,life's ,enthusiasms    ,by    ,david   
,starr ,jordan    ,president of ,leland 
,stanford ,junior ,university           
,boston3    ,american ,unitarian        
,association    ,,mdccccvi        ,to   
,melville ,best ,anderson        ,that  
is poetry in which truth is expressed in
 the fewest possible words1  in words   
which are inevitable1 in words which    
could not be changed  without weakening 
the meaning or throwing discord into the
 melody4 ,to  choose the right word and 
to discard all others1 this is the chief
  factor in good writing4 ,to learn good
 poetry by heart is to acquire help     
toward doing this1 instinctively        
automatically as other habits are       
acquired4 ,in the affairs of life1 then1
 is no form of good manners1 no  habit  
of usage more valuable than the habit of
 good ,english4        ,life's          
,enthusiasms    ,it is the layman's     
privilege to take the text for his      
sermons  wherever he finds it4 ,i take  
mine from a ,french novel1 a cynical    

story  of an unpleasant person1 ,samuel 
,brohl1 by ,victor ,cherbuliez2 ,and    
this is  the text and the whole sermon3 
,my son1 we should lay up a stock of    
absurd enthusiasms in our youth or  else
 we shall reach the end of our journey  
with an empty heart1 for we  lose a     
great many of them by the way4    ,and  
my message in its fashion shall be an   
appeal to enthusiasm in things  of life1
 a call to do things because we love    
them1 to love things  because we do     
them1 to keep the eyes open1 the heart  
warm and the pulses  swift1 as we move  
across the field of life4 ,to take the  
old world by  the hand and frolic with  
it2 this is ,stevenson's recipe for     
joyousness4  ,old as the world is1 let  
it be always new to us as we are new to 
it4 ,let  it be every morning made      
afresh by ,him who instantly and        
constantly  reneweth the work of        
creation4 ,let the bit of green sod     
under your  feet be the sweetest to you 
in this world1 in any world4 ,half the  

joy  of life is in little things taken  
on the run4 ,let us run if we must      
--even the sands do that--but let us    
keep our hearts young and our eyes  open
 that nothing worth our while shall     
escape us4 ,and everything is  worth our
 while1 if we only grasp it and its     
significance4 ,as we grow  older it     
becomes harder to do this4 ,a grown man 
sees nothing he was not  ready to see in
 his youth4 ,so long as enthusiasm      
lasts1 so long is youth  still with us4 
,to make all this more direct we may    
look to the various sources from  which 
enthusiasm may be derived4 ,what does   
the school give us in this  direction8  
,intellectual drill1 broadening of      
mental horizon1  professional training1 
all this we expect from school1 college1
 and  university and in every phase of  
this there is room for a thousand       
enthusiasms4 ,moreover1 the school gives
 us comradeship1 the outlook on  the    
hopes and aspirations of our fellows4   
,it opens to us the resources  of young 

life1 the luminous visions of the boys  
that are to be men4 ,we  come to know   
the wonderful fellow to dream and plan1 
with the great  thing always to come1   
who knows8 ,his dream may be our        
inspiration as it  passes1 as its       
realization may be the inspiration of   
future generations4  ,in the school is  
life in the making1 and with the rest we
 are making our  own lives with the     
richest materials ever at our hand4     
,life is  contagious1 and in the fact   
lies the meaning of ,comradeship4       
,gemeingeist unter freien ,geistern1    
comradery among free spirits3 this  is  
the definition of ,college ,spirit given
 us by ,hutten at ,greifeswald1  four   
centuries ago4 ,this definition serves  
for us today4 ,life is the  same in     
every age4 ,all days are one for all    
good things4 ,they are all  holy-days2  
to the freshman of today1 all joys of   
comradery1 all delights  of free        
enthusiasm are just as open1 just as    
fresh as ever they were4  ,from the     

teacher like influences should proceed4 
,plodding and prodding  is not the      
teacher's work4 ,it is inspiration1     
on-leading1 the flashing  of            
enthusiasms4 ,a teacher in any field    
should be one who has chosen his  work  
because he loves it1 who makes no repine
 because he takes with it  the vow of   
poverty1 who finds his reward in the joy
 of knowing and in  the joy of making   
known4 ,it requires the master's touch  
to develop the  germs of the naturalist1
 the philosopher1 the artist1 or the    
poet4 ,our  teacher is the man who has  
succeeded along the line in which we    
hope to  succeed1 whose success is      
measured as we hope to measure our own4 
,each  leader of science and of         
intellectual life is in some degree the 
disciple of one who has planned and led 
before him4 ,there is a heredity  of    
intellect1 a heredity of action1 as     
subtle and as real as the  heredity of  
the continuous germ-plasm4 ,ask the     
teacher who has helped  mould your life1

 who in turn was his own master4 ,in a  
very few  generations you trace back    
your lineage to one of the great        
teachers the  world knows and loves4    
,who was your teacher in ,natural       
,history in  ,america8 ,was he a pupil  
of ,agassiz1 or was he a student of one 
of  ,agassiz's pupils8 ,or1 again1 are  
there three generations back from you   
to the grand master of enthusiasms8     
,and there are masters in the art of    
living as well as in other arts and     
sciences4 ,a log with ,mark ,hopkins at 
one end and myself at the other4  ,that 
was ,garfield's conception of a         
university4 ,it was said of ,eliphalet  
,nott at ,union ,college1 that he took  
the sweepings of other colleges and     
sent them back to society pure gold4    
,the older students of ,stanford  will  
always show the traces of the master    
teacher ,thoburn4 ,in terms of  life1   
thus he construed all problems of       
,science1 of ,philosophy1 of  ,religion4
 ,in terms of life1 ,thoburn's students 

will interpret all their  own various   
problems1 for in terms of life all      
things we do must finally  be           
formulated4 ,every observation we make1 
every thought of our minds1  every act  
of our hands has in some degree an      
ethical basis4 ,it involves  something  
of right or wrong1 and without adhesion 
to right1 all thought1  all action must 
end in folly4 ,and there is no road to  
righteousness so  sure as that which has
 right living as a traveling companion4 
,the very humanity of men at large is in
 itself a source of inspiration4  ,study
 men on the trains1 at the ferry1 on the
 road1 in the jungles of  the forest or 
in the jungles of great cities1--through
 the ages1 every  human heart is human4 
,look for the best1 and the best shall  
rise up  always to reward you4 ,one who 
has traveled among simple-living people1
  men and women we call savages1 because
 they live in the woods and not in      
cleared land or cities1 will bear       
witness that a savage may be a perfect  

gentleman4 ,now as ,i write their faces 
rise before me4 ,joyous1 free  limbed1  
white toothed swimmers in ,samoan surf1 
a ,hawaiian eel-catcher1 a  ,mexican    
peon with his sombrero trailing in the  
dust1 a deferential  ,japanese farm boy 
anticipating your every want1 a sturdy  
,chinaman  without grace and without    
sensitiveness1 but with the saving      
quality of  loyalty to his own word1    
herdsmen of the ,pennine ,alps1 ,aleuts1
 ,indians  and ,negroes1 each race has  
its noblemen and through these humanity 
is  ennobled4 ,it is worth while to go  
far from ,boston to find that such      
things are true4    ,and we may look not
 alone among primitive folk who have    
never envied us  our civilization or    
ever cared that we possessed it4        
,badalia ,herodsfoot1  in ,kipling's    
story1 lived and died in darkest        
,london4 ,gentle hearts and  pure souls 
exist among our own unfortunates1 those 
to whom our society  has shown only its 
destroying side4 ,all misery and failure

 as well as  all virtue has its degrees1
 and our social scheme is still far from
 the  demands of perfect justice4       
,some one has said that the wise young  
man will wear out three dress  suits in 
a year4 ,this is a playful way of saying
 that he will not shun  men and women1  
even those bound by the conventions of  
society4 ,all such  association can be  
made to pay--not in money--but in       
getting the point  of view of other     
people4 ,this is worth while if not     
costing too much of  time and strength4 
,there is another maxim which can offset
 the first4 ,it  is from ,lorimer's     
,chicago pork packer3 ,you will meet    
fools enough  during the day without    
trying to roundup the main herd of them 
at  night4 ,but even the main herd of   
fools may teach its lesson to the       
student of human nature4 ,it gives at   
least a point of departure in the  study
 of wisdom4 ,to study men or to kill    
time4 ,what is your motive8 ,the        
poorest use of time is to kill it4 ,this

 is the weakest and most cowardly  form 
of suicide4 ,moreover it is never quite 
successful4 ,that time which  crawleth  
like a monstrous snake1 wounded and slow
 and very venomous is  sure to take its 
own revenges4    ,it is therefore good  
to look on the cheerful side of life4 ,a
 touch of  humor is necessary to the    
salvation of the serious man4 ,it is a  
gift of  the men of ,america to see     
droll things and to express them in     
droll  fashion4 ,to see the funny side  
of one's own accomplishments is the     
highest achievement of the ,american    
philosopher and there is hope for  the  
land in which the greatest wits have    
been the most earnest of moral          
teachers4 ,who was more earnest than    
,oliver ,wendell ,holmes1 who more      
genuine than ,mark ,twain8 ,without the 
saving grace of humor our ,puritan      
conscience which we all possess would   
lead us again into all  extravagance1   
witch-burnings1 ,quaker-stoning1 heresy 
trials1 and  intolerance of politics and

 religion4 ,from all these we are saved 
by our  feeling for the incongruous4 ,a 
touch of humor recalls us to our senses4
  ,it makes the whole world kin4    ,in 
the love of nature is another source of 
saving grace4 ,science is  power4 ,in   
the stores of human experience lies the 
key to action1 and  modern civilization 
is built on ,science4 ,the love of      
nature is akin to  ,science but         
different4 ,contact with outdoor things 
is direct experience4  ,it is not       
stored1 not co-ordinated1 not always    
convertible into power1  but real1      
nevertheless1 and our own4 ,the song of 
birds1 the swarming of  bees1 the meadow
 carpeted with flowers1 the first pink  
harbingers of the  early spring1 the    
rush of the waterfall1 the piling up of 
the rocks1 the  trail through the       
forest1 the sweep of the surf1 the      
darting of the  fishes1 the drifting of 
the snow1 the white crystals of the     
frost1 the  shrieking of the ice1 the   
boom of the bittern1 the barking of the 

sea  lions1 the honk of the wild geese1 
the skulking coyote who knows that  each
 beast is his enemy and has not even a  
flea to help him forget that  he is a   
dog1 the leap of the salmon1 the ecstasy
 of the mocking-bird  and bobolink1 the 
nesting of the field-mice1 the chatter  
of the  squirrel1 the gray lichen of the
 oak1 the green moss on the log1 the    
poppies of the field and the ,mariposa  
lilies of the cliff--all these  and ten 
thousand more pictures which could be   
called up equally at  random and from   
every foot of land on the globe--all    
these are objects  of nature4 ,all these
 represent a point of human contact and 
the reaction  which makes for youth1 for
 virtue and for enthusiasm4    ,to      
travel is merely to increase the variety
 of contact by giving our  time to it1  
and by extending the number of points at
 which contact is  possible4 ,it may be 
that he who wanders widest1 lifts no    
more of  beauty's jealous veils than he 
who from his doorway sees the miracle of

  flowers and trees4 ,it is true1       
however1 that the experiences of the    
traveler cover a wider range and fill   
his mind with a larger and more  varied 
store of remembered delights4 ,the very 
names of beloved regions  call up each  
one its own picture4 ,the ,south ,seas2 
to have wandered among  their green     
isles is to have seen a new world1 a new
 heaven and a new  earth4 ,the white    
reef with its whiter rim of plunging    
surf1 the swaying  palms1 the flashing  
waterfall1 the joyous people1 straight  
as ,greeks and  colored like varnished  
leather1 the bread-fruit tree and the   
brown  orange1 the purple splendor of   
the vine called ,bougainvillia1 and     
above  all the volcanic mountains1 green
 fringed with huge trees1 with tree     
ferns and palms1 the whole tied together
 into an impenetrable jungle by  the    
long armed lianas4 ,the ,sierra ,nevada1
 sweeping in majestic waves of  stone1  
alive with color and steeped in         
sunshine4 ,switzerland1 ,norway1        

,alaska1 ,tyrol1 ,japan1 ,venice1 the   
,windward ,islands and the ,gray        
,azores1  ,chapultepec with its dream of
 white-cloaked volcanoes1 ,enoshima and 
,gotemba with their peerless ,fujiyama1 
,nikko with its temples1 ,loch  ,lomond1
 ,lake ,tahoe1 ,windermere1 ,tintagel by
 the ,cornish ,sea1 the  ,yellowstone   
and the ,canyon of the ,colorado1 the   
,crater ,lake of ,oregon1  ,sorrento    
with its ,vesuvius1 ,honolulu with its  
,pali1 the ,yosemite1 ,banff  with its  
,selkirks1 ,prince ,frederick's ,sound  
with its green fjords1 the  ,chamounix  
with its ,mont ,blanc1 ,bern with its   
,oberland1 ,zermatt with its            
,matterhorn1 ,simla with the1 great     
silent wonder of the snows4    ,even now
 as ,i write1 says ,whymper the master  
mountain climber1 they  rise before me  
an endless series of pictures           
magnificent in effect1 in  form and     
color4 ,i see great peaks with clouded  
tops1 seeming to mount  upward for ever 
and ever4 ,i hear the music of distant  

herds1 the  peasant's yodel and the     
solemn church bells4 ,and after these   
have passed  away1 another train of     
thought succeeds1 of those who have been
 brave  and true1 of kind hearts and    
bold deeds1 of courtesies received from 
strangers' hands1 trifles in themselves 
but expressive of that good-will  which 
is the essence of charity4    ,that     
poetry was a means of grace was known to
 the first man who wrote a  verse or who
 sang a ballad4 ,it was discovered back 
in the darkness  before men invented    
words or devised letters4 ,the only     
poetry you will  ever know is that you  
learned by heart when you were young4   
,happy is he  who has learned much1 and 
much of that which is good4 ,bad poetry 
is not  poetry at all except to the man 
who makes it4 ,for its creator1 even the
  feeblest verse speaks something of    
inspiration and of aspiration4 ,it is   
said that ,frederick the ,great went    
into battle with a vial of poison in    
one pocket and a quire of bad verse in  

the other4 ,whatever we think of  the   
one1 we feel more kindly toward him for 
the other4    ,charles ,eliot ,norton   
advises every man to read a bit of      
poetry every day  for spiritual         
refreshment4 ,it would be well for each 
of us if we should  follow this advice4 
,it is not too late yet and if some few 
would heed  his words and mine1 these   
pages would not be written in vain4     
,i heard once of a man banished from    
,new ,england to the ,llano ,estacado1  
the great summer-bitten plains of       
,texas4 ,while riding alone among his   
cows over miles of yucca and sage he    
kept in touch with the world  through   
the poetry he recited to himself4 ,his  
favorite1 ,i remember1 was  ,whittier's 
,randolph of ,roanoke3    ,here where   
with living ear and eye  ,he heard      
,potomac flowing1  ,and through his tall
 ancestral trees  ,saw ,autumn's sunset 
glowing2    ,too honest or too proud to 
feign  ,a love he never cherished1      
,beyond ,virginia's border line  ,his   

patriotism perished4    ,but none beheld
 with clearer eye  ,the plague spot o'er
 her spreading1  ,nor heard more sure   
the steps of doom  ,along her future    
treading4    ,this is good verse and it 
may well serve to relate the gray world 
of  ,northern ,texas to the many-colored
 world in which men struggle and die    
for things worthwhile1 winning their    
lives eternally through losing  them4   
,here are some other bits of verse which
 on the sea and on the lands1 in  the   
deserts or in the jungles have served   
the same purpose for other  men1 perhaps
 indeed for you4    ,it has been        
prophesied these many years  ,i should  
not die save in ,jerusalem1  ,which     
vainly ,i supposed the ,holy ,land4     
,but bear me to that chamber1 there     
,i'll lie1  ,in this ,jerusalem shall   
,hardy die4    --    ,and gentlemen of  
,england now abed  ,shall think         
themselves accursed they were not here1 
,and hold their manhood cheap while any 
speaks  ,who fought with us upon ,st4   

,crispin's day4    --    ,let me come in
 where you sit weeping1 aye3  ,let me   
who have not any child to die  ,weep    
with you for the little one whose love  
,i have known nothing of4  ,the little  
arms that slowly1 slowly loosed  ,their 
pressure round your neck1 the hands you 
used  ,to kiss4 ,such arms1 such hands  
,i never knew4  ,may ,i not weep with   
you  ,fain would ,i be of service1 say  
something  ,between the tears1 that     
would be comforting4  ,but ah6 ,so      
sadder than yourselves am ,i  ,who have 
no child to die4    --    ,your picture 
smiles as once it smiled2  ,the ring you
 gave is still the same2  ,your letter  
tells1 ,o changing child1  ,no tidings  
since it came6  ,give me some amulet    
,that marks intelligence with you1  ,red
 when you love and rosier red1  ,and    
when you love not1 pale and blue4  ,alas
 that neither bonds nor vows  ,can      
certify possession4  ,torments me still 
the fear that ,love  ,died in his last  
expression4    --    ,he walks with ,god

 upon the hills  ,and sees each morn the
 world arise  ,new bathed in light of   
,paradise4  ,he hears the laughter of   
her rills2  ,she to his spirit undefiled
  ,makes answer as a little child2      
,unveiled before his eyes she stands    
,and gives her secrets to his hands4    
--    ,above the pines the moon was     
slowly drifting1  ,the river sang below1
  ,the dim ,sierras far beyond uplifting
  ,their minarets of snow4  ,the roaring
 campfire with good humor painted  ,the 
ruddy tints of health  ,on haggard face 
and form that drooped and fainted  ,in  
the fierce race for wealth4  ,till one  
arose and from his pack's scant treasure
  ,the hoarded volume drew1  ,and cards 
were dropped from hands of listless     
leisure  ,to hear the tale anew4  ,and  
as around them shadows gathered faster  
,and as the firelight fell1  ,he read   
aloud the book wherein the ,master  ,had
 writ of ,little ,nell4  ,perhaps 'twas 
boyish fancy1 for the reader  ,was      
youngest of them all1  ,yet1 as he read1

 from clustering pine and cedar  ,a     
silence seemed to fall4  ,the fir trees 
gathering closer in the shadows         
,listened in every spray1  ,while the   
whole camp with little ,nell1 on        
,english meadows1  ,wandered and lost   
their way4  ,lost is that camp and      
wasted all its fire1  ,and he who wro't 
that spell2  ,ah1 towering pine and     
stately ,kentish spire1  ,ye have one   
tale to tell4  ,lost is that camp1 but  
let its fragrant story  ,blend with the 
breath that thrills  ,with hop vines'   
incense all the pensive glory  ,that    
fills the ,kentish hills4  ,and on that 
grave where ,english oak and holly  ,and
 laurel wreath entwine1  ,deem it not   
all a too presumptuous folly1  ,this    
spray of ,western pine4    --    ,dark  
browed she broods with weary lids       
,beside her ,sphynx and ,pyramids1      
,with her low1 never lifted eyes4  ,if  
she be dead1 respect the dead2  ,if she 
be weeping1 let her weep2  ,if she be   
sleeping1 let her sleep2  ,for lo1 this 

woman named the stars4  ,she suckled at 
her tawny dugs  ,your ,moses1 while ye  
reeked with wars  ,and prowled the      
woods1 rude1 painted thugs4    --       
,the tumult and the shouting dies2  ,the
 captains and the kings depart2  ,still 
stands thine ancient sacrifice1  ,the   
humble and the contrite heart4    --    
,careless seems the ,great ,avenger1    
,history's pages but record  ,one death 
grapple in the darkness     ,twixt old  
systems and the word4  ,truth forever on
 the scaffold1     ,wrong forever on the
 throne2  ,but that scaffold sways the  
future1     ,and behind the dim ,unknown
  ,standeth ,god within the shadow4     
,keeping watch above his own4    --     
,pledge me round1 ,i bid you declare1   
,all good fellows whose beards are gray1
  ,did not the fairest of the fair      
,common grow and wearisome1 ere  ,ever a
 month had passed away8  ,the reddest   
lips that ever have kissed1  ,the       
brightest eyes that ever have shone     
,may pray and whisper and we not list   

,or look away and never be missed  ,ere 
yet ever a month is gone4  ,gillian's   
dead4 ,god rest her bier6  ,how ,i loved
 her twenty years syne6  ,marian's      
married and ,i sit here  ,alone and     
merry at forty year1  ,dipping my nose  
in the ,gascon wine4    --    ,under the
 wide and starry sky  ,dig my grave and 
let me lie4  ,glad did ,i live and      
gladly die  ,and ,i lay me down with a  
will4  ,this be the verse ye grave for  
me3     ',here he lies where he longed  
to be4     ,home is the sailor1 home    
from the sea1     ,and the hunter home  
from the hill4'    --    ,by the brand  
upon my shoulders1  ,by the lash of     
clinging steel1  ,by the welts the whips
 have left me1  ,by the wounds that     
never heal1  ,by the eyes grown dim with
 staring  ,at the sun-wash on the brine1
  ,i am paid in full for service1--     
,would that service still were mine4    
,and with these the more familiar verses
 beginning3    ,break1 break1 break1    
,at the foot of thy crags1 ,o ,sea4     

,bells of the past whose long-forgotten 
music4    ,just for a handful of silver 
he left us4    ,beautiful ,evelyn ,hope 
is dead4    ,o to be in ,england1 now   
that ,april's there4    ,the mists are  
on the ,oberland1  ,the ,fungfrau's     
snows look faint and far4    ,the word  
of the ,lord by night  ,to the watching 
pilgrims came4    ,fear1 a forgotten    
form2  ,death1 a dream of the eyes2  ,we
 were atoms in ,god's great storm  ,that
 raged through the angry skies6    ,and 
with this you may take many other bits  
of verse which were hammered  out on the
 anvil of the terrible ,civil ,war4     
,perhaps these bits of verse chosen     
almost at random will not appeal to     
your taste4 ,then find some other verse 
that does4 ,the range of  literature is 
as wide as humanity4 ,it touches every  
feeling1 every hope1  every craving of  
the human heart4 ,select what you can   
understand--best1  what you can rise on 
tiptoe to understand4 ,it was my duty to
 have loved  the highest4 ,it is your   

duty toward poetry to take the highest  
you can  reach4 ,then learn it by heart4
 ,learn it when you are young4 ,it will 
give  you a fresh well of thoughts4 ,it 
will form your style as a writer4 ,that 
is poetry in which truth is expressed in
 the fewest possible words1 in  words   
which are inevitable1 in words which    
could not be changed without  weakening 
the meaning or throwing discord into the
 melody4 ,to choose the  right word and 
to discard all others1 this is the chief
 factor in good  writing4 ,to learn good
 poetry by heart is to acquire help     
toward doing  this instinctively1       
automatically1 as other habits are      
acquired4 ,in the  affairs of life there
 is no form of good manners1 no habit of
 usage more  valuable than the habit of 
good ,english4 ,and to this end the     
masters of  ,english1 from ,chaucer to  
,tennyson1 and in spite of perversities1
 we may  add ,emerson1 ,browning1 and   
,kipling1 have written ,english verse4  
,it is  not in verse alone that poetry  

is written4 ,sweetness and light and    
truth  can be crystallized into prose1  
and prose well worthy to be borne in    
memory4    ,take this from ,emerson3    
,the poet is the true landlord1 sea     
lord1 air lord6 ,wherever snow falls  or
 water flows or birds fly1 wherever day 
and night meet in twilight1  wherever   
the blue heaven is hung by clouds or    
sown with stars1 wherever  are forms    
with transparent boundaries1 wherever   
are outlets into  celestial spaces1     
wherever is danger and awe and          
love--there's ,beauty1  plenteous as    
rain shed for thee and though thou      
shouldst walk the world  over thou shalt
 not be able to find a condition        
inopportune or ignoble4    ,i took a    
walk the other day1 so ,thoreau tells   
us1 on ,spaulding's  farm4 ,i saw the   
setting sun lighting up the opposite    
side of a stately  pine wood4 ,its      
golden rays straggled into the aisles of
 the wood as into  some noble hall4 ,i  
was impressed as if some ancient and    

altogether  admirable family had settled
 there in that part of ,concord1 unknown
 to  me--to whom the sun was servant4 ,i
 saw their path1 their pleasuring       
ground through the woods in ,spaulding's
 cranberry meadow4 ,the pines  furnished
 them with gables as they grew4 ,their  
house was not obvious to  vision1 the   
trees grew through it4 ,they have sons  
and daughters4 ,they  are quite well4   
,the farmer's cart path which leads     
directly through  their hall does not in
 the least put them out1 as the muddy   
bottom of  the pool is sometimes seen   
through the reflected skies4 ,they never
 heard  of ,spaulding1 and do not know  
that he is their neighbor1              
notwithstanding  ,i heard him whistle as
 he drove his team through their house4 
,nothing  can equal the serenity of     
their lives4 ,their coat of arms is     
simply a  lichen4 ,it is painted on the 
pines and the oaks4 ,they are of no     
politics4 ,there was no noise of labor4 
,i did not perceive that they were      

weaving or spinning4 ,yet ,i did detect1
 when the wind lulled and hearing  was  
done away1 the finest imaginable sweet  
musical hum as of a distant  hive in    
,may1 which perchance was the sound of  
their thinking4 ,they had  no idle      
thoughts and no one without could say   
their work1 for their  industry was not 
in knots and excrescences embayed4 ,yet 
,i find it  difficult to remember them4 
,they fade irrevocably even while ,i    
speak4 ,it  is only after a long and    
serious effort to recollect that ,i     
became again  aware of their            
cohabitance4 ,if it were not for such   
families as this ,i  think ,i should    
move out of ,concord4    ,in the arts of
 music and painting and sculpture1 one  
may find not only  professional         
satisfaction1 but the strength that     
comes from higher  living and more lofty
 feeling4 ,in the study of history as   
biography1 the  acquaintance with the   
men and women of other times1 those who 
have felt  and thought and acted and    

suffered to make a freer world for you  
and me1  like inspiration may be found4 
,history is more than its incidents4 ,it
 is  the movement of man4 ,it is the    
movement of individual men1 and it is in
  giving illumination to personal and   
racial characters that the  succession  
of incidents has its value4 ,the        
picturesque individual1 the  man who    
could not be counted with the mass1 the 
,david1 the ,christ1 the  ,brutus1 the  
,caesar1 the ,plato1 the ,alfred1 the   
,charlemagne1 the  ,cromwell1 the       
,mirabeau1 the ,luther1 the ,darwin1 the
 ,helmholtz1 the  ,goethe1 the          
,franklin1 the ,hampden1 the ,lincoln1  
all these give  inspiration to history4 
,it is well that we should know them1   
should know  them all1 should know them 
well--an education is incomplete that is
 not  built about a ,pantheon1 dedicated
 to the worship of great men4    ,with  
all this comes that feeling of          
dedication to the highest purposes      
which is the essential feature of       

religion4 ,religion should be known by  
its tolerance1 its broadmindedness1 its 
faith in ,god and humanity1 its         
recognition of the duty of action4      
,and action should be understood in a   
large way1 the taking of one's part  in 
affairs worth doing1 not mere activity1 
nor fussiness1 nor movement  for        
movement's sake1 like that of ants on   
whom pepper is sprinkled4 ,as  the      
lesser enthusiasms fade and fail1 one   
should take a stronger hold on  the     
higher ones4 ,grizzling hair the brain  
doth clear and one sees in  better      
perspective the things that need doing4 
,it is thus possible to  grow old as a  
grand old man1 a phrase invented for    
,gladstone1 but  which fits just as well
 our own ,mark ,twain4 ,grand old men   
are those who  have been grand young    
men1 and carry still a young heart      
beneath old  shoulders4 ,there are      
plenty of such in our country to-day1   
though the  average man begins to give  
up the struggle for the higher life at  

forty4  ,president ,white1 ,president   
,eliot1 ,president ,angell1--few men    
have left  so deep an impression on the 
,twentieth ,century4 ,edward ,everett   
,hale1 the  teacher who has shown us    
what it is to have a country4 ,senator  
,hoar1  ,professor ,agassiz1 ,professor 
,le ,conte1 ,professor ,shaler1--all    
these1  whatever the weight of years1   
remained young men to the last4 ,when   
,agassiz died1 the ,harvard students    
laid a wreath of laurel on his bier  and
 their manly voices sang a requiem1 for 
he had been a student all his  life     
long1 and when he died he was younger   
than any of them4 ,jefferson  was in the
 seventies when he turned back to his   
early ambition1 the  foundation of the  
,university of ,virginia4 ,the mother of
 ,stanford  ,university was older than  
,jefferson before she laid down the     
great work  of her life as completed4   
,when the heart is full1 it shows itself
 in  action as well as in speech4 ,when 
the heart is empty1 then life is no     

longer worth while4 ,the days pass and  
there is no pleasure in them4 ,let  us  
then fill our souls with noble ideals of
 knowledge1 of art1 of  action4 ,let us 
lay up a stock of enthusiasms in our    
youth1 lest we  reach the end of our    
journey with an empty heart1 for we lose
 many of  them by the way4    ,we hear  
much in these days of the wickedness of 
power1 of the evil  behavior of men in  
high places1 of men in low places1 and  
men whom the  people have been perforce 
obliged to trust4 ,this is no new thing1
 though  the struggle against it1 the   
combination of the forces of reform and 
blackmail1 of dreamers and highwaymen1  
is offering some new phases4    ,there  
is a kind of music popular with         
uncritical audiences and with  people   
who know no better1 which answers to the
 name of ragtime4 ,it is  the music of  
those who do not know good music or who 
have not the moral  force to demand it4 
,the spirit of ragtime is not confined  
to music3  graft is the ragtime of      

business1 the spoils system the ragtime 
of  politics1 adulteration the ragtime  
of manufacture4 ,there is ragtime       
science1 ragtime literature1 ragtime    
religion4 ,you will know each of  these 
by its quick returns4 ,the spirit of    
ragtime determines the six  best        
sellers1 the most popular policeman1 the
 favorite congressman1 the  wealthiest  
corporation1 the church which soonest   
rents its pews4    ,but it does not1    
control the man who thinks for himself4 
,it has no lien  on the movements of    
history1 its decrees avail nothing in   
the fixing of  truth4 ,the movements of 
the stars pay it no tribute1 neither do 
the  movements of humanity4 ,the power  
of graft is a transient deception4      
,emerson's parable of the illusions     
gives the clue to our time1 to all      
time1 in its contrast of the things     
which appear with the things that       
abide4    ,there is no chance and no    
anarchy in the ,universe1 says ,emerson1
 all  is system and gradation4 ,every   

god is there sitting in his sphere4 ,the
  young mortal enters the hall of the   
firmament2 there he is alone with  them 
alone1 they pronouncing on him          
benedictions and gifts1 and  beckoning  
him up to their thrones4 ,on the instant
 and incessantly fall  snow storms of   
illusions4 ,he fancies himself in a vast
 crowd which sways  this way and that   
and whose movements and doings he must  
obey4 ,he  fancies himself poor1        
orphaned1 insignificant4 ,the mad crowd 
drives  hither and thither1 now         
furiously commanding this thing to be   
done1 now  that4 ,what is he that he    
should resist their will and think and  
act for  himself8 ,every moment new     
changes and new showers of deceptions to
  baffle and distract him4 ,and when1 by
 and by1 for an instant the air  clears 
and the cloud lifts a little1 there are 
the gods still sitting  around him on   
their thrones--they alone with him      
alone4    --    ,the last paragraphs of 
this little essay were written within a 

huge  hotel of steel and stone in the   
heart of a bustling city1 in the most   
gracious of lands and under the bluest  
of skies4 ,a great commercial city  it  
was1 a wondrous city1 full of all manner
 of men--eager1 impulsive1  loving1     
enthusiastic men2 men cunning and       
grasping1 given over to all  high1 hard 
lust and wilful deed2 carefree1 joyous  
men living in the  present and taking   
their chances for the future2 men who   
have whistled  all the airs that        
fluttering birds and frolicking children
 have learned  to sing2 workmen of all  
grades1 quiet1 courageous and           
self-respecting1  and weak1 disgruntled 
and incapable2 bright-eyed1             
clear-headed1  sagacious men1 such men  
as build a state2 hopeless1 broken1     
disappointed  men1 who have made this   
city of hope their last resort2         
gamblers1  parasites1 bartenders1       
agitators1 self-seekers1 haters of men  
and haters  of organization1            
impossibles1 men uncontrolled and       

uncontrollable1 of  every nation and    
with every dialect of the civilized     
world--and of  uncivilized worlds       
also2--the most cosmopolitan of all     
,american towns1  the one fullest of the
 joy of living1 the one least fearful of
 future  disaster1 serene1 indifferent  
to fate1 thus her own poets have styled 
her1 and on no other city since the     
world began has fate1 unmalicious1      
mechanical and elemental1 wrought such a
 terrible havoc4 ,in a day this  city   
has vanished2 the shock of a mighty     
earthquake forgotten in an hour  in the 
hopeless horror of fire2 homes1 hotels1 
hospitals1 hovels1  libraries1 museums1 
skyscrapers1 factories1 shops1 banks and
 gambling  dens1 all blotted out of     
existence almost in the twinkling of an 
eye2  millionaires1 beggars1 dancers and
 workers1 men great and small1 foolish  
and courageous1 with their women and    
children of like natures with them1     
fleeing together by the thousands and   
hundreds of thousands to the hills  and 

the sand-dunes1 where on the grass and  
the shifting sands they all  slept      
together or were awake together in the  
old primal equality of  life4 ,never    
since man began to plan and to create   
has there been such a  destruction of   
the results of human effort4 ,never has 
a great calamity  been met with so      
little repining4 ,never before has the  
common man shown  himself so hopeful1 so
 courageous1 so sure of himself and his 
future4  ,for it is the man1 after all1 
that survives and it is the will of man 
that shapes the fates4    ,it is the    
lesson of earthquake and fire that man  
cannot be shaken and  cannot be burned4 
,the houses he builds are houses of     
cards1 but he  stands outside of them   
and can build again4 ,it is a wonderful 
thing to  build a great city4 ,men can  
do this in a quarter century1 working   
together each at his own part4 ,more    
wonderful still is it to be a city1  for
 a city is composed of men1 and now1    
ever and forever the man must  rise     

above his own creations4 ,that which is 
in the man is greater than  all that he 
can do4    ,out of the night that covers
 me1  ,black as the pit from pole to    
pole1  ,i thank whatever gods may be    
,for my unconquerable soul4    ,in the  
fell clutch of circumstance  ,i have not
 winced nor cried aloud  ,under the     
bludgeonings of chance1  ,my head is    
bloody but not bowed4    ,beyond this   
place of wrath and tears  ,looms but the
 ,horror of the shade1  ,and yet the    
menace of the years  ,finds and shall   
find me unafraid4    ,it matters not how
 straight the gate1  ,how charged with  
punishments the scroll1  ,i am the      
master of my fate1  ,i am the captain of
 my soul6