
after having spent forty-one years for the good of
India, unbroken by any return to England.
William Carey was born in England and, very early
in life, exhibited marked tastes for botanical studies, and
in later years, aside from his missionary work, became
one of the most eminent horticulturists in Asia. At the
age of fourteen he was thrown upon his own resources.
WIDDIAM CAREY.
251
He struggled with poverty, at the same time improving
his spare moments in reading such books as were avail¬
able. He was early connected with a Christian church,
and at twenty-four he was "called to the work of the
ministry, and sent out by the church to preach the Gos¬
pel wherever God in his providence might call him." He
was soon called to spend his life as a missionary in India.
"I will venture to go down," replied Carey to the com¬
mittee, "but remember that you must hold the ropes."
Breaking tender ties and surmounting many and great
obstacles, he set sail for India, June 3, 1793. After a
voyage of five months, he arrived with his family and
others in India. The secret of his success in after years
lay in the motto adopted when entering upon his work—
"A missionary must be one of the companions and equals
of the people to whom he is sent."
The opposition of the East India Company greatly
retarded his work. For some years he acted as manager
of an indigo factory so as to be allowed to continue his
work as a missionary, but in 1800 an enlarged field
opened at Serampore, under the control of the Danish.
On the last Sabbath of 1800, Krishnu, the first convert,
was publicly baptized. Mr. Carey, having translated the
New Testament and published it in Bengalee, was soon
after offered a position in the Government College. As
a missionary he was appointed to the office. This was a
great help to the Mission. He held this prominent posi¬
tion for thirty years, toward the close being professor of
three Oriental languages, receiving ^1,500 per annum.
All his salary, except that necessary for his support, he ap¬
plied to the purposes of the Mission.
Carey was an adept as a linguist, and in philan¬
thropic well-doing did a remarkable work in elevating
the social conditions of India. Before his death he was
permitted to see the fulfillment of his desire—the estab¬
lishment of the Church of Christ in India.
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
JOHN G. PATON.
Missionary enterprises and history everywhere
abound with marked examples of self-sacrifice, of devo¬
tion and consecration to the noblest work upon which
mankind can enter, but of all heroic, bold, courageous,
daring and venturesome examples, none surpass that of
John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides.
The subject of our sketch was born and educated in
Scotland. For some years he engaged in successful mis¬
sion work in the city of Glasgow. The Reformed Presby¬
terian Church needed a man to join Rev. Inglis in the
New Hebrides. No one seemed willing to go. At last
Mr. Paton offered himself. He had greatly endeared
himself to the members of his mission and there was great
opposition to his leaving his work for a foreign field.
He was undecided as to the best course. He consulted
JOHN G. FATON.
253
his parents, who encouraged him whom they had early
consecrated to the Lord, to go forward. From that mo¬
ment every doubt as to the path of duty vanished. Mr.
and Mrs. Paton landed at Aneityum, August 30, 1857.
They were assigned to the island of Tanna. There, sur¬
rounded by cannibals, with their lives in constant danger,
they were left to work their way into the good will of the
natives. Some years before, two young missionaries,
landing on a neighboring island, were at once clubbed to
death and their bodies cooked and eaten. Mr. and Mrs.
Paton were in constant danger of the same fate. It was
their coolness, their presence of mind, and their fear¬
lessness that saved them. Mrs. Paton soon died, leaving
Mr. Paton all alone in his work. Many times the na¬
tives threatened his life and planned to kill him, but by his
boldness he evaded their frequent attacks. His blankets
and other property were often stolen and only returned
when great fear of punishment came upon them.
He spent five lonely years on this island, en¬
during untold hardships, and many times es¬
caped being murdered by running into the
arms of some savage when his club was swung or his
musket leveled at Mr. Paton's head. By uncapping the
musket, or by clinging to the assailant, he more than
once saved his life. At last he was compelled to leave.
After some years spent in Australia and Scotland securing
funds for the mission, he again entered upon the work in
the New Hebrides. After many years abounding with
thrilling and eventful scenes, Mr. Paton was enabled to
see the fulfillment of the desire for which he had given his
life—that of establishing missionaries and Christian
teachers, and Christianizing the natives of these islands.
There are few, if any, lives that surpass Mr. Paton's in
Christian heroism. A few years ago Mr. Paton visited
the United States. He was received everywhere with
unbounded enthusiasm.
254
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
One of the most prominent agencies of Rescue Mis¬
sion work in the great city of New York, is Water Street
Mission, begun by Jerry McAuley, more than twenty-five
years ago. Here every evening for years, after a brief
service of song, a prayer for Divine blessing, and a read¬
ing of God's word, Jerry would introduce the testi¬
monies by giving his own. It was expected that this
mission, located in the heart of corruption in New York
City, would reach the worst and most wretched people.
This expectation was realized, in that many a drunkard,
thief, and harlot knelt at the tear-stained altar and rose
from their knees sober, honest and virtuous. In all lands
under the sun, where faithful missionaries have been toil¬
ing amid danger and disease to save the lost, has the news
of God's power in Water Street come, and given re¬
newed strength for the conflict. Thousands of criminal
live? have been redeemed and made useful, honored citi-
JERRY McAULEY.
255
zens, and in many cases the converts of Water Street
Mission have become noted evangelists and rescue work¬
ers.
But who is Jerry McAuley? Jerry McAuley was
born in Ireland. His father was a counterfeiter, and the
family was soon broken up by sin. Jerry came to New
York when thirteen years of age, and soon 'entered
upon his career as a river-thief—stealing goods from ves¬
sels at night and then selling them and spending time
and money in the dens of Water Street. Here he be¬
came an adept as a prize-fighter, and engaged in every
form of vice and crime. At nineteen he was arrested for
highway robbery. Although entirely innocent of the
crime with which he was charged, having no friends or
advocate to defend him, he was sentenced to fifteen years
in State prison. About five years after, he one Sunday
morning went to services in the chapel. He was sur¬
prised to find on the platform a former confederate in sin,
who had been converted after Jerry's imprisonment.
The earnest pleadings of this man touched Mc¬
Auley, and he was soon after converted. Through
his efforts a number of his companions were con¬
verted. After serving half his time he was pardoned
and soon through evil associates fell into his former ways
of sin. Through the earnest efforts of a missionary he
was again restored. Jerry fell five times before he be¬
came established in the Christian faith. He attributed
his fall to the use of tobacco, and asserted that when a
man has had an appetite for liquor, and is trying to keep
from drinking, the use of tobacco is positively fatal. He
gave up tobacco and never fell afterward. Four years
later he started the famous Water Street Mission. The
results of that work are well known. Through all these
years the work has gone steadily and successfully for¬
ward.
256
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
JAMES BRAINERD TAYLOR.
The subject of this sketch is not here presented be¬
cause of a world-wide reputation. History, so called,
knows him not, nor is he widely known as a marked
character in any specific work, as far as years are con¬
sidered, for his career was short. Nevertheless, marked
manhood is here exhibited in rare, but excellent traits of
character. James Brainerd Taylor stands prominently as
an instructive example, a worthy model of a Christian
student. The dangers that beset the student of today are
not imaginary, but real and very seductive. Many a
noble youth, just on the threshold of promising man¬
hood, has yielded to temptations and given up the sim¬
plicity of the faith of his fathers.
The complaint has been frequently made—and very
frequently the effect has been seen and lamented—that
a collegiate life has dampened the ardor of piety and
greatly diminished its power. Indeed, the impression has
JAMES BRAINERD TAYLOR.
257
been deep and disastrous, that this is the necessary effect
of a course of study in our higher institutions of learning.
Not a few honest minds have on this account been
prejudiced against a college education. The faultiness of
this impression has been clearly demonstrated by James
Brainerd Taylor. Aware of these impressions, he en¬
tered upon his course of studies with fixed resolutions,
and by a strict adherence to the same, he was effectually
secured against any class spirit, or any false code of
honor whereby so many have been led into looseness of
morals and into paths not noted for virtue. The life
of this promising youth shows that it is altogether prac¬
ticable to pass through the trying scenes of college life,
not only without losing one's spirituality, but with large
accessions to his stores of self-knowledge, and of entire
devotedness to God.
Born in 1801, in Connecticut, religious impressions
took hold of him early in life. His seeing Dr. Scudder
and his wife take their departure for India seemed to
have fixed his mind as to his future work. From that
time forth, until he closed his eyes in death, he gave him¬
self fully to the calling of the ministry. He soon entered
school preparatory to bis work, and most assiduously
applied himself to his studies, at the same time giving his
attention to earnest Christian efforts to save his fellow
students. From the beginning of his Christian life
he proposed to be what he termed an uncommon
Christian. His zeal for the salvation of those around
him was unabated. He was often hindered in his work
and at one time, he was suspended by the faculty of an
institution for no other reason than that of holding meet¬
ings with his fellow students for their spiritual benefit.
He died in his twenty-ninth year, having hardly en¬
tered upon his life work, but his influence as a Christian
student still lives.
17
258 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
HORACE MANN.
Horace Mann is the most interesting character in
American educational life. The life, the work, the im¬
perishable influence of this great educator and bene¬
factor of the present century generated a power whose
momentum has not yet died away.
Success in life consists in being fitted by natural en¬
dowments for a given work and possessing the recogni¬
tion of fitness for it. Every great leader and inspirer
whose life has left its impress on his age and perpetuated
his influence has united these two qualifications. Such
success is, too, synonymous with the greatest happiness
in life, and includes it. For true happiness is in achieve¬
ment of noble purposes, and not in any mere self-in¬
dulgence in pleasures or luxuries. No consecrated bishop
ever brought to humanity a sense of more sacred service
and direct responsibility than did Horace Mann. He
came into this world divinely commissioned for a given
HORACE MANN.
259
work; and to his marvelous energy and patient per¬
sistence in accomplishing it, the present century owes
incalculable illumination and aid.
Born in Franklin, Mass., May 4, 1796; reared in a
home of poverty; in school but ten weeks of each year;
with never a holiday for play, but an occasional hour
for fun; with no attractive books, but a town library of
"solid reading"accessible;earning the money by braiding
straw for the purchase of all the schoolbooks he used,
he grew up a thoughtful youth, with intense convictions.
In six months from the time he first saw a Latin or
Greek book he .entered Brown University, and gradu¬
ated with honors. Entering upon the practice of law, he
served ten years in the Massachusetts Legislature, and
two terms in Congress. His greatest work was, how¬
ever, done when he stood by appointment of the Govern¬
or of Massachusetts at the head of the educational forces
of his state, and practically of the nation. The remaining
six years of his life were spent in heroic sacrifice for the
cause of higher education in the then new West, as presi¬
dent of Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio.
The political life of Mr. Mann had been in the
stormy period of the slavery conflict. He espoused the
anti-slavery cause with the utmost vigor and enthusiasm,
and made many noted speeches and issued pamphlets em¬
bodying his arguments.
It needs no moralist to point the lesson of the life
of Horace Mann. It is good to take its significance into
our hearts. "A great integrity makes us immortal," says
Emerson. "It is not length of life but depth of life that
signifies." It is good for us all to treasure in memory
those closing words of that last baccalaureate sermon de¬
livered at Antioch College by President Mann:
"And I beseech you to treasure up in your hearts
these, my parting words: 'Be ashamed to die till you
have won some victory for humanity."
260
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
JOSEPH COOK.
"Looking within us, we find in conscience an ob¬
servatory higher than that of physical science ever was,
from which to gaze upon the supreme harmonies of the
universe."
"After all, it is the utterance of personal conviction
that serious men want. The shortest way of coming at
men's hearts, and sometimes the shortest way of coming
at men's heads, is to tell what you, personally willing to
take the leap into the unseen, are depending upon."
"Let those who are outside of oath-bound secret
societies stay out. Stay out in the name of personal
independence, in the name of patriotism, in the name of
Christianity. To those inside oath-bound organiza
tions, I say, come out as patriots; come out as Chris¬
tians; come out as unmanacled men."
The above selections clearly give the trend of the
mind of one who, in many respects, stands out promi¬
nently as one of the greatest men of the nineteenth cen¬
tury.
Joseph Cook was born in Ticonderoga, New York,
Jan. 26, 1838. His early life already showed remarka¬
ble traits. Whenever opportunity presented he bought
JOSEflPH COOK.
261
books of merit, and eagerly made himself familiar with
their contents. At one time he won a prize, and was
offered the choice between a watch and a cyclopedia.
He chose the cyclopedia. He entered Yale, but fail¬
ing health compelled him to leave. Later he entered
Harvard and graduated in 1865. He then spent three
years at Andover. A license to preach was then granted
him, but he declined a settled pastorate. He visited
Europe, and in 1873 began his "Boston Monday Lec¬
tures" on the relation of religion, science and social re¬
form. These lectures, although given at noon, drew
immense audiences of more than three thousand. They
soon gave him a world-wide fame. He then took the
platform, and throughout the United States lectured
upon his favorite themes of philosophy, science and poli¬
tics. Some of his principal lectures were, "Does Death
End All?" "Ultimate America," "God in Natural Law/'"
"Certainties in Religion," "Law and Labor," "Alcohol
and the Human Brain," and "Religious Signs of the
Times." In 1880 he began a tour around the world,
lecturing in Europe, India, China, Japan, Australia, and
the Sandwich Islands. He was everywhere greeted
with the same enthusiasm and favor abroad as at home.
Mr. Cook's published works are many. They have
had a very' wide circulation. He demonstrates clearly
that science is in harmony with religion and the Bible.
Broken down in health by many years of intense, and
constant application, he withdrew from the platform in
1896. In his sphere Joseph Cook has not met his equal.
The world, the Church, is better for his having lived.
Few men have had a wider influence, a firmer hold, and
a more commanding outlook than Joseph Cook. The
best that can be said of him is that he availed himself of
every opportunity to draw men, not to himself, but to
Christ.
262
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
NEAL DOW.
"I am very weary, I long to be free," said General
Neal Dow, on October 2, 1897, and peacefully passed
away in his ninety-fourth year. Neal Dow was associated
in earlier years with many reformers, but there was but
one original prohibitionist, and he was that one. Neal
Dow is rightly called the father of prohibition. He
spent his boyhood days in his father's tannery. Bubbling
over with enterprise, the tannery could not long hold
him, and he soon engaged in business for himself. He
was successful in a number of business undertakings.
Municipal affairs interested him keenly, and he soon
made this interest tell. He acquired fixed habits of read¬
ing, and in this manner and through extended travel he
was well informed on all important subjects. He fought
in the Union ranks, was twice wounded in battle and
NEAL DOW.
263
spent months as a prisoner of war. He served his state in
high official capacity, but his world-wide fame has come
through his championship of the cause of prohibition.
He was forcible as an extemporaneous speaker. He was
invited to England three times, and spent more than four
years, without compensation, in advocacy of prohibition
in the principal cities of Great Britain.
In 1851 he was mayor of Portland the first time and
drafted "A bill for the suppression of drinking houses and
tippling shops." His friends said it was too radical to
pass, but, undaunted, he presented it to the legislature, and
by a powerful speech in its favor carried it unchanged.
In later years this law became a part of the constitution of
the state.
His life has been one long sacrifice for prohibition,
which he espoused when drinking was deemed indis¬
pensable to the health and happiness of man. His task
was to reverse public opinion and to crystallize the ideas
of prohibition into the law of the land. "His strength
and success as a reformer were largely due to the fact
that his zeal was tempered and controlled by a rare com¬
mon sense, and his labor was characterized by a sweet¬
ness of character which made his conscience void of
offense toward God and man." He was an intimate
friend of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and
that organization has for some years observed March 20,
his birthday, in honor of this great man. He wielded
tongue and sword and pen to smite the wrong. Every
Christian land on the face of the globe thanks God for
the blows this brave man struck at intemperance, for his
loyalty to God and to his country, for his pure and conse¬
crated life given entirely to prohibition and reform work.
"The John the Baptist of prohibition has fallen, but the
prophets of his baptism have gone out oyer all the earth,"
264 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
JOHN B. GOUGH.
Among temperance workers, both in America and
in England, there is no name so widely known as that of
John B. Gough.
Born in Newgate, England, he early came to Ameri¬
ca. He had no friends and struggled against poverty for
some years, at times not being able to obtain work. At
last, although receiving but three dollars a week, he suc¬
ceeded in laying by enough to send for his mother and
sister in England. He was peculiarly attached to his
mother, and it was no doubt her influence over him that
restrained him and kept him from the paths of sin as
long as she lived. Soon after their arrival he found work
for his sister. They lived a humble, but happy life, until
both brother and sister lost their places. Although
having struggled1 with poverty all through life, they
were now to learn what poverty and suffering among the
poor in the large city of New York meant. John's affec-
JOHN B. GOUGH.
265
tion for his mother was, however, unwavering. It is
said that at one time, when she was sick, he pawned his
coat to get food for her. She soon succumbed to the
seemingly increasing hardships that made up her life.
She fell dead one evening while preparing their simple
supper. From this time forth Mr. Gough seemed
to have given up all ambition and hope. His course
was rapidly downward. The appetite for strong drink
began to fasten itself upon him, and soon it was his
master. Rallying for a time, he would again be over¬
come, until delirium tremens fastened itself upon him.
Life was indeed a burden to him. He had about con¬
cluded to end it when, through a kind word spoken by a
young man, Mr. Stratton, he was induced to sign the
pledge, and to make an earnest effort to regain lost man¬
hood. Although after that he was overcome once and
yielded to his depraved appetite, he was induced by kind
friends to renew his pledge. He soon became a Christian,
and from that time forth began his work in the tem¬
perance field. Although uneducated he, with the earnest
aid of his noble wife, succeeded in fitting himself for the
platform. For a number of years he was the ablest and
most popular temperance orator, and by his eloquence
won many thousands to sign the pledge. He visited
England, and was no less esteemed there than in America.
Everywhere -he was met by thousands who came to hear
him. The story of his sad life touched many hearts, and
his successful rising from what seemed to be hopeless
despair inspired many to forsake their evil ways and to
aspire to noble manhood. Mr. Gough did a great, a re¬
markable work. A kind word saved him and made him
the ablest temperance orator of his time. He died in
1886, but the impetus he gave the temperance work is
going forward with increasing rapidity.
566
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
GEORGE W. CHILDS.
"If I only-could finish a college course and then
probably complete a professional course, success would
be assured me," says the average young man of today.
Another thinks a "start" in business life is all that he
needs. While many are thinking of what they might
accomplish if circumstances were different, it is the few
who, without advantages and facilities possessed by
many, set to work with brave and true hearts and, over¬
coming difficulties, make themselves felt as leaders and
benefactors.
"Nothing without labor" is the motto that for many
years met the eye of everyone who called at the private
office of the proprietor of the "Philadelphia Ledger."
For generosity toward deserving charities, as well
as toward all under his employ in the matter of wages,
no personage of the present century stands out with
larger liberal-heartedness and with greater prominence
than does that manly figure of George W. Childs.
GEORGE W. CHILDS.
261
Born and raised in Baltimore, he, after serving in the
United States navy for a year, came, when fourteen
years old, to Philadelphia, with courage, a ready mind
and a willing heart as his capital stock, and soon found
work in a bookstore at two dollars a week. In four years
he had saved enough to open up a little store for him¬
self, and when he was twenty-one years old he became
the head of a publishing house. "Kane's Arctic Expedi¬
tion," published by him, became a very popular volume
and brought the young publisher' to the front financially
and every other way. His ambition for many years was to
own and control the "Public Ledger." This desire was
gratified when, in 1864, Mr. Childs became owner and
proprietor of this daily of the City of Brotherly Love.
He at once lowered the price of the paper and of adver¬
tising, and in a short time doubled its subscription. His
paper became very popular; the profits of some years
netted nearly five hundred thousand dollars.
He always treated his workmen generously. Once
when the Typographical Union sanctioned a reduction of
wages, he refused to' reduce the wages of his compositors,
saying, "my business is prosperous, why should not my
men share in my prosperity?" This unusual act of gen¬
erosity on the part of an employer endeared him to the
hearts of his employes, and more than any other act of
his made the name and generous spirit of George W.
Childs known throughout the world. Increasing- in
wealth, his large-hearted liberality knew no bounds.
While not forgetting public institutions, his most munifi¬
cent gifts were for improving the conditions of the poorer
and laboring classes.
"Mr. Childs was a wonderful man. His ability to
apply the power of money in advancing the well-being
of his fellow-men stands unrivaled."
268 " TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
COUNT TOLSTOI.
While Russia has long been a synonym for despot-
Ism and oppression, there is associated with it one name
that has become familiar in many lands as representing
a benevolence remarkable in theory and practice alike.
Count Tolstoi is well known as an author, but better
known as a man. He is descended from one of Russia's
oldest families, and before he was twenty he came into
possession of a large amount of property. His ideas
during his early life were not very different from those
prevailing in his class, although he soon showed a dis¬
position to help the poor people living on his estate. As
a youth Tolstoi attended the University of Kazan, and
at the age of twenty-three he entered the army and went
with his brother to the Caucasus. He fought in the
Crimean war, and at its close resigned his commission
and devoted himself to literature. One of his earliest
COUNT TOLSTOI.
269
works, "War and Peace," is most appraised by Rus¬
sians. It deals with the invasion of Russia by Napo¬
leon. Another of his most popular works is "Anna
Karenina." Meredith says Anna is the most perfectly
depicted female character in all fiction. Since he brought
out "Anna Karenina" in 1876 Tolstoi has given him¬
self up to social problems, with the hope of supplying
mankind with a better moral and religious philosophy
than that which now obtains in the world. Witnessing
an execution, led hiim to study the relations of govern¬
ment and religion, with the result that he came to adopt
as the practical creed of his life the Sermon on the Mount
in its most literal meaning. Following out his princi¬
ple, he lives in the most simple style. He and his fam¬
ily work with the laborers on their farm,. He learned
the trade of a shoemaker and gives much of his time to
work at the bench. His life and words are made a con¬
stant protest against injustice everywhere. His wealth
is most freely shared with the poor; and, were he left
free to follow his own course, he would doubtless be
ready to give away all that he has. His fine scholar¬
ship, also, is devoted to the service of others, and he has
been engaged in preparing for the common people a col¬
lection of the best thought from the greatest thinkers of
all times. The persecuted Stundists have had his warm¬
est sympathy, and such is the hold that he has gained
that no one person, probably, wields a greater moral influ¬
ence in Russia to-day. His works are eagerly sought,
and some that have not been published have a wide cir¬
culation in manuscript among the people. However lit¬
tle one may approve not a few of Tolstoi's positions, it
cannot be denied that he has stood for principles that
hitherto have been in little danger of being too strongly
emphasized either in theory or in practice.
270
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
SUSANNA WESLEY.
"The Mother of Methodism" was born in London
in 1669, and was the youngest child of Dr. Samuel
Annesley, an able and prominent minister, who paid
every attention to the education of his favorite daughter.
When Susanna was twenty years of age she and her hus¬
band, Samuel Wesley, a graduate of Exeter College and
a curate in London, began married life on an income
of sixty pounds a year. The young husband was a dili¬
gent student and devoted to his work; his beautiful wife, a
person of fine manners. Had Susanna Wesley not been
a person of very strong will, she could not have borne
all the trials, privations and hardships incident to her
long and toilsome life. Not only did poverty often stare
the rapidly increasing family in the face, but in 1702
their Home was destroyed by fire and other troubles fast
followed. Mr. Wesley, owing debts which he could not
pay, was put into prison, where he remained three months
SUSANNA WESLEY.
271
before his friends succeeded in releasing him. A still
greater calamity was awaiting them. In 1709 Epworth
Rectory was burned to the ground, and some of the chil¬
dren narrowly escaped with their lives. Their books,
which had been purchased with great self-denial, twenty
pounds in money and their clothing were all gone. A
month later Mrs. Wesley's nineteenth and last child was
born. The rectory was after a time rebuilt and the scat¬
tered family reunited.
Notwithstanding her manifold household duties Mrs.
Wesley found time for a vast amount of literary work.
Not only did she conduct a household school, which she
continued for twenty years, but she prepared three text¬
books for the religious training of her children.
She also held Sunday evening services in the rec^
tory for her children and servants. Others asked per~
mission to come, and often two hundred were present.
The letters she wrote to her children give some
insight into her pure and noble character. When John
entered school at London many letters passed between
mother and son. She advised what books to read. "Imi¬
tation of Christ" and "Rules for Holy Living and Dying"
made lasting impressions upon him. When he was first
asked to go to America to preach the gospel he hesi¬
tated, wishing to remain near his aged mother. When
he consulted her she replied, "Had I twenty sons, I should
rejoice were they all so employed, though I should never
see them again." What must have been her feelings as
she witnessed the grand work done by this son before
she was called away. "Children, as soon as I am released
sing a psalm of praise to God," was her last uttered
request. The words of her son Charles, "God buries the
workmen, but the work goes on," are true, and though
this model mother has long since passed away, the grand
work of her sons still goes forward.
ELIZABETH FRY.
This eminent philanthropist and preacher of the Soci¬
ety of Friends, whose active and untiring exertions in
the cause of suffering humanity were unparalleled in one
of her own sex, was born in England in 1780. She
grew up to be a thoughtful woman, with great musical
talent, and was of a firm and determined disposition.
Elizabeth Gurney married Mr. Fry in 1800, and thir¬
teen years afterward the deplorable condition of the
women imprisoned at Newgate so attracted her atten¬
tion that she resolved upon visiting them, and thus com¬
menced the great philanthropic work which has caused
her name to be remembered with love and gratitude by
so man^.
ELIZABETH FRY.
273
Alone and unprotected, she entered the part of the
prison where one hundred and sixty of the most disor¬
derly were immured, and addressed them with a dignity,
power and gentleness which at once fixed their attention.
She then read and expounded a portion of the Scripture,
many of those unhappy beings having on that occasion
heard the word of God for the first time. To these
unfortunate women she pointed the way to a nobler
and holier life, in which Christ's love should constrain
them to give up their sinful ways. She instituted a
school within the prison walls; provided work for the
women and the means of Christian instruction.
The almost immediate result was order, sobriety and
neatness in the place of the riot, licentiousness, idleness
and filth which had previously prevailed. For the relief
of women in foreign prisons she made frequent conti¬
nental journeys. She also interested herself in the abo¬
lition of slavery, the advancement of education and the
distribution of tracts. To the poor and helpless her char¬
ities were unbounded. In her journal she writes: "I
love to feel for the sorrows of others, to pour wine and
oil into the wounds of the afflicted; there is a luxury in
feeling the heart glow, whether it be with joy or sorrow."
Not only did Mrs. Fry visit the English prisons, but
she made her way to the jails and refuges of Holland,
Germany and France, and by her influence caused a
great improvement in the bodily and mental condition
of the prisoners there. After thirty years of incessant
labor among the unfortunate and degraded classes of
society, this noble woman passed away to her well-earned
rest in 1845. Soon after her death a public meeting
was held in London for establishing, as the best monu¬
ment to her memory, "The Elizabeth Fry Refuge," for
affording temporary food and shelter to destitute women
on their discharge from metropolitan prisons.
18
274
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE.
To the parsonage at Litchfield, Conn., there came
with the roses a baby girl June 14, 1811, the seventh
child of Rev. Lyman and Roxanna Beecher. She
received the best of training and care for five years, when
a shadow fell upon the household, as eight little children
gathered around the bedside of their dying mother.
When she was twelve years old her sister Catharine
built the Hartford Female Seminary, where Harriet soon
became a pupil-teacher. Nine years later her father be¬
came the president of the Lane Theological Seminary,
at Cincinnati. Catharine and Harriet accompanied him,
and here the sisters • opened another school. In 1836
Harriet Beecher married Calvin E. Stowe, the professor
of Biblical criticism in the seminary, a learned and able
man.
Meantime the question of slavery was agitating the
minds of Christian people. Slaves fled into the free states
H'ARIRIET BEiECHER STOWE.
275
and were helped into Canada by means of the Under¬
ground Railway. The Fugitive Slave Law was hunting
colored people and sending them back into servitude.
Mrs. Stowe was bitterly opposed to slavery and opened
her house to colored children, whom she taught as her
own. Could she not do something for this oppressed
race?
The pattern of Uncle Tom having formed itself in
her mind, the first chapter was sent to the "National Era"
in Washington, in April, 1851, and the last in April, 1852.
"She had put her lifeblood, her prayers and her tears
into the work; yet she had no reason to know that her
labors were to find response in the world." As the story
neared completion Mr. Jewett, of Boston, offered to pub¬
lish it, and both publisher and author were surprised at
the result. Three thousand copies were sold the first
day of publication and over three hundred thousand the
first year. In England more than thirty editions appeared
in less than six months. One writer says, "It added
thousands of soldiers to the Union army. It hastened
emancipation in Brazil and Russia, and has stirred to pas¬
sionate fervor the hearts of 'Cuba Libre/ " The sale of
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" has not ceased. Other books fol¬
lowed, most of which have been widely read. Her sum¬
mer residence in Hartford, Conn., has been visited by
thousands who honored the noble woman and gifted
author. At this home on July 1, 1896, this remarkable
woman, whose life had been an inspiration to poets,
artists, statesmen and reformers, quietly breathed her last.
Her husband and some of her children had preceded her,
and she said, "I am more interested in the other side of
Jordan than this, though this still has its pleasures."
"Her life is but another confirmation of the well-known
fact that the best work of the world is done, not by loiter¬
ers, but by those whose hearts and hands are full of
duties,"
276 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Long after the temperance reform has become a mat¬
ter of past history, long after the "Woman Question" has
brought about the equality of men and women, political
social and financial, the name of Frances Willard will be
remembered, not only as one who led a great movement,
but as one who gave her life, her talent, her enthusiasm,
to make the world wider for women and better for human¬
ity.
Born in Churchville, N. Y., 1839, and brought up on
a farm in Wisconsin,'Miss Willard retained all through
her life the wholesome, breezy atmosphere of those early
days. Graduating from Northwestern Female College,
Evanston, in 1859, serving in turn as professor of natural
science in her Alma Mater and principal of Genesee Wes-
leyan Seminary, spending two years in foreign travel and
study, then three years as dean of the Woman's College,
Evanston, 111., she left her profession in 1874 to identify
FRANCES WILLARD.
277
herself with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.
In 1879 she was elected president of that organization,
and for nineteen successive years served with such favor
and adaptability that her re-elections were always practi¬
cally unanimous. For ten years until her death in 1898
she was president of the World's Christian Temperance
Union.
Frances E. Willard was a great leader, and with irre¬
sistible charm drew to herself even those who had not
the courage to follow her. At the last convention at
which she presided in Buffalo in 1897, when there was
doubt as to whether the debt of the national building,
"The Temple," could be paid, she electrified the conven¬
tion by her earnest words, and had she lived to carry out
her plans, would have cleared away the debt in her fifty-
ninth year dedicated to that work.
Miss Willard was a giant among her sex. She had
all the accomplishments that a woman could ask for; had
Christ in her heart and a love for all mankind. As a con¬
versationalist she had few superiors. "Her reasoning
was luminous and homely; her illustrations full of poetry
and humor; her pathos as natural as tears to a child."
Queen Cleopatra with her beauty, the Queen of
Sheba with her wisdom, Queen Elizabeth with her benev¬
olence and Queen Victoria with her goodness—each of
these had some characteristic worthy of admiration, but
in Frances Willard, the "Uncrowned Queen of America,"
all these, together with every noble and lovely trait of
Christian womanhood, blended.
Very truly does Mrs. Clara Hoffman say, "When
the temperance reform emerges from the shadowland of
unpopularity and asserts its practicability upon the sunlit
hilltops of triumphant victory, and its hour draweth near
—then, bright and glorious among all who have dared
and achieved will stand in golden letters of light the name
of our Frances Willard."
278
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
LADY HENRY SOMERSET.
Some thirty years ago Lady Isabel, then a pretty
little girl of seven, was, on a public occasion, taken to the
palace of the Queen. After wandering about for some
time, she was attracted by the royal seat, and clambering
in, she sat down. When the Queen came she smiled to
see a pretty damsel dressed in white sitting in state in the
chair of majesty. As she reached the seat she said pleas¬
antly, "This is little Isabel."
Fourteen years later, when Lord Henry Somerset,
a younger son of the Beaufort family, and already a mem¬
ber of the House of Commons, pressed his suit, Lady Isa¬
bel became Lady Henry Somerset. Although in society
and a woman of the world, she was not a worldly woman.
She loved solitude and could not have found a more se¬
cluded Patmos than that which welcomed her at East-
nor Castle, and at this delightful place Lady Henry
retired to study, and to devote herself to the training of
her only son, who is as devoted to her as she is to him.
LADY HENRY SOMERSET.
279
She started a small temperance society in the village and
her first speech was delivered to the villagers in a little
schoolroom close to the castle gates. That was the first
decided step that led her to the presidency of the most
active temperance society in England.
It was about this time that she read Miss Willard's
tribute to her sister Mary, "Nineteen Beautiful Years."
Her first visit to America was mainly for the purpose of
becoming acquainted with Miss Willard and to under¬
stand from her the principles upon which she had organ¬
ized the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, of which
she had long been president. Not only did she find in
Miss Willard a sister beloved, but she was welcomed to
the hearts of the best people from Maine to California.
She made good use of her time. She attended Moody's
school for evangelists, took part in editing the "Union
Signal," addressed public meetings and acclimatized her¬
self as an American more rapidly than any English noble
has ever done before. Lady Henry, who has given
twelve years of constant activity to temperance work, was
elected president of the British Woman's Temperance
Association in 1891, which office she held for nearly seven
years, when ill-health compelled her to lay it down.
Frances Willard says: "Lady Henry has a gift of
eloquence in speaking that has made her the foremost
woman orator- of her time and a gift of writing that has
been characterized in terms of highest commendation by
literary experts; to crown all these she has a tender faith
and spirituality irradiating all her daily life and a humor
so rare that they are perhaps the first qualities noted on
meeting her. The misfortune of losing her through over¬
work from the white-ribbon army in England is greater
than any other we have yet sustained." In closing her
letter of resignation to the "British Women," Lady
Henry quotes the pathetic couplet—"
"My half day's *vork i? done, and this is all my part,
To give a patient God my patent heart."
2*3
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE.
Not one general of the Crimean War on either side
can be named by one person in a hundred. The one
name that rises instantly, when that carnival of pestilence
and blood is suggested, is that of one of the foremost
names in modern philanthropy, a noble young woman,
Florence Nightingale, who robbed war of much of its
terror and brought consolation and relief to thousands of
suffering and neglected ones.
Florence Nightingale was born in 1823 at Florence,
Italy. Highly educated and brilliantly accomplished,
she early exhibited an intense devotion to the alleviation
of suffering, which, in 1844, led her to give attention to
the condition of hospitals. She visited and inspected
civil and military hospitals all over Europe; studied the
system of nursing and management carried out in the
hospitals of Paris; and in 1851 went into training as a
FDOREINCE nightingale.
281
nurse in an institution in Germany. On her return to
England she put into thorough working order the sani¬
tarium for governesses in London. In 1854 war was
declared with Russia, and a* British army of 25,000 men
sailed to the east. The wounded from the battle of Alma,
fought September 20, were sent to hospitals hastily pre¬
pared on the Bosporus. Thiese hospitals were soon
crowded and their unhealthy condition became apparent
in a rate of mortality surpassing that of the fiercest battle.
In this crisis Florence Nightingale offered herself as or¬
ganizer of a nursing department. She was gladly ac¬
cepted, and within a week from the date of the offer she
departed with her nurses. She arrived at Constantinople
on the day of the second battle. She found the wards
filled with more than two thousand patients, soon aug¬
mented by the wounded of the second battle. Her devo¬
tion to the sufferers was remarkable. Several times she
stood for twenty consecutive hours in order to see them
provided with the requisites of their condition. She
clearly saw that the frightful mortality was caused by the
bad sanitary arrangements, and with incessant labor and
devotion set about to improve them. Several times she
was prostrate with fever, but refused to leave her post,
and, on her recovery, remained until the war ended. She
had saved the life and health of many a soldier, but the
physical and mental strain was too much for her frail
body. She returned to England after the war, and was
honored by all. She had made the sacrifice at the ex¬
pense of her own health, destined to spend her remain¬
ing years as an invalid in her home in England. But
even in her home her active mind was not idle. She has
written a number of volumes on nursing and hospital re°
form. It is but just to say that through her efforts the
hospital systems of all nations have been greatly im¬
proved.
282
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
GRACE DARLING.
From a humble station in life, acting well her part
in it, Grace Darling, who on one occasion manifested
some of the highest qualities of human nature, was for
this reason respected and admired by persons of every
rank, and acquired a celebrity which spread over the
greater part of the civilized world.
A daughter of William Darling, a lighthouse keeper,
her residence on Longstone Island during her girlish
years and till the time of her death was constant, there
being only occasional visits to the coast. She is described
as having been remarkable for a retiring and somewhat
reserved disposition. She had reached her twenty-sec¬
ond year when the incident occurred by which her name
has been rendered so famous.
A vessel, having on board sixty-three persons, on a
voyage from Hull to Dundee, was wrecked in a terrible
storm near the Longstone lighthouse. Nine of the pas¬
sengers had betaken themselves to the windlass in the
GR'AjOE darling.
283
fore part of the vessel as a place of safety, and here they
remained till daybreak.
At the lighthouse, nearly a mile away, through the
dim mist, with the aid of a glass, the figures of these suf¬
ferers were seen clinging to the wreck. To have braved
the perils of that terrible passage would have done honor
to the nerves of the strongest man, but what shall be said
of the errand of mercy being undertaken through the
strength of a woman's arm? At the solicitation of Grace
Darling, a boat was launched, father and daughter en¬
tered in, each taking an oar, and by the exertion of great
muscular power the boat was carried up the rock and
the nine sufferers were rescued. Their feeling of delight
at the approach of the boat was changed into a feeling of
amazement when they became aware that one of their
deliverers was a woman.
The subsequent events of Grace Darling's life are
soon told. The deed she had done wafted her name over
all Europe. The lonely lighthouse became the center
of attraction to thousands, including many who testified
by substantial tokens the esteem with which they re¬
garded the young heroine. The duke and duchess of
Northumberland presented her with a gold watch, which
she always wore when visitors came. Her name was
applauded amongst all ranks; portraits of her were sought
for, but amidst this applause Grace Darling did not for¬
get the modest dignity which became her sex and station.
The flattering testimonials simply produced in her mind
a feeling of wonder and grateful pleasure.
The grasp of death was fastened upon her before the
plaudits of her noble deed had died away. She was never
heard to complain during her illness, but exhibited the
utmost Christian resignation throughout, and on the 20th
of October, 1842, at the age of twenty-seven, she resigned
her spirit without a murmur.
284
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
KATE SHELLEY.
We honor those who in the face of danger or in the
presence of an enemy are incited to deeds of daring, but
the heroism of the battle-field is not of the highest order;
they who elevate their fellow-men—who save them—are
the most valiant. The best men and women have given
themselves for others without thought of fame or honor.
Women, quite as capable of endurance as men, have
especially distinguished themselves in missionary and
philanthropic enterprises, many of whom have toiled and
suffered, not for gorgeous glory, but for something higher
and better than the world can give.
Sometimes a single act of bravery, resulting in the
saving of many lives, has distinguished an individual
otherwise obscure and unknown.
Such an instance is found in the adventure of Miss
Kate Shelley of Iowa, to whom the Legislature of the
State awarded a gold medal for bravery.
KATE SHEiLLEY.
285
As it was growing dark on July 6, 1881, a severe
storm caused the Des Moines river to rise six feet in a
single hour. Looking from her window, which com¬
manded a view of the Honey Creek railroad bridge, this
girl of fifteen saw through the darkness a locomotive
headlight and a moment later saw it drop. "Oh, mother,
the freight train has gone down," she exclaimed, and
quickly springing up, she, with trembling hand, reached
for the lantern, and, knowing that the express train would
soon be due, rushed out into the darkness and in a pitiless
storm undertook the perilous task of giving due warning.
Finding that the flood was already far above all paths
and roadways, she climbed up the steep bluff to the track,
tearing her clothing and lacerating her flesh as she pro¬
ceeded. A part of the bridge still remained, and as she
swung her lantern and called out at the top of her voice,
there was a faint answer from the engineer below, who
had crawled up on some of the broken timbers. She was
urged by him to proceed at once to the nearest station, to
warn the express train of the fall of the bridge.
To reach the station it was necessary for her to cross
the high trestle bridge across the Des Moines river, about
500 feet in length. As she puts her foot upon it the wind
blows out her lantern and she cannot see a foot ahead,
save when the dazzling lightning outlines the bridge and
the seething waters beneath. This child, with a heroine's
heart, drops down upon her knees, and though her cour¬
age almost fails, she crawls from tie to tie across the
trestle. At last she has reached the shore, and quickly
flying to the station, her story is told in breathless haste,
and she falls unconscious to the floor; but the warning
was given in time to stop the train and scores of precious
lives, carried by the train, soon learned of the heroine
whose courage had saved them from a watery grave.
286 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
MRS. ANN H. JUDSON.
Since the beginning of modern missions there has
never been a more trying experience of a missionary than
that of Ann Hasseltine Judson; and no story of mission¬
ary life is more painfully affecting than the record of her
short career. She was naturally of a quick, energetic
disposition, apt to learn, sensitive and extremely sympa¬
thetic, developing into womanhood in the cheerful sur¬
roundings of a New England home.
In 1812 she was married to Adoniram Judson, and
sailed to India. Shortly after arriving at Calcutta they
were ordered to leave the country. They went first to
the Isle of France, but were obliged to fly to Rangoon,
where they at once began the study of the language. For
three years they worked here in quietness, and though
their life was lonely, hard and trying, yet when com-
MRS. ANN H. JTJDSON.
287
pared with the years that followed, this period seemed
altogether delightful. In 1822 she returned to America,
where she remained one year, writing and speaking in
behalf of Burma so effectually that a great impulse ,was
given to the work. Soon after her return they were or¬
dered to Ava, and in May, 1824, the storm burst upon
them when Great Britain declared war against Burma.
Rangoon was taken and Mr. Judson was thrown into
prison. Mrs. Judson herself was placed under guard.
The horrors of that time have no parallel in the his¬
tory of modern missions. For more than eighteen
months Mrs. Judson was alone, unprotected, in the midst
of an infuriated people, unable at times to keep track of
her husband, so suddenly would he be taken from place
to place. She made long journeys to find him, and when
successful, would go to the prison once or twice a day,
to carry food and medicine.
The English army was at last successful. Their
troubles ceased and they removed to Amherst, where
they were under British protection.
But such a life was too hard for a delicate woman^
though ever so heroic. The long strain had so ex^'
hausted Mrs. Judson's strength that she slowly sank to
her death. Even the comfort of her husband's presence
was denied her at the last.
She died October 24, 1826, and was buried at Am¬
herst, with civil and military honors, and a monument
from America marks the grave.
"Her name will be remembered in Burma when the
pagodas of Gautama shall have fallen; when the spires of
Christian temples shall gleam along the Irrawaddy and
when the 'Golden City' shall have lifted up her gates to
let the King of Glory in." The story of the thirteen years
she spent in Burma has moved the hearts of scores of
American women to give the best of their lives to the
service which she chose above all others.
288
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
GRACE WHITE.
Of those who have given their lives to Africa, per¬
haps none have made greater sacrifices and more beauti¬
fully exhibited the spirit of Christian heroism than Grace
White. At our request, Rev. C. Nusbaum, of Winfield,
Kansas, has kindly furnished us with the following
sketch.
Miss Grace White was born in 1863. She came with
her parents to southwestern Kansas when about thirteen
years of age. From childhood she was original in
thought and careful in all her plans. During her school
days her associates were among the unfortunate and
friendless pupils, for whom she always had a word of
cheer and comfort. She was a Christian from early child¬
hood, but in her twenty-fifth year she was led to know
that it was her privilege to receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit and power, and to the great joy of her heart she
entered into this experience. The victory was complete,
GRACE WHITE.
289
and in that hour she dedicated herself to God and his
service. She was a strong friend of the colored people
and was not long in deciding to go to the more neglected
in Africa. When thoroughly convinced that God was
calling her to that dark land of death, she hastily made
all arrangements and started, in 1891, for her field of
labor, a mission station in Liberia. When she arrived
she was met by a number of the tribe to whom she was
sent, who threatened to kill her at once. She calmly told
them that she was sent of God to do them and their chil¬
dren good, and she proposed to stay there until God told
her to leave. For fifteen months, she labored alone at
Barraka station, when her sister Anna camfe to help her;
through darkness and disappointment, danger and death,
they worked together, until Anna was compelled to re¬
turn home for a rest
With firm faith in God, Grace remained at her post.
She knew that God was ushering in a better day, which
she was permitted to see before her translation. She had
an intense love for her aged parents and her home in this
country. Once when recovering from a severe attack
of fever, and conscious of her surroundings, her eyes
caught sight of a bunch of pansies. She said, with tears,
"How they make me think of mother." She desired to
make her home visit in 1896, but as there was no one to
take her place, she refused to take the rest she needed.
On the return of her sister Anna, Grace was urged to
return to America, for a short time, at least; but she could
not be induced to come, feeling that God wanted her
there. In December, 1896, she took the fever, and in a
short time God took her to himself and her eternal re-,
ward. Thus another martyr is added to the great long
list who are among the redeemed and blood washed.
Truly her works will follow her, and many thousands will
rise up in the eternities to call her blessed.
19
290 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
IvinS. AMANDA SMITH.
Formerly a Slave.
When the Lord makes up his jewels his choice will
not be confined to the white race alone. The truth of
this statement is exemplified in Amanda Smith, who was
born in slavery, at Long Green, Maryland, in 1837. She
was redeemed by her father, Samuel Berry. She had no
worldly wealth, but a legacy that was far better, parents
and a grandmother who were truly pious. Her mother,
inheriting the spirit of prayer, was a woman of great faith
and moral courage; and these qualities descended to the
third generation.
In 1859 she was married to J. H. Smith, a local dea¬
con of the M. E. Church, who died ten years later; of her
five children, only one daughter survives, and as she is
married, Mrs. Smith is free from family claims. She
dates her conversion to March 17, 1856, and from that
MRS. AMANDA SMITH.
291
day to this has never doubted that she was forgiven.
Twelve years later, under a sermon by Rev. J. S. Inskip,
she received a wonderful baptism of the Holy Spirit, and
ever after was an exponent of that "full salvation"
preached by John Wesley, of whom she is a faithful dis¬
ciple. The Lord soon afterward led her into public life,
and her power as an evangelist became so widely known
and appreciated that she received many invitations in all
directions. Some friends proposed a trip to England.
From England she went to India, where she found
open doors everywhere. Then she spent ten years in
Africa, greatly aiding Bishop Taylor in his self-support¬
ing mission work.
Failing health compelled her to return to England,
and in 1891 she again came to America, wliere she is en¬
gaged in evangelistic work and in raising funds for a
home for colored orphan children in Chicago.
Frances Willard says: "I first saw Amanda Smith
at Ocean Grove, and she seemed to me almost as unique
a character as 'Sojourner Truth.' I shall never forget
one Sunday evening, nor the surf meeting, of which she
was the principal figure. Anywhere from ten to thirty
thousand people were seated on the sand, and all felt the
grandeur of the scene. Everybody wanted something
said about it, but no speaker's voice could reach them all.
Suddenly Amanda Smith's wonderful voice rang out in
a vibrant contralto, deep and so swelling that all could
hear as she sang:.
"There's a wideness in God's mercy
Like the wideness of the sea,
There's a kindness in his justice
That is more than liberty."
"As she went through that wonderful hymn, tears
came into women's eyes, and men pulled their hats down
farther over their faces. It was a grand hour, and
Amanda had put the final touch to it, which she could
not have done, except that she had a grand soul."
292
TRAITS OF CHARACTER,
LUCRETIA MOTT.
One of the rarest examples of womanhood that
America has yet produced, not merely as a reformer, but
in every attribute of character and action, is Lucretia
Mott. Born January 3, 1793, among the quiet scenes
of Nantucket, she grew to girlhood with habits of neat¬
ness and helpfulness in the home.
When thirteen years old she was sent to a Friends
boarding school and in two years became an assistant
teacher. Another teacher was young James Mott, the
son of an old Quaker family from Long Island. The
two, the young man and the maiden, he having just
passed his twentieth year and she her eighteenth, in the
beauty of their youth loved and wedded.
The unison of spirit and action which made their
married life one long harmony was their oneness in devo-
LU'CIRETTA MOTT.
293
tion to what they believed to be right and their sympa¬
thy with the oppressed everywhere.
While living a life of devotion to her husband and
children she, at the age of twenty-five, touched the key¬
note of her great fame when, feeling called to a more
public life of devotion to duty, she entered the ministry
in the Society of Friends, among whom she was known
as a consecrated, self-forgetting preacher of the truth.
In early youth her soul was moved by the cruel
injustice of negro slavery. Not only did she plead in
their behalf, but every act of her life made her moral force
felt wherever she was known. William Lloyd Garrison
was dragged through the streets of Boston at the peril
of his life; Love joy was murdered at Alton; but through¬
out these years Lucretia Mott addressed women's meet¬
ings while stones and brickbats were flying through the
windows. Amid pelting eggs, amid howling stone-
throwing mobs she stood unmoved, as gentle and un¬
flinching as when knitting by her own fireside. In 1840,
a World's Anti-Slavery Convention was called in Lon¬
don, and women from New York, Boston and Phila¬
delphia were delegates, among these was Lucretia Mott.
On their arrival they were not admitted, because
they were women. This brought the woman question
into prominence and in this she engaged heart and hand.
Lucretia Mott, who passed away in 1880, .may
have been equaled by many in the development of
special faculties, but rarely has a woman lived who has
embodied in herself so many intellectual and moral
qualities perfectly balanced.
"A nature so many-sided, a humanity so deeply
veined, an intelligence so' universal and varied cannot
be sounded or measured by mere words. Her life,
though vanished from human sight, still shines on—a
planet whose unfailing light streams down the cen¬
turies, while it reaches upward to other and distant
worlds."
294
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
MARY LYON.
"There is nothing in the universe that I fear, but
that I shall not know all my duty, or shall fail to do it."
This memorable utterance by Mary Lyon, in the
last instruction she gave to her school, gives a glimpse
of the vast power for good which God can give to one
woman for the benefit of the human race in all coming
time.
When in the second decade of this century, this
remarkable educator of women, began her career as
teacher, she received as her compensation seventy-five
cents per week, with board. Her services as teacher
soon began to be eagerly sought and whenever she
could obtain sufficient means, she would go to some
place and receive instruction on those subjects in which
she found herself deficient. After several years of alter¬
nate teaching and studying, she went to attend Rev.
MARY LYON.
295
Joseph Emerson's school in Byfield, Massachusetts, and
she ever regarded her connection with this school as
an important era in her life. Several years later she
was invited to assist Miss Grant in the Adams Female
Academy, at Londonderry, and cooperated with her per¬
sonally when the school was removed to Ipswich. It
was at this place that her plans for the establishment
of a permanent female seminary occupied much of her
thought and where so much energy was given to the
ways and means of accomplishing this object.
In 1836 she wrote to a friend: "I have lived to see
the time when a body of gentlemen have ventured to
lay the corner-stone of an edifice which will be an institu¬
tion for the education of women. The work will not
stop with this institution. The enterprise miay have to
struggle through embarrassment for years, but its in¬
fluence will be felt." This incident dates the beginning
of the famous Mount Holyoke Seminary. Its first year
proved the wisdom of Miss Lyon's careful plans, and
the first anniversary was a season replete with interest.
Wonder, praise and gratitude filled her heart with a
flood of emotions, such as ordinary minds cannot con¬
ceive. Her greatest joy was that of seeing those
intrusted to her care walking in truth and peace. Thus
the foundations of her institution so longed for were
laid with prayers and tears, and its topstome with joy
and praise to Him who had bade her build a school to
his great name.
God accepted the service of her hands and blessed
both it and her abundantly. Great was Miss Lyon's
influence in training up active and efficient women; many
drew from her light and fire that will never go out.
She was enabled to shape the moral course of her pupils
for both worlds.
On March 5, 1849, Miss Lyon passed away. Over
her grave a beautiful monument of white marble was
elected.
296
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
MARIA MITCHELL.
"I was born of only ordinary capacity but of
extraordinary persistency," said Maria Mitchell in later
years, after that "persistency" had made her one of the
most distinguished lady astronomers the world ever
knew. Born of Quaker parents August I, 1818, on the
Island of Nantucket, Maria early exhibited an aptitude
for books. While still her father's pupil, at the age
of eleven, she became his assistant teacher. The par¬
ents did not consider her brighter than any of their other
nine children. But she soon showed a special liking
for mathematics. In her intelligent home she learned
"to use her hands helpfully and skillfully, to dress taste¬
fully, but simply, and to live contentedly a plain, frugal
life, brightened by study, affection and society. At six¬
teen she left school, and at eighteen she was appointed
librarian of the Nantucket Public Library. Her island
home was peculiarly adapted to the study of the sea
MARIA MITCHELL.
297
and sky, and her duties as librarian being light, she had
much time to spend in study. Here she- spent twenty
years at a salary of one hundred dollars per annum.
The Mitchell family possessed an excellent tele¬
scope, which was frequently used by Maria. She was
as fond of astronomy as of mathematics, and excelled
in both.
One evening in October, 1847, as she was gazing
through the telescope, she suddenly saw a comet which
before was unknown. She obtained its ascension and
declination and then told her father, who wrote to Pro¬
fessor Bond of Cambridge, informing him of Maria's
discovery and inquiring if the comet had been noticed
before this time. The Professor replied that it had not.
Sixteen years before this time Frederick VI. of Denmark
had offered a gold medal to the person who should
first discover a telescopic comet. This med'al, there¬
fore, was awarded to Miss Mitchell.
In 1857 she went abroad, visiting the greatest ob¬
servatories in Europe. During her absence her friends
fitted up an observatory for her use.
When the observatory of Vassar College was com¬
pleted a position as teacher of astronomy was given to
Maria Mitchell. In her schoolroom the blackboard and
teacher's desk occupied one side of the room. The
remaining three were occupied by seats with table's
placed in front of them.
As a teacher Miss Mitchell was abrupt, yet kind.
She had little patience with the superficial and conceited,
but to every student that did her best she was always
ready to give assistance and encouragement.
Miss Mitchell remained at Vassar College for
twenty years, resigning her position in 1888. She died
at Lynn, Massachusetts, on the twenty-eighth of June,
1889, at the age of seventy-one.
298
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL.
" May He who taught the morning stars to sing,
Aye keep my chalice pure and fresh and sweet,
And grant me so with loving hand to bring
Refreshment to His weary ones, to meet
Their thirst with water from God's music spring;
And bearing thus to pour it at His feet."
So sang one who wrote many heavenly hymns that
people love to sing, and who through years of suffering
maintained such depths of joy, such implicit trust in
God, as to be a beacon on a hilltop to hundreds of others
following that way.
One of her teachers says: "That which imprinted the
stamp of nobility upon her whole being, and influenced
all her opinions, was her true piety and the deep rev¬
erence she had for her Lord and Savior, whose example
penetrated her whole life." From her father she inher¬
ited a decided musical talent. She wrote songs and
hymn tunes adapted to her own words and those of
FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL.
299
others, trained missionary and voluntary choirs, assisted
in the editing of a hymnal, prepared Havergal's Psalm¬
ody for the press and contributed to its contents.
She will, however, be best and longest known by
her poems. In them almost every phase of Christian
life and growth is revealed. Their power to soothe, to
soften, to inspire and to uplift is acknowledged by many
loving readers, who give them a high place in the reli¬
gious poetry of the age.
Her poetic talent gradually developed and in i860
some of her poems appeared in the columns of a paper.
She continued adding grace and strength of poetic skill
and fervor, and later "The Thoughts of God" and "Loyal
Responses" were given to the public, and more than
once their author had the privilege of hearing her own
hymns and tunes sung to the praise of God.
In her widely known hymns, "Songs in the Night,"
"Consecration Hymn," "Tell it out among the Heathen,"
some of them written while prostrated by illness, she
left an immortal legacy. But her greatest achievement,
her best legacy, was her character and life.
"She was always busy, yet seldom hurried; she
'redeemed the time' yet 'lived without carefulness;' she
was ever at work for the public weal and pleasure, yet
never failed to respond to every private claim, every
individual demand for aid and sympathy."
She often suffered from protracted and severe at¬
tacks of illness, and near the close of 1878 a cold, result¬
ing from exposure at an outdoor meeting, developed
painful and alarming symptoms. As the disease pro¬
gressed, and she was told that it would prove fatal, she
answered, "If I am really going home, it is too good to be
true." As the end drew nigh, she tried to sing; but
after one sweet high note, her voice failed, and on June
3, 1879, England's sweet singer passed away.
30Q TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
FANNIE J. CROSBY.
Who that knows anything of what life means has
not been inspired to renewed efforts, to increased cour¬
age and faith by the sacred hymns and times of child¬
hood days? The power of song, how great! How
large a part of real gospel teaching in our hymns!
Of all the living sacred hymn writers, none
are so well ' known, none have touched the
hearts of the American people as the happy
hearted Fannie J. Crosby. And yet it is probably
known to comparatively few that this noted woman has
done all her work without beholding the beauties of
nature around her, for she is totally blind. Born March
24, 1820, an affection of the eyes demanded medical
treatment when she was only six weeks old. The reme¬
dies applied proved of no avail, and her sense of sight
entirely disappeared. It is said that at the age of eight
she began her career of song with the following:
FANNIE CROSBY.
301
" Oh, what, a happy soul am I!
Although I cannot see,
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don't!
To weep and sigh because I'm blind
I cannot and I won't."
Early in life she entered the New York Institu¬
tion for the Blind, where she remained as a pupil and
teacher for more than forty years. In her early years
she committed the four books of the Old Testament and
also the four Gospels. Although nearly eighty years
old, she preserves all the sprightliness of her youth, and a
visitor to her home in Brooklyn finds one of the most
cheerful and happy persons.
Her hymns are loved and sung, not only where the
English language is spoken, but they are found trans¬
lated into many other languages. Some of the best
known are: "Blessed Assurance," "Safe in the Arms of
Jesus," "Rescue the Perishing," "Every Day and
Hour," "Saved by Grace," "I Am Thine, O Lord," "Re¬
deemed," "Rock in the Desert," "Wonderful Saviour,"
"Rivers of Love." These might be increased into
hundreds. "Safe in the Arms of Jesus" is her favorite,
because it has comforted so many broken hearted ones.
She wrote it because all her path is darkness, and her
only safety is in the arms of Jesus. Bishop Harining-
ton's last entry in his journal shows that when he was
about to be murdered, he sang this hymn, and laughed
at the very agony of his situation.
Fannie Crosby declares that her blindness has been
a blessing to her, for in this way she has been a blessing
to multitudes. She says: "If I had not been deprived
of sight I should never have received so good an educa¬
tion, nor have cultivated so fine a memory, nor have
been able to do good to so many people."
302
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
' /
MRS. BELLA COOKE.
" I do not ask that God shall always make my pathway light;
I only pray that He will hold my hand throughout the night."
So sings one who>, through long years of greatest
agony, maintains a firm faith in God, whose zeal for the
Master probably won hundreds to the foot of the cross,
and whose submission to the divine will led many
Christians to a firmer trust in God. To a large number
Bella Cooke's sick-bed became a place of blessing, her
sick-chamber a haven of rest.
This consecrated woman was born in Hull, Eng¬
land, in 1821. At the age of twenty she was married to
Mr. Cooke, a devoted Christian man, and several years
later she and her family came to America. Soon after
their arrival, her husband died, of cholera, and she was
left a poor widow with several small children.
Notwithstanding her feeble health, she made stren¬
uous efforts to support her helpless family, but her
MRS. BEiLLA COOKE.
303
health gradually failed, until she was entirely prostrated,
and for the last forty-two years she has been absolutely
bed-ridden, with scarcely five minutes in any day of free¬
dom from acute pain, though it varies much in intensity.
Added to this is her absolute dependence, as she often,
during these years, did not know how food and fuel for
the morrow would be provided.
It is not in language to describe the sufferings of
Bella Cooke during this long period, yet to say that she
has been resigned and patient would present but a small
part of the truth. Depressing as her infirmities have
been, and severely trying as it has been to be debarred
from life's activities and enjoyments, yet she has, even in
times of utmost physical prostration, exhibited a serene
and holy resignation.
Again and again has she been brought down to the
gates of death, and her friends have looked in tearful
silence for the coming of the chariot and horsemen.
Her cheerful disposition takes note only of the bright
hours of life, and buries the cloudy ones in oblivion.
Bella Cooke is never unemployed. Many benevo>-
lent institutions have been profited by the skillful work
of her fingers. Many hours of pain are spent in earnest
work for the Master, her rich personal experience in
divine things and marvelous insight of character quali¬
fying her to enter into the feelings of the suffering and
sad, and to give them, not only temporal aid, but also
spiritual comfort.
'The sunny face of the presiding genius of her
little room in New York City, on the narrow bed of spot¬
less white, bears through hours of keenest suffering,
through weeks and months of severest trial, a patient,
beautiful smile of trust and content.
How true that the sweetest songs of the nightingale
are warbled only in darkness, and the clearest notes of
thankfulness and joy are heard only in the midnight of
affliction.
304
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
QUEEN LOUISE OF PRUSSIA.
"The arrival of the angelic princess spreads over
these days a noble splendor. All hearts go out to meet
her, and her grace and goodness leave no one unblessed."
These words of the poet Fouque express some¬
thing of the esteem and admiration felt by people, both
high and low, for the lovely Queen Louise, of Prussia,
daughter of Prince Charles and Princess Frederica.
Christmas Eve, 1793, witnessed the marriage of
Louise to Frederick William, the crown prince. She
was then seventeen, with a fine complexion, large blue
eyes, light hair, with a frank, natural, graceful manner.
Frederick William and Louise went at once to their
own palace, and there a happy married life began.
In the year 1797, at the death of Frederick William
II., the crown prince became King Frederick William,
and Louise, the joy of every circle, became queen. She
was, however, not allowed to pass through her short life
QUEEN LOUISE OF PRUSSIA.
305
without great sorrow, much anxiety, and intense suffer¬
ing.
The war waged by Napoleon against Prussia, es¬
pecially the battles of Jena Auerstadt, which in a day
prostrated the Prussian power, compelled the queen and
her children to flee from the palace. She says: "Des¬
tiny has destroyed in one day a structure, in the erection,
of which the great men of two centuries have labored."
In her journeyings for safety, the queen at one
time, occupied a room whose windows were broken, and
the snow blew on the bed. But she was full of trust and
courage. She made heroic efforts to secure better terms
for her beloved country. Referring to an interview with
Napoleon, she says, "I wept; I implored in the name
of love and of humanity in the name of our misfortunes
and the laws which govern the world."
The demands of Napoleon upon the country at this
time were more than could be met. He said, "If the
king cannot pay, nothing remains to be done but to
surrender Silesia." Queen Louise wrote humbly to
Napoleon, pleading for a modification in Prussia's inter¬
ests, but his unsympathetic heart could not be moved.
In 1809, after enduring great privations, and making
many sacrifices, the royal family again reentered tlerlin.
The people were full of joy, and to commemorate this
event placed in the Thiergarten a beautiful vase, which
is yearly filled with flowers, on the queen's birthday.
The following summer, Queen Louise, who was the
mother of ten children, and had often suffered from ill¬
ness and prostration, probably feeling that the end was
drawing near, went with the family to the country castle,
and there the loved and honored Queen of Prussia
passed away.
Shortly before her death, she wrote to her father:
"Only truth and justice are strong and secure. There¬
fore I do not believe that the Emperor Napoleon Bona¬
parte is firm and safe on his glittering throne."
306 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
CATHARINE BOOTH.
"The woman who would serve her generation accord¬
ing to the will of God must make moral and intellectual
culture the chief business of life. Doing this she will
rise to the true dignity of her nature, and find herself
possessed of a wondrous capacity for turning the duties,
joys and sorrows of domestic life to the highest ad¬
vantage, both to herself and to all those within the
sphere of her influence."
These words were penned in an autograph album by
Catharine Booth, at twenty-six, who in after life more
fully than any other woman demonstrated the truth of
the statement.
Catharine Mumford Booth was born in 1829 and re¬
ceived a careful training and a good education. Her
mother's special care in training her child was not in
vain. Catharine says, "The longer I live the more I ap¬
preciate my mother's character." Under such careful
CATHARINE BOOTH.
307
training she early became interested in church and mis¬
sion work. At twenty-six she married William Booth,
and for seven years aided him greatly in his work as
minister of the Methodist Church. He was several
times required to lay aside his work for a short time on
account of ill health, but she, equal to the occasion, took
up his work and regularly filled his appointments, preach¬
ing to the satisfaction of all. Believing themselves called
to the evangelistic work, they asked that they sustain such
relation to their conference. But then, as now, the nar¬
row and ecclesiastical spirit of those in authority over¬
came the higher, nobler and more worthy spirit of the
extension of the cause without so much respect to men
and measures, and Mr. Booth's request was not granted.
Believing themselves called of God to the work, they
did not hesitate in this crisis, but began work wherever
there were openings. The work developed very rapidly,
and in a few years resulted in the Salvation Army, now
of world-wide fame. This organization has been the
means of rescuing many thousands that the churches, in
their present effort and with present means, could never
have reached. The Salvation Army would never have
reached such a state of usefulness but for the clear¬
sighted and consecrated wife of William Booth. She
may well be called a co-founder with him in the work.
Frail and in poor health for many years, she, with ability
seeming more than natural, entered into the work,
preaching, teaching and ever ready to counsel and plan
for larger and more extended results. She engaged
energetically in temperance and other reform work. Be¬
sides all this she carefully trained eight children and was
permitted to see them all engaged in Army work before
her death. Catharine Booth, mother of the Salvation
Army, passed peacefully away, after an exceedingly use¬
ful life, "more than conqueror/' October 4, 1890.
308
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
CLARA BARTON.
Distinction and fame have come to many women who
have never learned what self-denial and sacrifice mean.
Some of these may have become famous, because of the
power to write entertainingly; others may be able to
charm audiences by their eloquence; but a still higher
order of marked womanhood is found in those heroic
ones who forego many of the pleasures of life in order to
minister to the spiritual and the physical needs of multi¬
tudes suffering in sin or in bodily pain. Among those
who have forsaken comforts and pleasures and sacrificed
even health itself in order to alleviate, by acts of charity
and kindness, the sufferings of mankind, no name is in¬
scribed higher on memory's tablet, none is held in more"
loving affection by all people and civilized nations, than
that of Clara Barton.
Born, raised and educated in New England, at an
early age she began teaching school. This occupation
she successfully followed until trouble arose in the
CLARA BARTON.
309
Patent Office at Washington, through the treachery and
dishonesty of clerks. Miss Barton was recommended to
the commissioner as a person that could be trusted. She
filled a position in that office until the breaking out of
the Civil War, when she resigned her position and turned
her whole attention and strength toward relieving the
suffering's of the wounded and sick soldiers. The
Government was not prepared to care properly for these,
and after a battle they were sometimes left for hiours, or
even days, before their wounds were dressed and proper
attention given them.
Miss Barton, by consent of the Government, went
to the front and, with provisions and supplies, soon in¬
augurated a marked improvement in this respect.
Thousands of soldiers pronounce blessings upon her for
her deeds of charity. Bullets more than once grazed
her clothing, but she was never wounded. At the close
of the war she established the "Bureau of Record," so
valuable to the Government in later years. In 1869
she went to Europe and became identified with the Red
Cross movement—a society for the relief of sufferings.
In 1874 she was at the front in the Franco-Prussian War,
and did much in making the work of the society so
effectual. From that time she has given her whole at¬
tention to the work of the Red Cross Society. At the
breaking out of the Armenian massacres in Turkey, the
United States furnished her with supplies and sent her
to relieve the persecuted of that nation, that has long
since deserved to be wiped off of the map of the globe.
The beginning of 1898 finds her in Cuba, marshaling
her forces to reduce the sufferings of poverty and war, by
distributing supplies where most needed. So determined
is she to have the principles of the Red Cross adopted
fully by her people and nation that she has repeatedly
said, "Until this work is done I cannot go to heaven."
"A finger's breadth at hand may mar
A world of light in heaven afar;
A mote eclipse a glorious star."
"He that spares vice wrongs virtue."
Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?—
Solomon.
"The bird which is ensnared by one leg is as surely the
prey of the fowler as if it were seized by both wings."
When a yung man beginz tu go down hil evrithing seams
tu be greezed fur the ockashun.—Josh Billings.
It may be said with measurable truthfulness that half the
art of Christian living consists in shunning temptation.—J. G.
Holland.
310
MARRED
MANHOOD
and
WOMANHOOD.
311
312
TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
RICHARD YATES.
Character makes man. There is a plane of mere
achievement, but it cannot be substituted for the higher
plane of moral anid spiritual worth. Marked manhood
includes not only achievement, but also the motives, the
intentions, the traits of character, that lead to success.
It is inexcusably wrong to judge men of genius by any
other than the moral law laid down in the Infallible Word.
It shows a weakness that is not found in strong men, to
excuse "men of genius" and attempt to measure them
by a standard that looks upon "outward accomplish¬
ments," but passes silently over the responsibility of
"inner rectitude."
"How wretched is the man, with honor crowned,
Who, having not the one thing needful found,
Dies, known to all, but to himself unknown!"
There are undoubtedly many men whose achieve¬
ments have been great, who were remarkable for their
powers of intellect or skill in other fields, but who have
never reached the heights of "MARKED MAN¬
HOOD." Their achievements stand, the rather, as mon¬
uments to show what "MARRED MANHOOD" means,
and what mighit have been the result had there not been
RICHARD YATES.
313
an "unworthy purpose," a "lack of conscience and re¬
ligious sense." The possibilities of marred manhood are
inestimable, were there a development of a full and well-
rounded character. Great deeds in certain lines cannot
be made to cover over defects in other respects, but rather
set them out in bold relief, thus making the contrast all
the greater. In these and the following pages we note
the achievements of great men, great in their sphere, and
yet on the whole marred. We would gladly cover over
with the mantle of charity their failings, but, while not
entering into details, we feel impressed that duty re¬
quires a warning to young manhood, lest others make
the same mistake, and thus blight a record that ought to
be, and can be, absolutely pure and clean.
Richard Yates was born in Kentucky in 1818. He
graduated with honors from Illinois College and at once
began the practice of law. He took an active interest
in public affairs and after several terms in the Illinois
Legislature was elected to Congress. During the War
of the Rebellion he was the popular governor of Illinois
and rendered important service in raising troops. In
1865 he was elected United States Senator for Illinois. His
natural abilities were great, and for a time he was recog¬
nized as a strong candidate for the presidency. In the
height of his ambition and popularity he considered him¬
self, as many do, strong enough to resist any tempta¬
tion. He took to drinking, went rapidly from bad to
worse, and, sad to say, at the early age of fifty-five filled
a drunkard's grave. His prospects were brighter than
ordinary, but the demon drink overcame this strong man
and carried him to utter ruin.
"Dick" Yates was a man of noble impulses. Kind,
sympathetic, gentlemanly, and a power for right and truth
when not overcome by the appetite for drink. Why
was he not saved from this awful curse?
ai4
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
We somehow have acquired the habit of revering
the man of wealth without stopping to examine his moral
makeup. Does not this unjust respect for wealth result
from an undue desire to acquire wealth ourselves? We
may have been taught by precepts abundant not to put
our trust in riches, and yet we are frequently reminded of
the thrusting aside of these precepts as we hear of the
many who have sought happiness in the possession of
gold, and, awakened to the delusion, have brought their
lives to a sad end.
Barney Barnato was the son of a London rag-gath¬
erer. At the age of twenty he went to South Africa.
After a tedious voyage, spent in building air castles and
dreaming of the possibilities of the new world which he
was approaching, he landed, and soon met the president
of the Diamond Diggings. Barnato informed him that
he was going to the diamond fields and hoped to make a
fortune. With a look of sympathy the man placed his
BARNEY BARNATO.
S Un¬
hand on the boy's shoulder in a fatherly manner and
said, "Go home again, my boy, for I have cleared that
country of all the gems it contains." Barnato, although
discouraged, concluded to remain. After various vicis¬
situdes he got hold of a gold mine, whith he sold for a
big price, and then, between gold mines and diamond
mines, he went on to accumulate a fortune. After some
years he was reputed the richest man in the world, his
wealth being estimated at $300,000,000. He had organ¬
ized mining companies and sold the stock at fabulous
prices. His place at Piccadilly cost him a million. He
had no other aim in life than that of lavishingly spending
his wealth in "fast living." But the end! This man,
who might have blessed the world with his wealth, this
man to whom the money kings of England made
obeisance, having compassed his wildest possible dreams
of wealth and power, found that life had nothing further
for him and, like a gambler grown tired of gambling, he,
on a voyage to the Madeira Islands, in 1897, put an end
to his useless life by jumping overboard.
Who says that wealth brings happiness? iMany ex¬
amples of similar character could be cited. William
Randall Roberts, once a millionaire merchant, died in
1897 as a charity patient in a New York hospital. He
had once been a congressman, once United States min¬
ister to Chili, once proprietor of a famous dry-goods
house. Edwin Fields, by mining speculation at Tomb¬
stone, Arizona, became the owner of millions in a short
time. Success, as is often the case, led into extrava¬
gances. The story is quickly told. Reverses came. He
lost all he had. Worry made him sick, he was taken to
the hospital, then to the poorhouse at Dunning, 111., and
then to a pauper's grave. These lives are full of im-
pressiveness.
316 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
GENERAL GUISEPPE GARIBALDI.
One of the most eventful careers of modern actors on
the stage of history closed when Gen. Garibaldi breathed
h'is last at his island home at Caprera, on the evening oi
June 2, 1882. Born at Nice, July 4, 1807, he spent his
boyhood days in following, with his father, a se'afaring
life. His mother had wished to have him enter the
priesthood, but early in life he became interested in his
native country and resolved to spend his energies in
liberating it from the tyranny of its oppressors. He
sympathized with all movements that aimed at liberty,
and in 1833 joined the Italian Liberals in an unsuccessful
revolution, at Genoa. He was sentenced to death in
1834 by his government, but escaped to South America,
where he remained until 1848, when, at the breaking out
of the revolution in Italy, he offered his services for the
liberty of his native country. Garibaldi was again ban¬
ished, in 1850, when he came to the United States and
engaged in the manufacture of candles, on Staten Island,
until 1854. He then returned to Italy, and in 1856
bought his farm on the island of Caprera. When the
war with Austria broke out in 1859 he became the center
GENERAL GUISEPPE GARIBALDI.
and the hero of Italian liberty. Clear and calm in lay¬
ing out his plans, bold, daring and brilliant in executing
them, always leading his men in person and practicing
his favorite maxim, "wlho wills, goes; who wills not,
sends," he became the id'ol of his troops and of his
countrymen, and the hero of many romantic and thrilling
tales. One time his soldiers fell back, their ranks had
been decimated, and he knew it. He simply turned in
the saddle and cried out, "Soldiers, I am going to die,"
and, without looking back, rode ahead. But gallop,
gallop, they came, closing in about their leader. Many
are the tales of sympathy shown by this intrepid and suc¬
cessful leader, so devoted to the redemption of his coun¬
try. He will long be remembered by the lovers of liberty
all the world over. But here our commendation must
cease. Had he died on the field of battle this scarred
and veteran warrior would have been held in lasting re¬
membrance. Sad to say, he lived to lose the respect of
good and true men. Chafing under wrongs inflicted on
him, he became the tool of demagogues and, worse than
all, the bitter enemy of God and religion. Brought up
with a love for the church by his pious mother, his indig¬
nation at the treachery to the cause of liberty and hu¬
manity of Pope Pius turned his sentiments of devotion
to gall, not only against the Church of Rome, but against
our holy religion itself, till he became an avowed atheist
and gloried in the name.
How sad to think of such a self-denying life, spent
for the good of others, going out in darkness and endless
night! How different his end, how blessed his memory,
if instead he had spent his closing years in training up
the sons of the Italy he had liberated, to labor and to
pray for the spread of the truth, which alone can -make
it truly free.
318
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
We need no Greek or German philosophy to tell us
that the study of man's character and achievement is an
inspiring one. We all know from our own experience
that the emulation of great deeds is likely to follow fa¬
miliarity with them, and on the other hand, the mistakes,
errors, failings and wrongs of others teach us to shun the
paths that lead to the same results.
Ferdinand De Lesseps, born 1805 at Versailles,
France, was educated in Paris. He was early appointed
consul of the French Government, and served in this
capacity in different countries. His noble conduct dur¬
ing the plague in Egypt, which in 1834-35 destroyed one-
third of the population, gained him special honors. After
this he served as minister to Madrid and to Switzerland.
F. DE LESSEPS.
319
On the breaking out of the war at Rome between the
French and the Italians, under Garibaldi, he was sent to
advise the French general. Seeing the condition of
things, he expressed sympathy with the Italians in their
struggle under the leadership of Garibaldi. The French
Government, disavowing his acts, recalled him and let
loose the French army upon the Romans. Subsequent
results proved the correctness of De Lesseps' position.
Out of government employ De Lesseps went to
Egypt in 1854 and projected the construction of the great
interoceanic Suez' Canal. As is frequently the case, the
government refused its authorization. The state engi¬
neer condemned the project as chimerical. In the face
of great opposition and the need of enormous sums of
money, De Lesseps deported himself with such tact and
indomitable energy, by social persuasion, personal inter¬
views with statesmen and capitalists, that public sym¬
pathy, confidence and support secured to him the sup¬
port of the government, and in 1869 the completion of
the canal was celebrated with imposing ceremonies.
France has reason to be proud of the man who won
for her such honor, and the Suez Canal will ever point to
the enterprise and perseverance of the man who carried
to a successful end a gigantic scheme, hedged about with
great difficulties.
The benefits of this waterway suggested a similar
canal across the Isthmus of Panama. The Panama
canal project met with great opposition, and ended not
only in failure, but led to great scandals. Charges of
corruption so shook the French republic that disruption
was for a time threatened. De Lesseps, although eighty-
eight years old, was sentenced to fine and imprisonment.
Many prefer to believe that bad men used his honored
name for selfish purposes, while the commercial world,
profiting so greatly by his labors, will have cause to re¬
member him gratefully as a benefactor, yet the sad end
of this man, so great in many respects, leaves a blot upon
a record magnificent as a whole, but ending in great
disappointment and disgrace.
320
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
WILLIAM M. TWEED.
One ol the greatest questions agitating the public
mind in the countries having a republican form of
government is the control of the large cities. This ques¬
tion is becoming a serious one in the United States.
Washington, in his farewell address, foreseeing this ap¬
proaching evil, warned against the dangerous and cor¬
rupting tendency of political combinations and associa¬
tions. "Tammany" had already been organized at that
time. Out of respect for Washington many withdrew.
Tammany is greater than any party, since it is master of
parties. In local elections it has become almost im¬
pregnable. The strength of the organization is appar¬
ent when we consider that it has a committee in every
voting district and a central committee of more than one
thousand members. The permanency of the organiza¬
tion, now more than a hundred years old, is due largely
to the sagacity of its leaders.
WILLIAM M. TWEED.
321
Notable among these is William M. Tweed, who,
although uneducated, entered politics when a very young
man. He was early known as "boss" of Tammany, and
although poor at first, he soon acquired means by a sys¬
tem of "raising" the amount of vouchers for city and
county work. Thus enormous sums were stolen by the
"Tammany ring" and divided among the members. The
power gained by the possession and use of so much money
prevented its members being brought to justice. Judges
and legislatures were bribed, bills were passed and de¬
cisions rendered in their favor. The exposure of the
system of robbery was made by the New York Times in
1872. Tweed was indicted, convicted and sentenced to
twelve years' confinement in the penitentiary. After
serving two years he was released on a legal technicality,
but was immediately arrested on a civil suit for six
millions. Being permitted to go out to drive with an
officer, he made his escape while paying a visit to his
wife and fled to Spain. He was caught and returned to
Ludlow Street Jail in 1876, where he died in 1878.
Here is a man who sought wealth and power and
who for a time seemed successful in their pursuit. Ap¬
parently he did not propose to obey God or to live for
a life to come. What he wanted was worldly prosperity.
He thought he had it. He went to Congress. He gath¬
ered his millions. He controlled the material interests
of the metropolis of his country. He openly defied pub¬
lic sentiment and courts of justice in the prosecution of
his plans. He was a brilliant and therefore a dangerous
example of successful villainy. His life was so marred
that nothing good was left. As he lay dying in a prison-
house in the city he once ruled, his confession of bitter
disappointment was, "My life has been a failure in every¬
thing. There is nothing I am proud of."
21
322
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
CHARLES STEWART PARNELL.
One of the saddest scenes in life's experiences is that
of a man who has been strong and powerful in defense of
the truth, who has with remarkable skill overcome the
forces of injustice and, as champion of the rights of an
oppressed people, has succeeded in bringing about meas¬
ures and means that have been a blessing to multitudes—
to see such a man, apparently the very embodiment of
noble and manly qualities, overcome and crushed by his
own secret sins, after years of unselfish labors for the
elevation of others—this, we say, is as sad a scene as can
be pictured.
Charles Stewart Parnell was born of an aristocratic
family in Ireland in 1847. He inherited a large estate and
received a liberal education. In 1876 he entered Parlia¬
ment and at once became the champion of the Irish cause.
He displayed remarkable ability, both as a parliamentary
OHiAJEtLES STEWART PARNELL.
323
debater and tactician and as an organizer in the interest
of the Irish "home rule" party. With eloquence peculiar
to himself, a reserve force of self-control, and a powerful
will, he became the shrewdest and most fully trusted
leader of the Irish cause in Parliament. His masterful
control of himself and of his forces won to him the respect
even of those who differed from him in political meas¬
ures. His greatness became greater in the eyes of the
world when he offered of his own accord to retire from
public life, if, in the judgment of Gladstone, this act
would be helpful to the Irish cause. Many believed him
to be a man who would live permanently in history. But
ah! the secret sin, so long cherished and so long
hidden from the public eye, caused him to fall. In 1890
all the world was shocked at the uncovering of his shame.
He was asked to resign, but his sin had changed his
whole nature. Justin McCarthy, who had been his dear¬
est friend, says: "He seemed suddenly to have changed
his whole nature. We knew him before as a man of
superb self-restraint, cool, calculating, never carried from
the moorings of his keen intellect by any waves of pas¬
sion around him. We had now in our midst a man
seemingly incapable of self-control; a man ready at any
moment, and on the smallest provocation, to break into
a very tempest and whirlwind of passion; a man who
could descend to the most trivial and vulgar personalities,
who could encourage and even indulge in the most ig¬
noble and humiliating brawls." This gifted man, once
almost idolized, died in 1891, dishonored, disgraced and
forsaken by his best and trusted friends. An awful end!
And yet it was the one sin of lust that ruined him.
The noblest purpose of a soul is a desire to raise
itself and others to a higher plane.
324
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH.
Man is frequently a bundle of strange inconsistencies.
While on the one hand he exhibits elements and traits
of character of singular excellency, on the other hand the
presence of opposite qualities, such as selfish ambition,
pride, or the inordinate love of money, make life seem a
great battlefield in which these strangely contrasting ele¬
ments seek to gain the ascendency. The problem of life
is solved in the triumph or defeat of the nobler qualities
of manhood. No man can serve two masters, neither
can these opposing elements both control life. The ex¬
cellencies will suppress and root out the meaner qualities,
or the latter will gain the ascendency and at last destroy
every vestige of noble, virtuous manhood.
John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, was without
doubt the greatest general and statesman of his time.
At sixteen, without having received much education, he
became a page and then ensign of guards under the Duke
of York. He aided in the relief of Tangiers in Africa
THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. 325
against the attacks of the Arabs. After his return to
England he rose rapidly. His brilliant courage and abil¬
ity in a campaign in Holland won to him even greater
praise. The love of military adventure, chivalrous am¬
bition and the love of money burned with equal ardor in
his bosom. His prosperity was still further secured by
his marriage with Sarah Jennings, a lady as remarkable
for her talents and imperious disposition as for her
beauty. He took an active part in suppressing Mon¬
mouth's rebellion, but on the landing of the Prince of
Orange he very unscrupulously passed over to the side
of the invader and was rewarded by being made Earl of
Marlborough. He aided in subduing Ireland and dis¬
played great ability as a general in campaigns against
France. At last he fell into disfavor with the King and
was dismissed from all his offices. He was even thrown
into the Tower for a short time on the charge of main¬
taining treasonable correspondence with the exiled king.
The death of William and the accession of Anne to the
throne, in 1702, made Marlborough virtually regent, al¬
though he did not have the title. His wife governed th£
Queen and he himself directed the minister, Godolphin.
His subsequent conquests caused the Queen and Parlia¬
ment to bestow many honors upon him. But reverses
came. The Queen threw off the tyranny of the Duchess
of Marlborough, which had become intolerable. Marl¬
borough was again deprived of offices, but remained a
member of Parliament until. his death, which occurred
in 1722. He left an immense fortune and a military fame
surpassed only by Wellington.
'Marlborough was without doubt guilty of political
dissimulation. His inordinate love of money and am¬
bition that knew no bounds, although associated with
high and noble qualities, left him a name immortalized by
a genius which at once illustrates and brands it.
EDGAR ALLAN POE.
327
EDGAR ALLAN POE was born in Baltimore in
1811. When he was four years old his parents both
died, leaving- him utterly destitute. Edgar was adopted
by Mr. John Allan of Richmond. Here he had all the
care that wealth could provide. He was soon found to
be a genius. Mr. Allan endeavored to give him a good
education. He graduated from the University of Vir¬
ginia in 1826. He then expressed a wish to enter the
army, and through Mr. Allan's influence obtained a
cadetship at West Point. Here he grossly neglected his
duties, drank to excess and was finally dismissed. Mr.
Allan again received him kindly upon his return to Rich¬
mond, but Poe's conduct compelled him to turn him
away. Then he turned his attention to literature, and
wrote for different magazines, and reviews. While he
was editor of a review in Richmond he married his cousin.
He then settled in Philadelphia and after some years
moved to New York. Many of his wonderful stories
were published during these years. In 1845 his famous
poem, "The Raven," appeared. In 1848 his wife died,
and he then returned to Richmond. In 1849 he
Richmond by train. He quitted the train at Baltimore
and some hours after was found in a drunken stupor and
taken to a hospital, where he died in a few days.
These facts were undisputed at the time and there
are men still living who worked in the same office with
Poe and who have picked him up out of the gutter, too
drunk to walk, and taken him to his home. Strange that
some of those charmed by Poe's literary talent would at¬
tempt to paint up his personal habits and make him as¬
sume the garb of purity. Poe was a genius. Let him
survive in his charming stories and poetry, but justice
demands that we pass over his personal traits in silence or
else present them in their reality. Sad that man so
eifted should dishonor his Maker and die a sot.
o
328
TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
ROBERT BURNS. LORD BYRON.
BURNS AND BYRON.
Allan Cunningham says, "Robert Burns and George
Gordon Byron were great, though not equal, heirs of
fame. The fortunes of their birth were widely dissimilar,
yet in their passions and in their genius they approached
a closer resemblance; their careers were short and glori¬
ous, and they both perished in the summer of life, and in
all the splendor of a reputation more likely to increase than
diminish. One was a peasant and the other was a peer,
but nature is a great leveler, and makes amends for the
injuries of fortune by the richness of her benefactions; the
genius of Burns raised him to a level with the nobles of
the land; by nature, if not by birth, he was the peer of
Byron. They rose by the force of their genius, and they
fell by the strength of their passions. They both sang
of the emotions of their own hearts, with a vehemence
and an originality which few have equaled and none
surely have surpassed."
Robert Burns, the great lyric poet of Scotland, was
born in 1759. Although poor, his father gave him a
BURNS AND BYRON.
329
good education. He began making verse at sixteen,
while following the plow. His fame spread rapidly, un¬
til he associated with all that was eminent in letters, rank
and fashion. Wherever he went the wine glass was
liberally forced into his hands. He poured forth floods
of song full of passion and fervor, but the dissolute hab¬
its he had formed dragged him into poverty. His friends
forsook him and he died at thirty-seven, broken hearted,
dissolute and worn out. A moment brought a great
change. Living, he was forsaken and neglected; dead, a
great procession swept through the streets and did honor
to him who had been carried out of a home of poverty,
where scarce a meal was left to an affectionate wife and
loving children.
George Gordon Byron was born in London, January
22, 1788. He inherited his profligate and dissolute hab¬
its from his father, who squandered his fortune in de¬
bauch and at the gambling table. His mother was a very
passionate woman, often quarreling with her son, after
separation from her husband. Byron's first volume of
poems was published at eighteen, and was severely criti¬
cised. This sarcasm stung Byron into a poet. For a
time he became the most popular poet, but his revelries
and excesses made him very unpopular as an individual.
He separated from his wife and went to Italy, where
misery and indignation stimulated him to activity, but
his genius was tainted by his indulgences and debauchery.
He died in 1824 in Greece. His body was taken to Eng¬
land, but denied a resting-place in Westminster Abbey.
Burns and Byron! Each a genius gifted far above
the ordinary. What might they not have become? One
is overcome by the enchanted wine cup and the other
sinks into the lowest depths of profligacy. Both came
to an untimely end.
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
STEPHEN GIRARD.
This eccentric and remarkable man was a native of
France and early went to sea. After spending some time
at sea he entered into business in Philadelphia. Then
again he followed the profession of sea captain, and after¬
ward carried on a highly lucrative commerce to the West
Indies. As shipowner his mind was bent on one object—
the accumulation of riches. His ambition was to be
rich, not that he might enjoy riches, but that he might
die a millionaire. It is scarcely probable that he
possessed the faculty of enjoying himself, for his whole
appearance was that of intense business application. His
biographer says that Girard was unquestionably a crusty,
plodding, penurious man, singularly repulsive in appear¬
ance and awkward and vulgar in his address. It was with
the greatest difficulty that he could express himself in
broken English. Sympathy, feeling, pity, friendship,
love or commiseration were emotions that never ruffled
STEPHEN GIRARD.
331
the equanimity of his mind to such a degree as to relax
his energy of accumulation or impair the mass of money
that rose like mountains round about him. Friends, re¬
lations, old companions, confidential agents, or the gen¬
eral mass of mankind, might sicken and die around him
and he would not part with his money to relieve or to
save one among them. 'For the living he cared nothing.
His ambition was to be remembered and respected after
death. The good opinion of his fellow men he treated
with contempt and would sacrifice it at any moment for a
paltry sum. He paid the smallest wages for the largest
amount of work, and when possible took advantage to
cut down a workman's wages, even though that work¬
man had been in his employ for years.
He succeeded in amassing wealth, and soon attained
a position where he could become proprietor of a public
bank. This added greatly to his means of securing
wealth, so that a single venture more than once netted
him a half million. He died worth more than ten mil¬
lions. At his death he was mourned by no one, the event
being only one of curiosity how old Girard. had disposed
of his property. His enormous wealth was all given for
charitable purposes, principally in Philadelphia. The
largest part was given for the support of "Girard Col¬
lege," for which his will provided. He died at eighty-
two, unmourned, unloved by all.
There is absolutely nothing in Girard's life worthy
of hearty commendation, except his disinterested conduct
during the yellow fever crisis, when this wealthy mer¬
chant offered his services to nurse the sick. Unwilling
to give a dollar to save his friend, he risked his life to
alleviate the sufferings of strangers. A more remark¬
able compound of mean selfishness and noble philan-
throphy it is difficult to conceive of, much less to find.
Girard was mean, tyrannous, ignorant and utterly desti¬
tute of religious sentiment. His wealth he left not for
the good it might do, but that he might be remembered.
332
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
GEORGE ELIOT.
Mary Ann Evans was born in 1819, in Warwick¬
shire, in England. Her father was a carpenter and after¬
ward became a land agent. Little is known of her child¬
hood days. Her mother, a model of industry and punctu¬
ality as a housekeeper, died when Alary was but fifteen.
At this early age she took upon herself the cares of the
household, and it is positively affirmed that to her dying
day one of her hands remained larger than the other
from making and shaping with it so many pounds and
pats of butter and cheese. She was from childhood an
intense lover of books. Besides acquiring skill in labor¬
ing with patient cheerfulness at homely tasks, she studied
science, language, philosophy and mathematics. She
was well versed in Greek, Latin, Italian, French and Ger¬
man, and was a skilled player on the piano at twenty.
GEORGE EiLIOT.
333
At twenty-five she had become a remarkably well edu¬
cated woman, of great conversational powers. The sim¬
ple faith of her childhood that had led her to active work
in church and Sunday-school in early years, had by this
time undergone a remarkable change. Her first literary
work was a translation of Strauss' Life of Jesus. At
thirtv she became assistant editor of the Westminster Re¬
view. Soon after beginning her work as a writer of
fiction, she assumed the pseudonym, "George Eliot," by
which name she is best known. Her "Scenes of Clerical
Life" were received with general favor. For her next
work, "Adam. Bede," she received four thousand dollars.
Five thousand copies were sold the first two weeks.
Other volumes that were received, with great favor are:
"The Mill on the Floss," "Felix Holt," "Daniel De-
ronda," "Silas Marner" and "Romola." Upon the last-
named she spent a year and a half, and received for the
manuscript thirty-five thousand dollars.
George Eliot was a great woman, great in mind,
having a generous, sympathetic heart. Her natural
abilities were such that she ought to have exhibited to
the world a superior example of marked womanhood, but
when once faith becomes "liberal" in its tendency the re¬
sult is very uncertain. Miss Evans became acquainted
with a Mr. Lewes, of whom Dr. Lord remarks, "with
whom (his legal wife being still alive) he lived in open
defiance of the seventh commandment and the social
customs of England for twenty years." We are well
aware that a different construction is put upon this mat¬
ter by many writers, some even exonerating her from all
culpability, yet when the best possible is said of her, the
fact remains that her character is not full rounded, as it
ought to be. That scar, that blot, that marred what
might have been a beautiful whole, remains, even though
the hand of sympathy would hide it from view.
334
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
Queen Elizabeth, who ascended the throne of Eng¬
land at twenty-five, and who for forty-five years, through
internal division and strife and foreign intrigues, held her
place of power and the respect and good will of her peo¬
ple in general to the end—this queen, her history, her
reign, her motives, have been the subject of more writers
than ajiy other woman. And perhaps nowhere do such
diversified and conflicting opinions meet as in the esti¬
mates of the character of this great monarch of England.
While one praises her for bringing peace and prosperity
to a nation divided and heavily in debt, another finds
nothing good in her whatever and marks her reign as
arbitrary, tyrannical and despotic. One praises her for
establishing Protestantism as the religion of the land
against so many threatening obstacles; another blames
her for her hatred and persecution of the Puritans. One
severely criticises her for the cruel and repulsive deed
of signing the death warrant of a woman, Mary Queen of
Scots; another sees even in this act the salvation of both
sovereign and nation.
QtJEEN ELIZABETH.
335
It cannot be denied that Queen Elizabeth ascended
the throne in critical times. Dr. Lord says, "Let it be
borne in mind that she began her rule in perplexities,
anxieties and embarrassments. The crown was encum¬
bered with debts; the nobles were ambitious and factious;
the people were poor, dispirited, unimportant and dis¬
tracted by the claims of two hostile religions. Only one
bishop in the whole realm was found willing to crown
her." In addition to all this most of the European coun¬
tries were hostile to England. It is but just to say that
amid these many opposing and often conflicting interests
the sagacity o-f its ruler often prevented internal disrup¬
tions and foreign invasions. There was a rapid develop¬
ment of the industries of the nation, both in power and
wealth. Economy was practiced and encouraged and the
wealth of the nation was doubled during her reign.
And yet while she exhibited some marked traits of
character, her life as a whole was unquestionably greatly
marred by her coquetry, her proud, irritable and petulant
disposition. At the close of an eventful life this queen of
"A land of beauty
Fondled by the circling sea,"
whose banner floats in pride from many a castled crag, is
made to say, "Millions for a moment of time." Gladly
would she have surrendered pomp, power, and empire for
the sweet innocency of childhood; for
"A conscience free from sin!"
One writer says of her age: "It was an age of
political lying, but in the profusion and recklessness of
her lies Elizabeth stood without a peer in Christendom."
And thus, with her spirit tossed upon a sea of doubt,
restless and shuddering, this great queen surrenders her
earthly throne, and stands undistinguished amid a crowd
of spirits, a trembling subject at the bar of the King of
kings!
336
TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
CATHARINE II OF RUSSIA.
A fair-haired, well-formed and good-humored girl,
remarkable for her intelligence and her native dignity,
Catharine of Russia, then Princess Sophia of Zerbst,
passed her happy youth chiefly at the little town of Stet¬
tin. She was early instructed in the Lutheran faith.
Through her mother's influence she was chosen by Eliza¬
beth of Russia as the wife of Peter III, after having ac¬
cepted the faith of the Greek Church. She soon quar¬
relled with her husband, and each of them lived a life of
unrestrained vice. Upon the death of Elizabeth Peter
III ascended the Russian throne, but his profligacy had
already estranged many of his subjects. When it was
found that he intended to divorce Catharine and pro¬
nounce her only son, Paul, illegitimate, Catharine, with
the aid of able and intriguing leaders, succeeded one
night in reaching St. Petersburg and having herself de¬
clared empress of all the Russias. This was the more
CATHARINE II OF RUSSIA.
337
easily accomplished, as by her feigned loyalty to Russia
she had already won the hearts of the people. Peter III
was at the same time, in his palace eighteen miles away,,
plunged in dissipation. Catharine, having gained the
ascendency, there was nothing left to the dethroned czar
but to implore her mercy. But the relentless conspira¬
tors knew no pity. The chief of these was Alexey Orloff.
At the instigation, no doubt, of the empress, this savage
became the murderer of Peter III. Her unholy ambi¬
tion condemned to sorrow, disease and death a countless
host of vigorous men and helpless women and children.
Meanwhile Catharine gave her attention to improv¬
ing Russia. St. Petersburg she found a collection of
wooden hovels, and left it a city of granite and marble.
She dictated a code of laws, full of wisdom, benevolence
and learning, and greatly improved the conditions of the
peasant class. She gave herself to literature and gained
the affections of her people by founding schools and char¬
itable institutions, and in every possible way alleviated
the sufferings of the poor. She planned many internal
improvements; built canals, roads and bridges; enforced
justice; recommended morality; was assiduous in her
religious observances, and filled all Europe with the fame
of her liberality and beneficence. For thirty-four years
she reigned with supreme dominion and unbounded self-
indulgence. Ambition for herself was her ruling mo¬
tive. She crushed the feeble pretenders to her throne
with relentless hand. At her death, Paul, the new em¬
peror, had the coffin of Peter III placed beside hers, with
a lover's knot uniting them, on which was the motto,
"Divided in life, united in death." She was the mightiest
monarch oif her time, but history knows her only as a
woman devoid of principle, shameless in vice and gov¬
erned in all her actions by sensuality and selfish ambi¬
tions.
22
338 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
SARAH, DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.
Sarah Jennings, Duchess of Marlborough, was, with¬
out doubt, a great woman. She exerted a wider and
greater influence than any queen that ever graced Eng¬
land's throne. Born in 1660, she early came into the
service of the Duchess of York, and became the chosen
and most intimate friend of the Princess Anne, over
whom, after her accession to the throne, she exercised the
influence due to a superior and exceedingly active mind.
Her power was almost boundless; the Whig ministry de¬
pended upon her support and she disposed of places and
offices at her pleasure, and is even said to have accumu¬
lated money by the sale of them.
While power and political corruption are sometimes
sought to overcome still greater public evils, the Duchess
of Marlborough had no higher aim in all her selfish and
avaricious designs than that of enhancing the fortunes of
her own family. Sarah Jennings, although proud,
SARAH, DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH. 339
haughty and overbearing, was said to be "striking in her
appearance, with a clear complexion, regular features,
majestic figure and beautiful hair. She had great power,
of conversation, was frank, outspoken and amusing, but
without much tact." She became the inseparable com¬
panion of Anne, who was inordinately attached to her.
Upon the accession of Anne as queen, the Duchess of
Marlborough became the real ruler of the land. With
her daughters married to great statesmen and nobles, her
husband the greatest general of his age, and herself con¬
fidential adviser of the queen, she held a position of re¬
markable power and influence. But pride comes before
a fall. Her elevation but increased her insolent, acri¬
monious and selfish spirit. Queen Anne was not slow in
noticing the change and for a long time bore her friend's
intolerant pride. The duchess was no longer the grace¬
ful attendant of former years, and by her carelessness and
insolence greatly offended the queen. At last her rule
beca'me intolerable to the queen, and her cousin, whom
she herself had brought to court, supplanted her. Or
her dismissal her wrath was terrible, her ungovernable
temper gave vent in cursing and swearing. She long
survived her husband, living in complete retirement, and
died in 1744, leaving a fortune of £3,000,000 sterling.
The life of Sarah Jennings, although one of position,
wealth and honor, is sad in the extreme. In her old age
she had no intimate friends. Her conduct had even
alienated all of her children. Her life exhibits, as prob¬
ably no other, the vanity of worldly ambition. With all
her possessions, happiness was not her lot. This is se¬
cured only where the nobler virtues of true womanhood
exist.
340
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
MADAME DE MAINTENON.
For more than thirty years the subject of this sketch,
a woman extraordinarily gifted and possessed of many
noble and excellent qualities, exerted a remarkable in¬
fluence on the destinies of France.
Madame de Maintenon was born in a prison at
Niort, where her father was imprisoned. Upon his re¬
lease he took his wife and daughter to the West Indies,
where he died. The mother, returning to France with
her daughter, soon died, leaving the daughter to the
care of relatives, who educated her in a convent, and, after
an obstinate resistance on her part, succeeded in con¬
verting: her to the Roman Catholic faith, when she was
fourteen years old. It is said that she became dependent
upon one of her rich relatives and "the future wife of
Louis XIV could be seen on a morning assisting the
coachman to groom the horses."
MADAME DE MAINTENON.
343
Her one aim and desire seemed to be to shine in
brilliant society. At sixteen she married Scarron, a
popular poet, and lived in the midst of the refined and in¬
tellectual society that frequented the house of the poet.
On his death she was reduced to poverty, but soon after
was intrusted with the education of the two sons of
Madame d.e Montespan, mistress of Louis XIV. She
soon fascinated the king by her beauty and charming and
winning manners. After the death of the queen Louis
privately married her. As the wife of Louis XIV her
power became unbounded. The objecl for which she had
sought for years was attained, and her ambition was
gratified. She exerted a greater influence on the for¬
tunes of France than any other woman before or after
her. "No woman ever ruled with more absolute sway,
from Queen Esther to Madame de Pompadour, than did
she. She was the real ruler of the land." She exerted
her great influence in favor of morality and education.
She discouraged gossip and dissipation. She even un¬
dertook the great task of reforming the morals of the
court and of the king. Whatever tended to develop
the intellect or improve the morals of the people re¬
ceived her earnest support.
And yet, with all her wisdom and virtue, she had
many defects of character. Mainly through her influ¬
ence, the edict which Henry IV had granted was revoked,
which brought on one of the most cruel persecutions of
history, by which France lost hundreds of thousands of
her best people.
"Religious bigotry is eternally odious to enlight¬
ened reason. It left an indelible stain on the character
of the most brilliant and gifted woman of her times, and
makes us forget her virtues. With all her excellence she
goes down in history as a cold and intolerant woman
whom we cannot love."
There is one thing in the wide universe which is
really valuable, and that is Character. By this I mean
a confidence in the bosoms of those who know you, that
you have the power, the capacity, and the disposition to
confer happiness on others. Other things may be
deemed fortuitous; they may come and go; but character
is that which lives and abides, and is admired long after
its possessor has left the earth, the theater on which it
was displayed.—John Todd.
342
SIDELIGHTS
343
344
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
A MARKED CONTRAST.
It is sometimes surprising what great changes occur
in the appearances of a child, even in a few years. Prob¬
ably nowhere are these changes so marked as in insti¬
tutions in our large cities where the neglected and home¬
less children are gathered and taught and trained for
usefulness and good citizenship. The largest institu¬
tion of its kind is that originated by Dr. Thomas J. Bar-
nardo of England. For many years this institution has
been carrying on a great work. Thousands of children
have been rescued from a life of shame, vagrancy or prof¬
ligacy, and, after receiving a Christian training, have
been sent out into the world, many of them becoming
honored and respected citizens.
The accompanying illustrations show a little girl
when she was first received in the Home, and then her
greatly changed and improved appearance in later years,
after leaving the institution.
A MARKED CONTRAST.
345
Emma Gray Welch, fourteen years old, gave her
story before a London police court before she was ac¬
cepted by Dr. Barnardo. She could not remember any¬
thing- about her own mother, but was compelled by her
stepmother to sleep in the cellar and was never supplied
with proper food. Four times she had been burned with
a hot poker, often beaten with the leg of a chair, and once
hot tea was thrown over her. Most of these castigations
were given for taking food when she was hungry or for
incurring the wrath of her inhuman parents by some
slight offense. For five years she had been subjected to
these cruelties. Once her father kicked her in the mouth
and knocked out one of her teeth. Mrs. Welch once
placed her hand on a boiler and broke a knuckle with
the blunt side of a chopper. When rescued she wore
nothing but an old thin jacket and a piece of coarse sack¬
ing, fastened round her loins. It is gratifying to know
that the stepmother was sentenced to penal servitude for
life for doing her stepdaughter grievous bodily harm with
intent to kill, while the father was sentenced to penal
servitude for seven years.
But the change. What could be expected of her?
Given to theft, falsehood and a violent temper, she was
burdensome to those having charge of her. But slowly
her mind recovered from the effect of the treatment she
had received from her tormentors. Her mind gathered
strength daily, and she began to take a real interest in her
work. Her progress was marked. Her desire to do well
overcame her impulses to temper, and she was eventually
placed in the household of a lady who took an interest in
her. Emma, now bright, happy and contented and re¬
markably changed through the religious influences under
which she had come, showed a grateful spirit toward those
who had rescued her. Surely this was a remarkable
transformation. These experiences are sometimes re¬
peated by unselfish rescue workers in many places.
346
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
BARNEY'S DOUBLE FLAG*
A GOLDEN RULE PARABLE.
These illustrations and parable are copyrighted by the Golden Rule Comp¬
any and are here used by permission.
It was war time, and Barney was in trouble. He
owned a nice little cottage, which was directly between
the two opposing armies.
Now Barney cared nothing for his country, and
nothing for the country of the enemy, but he cared a
great deal for his trim little cottage; and so, when the
great iron balls began to hurtle through the air and snap
off trees like pipe-stems, Barney set his wits to work to
preserve the house, which he evidently must leave.
And this is the way he did it:
He had two flags, one of his own land and one of
the enemy's. These two flags were of the same size.
Placing them back to back, Barney pasted them together,
running wires through top and bottom, and craftily bend¬
ing- these so that the flags had quite a natural air of wav¬
ing in the breeze. Then he fixed the contrivance on a
pole on top of his cottage, the whole being made so firm
that no wind would shift it.
BARNEY'S DOUBLE FLAG. 347
Of course Barney took care that each flag' should
face the army that would best appreciate it. Then, with
a chuckle, Barney left his house to its fate.
There was a great battle, and Barney's house was
carefully respected by the gunners of either army, each
holding it to belong to a friend, and momentarily expect¬
ing it to be blown to pieces by the artillery opposite.
The issues of the battle, however, were undecided that
day, and in the night, as it chanced, the armies so shifted
their ground as to bring each in full view of the opposite
side of Barney's judicious flag.
And then there was an indignant cannonading! Such
an iron hail beat upon the cottage that in ten minutes
it was completely riddled with shot from both sides, and
both sides afterward pillaged it; so that when Barney
returned he found matters just twice as bad as they would
have been had he honestly chosen sides and raised a sin¬
cere banner.
Moral.—To pretend to be on both sides of a dispute
is a very dangerous matter, usually resulting in making
both sides your foes.—Caleb Cobweb.
REFORMING MEN.
349
REFORMING MEN.
Reform work is needed everywhere. It is needed
especially among our young men, where the forces of
evil make such awful ravages. This is true in city and
country. The temptations to evil habits besiege young
manhood on every side. The desire to appear well leads
to habits of extravagance, and these, in turn, let loose the
whole train of impurity in thought, of overstepping the
laws of chastity and purity, of the use of tobacco, of strong
drink, the clubroom, the gambling den, the brothel, lead¬
ing to the bottomless pit.
Reform work, we say, is certainly very much needed
among young men, but when a young lady assumes to do
that work, in a way suggested by the accompanying illus¬
tration, there can be no more dangerous undertaking. It
has been tried too often and always with the same sad re¬
sults. The more effectual way to reform young men is for
young ladies everywhere to refuse to receive the atten¬
tion of young men who are in any way tainted with these
evils. The high standard of virtue that men require of
young ladies is not too high for men. Their lives should
be as pure as those of women. "Purity of life is the pal¬
ladium of earthly happiness and the chief corner-stone of
society."
Let the young woman assert her independence and
have absolutely nothing to do with the young man whose
life is not pure. In doing this she will be able to' do the
young man the greatest kindness, and may save herself
from a life of misery and degradation. Take warning,
young lady, from the many who have tried in this way to
reform young men. Require of him to whom you pledge
your all that which you give—a pure, clean life.
Not what you could do if things were different, but
what you do with things in hand, shows the stuff you're
made of.
350
TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
WHICH WILL YOU CHOOSE?
351
WHICH WILL YOU CHOOSE?
"Of two evils choose the less," is an oft repeated
saying. And this is applied more frequently in the work
of temperance than in any other line. It is a subterfuge
and an excuse for defending one's action in voting for
high license .or any other remedy except prohibition.
This motto of choosing between evils is not in accord
with the highest morals and the law of Him who is our
pattern. According to the moral law, good and evil have
no affinity; neither should a man, a real man of nerve and
principle, have anything to do with evil. The rather
let our motto be, "Of two evils choose neither," for what
fellowship has light with darkness, or good with evil. If
the forces of sobriety, temperance and prohibition are
ever to succeed, the battle must be fought on this higher
and nobler plane. The enemy of strong drink will never
be defeated on his own grounds. He chuckles to see
the half-hearted, cringing, vote-seeking politician sug¬
gesting a choice of evils.
Princely manhood rises above these miasms of dan¬
ger and death and never chooses between evils. In this
battle, as in all others, there is no neutral ground. The
choice is between right and wrong, between the home
and the saloon, between the purity in thought and life
and everything that degrades and debauches. There can
be no middle ground. While we may assent to measures
that lead to the objective point, yet in no sense can true
manhood assent to evil. Burn this truth into the man¬
hood of our nation, and politics will be purified of its ap¬
parent mixture of good and evil. The forces of right
and truth united against any evil will speedily overthrow
it. This is as true of intemperance as of any other evil.
Never hope to hold a neutral position toward an
evil. That which you do not positively discourage, you
encourage.—Ram's Horn.
35a
TRAITS OP CHARACTER.
THE ATTACK.
A vicious goat one day found his way into forbidden
ground and came to a garden swing that had the head of
a ram carved on the end. The goat, mistaking the object
for a live animal, asserted his natural proclivities and
prepared for an attack.
There are those who are always on the lookout for
something against which they can butt. Nine-tenths or
the evils, wrongs and opposing forces are products of
their own mind. But all the same they are ready without
invitation to begin the attack. This goat-like spirit ex¬
hibits itself Avhenever their wishes are crossed or even
not consulted.
THE RESULT.
353
THE RESULT.
As the swing moved from the goat, the animal was
the more encouraged, but receding, it came with such
force that the result was not favorable to thfe poor goat.
Picking itself up, it limped away, humbled and wiser for
its experience. Even from a dumb animal valuable les¬
sons may be learned. The result in one case is not
unlike the experience in the other. The attack upon
imaginary wrongs may prove to be a boomerang and
many recoil upon the originator.
Be sure you are right and then go ahead, is a good
motto to observe. Stand invincibly for the truth and
against wrong, but be sure that it is not a "swing" that
invites your opposition,
rr
354
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
LABOR WITHOUT PROFIT.
Here is a man working hard at a pump. He is in
no sense an idler. Industry characterizes his every ac¬
tion. He is doing his very best to fill the tub with water,
so that it may overflow at the profit's spout at the top.
He succeeds in raising the water, for he has a good pump
and there is an abundance of water in the well. And yet
with all his effort he cannot succeed in filling that tub.
Not a drop reaches the profit's spout. The reason is
very evident. You say the tub leaks too much to make
his efforts a success. Mend the tub, close up the large
cracks in some way and the tub will soon be full.
How representative of many men. They are ear¬
nest, energetic, industrious, and work hard to accumulate
sufficient to live comfortably and not depend upon others.
LABOR WITHOUT PROFIT.
355
But they never succeed in getting ahead. The fault is
not in that they do not make money, for they have good
pumps and the-wells are full of water. They succeed in
raising the water. That is, they are engaged in lucra¬
tive employment, in business that gives valuable returns;
but in spite of all this, in spite of their efforts to get ahead,
they are never able to make ends meet. They make an
honest effort, but fail to realize where the leak is, and
hence never reach the profit line.
One of the reasons, and probably the reason in a
majority of such cases, is the large expense account.
The desire to live a little above one's neighbor, the desire
to have a good standing in society and in the community,
often persuades an increase of expenses beyond that war¬
ranted by the income. Of course the increase is gradual,
and not apparent until it may be too late. Loose busi¬
ness methods and bad management may also often ac¬
count for the waste which prevents profits.
In all such cases the remedy is apparent. It is not
in an increase of profits, for that will but lead to a greater
waste, but it consists in cutting down expenses and look¬
ing to a better management. "Live within your income"
is an old and well-worn motto, and yet it cannot be im¬
proved upon. Hard times generally result from not
heeding this motto. It seems to be an exceedingly dif¬
ficult thing to cut down expenses and to deny one's self
many of the luxuries when once they are indulged in.
Pump away, my friend, keep pumping; but first of all see
that your tub' has no leaks.
It is not what comes into a man's hands that enriches
him, but what he saves from slipping through them.
356
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
Little James delighted to play with the calf that was
tied to the chestnut tree in the meadow. He found that
by running after it and calling out he was able to frighten
it. The calf ran faster than he could, and little James,
being nearer the tree than the calf, soon found that the
rope was being wound around him and drawing him
tightly up against the tree. It was fun for a time, but the
frightened calf continued to run around the tree in the
same direction. At last matters became more serious.
James began to cry and the innocent calf, not knowing
enough to unwind the rope, assisted James in making
noise, each seeming to vie with the other. In this laugh¬
able condition they were found by wiser heads, who soon
released them.
Life is a tissue of habits. How, like the little boy,
we playfully allow bad habits to wind round us until we
are held in their grasp. Habits of doing, being, saying;
habits that overcome us in our best efforts. Habits of
eating, of sleeping, of working or of not working.
BOUND BY HABITS.
357
Of bad habits, the most common one is that of mak¬
ing excuses. Excuses for tardiness, for incivility, for
lack of industry, for any lack in any particular. The
habit of excuse-making obliterates all distinction be¬
tween doing and not doing. It sears the conscience and
breaks down the distinctions between truth and falsehood.
The reason given in the excuse at last becomes simply a
subterfuge to hide one's failings. The habit of making
excuses leads from apology to deception, and at last to
downright lying.
Some persons excuse the formation of bad habits in
youth, by saying that there is a time to sow wild oats.
Thomas Hughes says, "The only thing to do with wild
oats is to put them into the hottest part of the fire and get
them burned to dust. If you sow them, no matter in
what ground, up they will come, with long, tough roots
and luxuriant stalks and leaves. You, and nobody else,
will have to reap them."
In contrast with bad, rude, or even indifferent habits,
how refreshing and inspiring are the refined, elevating,
courteous and unassuming habits of a true gentleman.
In appearance, having the grace of personal neatness;
refined at the table, polite, affable and unobstrusive in
all relations with others; cultivating a low, gentle voice,
a quiet, winning manner and a general bearing that at¬
tracts. Honesty of purpose and purity of life must, of
course, lie at the foundation of gentlemanly habits.
Without these there is the seeming to be, without the
reality. A pure life is the strength of man, as it is the
beauty of woman.
I hev often noticed that the man who would have
done such wonderful things ef he had been thare never
gits thare.—Josh Billings.
358 TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
AXIS OF THE EARTH.
It is all very well for a man to believe that the earth
rotates on its axis; but when he becomes thoroughly con¬
vinced that he himself is the axis, the less you have to
do with him the better. This may seem to be a strange
statement, but investigation will show that there are more
young men of this class than is generally supposed.
Many young men seem to think that because they are
on the stage of action, the world ought to spin faster on
its axis. They see nothing of so great importance as
AXIS OF THE EARTH.
359
their own greatness. Someone has suggested an excel¬
lent remedy for removing the self-conceit from these
aspiring ones. Wherever it is closely followed there
ought to be a marked improvement if not a perfect cure.
It is this: Go down to a running brook or river. Stoop
over and thrust a needle into the running water. With¬
draw it and mark the hole or opening it has made in the
water. As the flowing water covers all traces of the
needle, so time rolls on and covers over the place you
occupy, and you are forgotten.
In a large mill it is not the noise of the wheels nor
the hum of voices, nor the bustle and stir that counts,
but the grist. So in life, it is not what we seem to be in
our own eyes, nor the amount of commotion and attrac¬
tion that we are able to arouse, but the real, downright
effort that ends in results, which counts. Not what we
are, but what we are able to perform; what we do*—this
alone is of lasting benefit.
There are many societies and associations that look
like great manufactories, but the actual outcome of all
their work could be stored in a four by six closet. There
are many men who think that they would be sadly missed;
but in the vicissitudes of life, the real benefit they are to
mankind is exceedingly small. It might be well to pay
more attention to others, and less to self, in such cases.
No man is safe from the temptation of thinking him¬
self an axis around which at least a part of the world ro¬
tates; but he may, with motives of true manhood, rise
above all these and be what he seems to be.
A Short Cut.—Two negro boys were quarreling.
One was exhausting his vocabulary in abusive epithets.
The other calmly said: "Are you troo?" "Yes!"
"You ain't got nuffin more to say?" "No." "Well, all
dem tings what you called me, you is.""
360
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
AN IRISH OBSTRUCTIONIST.
The above is a scene in Ireland. The boy and his
sisters are eagerly exerting all their power to remove the
obstruction, but the brute will go neither forward nor
backward. With all the pushing and pulling it simply is
determined to hold the right of way.
Not all obstructionists are quadrupeds. Not at all
unlike the above situation are we sometimes required,
AN IRISH OBSTRUCTIONIST.
361
in a more serious and more momentous sense, to face
obstructions that may mean much in determining the
welfare of*a community and of individuals as well.
Obstructionists, did you say? Yes, they are of va¬
rious aspects, depending very much upon conditions and
surroundings. There is the obstructionist in the home,
who impedes the progress of comfort, of enlightenment,
of intelligence, of civility, decorum and a general regard
■for the happiness of others, or of the moral and religious
development of the members of the family. This may be
shown in carelessness, in a lack of comprehension, in a
lcvve for hoarding money, or in an innate depravity of
soul.
The public obstructionist always believes in doing
things in the old way, and has no eye to modern inven¬
tions and improvement. He is always on the "object¬
ing" side of things and cannot be convinced that he is
wrong. In politics he always votes his party ticket; the
party can never be wrong, for was it not his party that
saved the country? No change of circumstance or place
can change his mind.
Then there is the obstructionist in the church, who,
by his ideas, hinders the effectiveness of any effort to ad¬
vance the interests and make more powerful the influ¬
ence of true godliness.
Obstructionists! How they spring up where least
expected, and always, as in the illustration, plant them¬
selves right in the middle of the road. Forward they will
not go, and backward they cannot be forced. Some¬
times it is best, as in a railroad wreck, to build a track
around them, or even over them. As a rule they are a
hopeless class.
"To err is human." That is sound doctrine: nor
is it hard to live up to.—Ram's Horn.
362
TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
GETTING ENOUGH.
Two boys, bent on amusement, with probably a
tinge of mischief in their natures, came to a large pump
used in filling reservoirs or tanks. Dirty and thirsty,
they concluded to contrive a plan by which they might
wash their faces and quench their thirst. At last one,
who was more far-seeing than the other, suggested that
GETTING ENOUGH. 363
they in turn climb up, and while one was pumping, the
other was to place his mouth under the spout and quench
his thirst. The one boy was very willing to let his com¬
panion drink first, for he all the while saw that a joke
might be played. His companion crawled up and sig¬
naled his readiness. The boy at the handle used his
opportunity and pumped with a will. The force of so
large a quantity of water, rushing right into the face of
the poor boy, did not have the expected result. He had
all he could do to keep from falling down, and with all
the water, was not able to quench his thirst. As can be
seen, his companion enjoyed the scene to his satisfaction;
but poor Ben got enough, and more than enough, and
still was thirsty.
In life's varied experiences there are those who, in
seeking to satisfy their wants, are so overwhelmed with
an abundance that the satisfaction and pleasure imagined
is never realized. Let the thing sought for be money,
pleasure, or the gratification of any other desire. How
often is the man who makes wealth his objective point
in life, when he is about to realize his desired object, over-
helmed with that which he seeks, and all satisfaction or
enjoyment is gone. Like the boy at the pump, he has
all he can do to keep from falling, and does not in any
measure succeed in satisfying his desires. The man who
* is controlled by his appetites and passions, does not real¬
ize his danger until, overwhelmed by the forces let loose
upon him, he finds that the tide of evil in no way or man¬
ner satisfies the longings of the human heart. The boy
at the pump should have taken the proper method, and
used a cup. The "cup of salvation" will always satisfy
and give to manhood a force and power not found else¬
where.
Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wings,
those who cheer to-day will curse to-morrow, only one thing
endures—character!—Horace Greeley.
364
HORACE GREELEY,
Founder of the New York Tribune.
365
Let our lives be pure as snowfields, where our
footsteps leave a mark but not a stain.—Madame
Swetchine.
Character is bounded on the north by sobriety,
on the east by integrity, on the west by industry, and
on the south by gentleness.—Frances E. Willard.
366
INDEX.
Above the clouds, 70.
Achievements of early manhood,
196.
Affectation, 19.
Affection, filial, 60.
Agassiz, Louis, 174.
Alexander I., personal character,
9.
Alexander the Great, 74.
Alpine tourists, 70.
America, 241.
Archimedes, 136.
Arkwright, Richard, 173, 186, 187.
Arnold, Benedict, 205.
Arnold, Matthew, on civility, 180.
Ashamed of his mother, 104.
As you see it, 170.
At Eventide, 206.
Avernus, 54.
Axis of the earth, 358.
Bacon, Leonard, 127.
Bacon's Novum Organum, 207.
Bacon, Roger, 195.
Bailey, on humility, 115.
Barnato, Barney, 314.
Barney's flag, 346.
Barton, Clara, 308.
Beecher, Henry Ward, on Bull
Run, 164.
Billings, Josh, 310.
Boasting, 114.
Bound by Habits, 356.
Booth, Mrs. Catharine, 306.
Bright, John, 197.
Bryant, William Cullen, on truth,
24.
Bryan, W. J., his opportunity, 47.
Brooks, Phillips, 109, 163.
Bruce, Robert, 162.
Bruno, 195.
Bulwer, on economy, 168.
Bunyan, John, 242; his Pilgrim
Progress, 71.
Burns, Robert, 328; on pleasure,
54; on seeing oneself, 82.
Burnside, General, 164.
Bushnell, on difficulties, 172.
Butterworth, Hezekiah, on dan¬
ger, 134; on character, 208.
Byron, Lord, 328; his profligacy,
141.
Calumny, 26.
Canning, on character, 8.
Capital and Labor, 142.
Carey, Wm., 250.
Carter, John, 172.
Catching the wind, 100.
Catharine II. of Russia, 336.
Chameleon, 92.
Changing guideboards, 128.
Character, 8.
Charity, 74.
Charles XII., 166.
Chatham, 17.
Cheerfulness, 182.
Chesterfield, on applause, 146.
Childs, George W., 266.
Christian Soldier and Hero, 68.
Churchill, John, 324.
Cicero, on riches, 174.
Civility, 180.
Clarke, Ada, 66.
Clay, Henry, 197.
Cnidus, 31.
Coates, woes of drunkenness, 202.
Cobbett, William, 186.
Coleridge, 133.
Colt, Samuel, 197.
368
IND3X.
Complaining, 154.
Concentration, 132.
Confidence, 98.
Confucius, on rising after a fall,
34.
Cook, Joseph, 142, 260; his lec¬
tures, 261.
Cooke, Mrs. Bella, 302.
Cooper, Peter, 163, 212.
Corderoy on Alps, 70.
Covetousness, 148.
Cowper, on idlers, 56; on habit,
108; on civility, 180.
Criticism, 155.
Crompton, 194.
Cromwell, Oliver, 25, 197.
Crosby, Fannie J., 300.
Cunningham, Allan, on Burns and
Byron, 328.
Ouyler, T. L., 121.
Cyrus,. on truth, 19.
Dana, M. M., on finding men, 33.
Danger near coast, 134.
Darling, Grace, 282.
Davy, Sir Humphrey, on Fara¬
day, 33.
Deceiving children, 126.
Defeat in Victory, 166.
Delusion of Riches-, 174.
Determined Will, 158.
Diogenes, 32.
Disraeli, 77, 159, 173; on oppor¬
tunity, 46; on looking up, 58.
Dodder plant, 130.
Dodge, William E., 210.
Dog in Manger, 72.
Double Standard, 139, 141.
Douglas, Stephen A., 163; on
civility, 181.
Douglass, Frederick, 238.
Dow, Neal, 262; oni impossibility,
17.
Downward Steps, 80.
Drummond, Henry, 130.
Duchess of Marlborough, 338.
Duke of Marlborough, 324.
Dull boys, 196.
Eagle and Humming Bird, 124.
Economy, 168.
Eoonomy of Gladstone, 215.
Eddystone lighthouse, 12.
Edmond, J., on pleasure, 55.
Egotism, 88.'
Eliot, George, 332.
Emerson, on difficulties, 172.
Erect or stooped, 58.
Error, 18.
Evans, Mary Ann, 332.
Example of parents, 67.
Faith removes fear, 40.
Falsehood, 19.
Famous sons of poverty, 186.
Faraday, Michael, 33.
Farinelli's egotism, 89.
Farrar, Canon, on little things,
124; on sympathy, 144.
Fault-finding, 42, 154.
Fawcett, Henry, 77.
Filial affection, 60.
Filial ingratitude, 62.
Finding men, 32.
Fitch, on promptness, 137.
Flattery, 152.
Foundations, 84.
Fox, Charles J., 197; on success,
165.
Franklin, Benjamin, 197; his suc¬
cess, 9; on economy, 168.
Fry, Elizabeth, 272.
Galileo's retraction, 25; enthusi¬
asm, 199.
Garfield, J. A., 186.
Garibaldi, 316; his soldiers, 11.
Garrison, Wm. Lloyd, 234.
Getting enough, 362.
Gilder, R. W., on failure, 162.
Girard, Stephen, 330.
Gladstone, 197, 214; enthusiasm,
199; concentration, 133; on criti¬
cism, 27.
Goethe's saying and talent, 15.
Goldsmith, 165; on riches, 174.
Good intentions, 118.
Good resolutions, 116.
Gough, J. B., 264; on opportunity,
47.
Grant, U. S., 109, 159.
Greeley, Horace, 163; on charac¬
ter, 364.
INDEX.
369
Grosenbaugh, Mrs. Rev. L., on
purity, 139.
Grouchy at Waterloo, 136.
Gurney, on concentration, 132.
Guthrie, on idleness, 57.
Habits, 108.
Hale, on commending, 115.
Hall, John, his character, 9.
Hall, Robert, 199; on lying, 127;
on flattery, 153.
Harper, Mrs. F. E. W., on op¬
portunity, 47.
Havergal, Frances Ridley, 298.
Having an aim, 36.
Haydn, 207.
Henry, Patrick, 163.
Hermit-crab, 130.
Herrick, on presumption, 90: on
defeat, 164.
Heroism, 68.
Hervey, on applause, 147.
Hillis, Newell Dwight, on char¬
acter, 4.
Holland, J. G., on noble deeds, 78;
on shunning temptations, 310.
Holmes, O. "W., on complaining,
155.
Horner, Francis, success, 10.
Howard, John, 218.
Howe, Elias, 197.
Hugo, Victor, on faith, 40.
Humboldt, 207.
Hunter, on conquering, 159.
Hutton, Richard, on Cardinal
Newman, 249.
Huxley's driver, 37.
Hypocrisy, 30.
Impatient of results, 112.
Impossibilities, 16.
In deep water, 52,
Ingratitude, filial, 62.
Irish nobleman, 122.
Irish obstructionist, 360.
Irritability, 43.
Jackson, Stonewall, 164.
Jefferson, Thomas, 9.
Jennings, Sarah, 338.
Joan of Arc, 198.
Johnson, Samuel, 165.
Judson, Mrs. Ann H., 286.
Kingisley, Charles, on concentra¬
tion, 133; on enthusiasm, 199.
Kitto, 77.
Kneller, egotism, 89.
Kossuth, Louis, 216.
Labor without profit, 354.
Lacon, on calumny, 26.
Lamb, Charles, on drinking, 81.
Lead, Kindly Light, 248.
Lesseps, F. De, 318.
Lifters and Leaners, 188.
Light, burning and shining, 12.
Light without heat, 14.
Lincoln, Abraham, 163, 186; char¬
acter, 9; determination, 158.
Linn, S. P., on faith, 41.
Liszt and his pupil, 75.
Little foxes, 42.
Little things, 124.
Living so as to be missed, 190.
Livingstone, 191.
Livingstone, Mrs., grave in
Africa, 190.
Longfellow, on a hero, 69; on at¬
taining nobility, 34; on great¬
ness, 193.
Lord, Dr. John, on Queen Eliza¬
beth, 335.
Losing the thread, 34.
Lost at Harbor's Mouth, 204.
Lovejoy, E. P., 25, 232.
Lowell, James Russell, on no¬
bility, 4; on truth and false¬
hood, 18.
Luther, Martin, 244.
Lyon, Mary, 294.
Maintenon, Madame De, 340.
Mann, Horace, 258.
Marden, on looking upward, £8;
on character building, 85; on
will, 158.
Marked contrast, 344.
Marked manhood and woman¬
hood, 209.
Marred manhood and woman¬
hood, 311.
Mather, Cotton, on rashness, 91.
Mauritius slave, 62.
McAuley, Jerry, 254.
McCarthy, Justin, on Parnell, 323.
McCheyne, Robert, 190.
370
INDEX.
McClure, J. G., on light, 13.
McKenzie, Alexander, 58.
Miller, J. R., on opportunity, 47.
Milton's character, 141.
Mirabeau, 17; on impossibilities,
159.
Mitchell, Maria, 296.
Montgomery, on Winkelrled, 103.
More, Hannah, on flattery, 152.
Morton, Dr. Wm. GVT., 194.
Mother's blessing, 184.
Mothers of great men, 184.
Mott, Lucretia, 292.
Muckrake, 20.
My papa, 140.
Napoleon, Ms presence, 9; cross¬
ing Alps, 16; egotism, 89: on ap¬
plause, 147; unsympathetic na¬
ture, 305.
Newman, Cardinal, 248.
Nightingale, Florence, 280.
Nusbaum, Key. C., sketch of
Grace White, 288.
On the borderland of crime, 56.
Opportunities, improving, 46.
Oyerbury, on boasting, 115.
Overcoming difSculties, 172.
Overconfldence, 22.
Overtaken by the tide, 50.
Parasites, 130.
Parental influence, 66.
Parental neglect, 64.
Parnell, C. S., 322.
Paton, J. G., 252.
Patrick's advice, 51.
Patriotism, 102.
Peabody, George, 220.
Peel, Sir Robert, 197.
Pharos lighthouse, 12.
Philip, King of Macedon, 36.
Phillips, Wendell, 228.
Pitt, William, 196; concentration,
133.
Poe, E. A., 326.
Pope, E. J., 50.
Pope, Alex, on wealth, 72; on mis¬
chief, 80.
Porter, Pres., on levers that move
the world, 4.
Posthumous praise, 150.
Power of enthusiasm, 198.
Preston, Margaret, on praise, 150.
Presumption, 90.
Proctor, Adelaide, on charity, 74;
on true greatness, 192.
Promptness, 136.
Providential leadings, 38.
Pullman, George, his sons, 39.
Purity, 138.
Pythagoras, on life, 44.
Queen Anne and Sarah Jennings,
338.
Queen Elizabeth, 334.
Queen Louise of Prussia, 304.
Queen Victoria, 181.
Raleigh, on flattery, 153.
Ralph, the Rover, 129.
Reed, General, refused bribe, 11.
Reforming men, 348.
Reid, Isaah, 97.
Repression, 43.
Resisting temptation, 200.
Resolutions, 116.
Reynolds, Joshua, on enthusiasm,
199.
Richter, Jean Paul, 44.
Rollins, Alice, on idleness, 57.
Rothschilds, 9.
Ruskin's nobility, 59.
Safest method, 122.
Schorb, George, on laziness, 57;
on economy, 168.
Scott, Sir Walter, on deception,
126; his enthusiasm, 199.
Secret of Greatness, 192.
Seeking promotion, 96.
Self-will, 43.
Shadows, 83.
Shakespeare, on truth, 19; on in¬
gratitude, 62.
Shelley, Kate, 184.
Side by Side, 142.
Sidelights, 313.
Sill, E. R., on flattery, 153.
Slander, 26.
Smith, Mrs. Amanda, 290.
Smith, Rev. S. F., 240.
Smith, Sidney, estimate of
Horner, 11.
Socrates, 195, 205, 207; on riches,
174.
INDEX.
371
Somerset, Lady Henry, 278.
Southey, Caroline B., on watch¬
fulness, 64.
Spencer, on hypocrisy, 31.
Spreng, S. P., on stature, 59.
Spurgeon, 176, 197; on hypocrisy,
31; on catching wind, 100; on
covetousneiss, 148; on difficulties,
172.
Standing in the gap, 94.
Starting wrong, 156.
Stephenson, George, 186, 187.
Stopping to worry, 160.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 274.
Struggle for applause, 146.
Successful life, 176.
Sumner, Charles, 195, 226.
Swift, Dean, on flattery, 152.
Swing, David, on pleasure, 55; on
egotism, 88; on wills, 110; on
riches, 175.
Sympathy, 144.
Sympathy of Gladstone, 1135.
Talmage, on Sumne., 195.
Tammany, 320.
Taylor, James Brainerd, 256.
Tennyson, Alfred, on nobility, 8.
Thackeray, 173; on truth, 11.
The attack, 352.
The result, 353.
Thinking and doing, 28.
Thwing, E. P., on faith, 40; on
sympathy, 144.
Todd, John, 342.
Tolstoi, Count, 268.
Tramps, 86.
Trench, Archbishop, on murmur¬
ing, 154.
Trifles, 178.
Triumphs of manhood, 140.
Truth, 10.
Truth and error, 18.
Truth vindicated, 24.
Tupper, on economy, 168.
Turning winter into spring, 120.
Tweed, William M., 320.
Two ways, 44.
Unseen influences, 48.
Upward steps, 78.
Vain pursuits, 106.
Vanderbilt's opportunity, 47.
Victory in defeat, 164.
Washington, his character, 3, 159;
on calumny, 27.
Washington's secretary, 136.
Watt, James, 222.
Webster, 197; at Bunker Hill. 16;
on purity, 141; on Washington,
174.
Welch, Emma, 344.
Wellington, 9, 199.
Wells, A. R., on worry, 161.
Wesley, John, 246.
Wesley, Susanna, 270.
West, Benjamin, 185, 186, 207.
Which will you choose? 350.
Whipple, on impossibility, 17; on
will, 158.
White, Grace, 288.
Whitman, Dr. Marcus, 224.
Whitney, Eli, 197.
Wliittier, J. G., 230.
Wilberforce, William, 197, 236.
Wilcox, Ella Wheeler, on "Pretty
Soon," 29; on flaws, 74; on lean-
ers, 188.
Willard, Frances E-, 276; on Lady
Henry Somerset, 279; on Amanda
Smith, 291; on Character, 366.
Will, determined, 158.
Wills, making, 110.
Winkelried, Arnold von, statue
and bravery, 102.
Winthrop, on Washington, 174.
Wolf in sheep's clothing, 30.
Woolley, J. G., on opportunity, 47.
World's ingratitude, 194.
Worry, 160.
Worse than slavery, 202.
Yates, Richard, 312.
Young, on ingratitude, 62; on
boasting, 114.
Your shadow, 82.