o * • o Ho V e • » ^. ^ I "^ r. %'.'^ :, 5°^ °o ^•%. •^ ^ :♦ -^ ^ » • • , -<' «-0^ ^^^^ O , k .. V.!^\/ "°^*^"^/ V'^V ' 65 NOT IN THE CURRICULUM Not in the Curriculum A Book of Friendly Counsel TO Students By Two Recent College Graduates With an Introduction by Henry van Dyke New York Chicago Toronto Fleming H, Revell Company London and Edinburgh Copyright, 1903, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY (maech) LIBRaKY of CONCsPeSS Two Copies Received APR 4 1904 Copyright Ewtry CLASS ft- KXo. No. «IU' S 1^ ^ I'-g. •e ccc ec« t < «« « » '« * • c « New York: 158 Fifth Avenue Chicago: 6^ Washington Street Toronto: 27 Richmond Street, W London: 21 Paternoster Square Edinburgh: 30 St. Mary Street ro WOODROW WILSONy President of Princeton University y in Grateful Appreciation of Many Things Not in the Curriculum Learned from His Lips and His Life Contents * Introduction ...... 9 I. *How TO Begin 17 II. .Relations to Fellows ... 22 III. Friends 25 IV. Study 30 V. Athletics 34 VI. 'Ideals 38 VII. Disposal of Time .... 43 VIII. • How TO be Popular .... 46 IX. 'Use of Money 48 X. Self Help 51 XI. Conversation 54 XII. Exercise 57 XIII. Relations to Your College . 59 XIV. Practical Christianity . . 62 XV. Purity 65 XVI. Dealing with Doubt ... 68 XVII. A Word as to Drunkenness . 84 XVIII. Profanity 86 XIX. The Bible in College Life . 89 7 Introduction This book has been made by two young men whose college life I have had an opportunity to know, and who have taken me into their friendly counsels. They were men who did not neglect the curriculum. They did the work which was set for them in the courses of study, with serious industry and faithful en- deavor, and with success according to their different gifts. But meantime they were living with vigor and with joy, cultivating friendships with their com- rades, entering into the varied activities of the college world, developing physi- cally and socially as well as mentally, and getting the best that academic life has to offer. They did not stand apart in any sense, but they made their mark, quite naturally, by cheerful integrity and straightforwardness and all-round man- 9 lo Introduction hood. This much I take the liberty to say (without their knowledge or con- sent), because the value of a book like this depends a good deal on what lies behind it. It seems to me that the book must do good to other young men because it is genuine. It has grown out of real ex- perience and good work. This is what students need and like. The boy who goes away from home to get an education has a serious prob- lem to face. The question is not merely how shall he become a man, but what kind of a man shall he become? His training in certain liberal arts and exact sciences is important. If he shirks it, he turns his back on his first duty; and the failure here is very likely to give a lazy and shifty quality to his whole char- acter. But the finest of the arts is the art of living, and the highest of the sciences is the science of conduct. The true success of student-life does not lie in the attainment of scholarship alone, but in the unfolding of an intelligent, Introduction 1 1 upright, fearless, reverent, kind, and happy manhood, ready and glad to do good service in the world. It is for this that schools and colleges are founded. It is for this that they are supported by the commonwealth, and generously endowed by private bene- factors. It is for this that fathers and mothers make great and willing sacri- fices to give their boys an education. It is for this that the boys are set free from the necessity of earning their living in order that they may give their time and strength to learning how to live more largely and nobly and efficiently. And even if some of them help to *'work their way " through college, still more is given to them in the shape of privileges and opportunities than they can possibly pay for, just because the community thinks it is well worth while to make an investment in boys for the sake of get- ting a dividend in men. Every honest student is responsible for seeing to it that his part in this dividend is not passed. He must try to come out 12 Introduction of school and college worth more to the world than when he went in. In order to accomplish this he should get as much as his capacity will take from all sides of the academic life, mental discipline, training in expression, general culture, intercourse with equals and with superi- ors, good fellowship, and athletic games. And through it all he must be steadily learning how to obey in order that he may be fit to command, how to study in order that he may be fit to teach, how to develop his own personality in order that he may serve others with the best that is in him. Of course he will need guidance. He must have ideals. He can hardly get on without some kind of rules. Some of the best of these are made on the field, in the familiar *'give and take" of stu- dent-life. That is the nature of the counsels which are set down in this book. They are not artificial nor im- ported. They are native to the college world. And behind them, not con- cealed, nor obtruded, but frankly ac- Introduction 13 fenowledged, lies a sincere faith in plain Christianity as a guiding principle of conduct, a moulding force of character, a cheering influence in life, and an in- spiration to high and unselfish ambitions. Here is no theorizing, no speculation, no guessing at things beyond the hori- zon, no laying down of abstract and im- possible rules, no fumbling with uncer- tain questions. Here is nothing but a straightforward effort to translate certain broad and simple truths into the some- what free vernacular of the undergradu- ate, for practical use. The advice given in this book comes from the standpoint of two fellows who are in the game, though they have had a little longer experience in playing it than the other men. They do not speak ex cathedra ; they speak as comrades talk- ing to an under-classman, and telling him, in a general way, what he would better do if he wants to make his stu- dent-life move straight to the mark. How to find your own place among your fellows when you enter; how to 14 Introduction avoid thinking of yourself too much, or more highly than you ought to think; how to learn the a b c oi altruism by working for the welfare and honor of your college instead of for your own sel- fish interests; how to live cleanly, and grow strong in body and mind, and harmonize work with play, and keep a serious purpose in a cheerful existence; how to sympathize with your comrades without losing your independence of judgment and integrity of principle; how to make your personal influence, large or small, count for purity, and honesty, and kindness, and manliness, in the general life of the college; how to keep a firm hold on the vital faith, and a close con- tact with the spiritual realities, without which you can hardly live steadily, hope- fully, happily, and unselfishly, — these are the questions which a college student has to meet. And these questions are dealt with, very simply, in this little volume. The first draft of it was made by a man who after leaving college went to Introduction 15 work in a foreign land. He sent the manuscript home to his friend, who has edited it, and has added chapters xvi-xix, and some of the longer paragraphs in other chapters (in all about one-third of the book), growing directly out of the work which he has been doing here. I commend the book heartily to the readers for whom it is intended: the older boys in the secondary schools, and the men in the colleges and universities of America, among whom I am thankful to be a minister. Henry van Dyke. Avalottf Jan. 8, igo4. HOW TO BEGIN Realize at the start that your class will divide itself in time into those who fol- low and those who lead. The former are unfortunately much too numerous. They are characterized as good *' fel- lows," seldom as men. Their character and conduct depend largely on the '* crowd they travel with " and the com- pany in which they are. They let other men do their thinking for them and accept the ideas of these men without examining them for their worth. The men who lead, do so because they have a positive forcefulness about them. They may lead through ability; they may lead be- cause of personality. They may lead not at all officially, but by virtue of their convictions and their adherence to them they are recognized as leaders. Which sort of a man is it preferable to be? 17 l8 Not in the Curriculum Would you rather assert your independ- ence and stand alone when necessary or be one who always does what the crowd does ? There is much in college life for you to learn; keep your eyes open and your mouth shut. Have carefully thought-out ideas of right and wrong and stand by them. Do not condemn others who have en- tirely different ideas. Be open to the new ideas and impres- sions which association with your fellows will naturally bring, but do not be de- ceived by the careless exteriors of these fellows. Gold is found in the bed of the stream, not floating along with the ripples of its surface. Conform easily to harmless customs. Doing so will bring you quickly into touch with college life and what is even more worthy of consideration, it will develop in you that ready adaptability to surroundings which is so important an element of a man's success in life. Do not overthrow all existing standards How to Begin 19 until the college has had time to find out that you are in it. Most of these stand- ards are the result of a long process of evolution and it is often rather dangerous for a freshman to undertake to change them. Don't be too generous with the history of your past. Begin with the end in mind. The tape is necessary for the runner before he responds to the ** get set " of the starter. The goal line must be fixed for the foot- ball player before the whistle blows for the first ** kick-off." Know what you want to do while in college just as soon as possible and then begin your game in earnest. Remember that before the tape is reached or the goal line crossed your peculiar merits will have ample time to disclose themselves. Let others talk about them. When the end is reached you will stand before your fellows for just about what you are. It is worth while trying to make and keep yourself worthy of their esteem, for your place in the hearts of 20 Not in the Curriculum your fellows and your influence over their lives in senior year may well meas- ure the success or failure of your college course. That place and influence is the result of inward worth and not, as some- times appears, of an apparent popularity. Do not be misled into thinking that the men who seem to be leaders in the life of your class in freshman year will be re- membered in your class history as its true leaders. You will find them usually in very unimportant positions in both the class life and their classmates' estimation by senior year, if they have not previously fallen by the wayside. Frequently these men do not endure through the four years but give up college. They are like those over-confident runners who start out on a long distance race at a rapid pace and gradually find themselves being passed by those who ran more modestly at first and, if they finish at all, they cross the line a poor last. The leaders of your class in its senior year will be those who have been tested in the four years of inti- mate association and have been proved How to Begin 2 1 worthy; not those whose preparatory school reputation or winning manners have exalted on first sight, who, when weighed in the balance of college life, have been found wanting. You are but one among many; yet realize that one man by quiet, sensible, persistent striving can change the whole tone of a class or university. "Do something and do that something well." "The way to do a thing is to do it. The way to begin to do a thing is to begin." II RELATIONS TO FELLOWS An important factor of a liberal educa- tion is the development of a man's in- clination and ability to understand, sym- pathize with, and work alongside of other men of different habits, tastes and ideals than his. As the result of whatever purpose or chance you find yourself in college, it will still be your best move to know the fellows around you as quickly and as well as possible. That is one of the chances offered by college life which no man can afford to miss. You can learn many of life's most important lessons by making a thoughtful study of the lives of your mates. In thinking or speaking of any of your fellows look for the good, not the evil. In your choice of friends take every 22 Relations to Fellows 23 man for his personal worth; never mind his name. Be wise enough and unselfish enough to work to advance other interests rather than your own. Choose your own path and plan of action and then use them. Give others the same liberty which you demand for yourself. Be charitable towards weakness. Re- member that charity is a larger term than pity; love the man — hate his evil ways. Consider a man's motives before you condemn his actions. Whatever else you do, avoid " Knock- ers' sessions." Any fool can find fault with anything. Make it your rule to criticise only where you can point out some means of improvement. Be especially careful to deal justly and charitably towards any man against whom you happen to have a personal prejudice. Be sincere and unaffected in all your dealings. 24 Not in the Curriculum Respect every man's opinion but act on your own. ** Let no man despise thee " — not even thyself. " This above all, to thine own self be true. And it must follow as the night the day. Thou canst not then be false to any man." Ill FRIENDS True friendship is always founded on respect. Respect can exist without friendship but between true friends there is always a relation of respect. The re- lationship of clubs or fraternities how- ever close and however conducive to mutual understanding, can never take the place of respect. One eminent writer on this subject has said that the basis of friendship must be community of soul. Those friendships which are formed for the basest purposes or grow out of bad practices are held together through re- spect. Two gamblers are friends not because they gamble but because in their gambling each trusts the other to play fair. It is this sense of honor even in wicked deeds that preserves the friend- ship; as soon as one is caught cheating 25 26 Not in the Curriculum the other the friendship is at an end. If you want the best friends, do the things and be the kind of a man that the best men respect. " A friend loveth at all times." Perhaps no other place on earth is so well fitted for making lasting friendships as is a college. The man who is grad- uated without having made at least a few friends has missed one of his greatest op- portunities and lost one of his chief sources of satisfaction in looking back over his college course. Be sincere. Surround yourself with true friends by being a true friend. Prove your friendship for a man by tactfully pointing out the mistakes which every one else can see he is making. Those who reprove us kindly are our best friends; faithful are the wounds of a friend. The highest friendship can exist only in an- unselfish heart. Friends 27 Be true to your friends in thought, word, and action. You do not need to agree with them on all subjects. Give them their right to their opinion and maintain your right to hold your own. Follow suit on their good leads — throw off on the bad ones. Help them to be worthy of positions of influence and honor — whether they occupy the positions or not is a minor matter. Look upon their lives in the light of their possibilities as well as their actual- ities. " Those friends thou hast and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel." " If meat cause thy friend to stumble, eat no meat." He is worth that much self- denial (even though it cost you your oc- casional glass of wine or mug of beer). Friendship is one of the few things which is universally admired. It has stood the test of time and is still as ad- 28 Not in the Curriculum mirable as in the days of David and Jon- athan. Some of the finest characters of history show themselves to the best ad- vantage in their friendships. It has re- ceived the praise of writers of all creeds and nationalities. Some of the finest compositions in the sphere of moral philosophy have had this for their theme, as, for example, Cicero's and Emerson's and Tennyson's. It serves alike as a means of strength and a standard of judgment. Friendship is one of the most important and strongest influences in any life. How important a matter the choosing of friends is! One of Washington's maxims was: *' Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let them be well tried before you give them your confidence." Perhaps there is no better place than college for encouraging the "Higher Friendship." "There is a love which passeth the love of women, passeth all earthly love, the love of God to the weary, starved heart of man. We were born for the love of God; if we do not Friends 29 find it, it were better for us if we had never been born. To us, in our place in history, communion with God comes through Jesus Christ. It is an ineffable mystery, but it is still a fact of expe- rience. . . . We offer Christ the sub- mission of our hearts, and the obedience of our lives ; and He offers us His abiding presence. ' I call you no longer serv- ants,' He said to His disciples, 'but I have called you friends.' . . . * Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever I com- mand you.' " — Hugh Black, IV STUDY If you are at all lazy or desirous of avoiding unnecessary work and worry, do good, hard, faithful work while in college. As the Germans say, "If you would make your life easy, make it hard." The idea which some college men get that study is a disgrace and a nuisance is not only idiotic but also most danger- ous. Bone and muscle will not develop without regular food and exercise and no more will brain and intellect. If you want to live a life without brains, without influence, and without satisfaction or reward, do not study to train your mind. If you do not care to live that kind of life, then be sure that you cannot escape a reasonable amount of study. Don't be ashamed to be caught in the act. 30 Study 31 Study regularly and you can study less. It is better to study one hour before an examination than two after it. Find some subject or subjects which you can study because you like them. The best results come from voluntary work. You may think it is better to know your associates rather than your books. There is no law against knowing both. Learn how to study and that will teach you some other things. Study to master your subject rather than to pass an examination and the ex- amination will lose much of its terror. The more you shirk work in prepara- tory school the harder you will be obliged to work in college. The less work you do in college the more work you are storing up for yourself when you enter professional or business life. Get your mind well trained at the very start and it will save you a heap of trouble all along the line. The man who has learned to concentrate his mind on what he is doing 32 Not in the Curriculum accomplishes twice as much as other men and in half the time. Work while you work. "Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed." While in college, read a great deal; not too much in any one branch of litera- ture, but extensively, familiarizing your- self with writings of all kinds. Don't put too much time on books whose value is transitory. Read solid books, books whose value is permanent through all time. But read so that you will leave college familiar with the best that has been written in the English language. *' Reading maketh a full man." A man of culture must be well-read. Cultivate a taste for that which is best in prose and poetry. Don't read literature which poisons the mind or stimulates an impure imagina- tion. You don't have to learn all the filthy details of vice to hate it. You don't have to immerse yourself in a cesspool to appreciate its pollution. Don't be Study 33 afraid to be ignorant of some things. You will learn enough of wickedness in your life in spite of yourself without pur- posely investigating it. V ATHLETICS Men too often get the idea that when they have had a share in winning a "big game " they can have and can do any- thing they like. Public opinion may be lenient with the victorious college athlete but the inward satisfaction which comes from self-control, which comes from being man from start to finish whatever else happens, is of much greater value than any public leniency. The college team and the college crowd which can carry with it through victory or defeat the true sporting spirit of give and take, fair play under all circumstances, courteous treatment of all visitors, and the belief that the moment never comes when a man has any right, whatever his feelings, to be anything but a gentleman, is the one most likely to play a hard game and show real college spirit. 34 Athletics 35* A good physique is good capital. Make a quiet try for some team. If you are in training — train. Even though you are the last substitute on the second team, it is up to you to train as strictly as though you were captain of the first. Use all the brains at your disposal — there'll be plenty of chance. If you are told to do a certain thing in a certain way, reason out why. (But don't stop to reason before you do as you are told.) When you are in a game you must think quickly if at all — not easy but prac- tice makes possible. A good physique plus a good head are admired the world over. The best ath- lete must develop both. If the coach insists in something which is hard for you, practice it until it is entirely natural. If you go into a game at all, go in soul and body. Follow every play to the very end. If you play your game you will have 36 Not in the Curriculum no room for thought of self or grand- stand. Every one either despises or pities a " swelled head " — no matter who wears it. Better break your neck than show a "streak of yellow." Be a gentleman always — but one who is hard to tackle or catch between bases. If you have the privilege of represent- ing your university, she has a perfect right to demand that you do your best. Make her feel that you are doing your very best and she'll be proud of you — win or lose. For one man on a team to " quit" for the fraction of a second is worse than for that team to lose a championship game. Victory is often harder to carry than defeat. You may win every one's respect for yourself and for your college by the way you have won a game only to lose it by the way you conduct yourself after- wards. ** Breaking training" at the close of the season does not involve breaking a Athletics 37 single one of your moral or religious principles. If you are man enough to make a team, be man enough to stand on your own feet with regard to right and wrong. A man may be a good athlete, a sin- cere Christian and a perfect gentleman; — yes, and he ought to be. Such men are in demand in college and out. A man who is an athletic **star," but intellectually a loafer, and morally a profligate, is a pitiable character. It is sad to see a man, who has enough man- liness about him to distinguish himself in athletic contests, perfectly indifferent to any intellectual or literary attainments or indifferent to the beauty of a true, manly character. It makes matters worse to re- member how strong such a man's in- fluence is on his weaker companions and fellows. We are glad that this species is dying off and becoming rarer. How fine it is to see supplanting it that of the athletic man of culture and Christian character! VI IDEALS An ideal is that fixed purpose by which from time to time you can square your life. Some fellows are content to launch out on the college stream and then drift aim- lessly along until it carries them out into the open sea of life. They train neither brain nor muscles and as a result find themselves helpless in the rough weather every man must expect to encounter sooner or later. Others, who are wiser, prefer to guide their course according to some definite purpose and thereby gain valuable information and strength of character as they go. Have at least one worthy ideal. Place it as high as you can see. Go after it in dead earnest. You may never reach it. 38 Ideals 39 Again you may. What matters it ? It has served its purpose if it has spurred you on and on, if it has kept you pro- gressing steadily. The hard try will prevent stagnation. It will also develop your natural ability. The lack of an ideal has caused many comparative failures. Its possession has often won well de- served fame. Almost every page of biography swears that the above are facts. Be not afraid of making your aim too high — even aim to fit yourself for the presidency of the United States — if you so desire. A " strenuous life " has been known to get men there. Make your ideals as definite as possi- ble and then begin to work steadily to- wards them. Even twenty-story buildings must go up one stone at a time. If then you re- solve to be the greatest statesman of your time begin by making yourself the best debater in your college. 40 Not in the Curriculum " Heaven is not reached at a single bound. We build the ladder by which we rise From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies, And climb to its summit round by round." Let your efforts and not your words tell others that you have ideals. Don't enlarge the size of your hat until you have attained to some of them. The ideal does not make the great man — the hard striving after it often does — for *' great men are made, not born." The world has never offered a more enticing field for the truly great than at the present time. Search out some of the ideals which have been useful to other men and learn by heart the story which they will tell. At every stage of your progress in life keep your head balanced by being able to say "1 count not myself to have attained but this one thing I do — forget- ting those things which are behind; and reaching forth unto those things that are before, I press forward towards the Ideals 41 prize of my high calling " — whatever it may be. Remember that **The spirit that does not soar will often grovel." Recognize two things as you seek to develop your character. One is the im- portance of proper surroundings — your environment; the other is the necessity of practice. If you wish to become a perfect or even an excellent swimmer, you do not go out in the country and run or climb mountains. You go into the water where you have the proper envi- ronment for swimming. And it is not enough for you to put yourself in the proper relation to the water if you would learn to swim. You must do more; you must strike out and practice, practice continually. So it is with the building up of your character. First put yourself in range of those influences which make for righteousness — the influences of the church, good companionship, a com- munity where God is reverenced and obeyed, good, strong, wholesome books, fine men who can instruct you and 42 Not in the Curriculum whom you can imitate, and other things of similar character; and when you have chosen your proper environment and ad- justed yourself to it, your next duty is to practice what you are told. Work out in your own life the principles which un- derlie all these things. Environment is essential. Practice is necessary. Each is incomplete without the other. " Abide in Me and I in you; as a branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in Me." ** Work out your own salvation." VII DISPOSAL OF TIME Time is like money. When well spent it yields a fair return and gives satisfac- tion and enjoyment; when misspent it gives rise to general dissatisfaction and unrest. The man then who does not know enough to get a fair return for his time and his money is quite sure to be discontented with himself and every one else. Time must be used in order to be en- joyed ; therefore keep busy. Don't loaf. Do just as much as you can do well. Don't spend all of your time with a few intimate friends but get into sym- pathy with many of your fellows. Every one of them has some special thing which he can teach you. Make time for a just amount of regular exercise, study, reading, thinking, col- 43 44 Not in the Curriculum lege activities, etc., and thus avoid the danger of a one-sided development. Don't try to kill time — it is far too val- uable a possession. The man who owns a gold mine is a fool not to work it. Cut out gambling — you either have no college spirit or else you have a mighty poor opinion of your own capabilities if you spend a moment of even freshman year in that way. If you must have ex- citement find some more original way of getting it. It takes time to do anything well — " what is worth doing is worth doing well." If you find yourself crowded, try a careful systematization of your time. Be sure to " place first things first." Don't kick about compulsory chapel until it ceases to get you out of bed in the morning. Take pride in the hard, consistent, straightforward and uncompromising ef- fort which has been stamped as "the strenuous life." Disposal of Time 45 Spend at least a few hours of every year in trying to reason out the pur- pose of human life in general and your own in particular. Doing so may teach you that faith in a personal God is based on sound reason and give you a hint of the place which that faith ought to occupy in your life. Live in the present with a watchful eye on the future. ''You will never find time for any- thing — if you want time you must make it." VIII HOW TO BE POPULAR The desire to stand well among one's fellows is natural and, when properly regulated, profitable. The extent of a man's popularity often depends on some natural endowment; but no man need be unpopular and no special natural en- dowment is necessary for a man to make himself extremely popular. If you would be popular do not try to be. Forget all about yourself for four years and you may wake up to find yourself popular. Deserve popularity and you generally get it. Respect is the highest form of popular- ity. Don't confuse it with toleration. Popularity means power — power means responsibility. Popularity is never founded on mental or moral weakness. 46 How to be Popular 47 Charity, cheerfulness, sympathy, un- selfishness, good sense and action are some of the ingredients of popularity. See and respect the good points in all other men. To the best of your ability, as op- portunity offers, help every one of your fellows into a clearer understanding of the possibilities of his own life. Let the best interests of your friends, your class, and your university take pos- session of your life. Don't continually thrust yourself be- fore other men's eyes, but make a place for yourself in their hearts. It is better to be right than popular— but unpopularity is far from a sure sign of being right. IX USE OF MONEY Enough money is a fine thing to have, but an extra or unlimited supply makes a hard proposition for the average college man to solve. Unless used with rare good judgment it often defeats the very aim for which it is lavishly spent. Not a few college men lose the respect of all their fellows by reason of what they do or attempt to do with their money. Do not try to create an impression by the amount of money you have at your disposal. There may be others who have as much, and the impression which you create may be that you are more fool than rich man. Do not set your standard of expendi- ture according to the amount of money some other man has. If your parents do not see fit to provide you with the funds for the pace at which you would like to 48 Use of Money 49 travel, do not borrow the money and take it anyway, but quietly drop out and cultivate some of the fellows whom you will find taking a slower pace. You are quite likely to discover some long distance prize winners among them. If you must have money, get busy and make it. If you do not need it, give the other fellow, who does, your chance. It is a fine thing to be able to set a fellow of less experience than yourself on his feet just when he needs encouragement. He won't forget it. Don't spend a lot of money which you haven't gotten with the idea that you will square yourself by the lucky bet on a coming game. It isn't generous to let some other man of another college pay your honest debts and, what is also to the point, the game does not always turn out just as you think it will. Money cannot buy respect. It can cause the loss of it. Money may possibly buy you a place in some club or society, but, if so, the place is not worth having. 50 Not in the Curriculum By his use of money a fool is sure to disclose himself. You won't lose any great amount of respect by a regular payment of your debts. One part good sense and one part money make a practical mixture (for all practical purposes). Money is stored up energy — so is nitro-glycerine. " You will never be extravagant if you get your money's worth for what you spend and do not spend more than you have." In thinking of a life work, pray that brains enough may be given you so that you will not be obliged to devote all of your time, thought, and energy to the acquisition of money. At the same time be not afraid to work for what you have. Political economists hate a "non- producer." The lack of money is a handicap and nothing of which to be proud. You can't buy true friends. Life will turn bitter without them. X SELF HELP The fact that you are poor and obliged to make your own money is no reason why you should look upon yourself as a martyr. And the fact that many poor men have become great is no reason why you should deem yourself on the straight road to greatness. You are in your pres- ent position as the result of some one's misfortune or mismanagement. Face your position sensibly at the very start and so save yourself the blunder of a too exalted idea of the honor due you and the equally dangerous one of thinking that every man who has plenty of money at his disposal looks down on you be- cause you are obliged to work for what you have. Lack of money means some restrictions and added work, but it also means busi- ness training and sharpened wits. SI ^2 Not in the Curriculum Every man who "splits rails" will not necessarily be a president (even of a lum- ber company). Give up reading prize essays on self-made men and face a plain business proposition as such. You want to possess a college education — for cap- ital you have what God has given you (and what you have not destroyed) of brains, health, and time. Make your own opportunities. Enjoy life while you work. You can't afford to be "sour-balled." If you do not stand well with your fel- lows, do not try to console yourself with the thought that it is because you are poor. Look for the trouble in your per- sonality and character where it really lies. Any dearth of common interest with other men is more often your fault than theirs. "Cheerfulness and perseverance^ are nine-tenths of success." "Seest thou a man diligent in his busi- ness ? He shall stand before kings." When you hear or read about some boy who has worked his way from pov- Self Help 53 erty to a position of prominence and in- fluence, should it not suggest to you, who have enough money to keep you from worrying about your livelihood, how much greater your chance for suc- cess is? Think of the advantages that are yours that the poor fellow lacks. See to it that your money helps you rather than proves a hindrance to you. *'A little learning" and ''too much money " are both dangerous things ; many college men have both. XI CONVERSATION Do not mistake an automatic talking machine for a good conversationalist. Be natural in your conversation, as in all else, but make use of it to enlarge your command of simple, forcible Eng- lish. Don't cultivate an "accent" nor use words intended to attract attention. College slang expresses much in few words but it is not intelligible outside of college circles — avoid the wholesale use of it for the reason that it destroys much of your workable vocabulary. Profanity may not trouble your con- science, but even so be assured that it is not one of the distinctive properties of a gentleman. Don't confuse profane ''Bravado" with nerve. The man of real nerve is 54 Conversation ^^ the man who can keep his mouth shut, but who is always there when needed. Note the topics of conversation among your clubmates during a single meal. Acknowledge that they can generally be improved without any loss of interest or good fellowship. You will never make a friend nor gain an ounce of respect by foul talk. However much of a sewer your life may be, kindly refrain from opening it up to public view. Don't be afraid to talk about anything which you are dead sure ought to be brought to pass, just because doing so may not be the most popular thing. Be careful, however, how you talk about things which may be good but which you personally don't endorse with your life, lest your fellows call you a hypo- crite for not practicing what you preach. Don't preach big things in a self-assertive way if you don't intend to try your best to live up to them. In both your conversation and your 56 Not in the Curriculum actions do not hesitate to stand up for what you honestly believe to be right. Remember the admonition of One who spoke with authority, "But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof." XH EXERCISE Regular exercise and plenty of it is essential for the moral and physical de- velopment of a college man. The resolve to take exercise, even though renewed every fortnight, will not take the place of the regular hour in the gymnasium. If you stand to some of your class- mates as a sick child to strong, healthy men, then go to work and see what good sense and consistent training can do for you. If you wish to see any results from your exercise, do not handicap yourself with habits which would not be allowed if you were making a try for any athletic team. Choose some form of exercise which you can take as a pleasure rather than as a duty. 57 58 Not in the Curriculum Aim for general development first; prominence along particular lines may or may not follow. You may hire another man to do some of your studying for you and still pass your examination, but you must take your own exercise or suffer from the lack of it. Knowledge, usefulness, success and happiness are all dependent on health. Exercise and good habits are health's best friends. Don't be so foolish as to neglect them or let other things crowd them out of your life. XIII RELATIONS TO YOUR COLLEGE Your college is just what you and your fellows make her. Keep her standard high. Do not criticise her failings but work to remedy them. Give her some return for all she gives you. If she provides you with the op- portunities and influences suitable to manly development of character and in- tellect, she has a right to expect you to make good use of them. Do not be blatantly telling outsiders what a fine college yours is, but give them a chance to see what fine material she turns out in the way of men. Support her teams but do not bet on them; do not place your fellows in the category of race-horses or game cocks. The college gives you her name; be ashamed to disgrace it. 59 6o Not in the Curriculum Do not talk about college spirit and then continually act in a way which shows that you do not know even what it means. You could as consistently boast of family honor while in the act of disgracing the family name. True col- lege spirit is a fme thing to have, but its roots must find nourishment deep down in a man's better self. Remember that all members of visiting teams are your guests and at all times and under all conditions treat them as such. Never be ashamed to confess your Alma Mater and never do a thing for which she can rightly be ashamed of you. While still a freshman do not be con- ceited enough to think that your college will be benefited by your telling every one through act or apparel that you rep- resent her. And when you become an alumnus remember that we do not go back to mother and the old home to cele- brate in excesses which savor of club or bar-room, and especially when the ** kids " and mother's friends are all there. Relations to Your College 61 The men who are most prominent in the world and who have the interest of their Alma Mater most at heart are not the ones who make themselves most conspicuous when they return to visit her. Don't let appearances deceive you. Sense, sincerity, simplicity — the col- lege man's " Three Graces." XIV PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY Real Christianity is practical. " What you are speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say." Make it your motto to love your fel- lows. Act so that you will not be obliged to tell them of that love. Be sincere, be natural, be happy. Say what you believe, but no more. Use a cool head, good sense and a warm heart. Sometimes our inspira- tions go to our heads instead of to our hearts and we become intoxicated by enthusiasm rather than strengthened by it. Use charity in all things. Shed your false piety skin and come out for just what you are. Work out your own ideas of Chris- tianity — Christ's life is the only authori- tative text-book. 62 Practical Christianity 63 Never be ashamed of the fact that you have given this subject careful thought and that you know where you stand with regard to it. If you have not done so make yourself give a plain answer to the question — Why ? Make others think — help them think, but let them draw their own conclusions. Hunt out the lovable in every one and be ready to call attention to that rather than to the disagreeable. Reform by a process of addition of virtues rather than subtraction of vices. Develop a man's better qualities or higher nature and just to that extent do you wage effective warfare on the evil in his life, which you would dislodge. Over- come evil with good. What is wrong for one man may not be wrong for another — " Be fully per- suaded in your own mind." If you ever expect to do any work, don't wait until you are perfect before you begin; "A man who never makes mistakes never makes anything else," while a sincere stumbler may still do 64 Not in the Curriculum much for others. The more he does the less he will stumble. '* An idle soul shall suffer hunger." " Don't take your Christianity from other Christians." ''Christianity consists not in being good, but in getting better." ** Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason for the hope that is in you." XV PURITY " But where you feel your honor grip, Let that aye be your border ; Its slightest touches, instant pause ; Debar a' side pretenses, And resolutely keep its laws. Uncaring consequences." Life's most important strongholds are the ones most liable to attack. Fortify them accordingly. Strict purity in thought and life may not be altogether fashionable, but it is most decidedly essential for him who would not destroy the finer sensibilities and higher possibilities of his life. Purity is a never failing source of strength just as truly as impurity is an ever present source of weakness. Purity is not a thing which can be laid down and taken up at will. The purest things can become impure 65 66 Not in the Curriculum with the aid of a foul imagination. A good book may be read impurely — even the Bible can suggest impure thoughts to some minds. If impurity had a single redeeming feature, the world would have discovered it long ago. The record of every indir vidual or nation says plainly that it must be overcome or it will overcome. Give way to it and it will attack you with constantly increasing force which will finally become irresistible. Fight it half- heartedly and it will continually harass and defeat you. Face it squarely and con- quer it completely and the victory will make a man of you. One of the most effectual cures for any evil habit is an absorbing interest in something which tends away from that habit. Continual thought concerning the habit will only strengthen its hold. Hab- its of impurity are best supplanted (as far as human power goes) by the use of good sense to the extent of a cold bath every morning, hard regular exercise taken with a definite goal in mind, and Purity 67 the exercise of a will made strong by constant use. Nature's laws with respect to the preservation of innate vitality are strict and unchangeable. Break any one of them and you must pay the penalty— "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." " My strength is as the strength of ten, Because my heart is pure." '*The thought is father to the deed." Don't think you can trifle with your thoughts and keep your life pure. There are a great many things that we are the better for not knowing. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." You cannot prevent impure thoughts from coming into your head, but you can cast them out as soon as they come. " You cannot prevent the birds of the air from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building their nests in your hair." XVI DEALING WITH DOUBT It is probable that before your four years of college are ended, you will enter upon, and, it is to be hoped, come out of, a period of religious doubt in which the things which you hold most dear and sacred will, as it were, suffer violence and you will be led to question not only their right to your reverence and obedi- ence but even their existence as concepts of truth. We say that it is likely that you may pass through such a period be- cause we believe that few college men are exempt from this experience. Every thoughtful, active-minded man has to face it in one form or another. To some men these experiences of doubt are the storms which wreck them on the shoals of scepticism and sin, but to many others they are the storms which 68 Dealing With Doubt 69 develop the seamanship of the stout- hearted sailor and prove the seaworthi- ness of the ship. But they are storms in either case and the prudent thinker, like the prudent sailor, will not set forth on his voyage without preparing for the probability of meeting them and seeking the strength and the intellectual and moral seamanship which will enable him to ride them out. The first experience of doubt to some men is calamitous. The very thought of the possibility of losing hold on the things which they love so much produces a sort of stage-fright in which they lose their heads, break loose from all self- restraint, and either plunge into the ex- cesses of sin or lapse into a state of intel- lectual inebriety, wherein they see noth- ing as it really is and pride themselves on their indifference and ignorance. Frequently, if not usually, these men are of the emotionally religious type, whose faith comes from the heart rather than from the head as well. They think that the very fact of their doubting ren- yo Not in the Curriculum ders their condition hopeless. How fool- ish! A period of doubt is an experience which is perfectly natural in a growing man. It is entirely compatible with mental and moral development; in fact it is likely as not incident to this develop- ment. You can put it down as true that your ''Mother's Knee" religion will not last through college in just the form in which it was given to you. That is nothing against either your mother or the religion she taught you. It was given you not merely to have and to hold, but to use and to unfold. Not that the college man has to throw away as false or useless those blessed truths which he cherishes in his heart as one of the priceless gifts of a mother's love. Probably most of the things she taught you are splendid maxims by which to regulate your career in college and after. But however much you love and respect your mother, you must take the things she told you and think them out for yourself, make them peculiarly your own, a vital part of your Dealing With Doubt 71 religious consciousness, before they will suffice to restrain the passions and resist the temptations which, with hitherto un- experienced force, attack you and which you must overcome if you would become a strong man. You can't be a parasite in your beliefs, living entirely on the thoughts of others, and expect to be able to stand alone without falling. It may help you to see how natural it is that you should incur intellectual diffi- culties in your life, if you think of your intellectual growth as analogous to your physical growth. See how you have come out from your mother's care in your play, your work, in all your activities. Your mother used to buy your clothes for you and you had very little to say about what you wore. You wouldn't wear everything your mother might choose for you now, would you ? You have some- thing to say about it yourself, though you may consult your mother in such matters. And, further, you couldn't wear to-day the clothes you used to wear, even if they hadn't been worn out. They 72 Not in the Curriculum wouldn't fit; they are too small. How easily we recognize these facts and yet we fail to recognize that we can no longer dress the thoughts and feelings of our grown-up consciousness in the swaddling clothes of infancy. We have needs now which we never dreamed of then, we have temptations now which we had, at most, only read about in those days, and we must choose garments becoming to these needs. The materials out of which they are made are the same. Your long trousers of to-day may have been cut from the same piece as your knicker- bockers of years ago. But the cut is dif- ferent. Perhaps, after all, the doubts which you will feel will be but "grow- ing pains" or the "lengthening of the trousers " of your faith. So you see it is natural for you to outgrow the primitive, narrow, partial ideas of your younger days and you must make them over into the broad, positive convictions of a ma- turer mind. Doubt is incident to growth. It is nothing to be proud of nor to be un- necessarily afraid of. But it is something Dealing With Doubt 73 to be reckoned with and it is too danger- ous to be trifled with. Can we not find some of the reasons why men doubt ? We should not men- tion them all even if we knew them, be- lieving such an effort to be unprofitable labor, but it may be well to speak of two of them. First, then, some men doubt because they think doubting is a mark of strength. It shows independence and self-reliance to shrug the shoulders at the idea of positive faith in spiritual things which make for righteousness. They want to show their nerve, that they are not afraid to disagree with eminent men. This type of man fails to realize that, in one sense, it requires more strength to believe than to doubt, because, for awhile at least, doubt is merely a lazy indiffer- ence, while belief comes at the cost of a purposeful, constructive effort. A child may destroy with a kick what it has taken the greatest skill to construct. And what a poor sort of a man he must be who can find no better way of showing his independence than by trying to make 74 Not in the Curriculum gray hairs seem ridiculous! We doubt if such men have courage enough to use it where they should. Some men of this sort do bad things conspicuously, just to show their fellows they are not afraid to. They have bravery enough to be bad but not courage enough to be good, so of course they choose the former, for it takes twice as much nerve and pluck to be consistently good in the face of temp- tation than to yield. And after all, this kind of doubt is largely an attitude. It is insincere, hypocritical, superficial. It is not the product of a troubled thinker, but rather of a shallow schemer for pop- ular favor. If he is honest, he abandons this sceptical attitude, disgusted with himself for having been so childish. Doubt not infrequently is related to per- sonal sin in the relation of effect and cause. It is an admitted fact that it is harder for a bad man to believe in truth, honor, purity and the like than for a good man. His deeds so bias his perspective, that he can't see clearly enough to hold adequate views or to reach warrantable Dealing With Doubt 75 conclusions. Of course doubt may en- courage sin — when a man lets go of his faith in God and immortality and reduces morality from an obligation to a matter of taste, what is there to keep him from wandering from the straight and narrow path ! So one of the great dangers which doubt brings with it is that the victim impulsively plunges into the mire of sin and does to himself irreparable damage by its excesses which in their turn befud- dle his brains so that he is at a loss to find his way to solid ground. Doubt be- gets sin; sin stimulates doubt. Is it any wonder that we say doubt is dangerous ? It is not our purpose to throw any dis- paragement on honest doubt, for we be- lieve, as said above, that it is an incident to growth. It is an intellectual, or moral, or religious affection which lays hold on the healthiest minds and characters and no faith cure alone is sufficient remedy for it. It must be treated by each man personally; it is not just the same in any two of those whom it attacks. The man who cannot be cured of it deserves 76 Not in the Curriculum sympathy, not censure, as does also the man with whom its relapses are chronic. But there are some general suggestions as to how to deal with it, that may be helpful. First of all, be honest in your doubts, honest in the sight of God. Don't say you disbelieve a thing till you are sure you do. Perfect honesty is rare, but it is invaluable. Be perfectly frank with yourself — don't fool yourself into believ- ing that you doubt. Don't mistake a dark dream for a real doubt. Don't overlook the difference between imag- ining that a thing may not be so, and be- ing sure that it is not so. Secondly, don't expect this process of making over your earlier ideas into larger and more becoming ones, as spoken of above, to be done in a day. You can't tell how long it will take. It may con- tinue all your life, though of course not with the same disturbing accompani- ments as in young manhood. So deal with your doubt patiently. If doubt is a process of growth, of course it is gradual. Dealing With Doubt 77 Don't be too self-contained with regard to your troubles, is the third caution. Tell your troubles to some older man of your acquaintance, who understands you and in whose judgment you have confi- dence. He has probably undergone an experience similar to yours. Such men are found in the faculty of nearly every institution, or in the pulpits of the local churches. And in this connection have a care to choose as the man of your counsel one who has come through doubt with clear convictions and can help you to a satisfactory solution of your troubles on the side of positive, constructive, faith and conviction. By all means when you are wavering be- tween two opinions, don't listen to any man whose troubles have been too much for him and have left him derelict with nothing positive in his belief. You are not seeking an excuse for your doubt as such, but for a way out of it. You want to get on your feet again, and to go forward with clear ideas as to how and which way to walk. 78 Not in the Curriculum The fourth point has been mentioned indirectly already. It is — don't throw yourself away while you are questioning what you are. There is no time when it is more necessary for you to live soberly and righteously than when you are bat- tling with doubt. Be good — just as good as you can be. Also, don't abandon your religious activities, or observances, because you are making inquiries about the things they stand for. Assuming your doubts to be religious, associate constantly with Christian men of the positive sort and, as Mr. Nolan Rice Best says in his helpful little book on The College Man in Doubt, strive to emulate the best among them. Associate with them especially in your religious exer- cises, Bible classes, mission work in the community or whatever those ex- ercises may be. Above all don't stop your private devotions. Pray God to help you through your difficul- ties. It is assumed, of course, that you will read not a little in your efforts to settle Dealing With Doubt 79 your doubts. It is unnecessary to give a list of books for the college man in doubt. Not only is the list constantly growing, but your doubts are your own and it is better that you select your own books. The man whom we told you to consult in the paragraph above can, with- out doubt recommend to you the books you need. So can your college pastor, or minister, or Christian professor of phi- losophy, or the general secretary of your Young Men's Christian Association, or maybe the librarian of the college library. Just a few thoughts in conclusion. The loss of faith is never -a gain of any sort. There is no value in unbelief. It can never be a substitute for belief. Further, if you adopt the position of un- belief you are not free from doubt. Un- belief is, to say the least, no more cer- tain than belief. Robert Browning de- scribes a believer who assumes the position of an unbeliever for the sake of argument and who speaks thus — 8o Not in the Curriculum " And now what are we ? Unbelievers both. Calm and complete, determinately fixed To-day, to-morrow, and forever, pray ? You'll guarantee me that ? Not so, I think ! In no wise ! All we've gained is, that belief, As unbelief before, shakes us by fits, Confounds us like its predecessor. Where's the gain? How can we guard our unbelief, Make it bear fruit to us ? — the problem here. Just when we're safest there's a sunset touch, A fancy from a flower-bell, some one's death, A chorus-ending from Euripides, And that's enough for fifty hopes and fears As old and new at once as nature's self, To rap and knock and enter in our soul. Take hands and dance there, a fantastic ring. Round the ancient idol, on its base again, The grand Perhaps." Finally, my friend who is growing restless and discontented with his faith as it has been taught him from boyhood, remember that this question of doubt has a very personal side to it. It looks into your heart and asks is your belief voluntary or compulsory. Do you want to be good or are you good because you have to be ? Do you praise virtue for its Dealing With Doubt 8l own sake or for your sake; that is, be- cause people would think it very unusual if you didn't? Would you keep the commandments, especially the latter five, in a town where there were no police- men as in a city where there are ? So with your faith, which you have been taught to reverence and obey. Per- chance you doubt it. Are you glad when you think you have found a flaw in it? In other words, are you chafing under it, and are you sorry its ideals of living are so high ? If nobody would criticise you if you should profess to be- lieve in lying rather than truth and robbery rather than honesty, and you would suffer no inconvenient conse- quences therefrom, would you prefer and adopt that creed ? You will not be- lieve in that faith very long which you don't want to believe in. So be careful before you condemn your faith as worthless that in so doing you are not condemning yourself. Because you don't like it, is no guarantee that it is false. And, further, doubt asks you 82 Not in the Curriculum what will you do with the truth when you learn it. Suppose it discloses for you a hard life, a strict set of principles, an unpopular position which you should take in certain questions, will you obey it ? This matter of doubt is not all intel- lectual speculation. "The truth shall set you free" — from the narrow limits of your own selfishness into the region of greatest service to God and man, into the realm of absolute honesty and truth. " What think ye of the Christ, friend ? When all's done and said. Like you this Christianity or not? It may be false, but will you wish it true ? Has it your vote to be so if it can ? " — Browning: This leads to the final word without which the chapter would not be logically complete. It is addressed especially to the man who is discarding his faith in Christianity. When the popularity of the founder of Christianity was be- ginning to wane and the multitudes were leaving Him, He turned to His Dealing With Doubt 83 chosen twelve and said "Will ye also go away?" One of them replied, *' Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life." Are there not many men who never could have given that answer? If you go away from God and Jesus Christ, what are you go- ing to follow and what will you be- lieve ? The most ardent advocates of Christianity do not deny that it pre- sents difficulties for the believer. But what creed presents less difficulties ? You have to go somewhere; to whom will you go ? You have no logical or moral right to throw over your existing beliefs till you can substitute better ones. Materialism will not help you. Agnos- ticism will not help you. A loving, per- sonal, God will help you. "If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak of Myself." XVII A WORD AS TO DRUNKENNESS You will find, when you enter college, that there is considerable drunkenness in your college. What is your attitude going to be towards intoxicating drink ? This is a question which is purely per- sonal. You must decide it for yourself. You will make no mistake if you decide to abstain entirely from liquor as a beverage. If you have the right stuff in you, you will not lose anything by so doing, either in the way of fellowship or respect. Your influence for the better- ment of your fellows will increase. But don't take the narrow view that every man who '* drinks " is a hardened sinner, with no good traits and entirely unfit for your companionship. Don't criticise a man too severely for getting drunk. His sin may have been 84 A Word as to Drunkenness 85 due to weakness rather than deliberate intention. On the other hand, don't let familiarity with the sight of drunkenness ever mitigate your contempt for its vul- garity or its wickedness, neither let the humorous actions of a "drunk" ever make you forget the dangers and conse- quences of the sin. Good fellowship and conviviality can never excuse drunk- enness. It is easy to *' drink " in college; *' drinking " in college certainly has some very attractive features. It has also some very coarse, disgusting and dangerous features. And, also, it is comparatively easy not to " drink " in college. You can do just as you choose in the matter. But a "drunk" is never respected anywhere. A truly sober man always is respected everywhere. This is a personal question which every man must decide for him- self, but be careful that your attitude does not cause a weaker friend to stumble. XVIII PROFANITY One of the commonest sins of college life is profanity. Few men become blasphemous in their profanity, but com- paratively few, also, refrain from the frequent use, or misuse, of such words as ''damn "and *'hell." Those men who curse only occasionally seem to acknowl- edge by the infrequency of the sin, that they know it is wrong. But many others curse frequently, either because they think "profane bravado" indicates a kind of nerve in the eyes of their fellows, or because other fellows do, and the practice is so common that they don't stop to think about it. But before you adopt the practice, re- member this. It is useless. While it appears to be most emphatic, it is really meaningless, for it uses these monosyl- 86 Profanity 87 lables in a perverted sense. There is no better way to ruin your vocabulary and prevent a good command of the English language than by profuse profanity. 'Think of using " damn " as a synonym for every adjective and adverb in the whole range of verbal expression, and one word " hell " as the simile for every degree of heat and cold, light and dark- ness, goodness and iniquity, and what not! Profanity, like slang, cripples a man in the use of his mother-tongue. Also, as if this were not enough, you can destroy your sense of reverence for things sacred and holy in no easier way and by few other methods which will work more thoroughly. Taking these sacred words with their terrible mean- ings into the commonplace of every-day speech tends strongly to diminish your appreciation of the transcendent serious- ness of what they represent and of what they suggest. Remember also, that profanity in a man indicates a weakening of principle, a lowering of standards, a 'compromise 88 Not in the Curriculum in your ideas of what is right and wrong for you, and it may be but a stage in a process of moral degeneration. The first slip of an anchor is often the most serious. A ball rolling down a grade gathers momentum as it goes, though its motion at first may have been almost imperceptible. Finally, profanity is so unnecessary. The man who has to guarantee every statement he makes with an oath or a bet, is not a man whose word is worth taking. You cheapen your reputation for truthfulness if you even seem to sug- gest that your word as your word is not trustworthy. Make men believe what you say, because you say it, not because you swear to it. XIX THE BIBLE IN COLLEGE LIFE There is no book with which you will have to do in college, which you can so ill afford to neglect, as the Bible. We base this statement not on its value and power as literature, though it is literature, a library of sixty-six classic works; nor on the fact that no man unfamiliar with it can claim to be a man of culture, though it is universally admitted that the Bible is a great educator. The late Charles A. Dana, the famous editor of the New York Sun, placed familiarity with the English Bible as a prime requi- site in the training for the profession of journalism. The Bible demands your attention on higher grounds than these. You cannot afford to neglect it, for it is the life-giving word from the Heavenly Father to the 89 ^o Not in the Curriculum souls of men. There is no book in the world which can approach it in the power to save men from sin and to develop their characters in righteousness. Not only is it a book of profound moral teaching, but it is a book of spiritual power. Its own credentials may be read on its pages by every reverent in- quirer and humble searcher after truth who reads its message. It breathes forth the Spirit of God, the vitalizing force which makes for everything that is best in this world, the things which men everywhere admire as manly, and rever- ence as godly. Do not expect your life to be marked by many distinguishing traits of noble character if you do not bring the power which pulses in the pages of God's word to bear directly on your life. Read it daily, study it daily. Meditate over it. Memorize many of its finest passages. Saturate your vocabu- lary with its language, your character with its precepts, and most of all, your life with its spirit. The fascinating and absorbing routine The Bible in College Life 91 of college life will tend to crowd this Book into an obscure place in your schedule, or to abbreviate very much the time you will devote to the study of the Scriptures. A few simple cautions may help you to resist this tendency. First of all, resolve to devote some time each day to read and study the Bible. If necessary, appoint a fixed time and con- sider it an engagement, just as you re- gard any of the class-room appointments on your schedule. But be sure you choose a time when you can bring to your Bible a fresh mind and when you can study in quiet peacefulness without hurry. Secondly, study the parts of the Bible which interest you most. The more comprehensive your knowledge of the Bible, the better, but if you find Ezekiel obscure, and Leviticus dry, do not feel that you are conscience-bound to study these books now. The motive of all Bible-study should be practical, and if the songs of the Psalter, or, more prob- ably, the story of the Master's life, finds a deeper response in your soul, search 92 Not in the Curriculum for the truth for your life in these books. In your secular reading, you choose books according to your taste. If you prefer poetry to history or orations, you read Burns or Tennyson rather than Gib- bon and Burke. Adopt the same princi- ples in your reading in the Bible. Thirdly, map out for yourself a course of study. Perhaps you choose to read the Gospels through and will take a chapter a day till you finish them. Or perhaps you may choose to study the Gospels synthetically or from some har- mony of them. Again, you may find it more interesting to take up the books of the New Testament in their chronological order of composition, ascertaining the purpose, plan and contents of each. These schemes — and there are many others — suggest how you may make your work consecutive and continuous. When you are following a course thus, you will find it easier to be regular in your habits of Bible-study. And lastly, it will undoubtedly be help- ful to you to join with others in this The Bible in College Life 93 study of the Bible. The courses offered by the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion of your college are designed espe- cially for just such busy men as you who find it hard to study the Bible each day. They provide for daily study, facilitate it, and insist on it. And the classes afford you that help which comes from fellow- ship and the interchange of ideas. But if you don't care to join a class in the As- sociation, get one or two of your most intimate friends to study some course in the Bible with you. Some of the most profitable Bible-study done in a certain university, where the writer was an un- dergraduate, was done by groups of from two to five intimate friends who met every morning in the Christian Association building for a short season of earnest, prayerful communion with God over the pages of their open Bibles. Only be care- ful that no man is admitted to such a group unless he is intimate with every man in it. There must be no reticence in such groups, and no feelings which are not in absolute accord with the Book you are 94 Not in the Curriculum studying. There must be no deadening formality in your search for fundamental truth. Any superficiality or insincerity in your relationships one to the other, will tend to make the Bible truth of no avail to your hearts. There are some other things to be ob- served beside regularity in your study of the Bible. The place where you study has a direct bearing on the effectiveness of the study. The quality of the study you put on your Bible is important. Some men have complained that their Bible study was wasted time, and won- dered how other men secured the profit therefrom, which they both heard these men testify to, and saw in their develop- ing characters. Not infrequently, the trouble lay in the partial or superficial or perfunctory character of their study. Most important of all is the spirit in which you study the Bible. The chief consideration in choosing a place for your study, is privacy. You can't do very satisfactory work with the Bible when your roommate is whistling The Bible in College Life 95 some popular air or reading with audible comments the morning paper, but a few feet from where you are trying to shut yourself up to the Bible and its spiritual truth. Nor can you do good study when you are always in danger of interruption. If possible, find some private place, where you will not be interrupted. The rooms or buildings of the college Chris- tian Associations generally offer such a place. Maybe your room is private enough and you are not interrupted therein. If so, so much the better. In studying the Bible, be thorough. This does not necessarily mean that your study must be exhaustive. Do as much work as the time you give to your Bible daily allows, but do that work well. Don't feel that you must find an explana- tion for all the things you read which seem strange to you. Many of them will straighten themselves out in your mind as you learn more and your mind ma- tures. But don't allow your study to de- generate into a cold, formal, purely in- tellectual reading of words. Study the 96 Not in the Curriculum Bible as you are taught to study any other book. Learn what it says, so that you know it and could pass an examination on it, if necessary. Penetrate into the inner meaning of the text. When con- secutive passages seem to you to be with- out logical connection, such passages as John 3: 2 and 3, and John 12: 22 and 2}, study to find out the connection. Make your study scientific; learn the facts and then interpret them. When you read that Jesus withdrew to spend all night in prayer, ask yourself why, and for what He prayed. Don't use so-called Bible helps too much; learn to walk in your Bible without crutches, though you may stumble in places. You are seeking vitalizing power, rather than scholarly accuracy, important though the latter may be. But you cannot get vitalizing power by doing slovenly work. Be thorough. Though you will do well to treat the Bible very much as you treat other simi- lar books, remember that it is greater than all the others put together. So study The Bible in College Life 97 it reverently, as the Word of God de- serves. Do not be unnecessarily critical of it. The Lord is the rewarder of those that seek Him with diligence, not with derision. Finally, make your study devotional. By this we mean, take the truth you study and apply it to your own life. Ponder over it; ask yourself how much of it you can find in your own life. Precede each period of study with a prayer. Perhaps you can't do better than to adopt the eighteenth verse of the 119th Psalm. Close your period of study with a prayer to God that He will help you to improve your life as the lesson for the day has suggested. Be careful lest your prayers become foggy, so that neither you nor God can be quite sure therefrom what you want. But pray definitely for some concrete thing. In this connection, have definite de- ductions from your study with regard to your character. Don't let your medita- tions become the vague, impractical as- pirations of an idle dreamer; rather make gS Not in the Curriculum them the positive deliberations of a man who covets strength of character, purity, courage, honor and love, and who wants to be delivered from meanness, dirtiness, cowardice and insincerity, and who is communing with his God as to how he may attain to these desires. No " wishy- washy" sentimentality or piety of the *' goody-goody " kind has any place in the life and study of the strong men to whom the King of Kings entrusts the keeping of His Kingdom. Lest any of you think that daily devo- tions are incompatible with manliness, a final paragraph must try to show that you are wrong. The catalogue of great men, from Moses down, who have gained their greatness from the Law of God, is too large to be recorded here. You probably know of such men — General Gordon, Lincoln, Livingstone, and others — and need not to be reminded of them. But you may not know that there are strong, manly men in prac- tically all our colleges who are daily Studying the Bible. If you will mingle The Bible in College Life 99 with the Christian men in your college, you will find them. On nearly every athletic team which represents one of our larger universities you will find some of them. The ''All- American " Baseball Nine of a few years ago had three of them from three dif- ferent institutions. The groups of men referred to a few pages back contained two of these athletes of the university teams and also some of the men who led their class intellectually, morally or socially. Among the manliest men of your col- lege, unless it is very different from those the writer knows, you will find also those who are striving after godliness also. They study their Bibles not in any ostentatious way, perhaps so privately that only their bosom friends know when they do it; not because they con- sider it an act of piety, but as an aid to piety and because it feeds their souls. Follow their example, as you enter upon your college course. Seek for the truth and when you find it, determine that ^■cfc 100 Not in the Cuniculum you will live up to it, cost what it may. You will forfeit nothing that you can't afford to lose. You wiL gain for your character that priceless virtue — absolute honesty. Remember this also. The study of the Bible is not an end in itself. The Scriptures point to Christ, they reveal Him. It is not enough to be familiar with the Bible, however profitable and laudable that may be Familiarity with the Bible derives its greatest value from the fact that it is the prerequisite to be- lieving and obeying its message, to ac- cepting Him of whom it tells. '* Ye search the Scriptures," He said, ** be- cause ye think that in them ye have eternal life, and these are they which bear witness of Me; and ye will not come unto Me, that ye m^ght have life." / H 29 83 ^i V ^ "< C ♦ ^0 5^ .^^^ » • I ,Ho«. . V ^ - - "^^ ^o -ov^^ -