,,education ,,and ,,the ,,higher ,,life 
,,by ,,bishop ,,spalding4  ,,education  
,,and ,,the ,,higher ,,life4 #abmo4     
#a4jj4  ,,things ,,of ,,the ,,mind4     
#abmo4 #a4jj4  ,,means ,,and ,,ends ,,of
 ,,education4 #abmo4 #a4jj4  ,,thoughts 
,,and ,,theories ,,of ,,life ,,and      
,,education4 #abmo4 #a4jj4              
,,opportunity ,,and ,,other ,,essays    
,,and ,,addresses4 #abmo4 #a4jj4        
,,songs3 ,,chiefly ,,from ,,the         
,,german4 #afmo1 gilt top4 #a4be4  ,a4  
,c4 ,mc,c,l,u,r,g  ,,co4  ,,chicago4    
,,education ,,and ,,the ,,higher ,,life 
,,by  ,j4 ,l4 ,spalding  ,bishop of     
,peoria       ,the business of education
 is not1 as ,i think1 to perfect the    
learner     in any of the sciences1 but 
to give his mind that freedom and       
disposition1 and those habits1 which may
 enable him to attain every     part of 
knowledge himself4--,,locke   ,,sixth   
,,edition  ,,chicago  ,a4 ,c4           
,mc,c,l,u,r,g  ,,co4  #aijj  ,copyright1
  ,,by ,a4 ,c4 ,,mcclurg ,,and ,,co41   

,a4 ,d4 #ahij4     ,,contents4          
,,chapter                               
,,page     ,i4 ,,ideals                 
#g    ,,ii4 ,,exercise ,,of ,,mind      
#cj   ,,iii4 ,,the ,,love ,,of          
,,excellence                         #ea
    ,,iv4 ,,culture ,,and ,,the ,,spirit
 ,,of ,,the ,,age              #gc      
,v4 ,,self-,,culture                    
#ib    ,,vi4 ,,growth ,,and ,,duty      
#aag   ,,vii4 ,,right ,,human ,,life    
#add  ,,viii4 ,,university ,,education  
#agb     ,,education ,,and ,,the        
,,higher ,,life4     ,,chapter ,i4      
,,ideals4                               
,a noble aim1     ,faithfully kept1 is  
as a noble deed4  ,,wordsworth4   ,to   
few men does life bring a brighter day  
than that which places the crown upon   
their scholastic labors1 and bids them  
go forth from the halls of the ,alma    
,mater to the great world's battlefield4
 ,there is a freshness in these early   
triumphs which1 like the bloom and      
fragrance of the flower1 is quickly     

lost1 never to be found again even by   
those for whom ,fortune reserves her    
most choice gifts4 ,fame1 though hymned 
by myriad tongues1 is not so sweet as   
the delight we drink from the           
tear-dimmed eyes of our mothers and     
sisters1 in the sacred hours when we can
 yet claim as our own the love of higher
 things1 the faith and hope which make  
this mortal life immortal1 and fill a   
moment with a wealth of memories which  
lasts through years4 ,the highest joy is
 serious1 and in the midst of supreme   
delight there comes to the soul a       
stillness which permits it to rise to   
the serene sphere where truth is most   
gladly heard and most easily perceived2 
and in such exaltation1 the young see   
that life is not what they take it to   
be4 ,they think it long2 it is short4   
,they think it happy2 it is full of     
cares and sorrows4 ,this two-fold       
illusion widens the horizon of life and 
tinges it with gold4 ,it gives to youth 
its charm and makes of it a blessed time

 to which we ever turn regretful eyes4  
,but ,i am wrong to call illusion that  
which in truth is but an omen of the    
divine possibilities of man's nature4   
,to the young1 life is not mean or      
short1 because the blessed freedom of   
youth may make it noble and immortal4   
,the young stand upon the threshold of  
the world4 ,of the many careers which   
are open to human activity1 they will   
choose one2 and their fortunes will be  
various1 even though their merits should
 be equal4 ,but if position1 fame1 and  
wealth are often denied to the most     
persistent efforts and the best ability1
 it is consoling to know they are not   
the highest2 and as they are not the end
 of life1 they should not be made its   
aim4 ,an aim1 nevertheless1 we must     
have1 if we hope to live to good        
purpose4 ,all men1 in fact1 whether or  
not they know it1 have an ideal1 base or
 lofty1 which molds character and shapes
 destiny4 ,whether it be pleasure or    
gain or renown or knowledge1 or several 

of these1 or something else1 we all     
associate life with some end1 or ends1  
the attainment of which seems to us most
 desirable4  ,this ideal1 that which in 
our inmost souls we love and desire1    
which we lay to heart and live by1 is at
 once the truest expression of our      
nature and the most potent agency in    
developing its powers4 ,now1 in youth we
 form the ideals which we labor to body 
forth in our lives4 ,what in these      
growing days we yearn for with all our  
being1 is heaped upon us in old age4    
,all important1 therefore1 is the choice
 of an ideal2 for this more than rules  
or precepts will determine what we are  
to become4 ,the love of the best is     
twin-born with the soul4 ,what is the   
best8 ,what is the worthiest life-aim8  
,it must be something which is within   
the reach of every one1 as ,nature's    
best gifts--air and sunshine and        
water--belong to all4 ,what only the few
 can attain1 cannot be life's real end  
or the highest good4 ,the best is not   

far removed from any one of us1 but is  
alike near to the poor and the rich1 to 
the learned and the ignorant1 to the    
shepherd and the king1 and only the best
 can give to the soul repose and        
contentment4 ,what then is the true     
life-ideal8 ,recalling to mind the      
thoughts and theories of many men1 ,i   
can find nothing better than this1 ,seek
 ye first the kingdom of ,god4 ,love not
 pleasure1 says ,carlyle1 love ,god4    
,this is the everlasting ,yea1 wherein  
all contradiction is solved2 wherein    
whoso walks and works1 it is well with  
him4  ,to the high and aspiring heart of
 youth1 fame1 honor1 glory1 appeal with 
such irresistible power1 and appear clad
 in forms so beautiful1 that at a time  
of life when all of us are unreal in our
 sentiments and crude in our opinions1  
they are often mistaken for the best4   
,but fame is good only in so far as it  
gives power for good4 ,for the rest1 it 
is nominal4 ,they who have deserved it  
care not for it4 ,a great soul is above 

all praise and dispraise of men1 which  
are ever given ignorantly and without   
fine discernment4 ,the popular breath1  
even when winnowed by the winds of      
centuries1 is hardly pure4  ,and then   
fame cannot be the good of which ,i     
speak1 for only a very few can even hope
 for it4 ,to nearly all1 the gifts which
 make it possible are denied2 and to    
others1 the opportunities4 ,many1       
indeed1 love and win notoriety1 but such
 as they need not detain us here4 ,a    
lower race of youth1 in whom the blood  
is warmer than the soul1 think pleasure 
life's best gift1 and are content to let
 occasion die1 while they revel in the  
elysium of the senses4 ,but to make     
pleasure an end is to thwart one's      
purpose1 for joy is good only when it   
comes unbidden4 ,the pleasure we seek   
begins already to pall4 ,it is good1    
indeed1 if it come as refreshment to the
 weary1 solace to the heavy-hearted1 and
 rest to the careworn2 but if sought for
 its own sake1 it is the honey of poison

 flowers and all the measureless ill4   
,only the young1 or the depraved1 can   
believe that to live for pleasure is not
 to be foreordained to misery4 ,whoso   
loves ,god or freedom or growth of mind 
or strength of heart1 feels that        
pleasure is his foe4       ,a king of   
feasts and flowers1 and wine and revel1 
,and love and mirth1 was never ,king of 
glory4   ,of money1 as the end or ideal 
of life1 it should not be necessary to  
speak4 ,as a fine contempt for life1 a  
willingness to throw it away in defence 
of any just cause or noble opinion1 is  
one of the privileges of youth1 so the  
generous heart of the young holds cheap 
the material comforts which money       
procures4 ,to be young is to be free1 to
 be able to live anywhere on land or    
sea1 in the midst of deserts or among   
strange people2 is to be able to fit the
 mind and body to all circumstance1 and 
to rise almost above ,nature's iron law4
 ,he who is impelled by this high and   
heavenly spirit will dream of flying and

 not of hobbling through life on golden 
crutches4 ,let the feeble and the old   
put their trust in money2 but where     
there is strength and youth1 the soul   
should be our guide4  ,and yet the very 
law and movement of our whole social    
life seem to point to riches as the     
chief good4       ,what is that which ,i
 should turn to1 lighting upon days like
 these8     ,every door is barred with  
gold1 and opens but to golden keys4     
,money is the god in whom we put our    
trust1 to whom instinctively we pay     
homage4 ,we believe that the rich are   
fortunate1 are happy1 that the best of  
life has been given to them4 ,we have   
faith in the power of money1 in its     
sovereign efficacy to save us not only  
from beggary1 from sneers and insults1  
but we believe that it can transform us1
 and take away the poverty of mind1 the 
narrowness of heart1 the dullness of    
imagination1 which make us weak1 hard1  
and common4 ,even our hatred of the rich
 is but another form of the worship of  

money4 ,the poor think they are         
wretched1 because they think money the  
chief good2 and if they are right1 then 
is it a holy work to strive to overthrow
 society as it is now constituted4      
,buckle and ,strauss find fault with the
 ,christian religion because it does not
 inculcate the love of money4 ,but in   
this1 faith and reason are in harmony4  
,wealth is not the best1 and to make it 
the end of life is idolatry1 and as     
,saint ,paul declares1 the root of evil4
 ,man is more than money1 as the workman
 is more than his tools4 ,the soul      
craves quite other nourishment than that
 which the whole material universe can  
supply4 ,man's chief good lies in the   
infinite world of thought and           
righteousness4 ,fame and wealth and     
pleasure are good when they are born of 
high thinking and right living1 when    
they lead to purer faith and love2 but  
if they are sought as ends and loved for
 themselves1 they blight and corrupt4   
,the value of culture is great1 and the 

ideal it presents points in the right   
direction in bidding us build up the    
being which we are4 ,but since man is   
not the highest1 he may not rest in     
himself1 and culture therefore is a     
means rather than an end4 ,if we make it
 the chief aim of life1 it degenerates  
into a principle of exclusion1 destroys 
sympathy1 and terminates in a sort of   
self-worship4  ,what remains1 then1 but 
the ideal which ,i have proposed8--,seek
 ye first the ,kingdom of ,god4 ,unless 
the light of ,heaven fall along our way1
 thick darkness gathers about us1 and in
 the end1 whatever our success may have 
been1 we fail1 and are without ,god and 
without hope4 ,so long as any           
seriousness is left1 religion is man's  
first and deepest concern2 to be        
indifferent is to be dull or depraved1  
and doubt is disease4 ,difficulties     
assuredly there are1 underlying not only
 faith1 but all systems of knowledge4   
,how am ,i certain that ,i know         
anything8 is a question1 debated in all 

past time1 debatable in all future time2
 but we are none the less certain that  
we know4 ,the mind is governed by laws  
which neither science nor philosophy can
 change1 and while theories and systems 
rise and pass away1 the eternal problems
 present themselves ever anew clothed in
 the eternal mystery4 ,but little       
discernment is needed to enable us to   
perceive how poor and symbolic are the  
thoughts of the multitude4 ,half in     
pity1 half in contempt1 we rise to      
higher regions only to discover that    
wherever we may be there also are the   
laws and the limitations of our being2  
and that in whatsoever sanctuaries we   
may take refuge1 we are still of the    
crowd4 ,we cannot grasp the ,infinite2  
language cannot express even what we    
know of the ,divine ,being1 and hence   
there remains a background of darkness1 
where it is possible to adore1 or to    
mock4 ,but religion dispels more mystery
 than it involves4 ,with it1 there is   
twilight in the world2 without it1      

night4 ,we are in the world to act1 not 
to doubt4 ,leaving quibbles to those who
 can find no better use for life1 the   
wise1 with firm faith in ,god and man1  
strive to make themselves worthy to do  
brave and righteous work4 ,distrust is  
the last wisdom a great heart learns2   
and noble natures feel that the generous
 view is1 in the end1 the true view4    
,for them life means good2 they find    
strength and joy in this wholesome and  
cheerful faith1 and if they are in      
error1 it can never be known1 for if    
death end all1 with it knowledge ceases4
 ,perceiving this1 they strive to gain  
spiritual insight1 they look to ,god2   
toward him they turn the current of     
their thought and love2 the unseen world
 of truth and beauty becomes their home2
 and while matter flows on and breaks   
and remakes itself to break again1 they 
dwell in the presence of the ,eternal1  
and become co-workers with the ,infinite
 ,power which makes goodness good1 and  
justice right4 ,they love knowledge1    

because ,god knows all things2 they love
 beauty1 because he is its source2 they 
love the soul1 because it brings man    
into conscious communion with him and   
his universe4 ,if their ideal is        
poetical1 they catch in the finer spirit
 of truth which the poet breathes1 the  
fragrance of the breath of ,god2 if it  
is scientific1 they discover in the laws
 of ,nature the harmony of his          
attributes2 if it is political and      
social1 they trace the principles of    
justice and liberty to him2 if it is    
philanthropic1 they understand that love
 which is the basis1 aim1 and end of    
life is also ,god4  ,the root of their  
being is in him1 and the illusory world 
of the senses cannot dim their vision of
 the real world which is eternal4 ,by   
self-analysis the mind is sublimated    
until it becomes a shadow in a shadowy  
universe2 and the criticism of the      
reason drives us to doubt and inaction1 
from which we are redeemed by our       
necessary faith in our own freedom1 in  

our power to act1 and in the duty of    
acting in obedience to higher law4      
,knowledge comes of doing4 ,never to act
 is never to know4 ,the world of which  
we are conscious is the world against   
which we throw ourselves by the power of
 the will2 hence life is chiefly        
conduct1 and its ideal is not merely    
religious1 but moral4 ,the duty of      
obedience to our better self determines 
the purpose and end of action1 for the  
better self is under the impulse of     
,god4 ,whether we look without or       
within1 we find things are as they      
should not be2 and there awakens the    
desire1 nay1 the demand that they be    
made other and better4 ,the actual is a 
mockery unless it may be looked upon as 
the means of a higher state4 ,if all    
things come forth only to perish and    
again come forth as they were before2 if
 life is a monster which destroys itself
 that it may again be born1 again to    
destroy itself1--were it not better that
 the tragedy should cease8 ,for many    

centuries men have been struggling for  
richer and happier life2 and yet when we
 behold the sins1 the miseries1 the     
wrongs1 the sorrows1 of which the world 
is full1 we are tempted to think that   
progress means failure4 ,the multitude  
are still condemned to toil from youth  
to age to provide the food by which life
 is kept in the body2 immortal spirits  
are still driven by hard necessity to   
fix their thoughts upon matter from     
which they with much labor dig forth    
what nourishes the animal4 ,like the    
savage1 we still tremble before the     
pitiless might of ,nature4 ,floods1     
hurricanes1 earthquakes1 untimely       
frosts1 destroy in a moment what with   
long and painful effort has been        
provided4 ,pestilence still stalks      
through the earth to slay and make      
desolate4 ,each day a hundred thousand  
human beings die2 and how many of these 
perish as the victims of sins of        
ignorance1 of selfishness1 of           
sensuality4  ,to-day1 as of old1 it     

would seem man's worst enemy is man4    
,what hordes still wander through ,asia 
and ,africa1 seeking opportunity for    
murder and rapine2 what multitudes are  
still hunted like beasts1 caught and    
sold into slavery4 ,in ,europe millions 
of men stand1 arms in hand1 waiting for 
the slaughter4 ,they still believe1     
because they were born on different     
sides of a river and speak different    
languages1 that they are natural        
enemies1 made to destroy one another4   
,and in our own country1 what other     
sufferings and wrongs1--greed1          
sensuality1 injustice1 deceit1--make us 
enemies one of another6 ,there is a     
general struggle in which each one      
strives to get the most1 heedless of the
 misery of others4 ,we trade upon the   
weaknesses1 the vices1 and the follies  
of our fellow-men2 and every attempt at 
reform is met by an army of upholders of
 abuse4 ,when we consider the murders1  
the suicides1 the divorces1 the         
adulteries1 the prostitutions1 the      

brawls1 the drunkenness1 the            
dishonesties1 the political and official
 corruptions1 of which our life is full1
 it is difficult to have complacent     
thoughts of ourselves4 ,consider1 too1  
our prisons1 our insane asylums1 our    
poor-houses2 the multitudes of old men  
and women1 who having worn out strength 
and health in toil which barely gave    
them food and raiment1 are thrust aside1
 no longer now fit to be bought and     
sold2 the countless young people1 who   
have1 as we say1 been educated1 but who 
have not been taught the principles and 
habits which lead to honorable living2  
the thousands in our great cities who   
are driven into surroundings which      
pervert and undermine character4 ,and   
worse still1 the good1 instead of       
uniting to labor for a better state of  
things1 misunderstand and thwart one    
another4 ,they divide into parties1 are 
jealous and contentious1 and waste their
 time and exhaust their strength in     
foolish and futile controversies4 ,they 

are not anxious that good be done1 nor  
asking nor caring by whom2 but they seek
 credit for themselves1 and while they  
seem to be laboring for the general     
welfare1 are striving rather to satisfy 
their own selfish vanity4  ,but the     
knowledge of all this does not          
discourage him who1 guided by the light 
of true ideals1 labors to make reason   
and the will of ,god prevail4 ,if things
 are bad he knows they have been worse4 
,never before have the faith and culture
 which make us human1 which make us     
strong and wise1 been the possession of 
so large a portion of the race4         
,religion and civilization have diffused
 themselves1 from little centres--from  
,athens and ,jerusalem and ,rome--until 
people after people1 whole continents1  
have been brought under their influence4
 ,and in our day this diffusion is so   
rapid that it spreads farther in a      
decade than formerly in centuries4 ,for 
ages1 mountains and rivers and oceans   
were barriers behind which tribes and   

nations entrenched themselves against   
the human foe4 ,but we have tunneled the
 mountains2 we have bridged the rivers2 
we have tamed the oceans4 ,we hitch     
steam and electricity to our wagons1 and
 in a few days make the circuit of the  
globe4 ,all lands1 all seas1 are open to
 us4 ,the race is getting acquainted    
with itself4 ,we make a comparative     
study of all literatures1 of all        
religions1 of all philosophies1 of all  
political systems4 ,we find some soul of
 goodness in whatever struggles and     
yearnings have tried man's heart4 ,as   
the products of every clime are carried 
everywhere1 like gifts from other       
worlds1 so the highest science and the  
purest religion are communicated and    
taught throughout the earth3 and as a   
result1 national prejudices and         
antagonisms are beginning to disappear2 
wars are becoming less frequent and less
 cruel2 established wrongs are yielding 
to the pressure of opinion2 privileged  
classes are losing their hold upon the  

imagination2 and opportunity offers     
itself to ever-increasing numbers4      
,now1 in all this1 what do we perceive  
but the purpose of ,god1 urging mankind 
to wider and nobler life8 ,history is   
his many-chambered school4 ,here he has 
taught this lesson1 and there another1  
still leading his children out of the   
darkness of sin and ignorance toward the
 light of righteousness and love1 until 
his kingdom come1 until his will be done
 on earth as it is in heaven4 ,to       
believe in ,god and in this divine      
education1 and to make co-operation with
 his providential guidance of the race a
 life-aim is to have an ideal which is  
not only the highest1 but which also    
blends all other true ideals into       
harmony4 ,and the lovers of culture     
should be the first to perceive that    
intellectual good is empty1 illusory1   
unless there be added to it the good of 
the heart1 the good of conscience4 ,to  
live for the cultivation of one's mind1 
is1 after all1 to live for one's self1  

and therefore out of harmony with the   
eternal law which makes it impossible   
for us to find ourselves except in what 
is not ourselves4 ,it is the capital    
fault of all cultivated men1 says       
,goethe1 that they devote their whole   
energies to the carrying out of a mere  
idea1 and seldom or never to the        
realization of practical good4 ,whatever
 may be said in praise of culture1 of   
its power to make its possessor at home 
in the world of the best thought1 the   
purest sentiment1 the highest           
achievements of the race2 of the        
freedom1 the mildness1 the              
reasonableness of the temper it begets2 
of its aim at completeness and          
perfection1--it is nevertheless true1   
that if it be sought apart from faith in
 ,god and devotion to man1 its tendency 
is to produce an artificial and         
unsympathetic character4 ,the primal    
impulse of our nature is to action2 and 
unless we can make our thought a kind of
 deed1 it seems to be vain and unreal2  

and unless the harmonious development of
 all the endowments which make the      
beauty and dignity of human life1 give  
us new strength and will to work with   
,god for the good of men1 sadness and a 
sense of failure fall upon us4 ,to have 
a cultivated mind1 to be able to see    
things on many sides1 to have wide      
sympathy and the power of generous      
appreciation1--is most desirable1 and   
without something of all this1 not only 
is our life narrow and uninteresting1   
but our energy is turned in wrong       
directions1 and our very religion is in 
danger of losing its catholicity4       
,culture1 then1 is necessary4 ,we need  
it as a corrective of the tendency to   
seek the good of life in what is        
external1 as a means of helping us to   
overcome our vulgar self-complacency1   
our satisfaction with low aims and cheap
 accomplishments1 our belief in the     
sovereign potency of machines and       
measures4 ,we need it to make our lives 
less unlovely1 less hard1 less material2

 to help us to understand the idolatry  
of the worship of steam and electricity1
 the utter insufficiency of the ideals  
of industrialism4 ,but if culture is to 
become a mighty transforming influence  
it must be wedded to religious faith1   
without which1 while it widens the      
intellectual view1 it weakens the will  
to act4 ,to take us out of ourselves and
 to urge us on to labor with ,god that  
we may leave the world better because we
 have lived1 religion alone has power4  
,it gives new vigor to the cultivated   
mind2 it takes away the exclusive and   
fastidious temper which a purely        
intellectual habit tends to produce2 it 
enlarges sympathy2 it teaches reverence2
 it nourishes faith1 inspires hope1     
exalts the imagination1 and keeps alive 
the fire of love4 ,to lead a noble1 a   
beautiful1 and a useful life1 we should 
accept and follow the ideals both of    
religion and of culture4 ,in the midst  
of the transformations of many kinds    
which are taking place in the civilized 

world1 neither the uneducated nor the   
irreligious mind can be of help4 ,large 
and tolerant views are necessary2 but   
not less so is the enthusiasm1 the      
earnestness1 the charity of ,christian  
faith4 ,they who are to be leaders in   
the great movements upon which we have  
entered1 must both know and believe4    
,they must understand the age1 must     
sympathize with whatever is true and    
beneficent in its aspirations1 must hail
 with thankfulness whatever help        
science1 and art1 and culture can bring2
 but they must also know and feel that  
man is of the race of ,god1 and that his
 real and true life is in the unseen1   
infinite1 and eternal world of thought  
and love1 with which the actual world of
 the senses must be brought into        
ever-increasing harmony4 ,liberty and   
equality are good1 wealth is good1 and  
with them we can do much1 but not all   
that needs to be done4 ,the spirit of   
,christ is not merely the spirit of     
liberty and equality2 it is more        

essentially the spirit of love1 of      
sympathy1 of goodness2 and this spirit  
must breathe upon our social life until 
it becomes as different from what it is 
as is fragrant spring from cheerless    
winter4 ,sympathy must become universal2
 not merely as a sentiment prompting to 
deeds of helpfulness and mercy1 but as  
the informing principle of society until
 it attains such perfectness that       
whatever is loss or gain for one1 shall 
be felt as loss or gain for all4 ,the   
narrow1 exclusive self must lose itself 
in wider aims1 in generous deeds1 in the
 comprehensive love of ,god and man4    
,the good must no longer thwart one     
another2 the weak must be protected2 the
 wicked must be surrounded by influences
 which make for righteousness2 and the  
forces of ,nature itself must more and  
more be brought under man's control4    
,pestilence and famine must no longer   
bring death and desolation2 men must no 
longer drink impure water and           
adulterated liquors1 no longer must they

 breathe the poisonous air of badly     
constructed houses2 dwellings which are 
now made warm in winter1 must be made   
cool in summer2 miasmatic swamps must be
 drained2 saloons1 which stand like     
painted harlots to lure men to sin and  
death1 must be closed4 ,women must have 
the same rights and privileges as men2  
children must no longer be made the     
victims of mammon and offered in        
sacrifice in his temple1 the factory2   
ignorance1 which is the most fruitful   
cause of misery1 must give place to     
knowledge2 war must be condemned as     
public murder1 and our present system of
 industrial competition must be         
considered worse than war2 the social   
organization1 which makes the few rich1 
and dooms the many to the slavery of    
poorly paid toil1 must cease to exist2  
and if the political state is           
responsible for this cruelty1 it must   
find a remedy1 or be overthrown2 society
 must be made to rest upon justice and  
love1 without which it is but organized 

wrong4 ,these principles must so        
thoroughly pervade our public life that 
it can no more be the interest of any   
one to wrong his fellow1 to grow rich at
 the cost of the poverty and misery of  
another4 ,life must be prolonged both by
 removing many of the physical causes of
 death1 and by making men more rational 
and religious1 more willing and able to 
deny themselves those indulgences which 
are but a kind of slow suicide4  ,never 
before have questions so vast1 so       
complex1 so pregnant with meaning1 so   
fraught with the promise of good1       
presented themselves2 and it can hardly 
be vanity or conceit which prompts us to
 believe that in this mighty movement   
toward a social life in harmony with our
 idea of ,god and with the aspirations  
of the soul1 ,america is the divinely   
appointed leader4 ,but if this faith is 
not to be a mere delusion1 it must      
become for the best among us the impulse
 to strong and persevering effort4 ,not 
by millionaires and not by politicians  

shall this salvation be wrought2 but by 
men who to pure religion add the best   
intellectual culture4 ,the ,american    
youth must learn patience2 he must      
acquire that serene confidence in the   
power of labor1 which makes workers     
willing to wait4 ,he must not1 like a   
foolish child1 rush forward to pluck the
 fruit before it is ripe1 lest this be  
his epitaph3 ,the promise of his early  
life was great1 his performance         
insignificant4  ,do not our young men   
lack noble ambition8 ,are they not      
satisfied with low aims8 ,to be a       
legislator2 to be a governor2 to be     
talked about2 to live in a marble       
house1--seems to them a thing to be     
desired4 ,unhappy youths from whom the  
power and goodness of life are hidden1  
who1 standing in the presence of the    
unseen1 infinite world of truth and     
beauty1 can only dream some aldermanic  
nightmare4 ,they thrust themselves into 
the noisy crowd1 and are thrown into    
contact with disenchanting experience at

 a time of life when the mind and heart 
should draw nourishment and wisdom from 
communion with ,god and with great      
thoughts4 ,amid the universal clatter of
 tongues1 and in the overflowing        
ceaseless stream of newspaper gossip1   
the soul is bewildered and stifled4 ,in 
a blatant land1 the young should learn  
to be silent4 ,the noblest minds are    
fashioned in secrecy1 through long      
travail like1--       ,wines that1      
,heaven knows where1     ,have sucked   
the fire of some forgotten sun     ,and 
kept it thro' a hundred years of gloom  
,yet glowing in a heart of ruby4   ,is  
it not worth the labor and expectation  
of a life-time to be able to do1 even   
once1 the right thing excellently well8 
,the eager passion for display1 the     
desire to speak and act in the eyes of  
the world1 is boyish4 ,will is          
concentration1 and a great purpose works
 in secrecy4 ,oh1 the goodness and the  
seriousness of life1 the illimitable    
reach of achievement1 which it opens to 

the young who have a great heart and    
noble aims6 ,with them is ,god's        
almighty power and love1 and his very   
presence is hidden from them by a film  
only4 ,from this little islet they look 
out upon infinite worlds2 heaven bends  
over them1 and earth bears them up as   
though it would have them fly4 ,how is  
it possible to remain inferior when we  
believe in ,god and know that this age  
is the right moment for all high and    
holy work8 ,the yearning for guidance   
has never been so great4 ,we have       
reached heights where the brain swims1  
and thoughts are confused1 and it is    
held to be questionable whether we are  
to turn backward or to move onward to   
the land of promise2 whether we are to  
be overwhelmed by the material world    
which we have so marvelously            
transformed1 or with the aid of the     
secrets we have learned1 are to rise    
,godward to a purer and fairer life of  
knowledge1 justice1 and love4  ,is the  
material progress of the nineteenth     

century a cradle or a grave8 ,are we to 
continue to dig and delve and peer into 
matter until ,god and the soul fade from
 our view and we become like the things 
we work in8 ,to put such questions to   
the multitude were idle4 ,there is here 
no affair of votes and majorities4      
,human nature has not changed1 and now1 
as in the past1 crowds follow leaders4  
,what the best minds and the most       
energetic characters believe and teach  
and put in practice1 the millions will  
come to accept4 ,the doubt is whether   
the leaders will be worthy1--the real   
permanent leaders1 for the noisy        
apparent leaders can never be so4 ,and  
here we touch the core of the problem   
which ,americans have to solve4 ,no     
other people has such numbers who are   
ready to thrust themselves forward as   
leaders1 no other has so few who are    
really able to lead4 ,in mitigation of  
this fact1 it may be said with truth1   
that nowhere else is it so difficult to 
lead2 for nowhere else does force rule  

so little4 ,every one has opinions2 the 
whole nation is awakened2 thousands are 
able to discuss any subject with        
plausibility2 and to be simply          
keen-witted and versatile is to be of   
the crowd4 ,we need men whose           
intellectual view embraces the history  
of the race1 who are familiar with all  
literature1 who have studied all social 
movements1 who are acquainted with the  
development of philosophic thought1 who 
are not blinded by physical miracles and
 industrial wonders1 but know how to    
appreciate all truth1 all beauty1 all   
goodness4 ,and to this wide culture they
 must join the earnestness1 the         
confidence1 the charity1 and the purity 
of motive which ,christian faith        
inspires4 ,we need scholars who are     
saints1 and saints who are scholars4 ,we
 need men of genius who live for ,god   
and their country2 men of action who    
seek for light in the company of those  
who know2 men of religion who understand
 that ,god reveals himself in science1  

and works in ,nature as in the soul of  
man1 for the good of those who love him4
 ,let us know the right moment1 and let 
us know that it comes for those alone   
who are prepared4     ,,chapter ,,ii4   
,,exercise ,,of ,,mind4        ,o       
heavens6 how awful is the might of souls
      ,and what they do within          
themselves while yet      ,the yoke of  
earth is new to them1 the world         
,nothing but a wild field where they    
were sown4       ,,wordsworth4          
,learning is acquaintance with what     
others have felt1 thought1 and done2    
knowledge is the result of what we      
ourselves have felt1 thought1 and done4 
,hence a man knows best what he has     
taught himself2 what personal contact   
with ,god1 with man1 and with ,nature   
has made his own4 ,the important thing1 
then1 is not so much to know the        
thoughts and loves of others1 as to be  
able ourselves to think truly1 and to   
love nobly4 ,the aim should be to rouse1
 strengthen1 and illumine the mind      

rather than to store it with learning2  
and the great educational problem has   
been1 and is1 how to give to the soul   
purity of intention1 to the conscience  
steadfastness1 and to the mind force1   
pliability1 and openness to light2 or in
 other words1 how to bring philosophy   
and religion to the aid of the will so  
that the better self shall prevail and  
each generation introduce its successor 
to a higher plane of life4  ,to this end
 the efforts of all teachers have1 with 
more or less consciousness1 tended2 and 
in this direction too1 along winding    
ways and with periods of arrest or      
partial return1 the race of man has for 
ages been moving2 and he who aspires to 
gain a place in the van of the mighty   
army on its heavenward march1--         
,and draw new furrows 'neath the healthy
 morn     ,and plant the great          
,hereafter in this ,now1--   may be     
rash1 but his spirit is not ignoble4 ,to
 him it may not be given to fan and     
winnow from the coming step of ,time the

 chaff of custom2 but if he persevere he
 may confidently hope that his thought  
and love shall at length rise to fairer 
and more enduring worlds4 ,he weds      
himself to things of light1 seeks aids  
to true life within1 learns to live with
 the noble dead1 and with the great     
souls of the present who have uttered   
the truth whereby they live1 in a way   
more intimate and higher than that      
granted to those who are with them day  
by day2 for minds are not separated by  
time and space1 but by quality of       
thought4 ,but to be able to love this   
life1 and with all one's heart to seek  
this close communion with ,god1 with    
noble souls1 and with ,nature is not    
easy1 and it may be that it is          
impossible for those who are not drawn  
to it by irresistible instincts4 ,for   
the intellect1 at least1 attractions are
 proportional to destiny2 and the art of
 intellectual life is not most surely   
learned by those whom circumstances     
favor1 but by those whom will impels    

onward to exercise of mind2 whom neither
 daily wants1 nor animal appetites1 nor 
hope of gain1 nor low ambition1 nor     
sneers of worldlings1 nor prayers of    
friends1 nor aught else can turn from   
the pursuit of wisdom2 who1 with        
ceaseless labor and with patient        
thought1 eat their way in silence1 like 
caterpillars1 to the light1 become their
 own companions1 walk uplifted by their 
own thoughts1 and by slow and           
imperceptible processes are transformed 
and grow to be the embodiment of the    
truth and beauty which they see and     
love4  ,the overmastering love of mental
 exercise1 of the good of the intellect1
 is probably never found in formal and  
prosaic minds2 or if so1 its first      
awakening is in the early years when to 
think is to feel1 when the soul1 fresh  
from ,god1 comes trailing clouds of     
glory1 and the sun and moon and stars1  
and the hills and flowing waters seem   
but made to crown with joy hearts that  
love4 ,it is in these dewy dawns that   

the image of beauty is imprinted on the 
soul and the sense of mystery awakens4  
,we move about and become a part of all 
we see1 grow akin to stones and leaves  
and birds1 and to all young and happy   
things4 ,we lose ourselves in life which
 is poured round us like an unending    
sea2 are natural1 healthful1 alive to   
all we see and touch2 have no           
misgivings1 but walk as though the      
eternal ,god held us by the hand4 ,these
 are the fair spring days when we suck  
honey that shall nourish us in the      
winters of which we do not dream2 when  
sunsets interfuse themselves with all   
our being until we are dyed in the      
many-tinted glory2 when the miracle of  
the changing year is the soul's fair    
seed-time2 when lying in the grass1 the 
head resting in clasped hands1 while    
soft white clouds float lazily through  
azure skies1 and the birds warble1 and  
the waters murmur1 and the flowers      
breathe fragrance1 we feel a kind of    
unconscious consciousness of a universal

 life in ,nature4 ,the very rocks seem  
to be listening to what the leaves      
whisper2 and through the silent         
eternities we almost see the dead       
becoming the living1 the living the     
dead1 until both grow to be one1 and    
whatever is1 is life4  ,he who has never
 had these visions2 has never heard     
these airy voices2 has never seemed     
about to catch a glimpse of the inner   
heart of being1 pulsing beneath the veil
 of visible things2 has never felt that 
he himself is a spirit looking blindly  
on a universe1 which if his eyes could  
but see and his ears hear1 would be     
revealed as the very heaven of the      
infinite ,god1--must forever lack       
something of the freshness1 of the eager
 delight1 with which a poetic mind      
contemplates the world and follows      
whither the divine intimations point4   
,this early intercourse with ,nature    
nourishes the soul1 deepens the         
intellect1 exalts the imagination1 and  
fills the memory with fair and noble    

forms and images which abide with us1   
and as years pass on1 gain in softness  
and purity what they may lose in        
distinctness of outline and color4 ,this
 is the source of intellectual wealth1  
of tranquil moods1 of patience in the   
midst of opposition1 of confidence in   
the fruitfulness of labor and the       
transforming power of time4 ,here is    
given the material which must be molded 
into form2 the rude blocks which must be
 cut and dressed and fitted together    
until they become a spiritual temple    
wherein the soul may rest at one with   
,god and ,nature1 and with its own      
thought and love4 ,to run1 to jump1 to  
ride1 to swim1 to skate1 to sit in the  
shade of trees by flowing water1 to     
watch reapers at their work1 to look on 
orchards blossoming1 to dream in the    
silence that lies amid the hills1 to    
feel the solemn loneliness of deep      
woods1 to follow cattle as they crop the
 sweet-scented clover1--to learn to     
know1 as one knows a mother's face1     

every change that comes over the heavens
 from the dewy freshness of early dawn  
to the restful calm of evening1 from the
 overpowering mystery of the starlit sky
 to the tender human look with which the
 moon smiles upon the earth1--all this  
is education of a higher and altogether 
more real kind than it is possible to   
receive within the walls of a school2   
and lacking this1 nothing shall have    
power to develop the faculties of the   
soul in symmetry and completeness4      
,hence a philosopher has said there are 
ten thousand chances to one that genius1
 talent1 and virtue shall issue from a  
farmhouse rather than from a palace4    
,the daily intercourse with ,nature in  
childhood and youth intertwines with    
noble and enduring objects the passions 
which form the mind and heart of man1   
whereas those who are shut out from such
 communion are necessarily thrown into  
contact with what is mean and vulgar2   
and since our early years1 whatever our 
surroundings may have been1 seem to us  

sweet and fair because life itself is   
then a clear-flowing fountain1 they     
cannot help blending the memory of that 
innocent and happy time with thoughts of
 base and mechanical objects1 or1 it may
 be1 of low and ignoble associates4  ,he
 is fortunate who1 during the first ten 
years of his life1 escapes the          
confinement and repression of school1   
and lives at home in the country amid   
the fields and the woods1 day by day    
growing familiar with the look on       
,nature's face1 with all her moods1 with
 every common object1 with living things
 in the air and the water and on the    
earth2 who sees the corn sprout1 and    
watches it grow week after week until   
the yellow harvest waves in the         
sunlight2 who looks with unawed eye on  
rising thunder-clouds and shouts with   
glee amid the lightning's play2 who     
learns to know that whatever he looks   
upon is thereby humanized1 and to feel  
that he is part of all he sees and      
loves4 ,he will carry with him to the   

study of the intellectual and spiritual 
world of men's thoughts shut up in      
books1 a strength of mind1 a depth and  
freshness of heart which only those can 
own who have drunk at ,nature's deep    
flowing fountain1 and come up to life's 
training-course wet with her dews and   
with the fragrance of her flowers on    
their breath4 ,in the eyes of the old   
,greeks1 who first made education a     
science1 the scholar was an idler1--one 
who had leisure to look about him1 to   
stroll amid the olive groves1 to let his
 eye rest upon the purple hills or the  
blue sea studded with green isles1 to   
listen to the brooks and the            
nightingales1 to read the lesson the    
fair earth teaches more than that       
imprinted on parchment2 and the school  
must still preserve something of this   
freedom from constraint1 must encourage 
the play of body and of mind1 the       
delight natural to the young in the     
exercise of strength of whatever kind1  
and thus as far as possible lighten the 

labor and drudgery of elementary studies
 with thoughts of liberty1 of beauty1   
and of excellence4 ,let the boy feel how
 good it is to be alive though life     
meant only the narrow world and the mere
 surfaces of things with which alone it 
is possible for him to be acquainted2   
and then when we ask him to believe that
 in high thinking and in noble acting he
 will find a life infinitely more       
worthy1 his eager soul will be inflamed 
with a desire for knowledge and virtue1 
and bearing in his heart the strength   
and wealth of imagination gained from   
his early experience1 his thoughts will 
turn to great and good men4 ,dim visions
 of mighty conquerors1 of poets at whose
 song the woods and waves grow calm1 of 
orators whose words with storm-like     
force1 whatever way they take1 sweep    
with them the wills of men1--will rise  
before his mind4 ,his young fancy will  
endow them with preternatural qualities2
 and he will yearn to draw near1 to     
mingle with them and to catch the secret

 of their divine power4 ,the germ of the
 godlike within his bosom bursts and    
springs4 ,what they were1 why may not he
 also become8 ,what bars are thrown     
athwart his path1 what obstacles hem his
 way1 which1 whoever in any age has     
excelled1 has not had to break down and 
surmount8 ,here the wise teacher comes  
to cheer him1 to tell him his faith is  
not wrong1 his hope not without promise 
of attainment if he but trust himself1  
and bend his whole mind to the task2    
that whatever goal within the scope of  
human power1 the will sets to itself1 it
 may reach4  ,in order to develop1      
strengthen1 and confirm this high mood1 
this noble temper1 let him by all means 
be made acquainted with the language and
 genius of ,greece4 ,here he will be    
introduced to a world of thought and    
sentiment almost as fresh1 as fair and  
many-sided as ,nature herself1--the     
fragrant blossoming in myriad hues and  
forms of the life and mind of the most  
richly endowed portion of the human     

race4 ,not only are the ,greeks the most
 highly-gifted of all people1 but in    
this classical age they have also this  
special charm and power1--that the      
keenest intellectual faculties are in   
them united with the feelings1 hopes1   
and fancies of a noble and great-hearted
 youth4 ,even ,socrates and ,plato talk 
like high-souled boys who can see the   
world only in the light of ideals1 for  
whom what the mind beholds and the heart
 loves is alone real4 ,how healthfully  
they look on life1 with what delight    
they breathe the air6 ,what fine        
contempt have they not of death1        
thinking no fortune so good as that     
which comes to the hero who dies in a   
worthy cause6 ,there is ,athens1 already
 the world's university2 but no books1  
no libraries1 no lecture-halls1 only    
great teachers who walk about followed  
by a crowd of youths eager to drink in  
their words4 ,here is the ,acropolis1   
with its snow-white temples and         
propylum1 fair and chaste as though they

 had been built in heaven and gently    
lowered to this ,attic mound by the     
hands of angels4 ,there in the          
,parthenon are the sculptures of        
,phidias1 and yonder in the temple of   
the ,dioscuri1 the paintings of         
,polygnotus1--ideal beauty bodied forth 
to lure the souls of men to unseen and  
eternal worlds4 ,if they turn to the    
east1 the isles of the gean look up to  
them like virgins who welcome happy     
lovers2 to the west1 ,mount ,pentelicus1
 from whose heart the architectural     
glory of the city has been carved1 bids 
them think what patience will enable    
man's genius to accomplish2 and to the  
north1 ,hymettus1 fragrant with the     
breath of a thousand herbs and musical  
with the hum of bees1 stoops with gentle
 undulations to their feet4 ,they live  
in the air2 their temples are open to   
the sunlight2 their theatres are        
uncovered to the heavens2 and           
whithersoever they move1 they are       
surrounded by what is fair1 noble1 and  

inspiring4 ,this free and happy life in 
the company of great teachers becomes   
the stimulus to the keenest exercise of 
mind4 ,they are as eager to see things  
in a true light as they are quick to    
sympathize with whatever is heroic or   
beautiful2 and all their talk is of     
truth and justice1 the good1 the fair1  
the excellent1 of philosophy1 religion1 
poetry1 and art1 and of whatever else   
seems favorable to human life and to the
 development of ideal manhood4 ,of the  
merely useful they have the scorn of    
young and inexperienced minds2 and      
,hippocrates proclaims himself ready to 
give ,protagoras1 not only whatever he  
himself possesses1 but also the property
 of his friends1 if he will but teach   
him wisdom4 ,superior knowledge was to  
them of all things the most admirable   
and the most to be desired4 ,what noble 
thoughts have they not concerning       
education8 ,an intelligent man1 says    
,plato1 will prize those studies which  
result in his soul getting soberness1   

righteousness1 and wisdom1 and will less
 value the others4 ,the culture of the  
mind is made a kind of religion1 in the 
spreading of which the personal         
influence of the teacher is not less    
active than the truths he sets forth4   
,bonds of affection bind the disciple to
 the master whose words have for him the
 sacredness of wisdom and the charm of  
genius1 power to confirm the will1 and  
warmth and color whereby the imagination
 is raised4  ,this secret of making     
knowledge attractive1 of clothing truth 
in chaste and beautiful language1 of    
associating it with whatever is fair and
 noble in ,nature1 and of relating it to
 life and conduct1 which is part of the 
genius of ,greece1 still lives in her   
literature2 and to read the words of her
 poets1 orators1 and philosophers is to 
feel the presence of a high and active  
spirit1 is to breathe in an intellectual
 atmosphere of light and liberty1 is of 
itself enlargement and cultivation of   
mind4 ,hence1 in the realms of thought1 

the ,greeks are the civilizers and      
emancipators of the world2 and whoever  
thinks1 is to some extent their debtor4 
,the music of their eloquence and poetry
 can never grow silent2 the forms of    
beauty their genius has created can     
never perish1 and never cease to win the
 admiration and love of noble minds and 
gentle hearts1 or to be the inspiration1
 generation after generation1 to high   
thoughts and heroic moods4 ,so long as  
glory1 beauty1 freedom1 light1 and      
gladness shall seem good and fair1 so   
long will the finer spirits of the world
 feel the attraction and the charm of   
,greece1 and know the sweet surprise    
which thrilled the heart of ,keats when 
first he read ,homer3--       ,then felt
 ,i like some watcher of the skies      
,when a new planet swims into his ken1  
,or like stout ,cortez when with eagle  
eyes     ,he stared at the ,pacific1 and
 all his men     ,looked at each other  
with a wild surmise1     ,silent1 upon a
 peak in ,darien4   ,in a less degree1  

,roman literature1 which is the         
offspring of ,greek culture1 has value  
as an intellectual stimulus and         
discipline4 ,here also the youthful mind
 is brought into the presence of a great
 and noble people1 who1 if they have    
less genius and a duller sense of beauty
 than the ,greeks1 excel them in        
steadiness of purpose1 in dignity of    
character1 in reverence for law and     
religion1 and above all in the art of   
governing4  ,the educational value of   
the classics does not lie so much in the
 ,greek and ,latin languages as in the  
type of mind1 the sense of proportion   
and beauty1 the heroic temper1 the      
philosophic mood1 the keen relish for   
high enterprise1 and the joyful love of 
life which they make known to us4 ,the  
world to which they introduce us is so  
remote that the pre-occupations and     
vulgarities of the present1 by which we 
all are hemmed and warped1 fall away    
from us2 and it is at the same time so  
real and of such absorbing interest that

 we are caught up in spirit and carried 
to the ,attic ,plain and the hills of   
,latium4 ,they are useful1 not because  
they teach us anything that may not be  
learned and learned more accurately from
 modern books1 but because they move the
 mind1 fire the heart1 ennoble and      
refine the imagination in a way which   
nothing else has power to do4 ,they are 
sources of inspiration2 they first      
roused the modern mind to activity2 and 
the potency of their influence can never
 cease to be felt by those whose        
aptitudes lead them to the love of      
intellectual perfection1 who delight in 
the free play of the mind1 who are      
attracted by what is symmetrical1 who   
have the instinct for beauty1 who swim  
in a current of ideas as naturally as   
birds fly in the air4 ,they appeal to   
the mind as a whole1 stimulate all its  
faculties1 awaken a many-sided sympathy 
both with ,nature and with the world of 
men4 ,they widen our view of life1 bring
 forth in us the consciousness of our   

kinship with the human race1 and of the 
application to ourselves1 however common
 and uninspiring our surroundings may   
be1 of the best thoughts and noblest    
deeds which have ever sprung from the   
brain and heart of man4 ,they help to   
make one1 again to quote ,plato1 ,a     
lover1 not of a part of wisdom1 but of  
the whole2 who has a taste for every    
sort of knowledge1 and is curious to    
learn and is never satisfied2 who has   
magnificence of mind1 and is a spectator
 of all time and all existence2 who is  
harmoniously constituted1 of a          
well-proportioned and gracious mind1    
whose own nature will move spontaneously
 toward the true being of everything2   
who has a good memory1 and is quick to  
learn1 noble1 gracious1 the friend of   
truth1 justice1 courage1 temperance4    
,the ideal presented is that of complete
 harmonious culture1 the aim of which is
 not to make an artisan1 a physician1 a 
merchant1 a lawyer1 but a man alive in  
all his faculties1 touching the world at

 many points1 for whom all knowledge is 
desirable1 all beauty lovable1 and for  
whom fine bearing and noble acting are  
indispensable4  ,it is needless to point
 out in what1 or why1 the ,greeks       
failed1 since here there is question    
only of intellectual life1 and in this  
they did not fail4 ,nor is there any    
thought1 in what has here been said1 of 
depreciating the worth of the study of  
science1 without a certain knowledge of 
which no one1 in this age1 can in any   
true sense1 be called educated4         
,whoever1 indeed1 learns a language     
properly1 acquires scientific knowledge2
 and the ,greeks are not only the       
masters in poetry and eloquence1 they   
are also the guides to the right use of 
reason and to scientific method1 and the
 teachers of mathematics1 logic1 and    
physics4 ,he who pursues culture1 in the
 ,greek spirit1 who desires to see      
things as they are1 to know the best    
that has been thought and done by men1  
will fear nothing so much as the        

exclusion of any truth1 and he will be  
anxious to acquaint himself not only    
with the method1 but as far as possible 
with the facts1 of physical science4    
,still he perceives that however great  
the value of natural knowledge may be1  
it is1 as an instrument of culture1     
inferior to literature4 ,we are educated
 by what calls forth in us love and     
admiration1 by what creates the exalted 
mood and the steadfast purpose4 ,in     
bowing with reverence to what is above  
us1 we are uplifted4 ,when we are moved1
 we are more alive2 we are stronger1    
tenderer1 nobler4 ,now to look upon     
,nature with the detective eye of the   
man of science is to be cold and        
unsympathetic2 to learn by methodic     
experiment is to gain knowledge1 which1 
since it is only remotely or indirectly 
related to life1 is but little          
interesting4 ,such knowledge is a       
fragment1 and a fragment extremely      
difficult to fit into the temple built  
by thought and love1 by hope and        

imagination2 and hence when we have     
learned a great deal about chemical     
elements1 geologic epochs1 correlation  
of forces1 and sidereal spaces1 we are  
rather astonished than enlightened4 ,we 
are brought into the presence of a world
 which is not that of the senses1 nor   
yet that which faith1 hope1 and love    
forebode2 and the bearing it may have   
upon human life is of more interest to  
us than the facts made known4 ,we are1  
indeed1 curious to know whatever may1   
with any certainty1 be told us of atoms 
and biogenesis2 but our real concern is 
to learn what significance such truth   
may have in its relation to questions of
 ,god and the soul4  ,there is doubtless
 a disciplinary value in the study of   
physical science4 ,it trains the mind to
 habits of patient attention1 of careful
 observation1 teaches the danger of     
hasty generalization1 and diminishes    
intellectual conceit2 but these results 
may also be obtained by other means4    
,the aim of education is not simply to  

develop this or the other faculty1      
however indispensable1 nor yet to make  
one thoroughly conversant with a        
particular order of facts1 but the aim  
is to bring about a conscious           
participation in the life of the race1  
to evoke all the powers of man1 so that 
his whole being shall be quickened and  
made responsive to the touch of things  
seen and unseen2 and the study of       
science is less adapted to the          
attainment of this end than the study of
 human letters4 ,the scientific temper  
draws to specialties2 and specialists   
are narrow1 are incomplete4 ,they1 each 
in his own line1 do good work1 and are  
the chief agents for the increase of    
natural knowledge1 and are1 we may      
grant1 leaders in every kind of         
improvement2 but like the operatives who
 provide our comforts and luxuries1 they
 are themselves warped and crippled by  
what they do4 ,the habit of looking at a
 single order of facts1 coldly and      
always from the same point of view1     

takes from the mind flexibility1 weakens
 the imagination1 and puts fetters on   
the soul2 and hence though it is        
important that there be specialists1 the
 kind of education by which they are    
formed1 while it is suited to make a    
geologist1 a chemist1 a mathematician1  
or a botanist1 is not suited to call    
forth the free and harmonious play of   
all man's powers4 ,we do not live on    
facts alone1 much less on facts of a    
single kind4 ,religion and poetry1 love1
 hope1 and imagination are as essential 
to our well-being as science4 ,human    
life is knowledge1 is faith1 is conduct1
 is beauty1 is manners2 it unfolds      
itself in many directions and shoots its
 roots into infinitude2 and for the     
general purposes of education1 science  
is learned to best advantage when it is 
embodied in literature1 and its methods 
and results1 rather than the details of 
its work1 are presented to us4 ,whatever
 it is able to do1 to improve the mind1 
to widen the range of thought1 to give  

true notions of the workings of         
,nature1--it will do for whoever learns 
accurately its general conceptions and  
results2 and these cannot remain unknown
 to him whose aim is culture1 for such  
an one is1 as ,plato says1 ,a lover not 
of a part of wisdom1 but of the whole1  
and has a taste for every sort of       
knowledge1 and is curious to learn1 and 
is never satisfied2 and though he will  
not know medicine like a physician1 or  
the heavens like an astronomer1 or the  
vegetable kingdom like a botanist1 his  
mind will play over all these realms    
with freedom1 and he will know how to   
relate the principles and facts of all  
the sciences to our sense for beauty1   
for conduct1 for life and religion in a 
way which a mere specialist can never   
find4 ,and his view will not only be    
wider and less impeded1 it will also be 
deeper than that of the man of science2 
for he who sees but one order of things 
sees only their surfaces1 just as he who
 sees but one thing sees nothing at all4

  ,it would be a mistake to imagine that
 the ideal here commended1 means        
superficial accomplishments1 an         
excessive love of style and the         
ornaments of poetry and eloquence1 or   
preoccupation in favor of aught external
 or frivolous4 ,it is the very opposite 
of dilettantism1 and if it mean         
anything1 means thoroughness1 and a     
thoroughness which can come only of     
untiring labor carried on through many  
years2 for time and intercourse with men
 and varied experience are indispensable
 elements4 ,it is like the ideal of     
religion which makes the saint think    
himself a sinner2 it is as exacting as  
the miser's thought which makes millions
 seem to be beggary2 like the artist's  
vision1 like the poet's dream1 it       
allures and yet forbids hope of         
attainment4 ,the seeker after wisdom    
must have a high purpose1 a strong soul1
 and the purest love of truth4 ,he      
cannot live in the senses alone1 nor in 
the mind1 nor in the heart alone1 but   

the spiritual being1 which is himself1  
yearns for whatever is good1 whatever is
 true1 whatever is fair1 and so he finds
 himself akin to the infinite ,god and  
to all that he has made4 ,when his      
thought is carried out to atoms weaving 
the garment which is our body1 and      
molding the world we see and touch2 when
 he beholds motion lighting1 warming1   
thrilling the universe1--he is filled   
with intellectual joy1 but at the same  
time he perceives that all this is but a
 phase of truth2 that ,god and the      
boundless facts are infinitely more than
 drilled atomics marshaled rank on rank 
until they form the countless hosts of  
the heavens4 ,when the men of science   
have labeled the elements1 and put      
tickets upon all natural compounds1 and 
with complacency declare that this is   
the whole truth1 he looks on the flowers
 around him and the blooming children1  
on the stars above his head1 on the sun 
slow wheeling down the western horizon1 
on the moon climbing some eastern hill1 

and his inmost soul is glad because he  
feels the thrill of the infinite1 living
 ,spirit1 and forebodes to what fair    
countries we are bound4  ,and when they 
proclaim the wonders science has        
wrought1--increase of physical enjoyment
 and social comfort2 the yoking of      
lightning and steam to make them work   
for man2 the providing of more abundant 
food2 the building of more wholesome    
dwellings2 the lengthening of life2     
temporal benefits of every kind1--he    
joins with those who utter praise1 but  
knows that infinitely more than all this
 goes to the making of man's life4 ,so  
he turns his mind in many directions1   
and while he looks on the truth in      
science1 does not grow blind to the     
truth in religion2 while he knows the   
value of what is practically useful1    
understands also the priceless worth of 
what is noble and beautiful1 and his    
acquaintance with many kinds of thought1
 with many shades of opinion confirms   
him1 as ,joubert says1 in the acceptance

 of the best4     ,,chapter ,,iii4      
,,the ,,love ,,of ,,excellence4         
,why is this glorious creature to be    
found ,one only in ten thousand8        
what one is1 ,why may not millions be8  
what bars are thrown ,by      ,nature in
 the way of such a hope8                
,,wordsworth4    ,he teaches to good    
purpose who inspires the love of        
excellence1 and who sends his pupils    
forth from the school's narrow walls    
with such desire for self-improvement   
that the whole world becomes to them a  
,god-appointed university4 ,and why     
shall not every youth hope to enter the 
narrow circle of those for whom to live1
 is to think1 who behold the bright     
countenance of truth in the quiet and   
still air of delightful studies4 ,an    
enlightened mind is like a fair and     
pleasant friend who comes to cheer us in
 every hour of loneliness and gloom2 it 
is like noble birth which admits to all 
best company2 it is like wealth which   
surrounds us with whatever is rarest and

 most precious2 it is like virtue which 
lives in an atmosphere of light and     
serenity1 and is itself enough for      
itself4 ,whatever our labors1 our cares1
 our disappointments1 a free and open   
mind1 by holding us in communion with   
the highest and the fairest1 will fill  
the soul with strength and joy4 ,the    
artist1 day by day1 year in and year    
out1 hangs over his work1 and finds     
enough delight in the beauty he creates2
 and shall not the friend of the soul be
 glad in striving ceaselessly to make   
his knowledge and his love less unlike  
the knowledge and the love of ,god8     
,seldom is opportunity of victory       
offered to great captains1 the orator   
rarely finds fit theme and audience1    
hardly shall the hero meet with         
occasions worthy of the sacrifice of    
life2 but he who labors to shape his    
mind to the heavenly forms of truth and 
beauty beholds them ever present and    
appealing4 ,life without thought and    
love is worthless2 and to the best men  

and women belong only those who         
cultivate with earnestness and          
perseverance their spiritual faculties1 
who strive daily to know more1 to love  
more1 to be more beautiful4 ,they are   
the chosen ones1 and all others1 even   
though they sit on thrones1 are but the 
crowd4  ,without a free and open mind   
there is no high and glad human life4   
,you may as well point to the savage    
drowsing in his tent1 or to cattle      
knee-deep in clover1 and bid me think   
them high1 as to ask me to admire where 
,i can behold neither intelligence nor  
love4 ,all that we possess is qualified 
by what we are4 ,gold makes not the     
miser rich1 nor its lack a true man     
poor2 and he who has gained insight into
 the fair truth that he is a part of all
 he sees and loves1 is richer than      
kings1 and lives like a god in his      
universe4 ,possibilities for us are     
measured by the kind of work in which we
 put our hearts4 ,if a man's thoughts   
are wholly busy with carpentering do not

 expect him to become anything else than
 a carpenter2 but if his aim is to build
 up his own being1 to make his mind     
luminous1 his heart tender and pure1 his
 will steadfast1 who but ,god shall fix 
a limit beyond which he may not hope to 
go4 ,education1 indeed1 cannot confer   
organic power2 but it alone gives us the
 faculty to perceive how infinitely     
wonderful and fair are man's endowments1
 how boundless his inheritance1 how full
 of deathless hope is that to which he  
may aspire4 ,religion1 philosophy1      
poetry1 science1--all bring us into the 
presence of an ideal of ceaseless growth
 toward an all-perfect ,infinite1 dimly 
discerned and unapproachable1 but which 
fascinates the soul and haunts the      
imagination with its deep mystery1 until
 what we long for becomes more real than
 all that we possess1 and yearning is   
our highest happiness4 ,ah6 who would   
throw a veil over the vision on which   
young eyes rest when young hearts feel  
that ideal things alone are real8 ,who  

would rob them of this divine principle 
of progress which makes growth the best 
of life8                           ,many
 are our joys     ,in youth2 but oh1    
what happiness to live     ,when every  
hour brings palpable access     ,of     
knowledge1 when all knowledge is        
delight6   ,in all ages1 we know those  
made wise by experience1 which teaches  
us to expect little1 whether of         
ourselves or others1 have made the      
thoughts and hopes of youth a jest1 even
 as men have made religion a jest1      
having nothing to offer us in           
compensation for its loss1 but          
witticisms and despair4 ,this is the    
fatal fault of life1 that when we have  
obtained what is good1--as wealth1      
position1 wife1 and friends1--we lose   
all hope of the best1 and with our      
mockery discourage those who have ideal 
aims2 who1 remembering how the soul felt
 in life's dawn1 retain a sense of      
,god's presence in the world1 to whom   
with growing faculties they aspire1     

feeling that whatsoever point they      
reach1 they still have something to     
pursue4 ,this is the principle of the   
diviner mind in all high and heroic     
natures2 this is the spring-head of     
deeds that make laws1 of thoughts that  
enrich the blood of the world2 this is  
the power which gives to resolve the    
force of destiny1 and clothes the soul  
with the heavenliest strength and beauty
 when it stands single and alone1 of men
 abandoned and almost of ,god4  ,there  
is little danger that too many shall    
ever hearken to the invitation from the 
fair worlds to which all souls belong1  
and where alone they can be luminous and
 free4 ,for centuries1 now1 what        
innumerable voices have pleaded with men
 to make themselves worthy of heaven2   
while they have moved on heedless of the
 heaven that lies about us here1 placing
 their hopes and aims in material and   
perishable elements1 athirst neither for
 truth1 nor beauty1 nor aught that is   
divinely good6 ,they sleep1 they wake1  

they eat1 they drink2 they tread the    
beaten path with ceaseless iteration1   
and so they die4 ,if one come appealing 
for culture of intellect1 not because   
they who know1 are stronger than the    
ignorant and make them their servants1  
but because an open1 free1 and flexible 
mind is good and fair1 better than      
birth1 position1 and wealth1 they turn  
away as though he trifled with their    
common-sense4 ,life1 they say1 is not   
for knowledge1 but knowledge for life2  
and they neither truly know1 nor live4  
,and if here and there some nobler soul 
stand forth1 he degrades himself to an  
aspirant to fame1 forgetting truth and  
love4       ,enough there are on earth  
who reap and sow1     ,enough who give  
their lives to common gain1     ,enough 
who toil with spade and axe and plane1  
,enough who sail the seas where rude    
winds blow2     ,enough who make their  
life unmeaning show1     ,enough who    
plead in courts1 who physic pain2       
,enough who follow in the lover's train1

     ,and taste of wedded hearts the    
bliss and woe4      ,a few at least may 
love the poet's song1     ,may walk with
 him1 their visionary guide1     ,far   
from the crowd1 nor do the world a      
wrong2     ,or on his wings through deep
 blue skies may glide     ,and float1 by
 light transfused1 like clouds along    
,above the earth and over oceans wide4  
,with unresting1 wearing thought and    
labor we are striving to make earth more
 habitable4 ,we drag forth from its     
inner parts whatever treasures are      
hidden there2 with steam's mighty force 
we mold brute matter into every fair and
 serviceable form2 we build great       
cities1 we spread the fabric of our     
trade2 the engine's iron heart goes     
throbbing through tunneled mountains and
 over storm-swept seas to bear us and   
our wealth to all regions of the globe2 
we talk to one another from city to     
city1 and from continent to continent   
along ocean's oozy depths the lightning 
flashes our words1 spreading beneath our

 eyes each morning the whole world's    
gossip1--but in the midst of this       
miraculous transformation1 we ourselves 
remain small1 hard1 and narrow1 without 
great thoughts or great loves or        
immortal hopes4 ,we are a crowd where   
the highest and the best lose           
individuality1 and are swept along as   
though democracy were a tyranny of the  
average man under which superiority of  
whatever kind is criminal4 ,our         
population increases1 our cities grow1  
our roads are lengthened1 our machinery 
is made more perfect1 the number of our 
schools is multiplied1 our newspapers   
are read in ever-widening circles1 the  
spirit of humanity and of freedom       
breathes through our life2 but the      
individual remains common-place and     
uninteresting4 ,he lacks intelligence1  
has no perception of what is excellent1 
no faith in ideals1 no reverence for    
genius1 no belief in any highest sort of
 man who has not shown his worth in     
winning wealth1 position1 or notoriety4 

,we have a thousand poets and no poetry1
 a thousand orators and no eloquence1 a 
thousand philosophers and no philosophy4
 ,every city points to its successful   
men who have millions1 but are          
themselves poor and unintelligent2 to   
its writers who1 having sold their      
talent to newspapers and magazines1 sink
 to the level of those they address1    
dealing only with what is of momentary  
interest1 or if the question be deep1   
they move on the surface1 lest the      
many-eyed crowd lose sight of them4 ,the
 preacher gets an audience and pay on   
condition that he stoop to the gossip   
which centres around new theories1      
startling events1 and mechanical schemes
 for the improvement of the country4 ,if
 to get money be the end of writing and 
preaching1 then must we seek to please  
the multitude who are willing to pay    
those who entertain and amuse them4     
,will not our friends1 even1 conceive a 
mean opinion of our ability1 if we fail 
to gain public recognition8  ,so we make

 ourselves motleys to the view1 and sell
 cheap what is most dear4 ,we must1     
perforce1 show the endowment which can  
be brought to perfection only if it be  
permitted to grow in secrecy and        
solitude4 ,the worst foe of excellence  
is the desire to appear2 for when once  
we have made men talk of us1 we seem to 
be doing nothing if they are silent1 and
 thus the love of notoriety becomes the 
bane of true work and right living4 ,to 
be one of a crowd is not to be at all2  
and if we are resolved to put our       
thoughts and acts to the test of reason1
 and to live for what is permanently    
true and great1 we must consent1 like   
the best of all ages1 to be lonely in   
the world4 ,all life1 except the life of
 thought and love1 is dull and          
superficial4 ,the young love for a      
while1 and are happy2 a few think2 and  
for the rest existence is but the       
treadmill of monotonous sensation4      
,there are but few1 who1 through work   
and knowledge1 through faith and hope   

and love1 seek to escape from the       
narrowness and misery of life to the    
summits of thought where the soul       
breathes a purer air1 and whence is seen
 the fairer world the multitude         
forebodes4 ,there are but few whose life
 is       ,effort and expectation and   
desire1     ,and something evermore     
about to be2   but few who understand   
how much the destiny of ,man hangs upon 
single persons2 but few who feel that   
what they love and teach1 millions must 
know and love4       ,a people is but   
the attempt of many     ,to rise to the 
completer life of one2     ,and those   
who live as models for the mass     ,are
 singly of more value than them all4    
,only the noblest souls awaken within us
 divine aspirations4 ,they are the      
music1 the poetry1 which warms and      
illumines whole generations2 they are   
the few who1 born with rich endowments1 
by ceaseless labor develop their powers 
until they become capable of work which1
 were it not for them1 could not be done

 at all4 ,history is the biography of   
aristocrats1 of the chosen ones with    
whom all improvement originates1 who    
found ,states1 establish civilizations1 
create literatures1 and teach wisdom4   
,they work not for themselves2 for in   
spite of human selfishness and the      
personal aims of the ambitious1 the     
poet1 the scholar1 and the statesman    
bless the world4 ,they lead us through  
happy isles2 they clothe our thoughts   
and hopes with beauty and with strength2
 they dissipate the general gloom2 they 
widen the sphere of life2 they bring the
 multitude beneath the sway of law4     
,now1 here in ,america1 once for all1   
whatever the thoughtless may imagine1 we
 have lost faith in the worth of        
artificial distinctions4 ,indeed        
plausible arguments may be found to     
prove that the kind of man democracy    
tends to form1 has no reverence for     
distinctions of whatever kind1 and is   
without ideals1 and that as he is       
envious of men made by money1 so he     

looks with the contempt of unenlightened
 common-sense upon those whom character 
and intellect raise above him4 ,this is 
not truth4 ,the higher you lift the     
mass1 the more will they acknowledge and
 appreciate worth1 the clearer will they
 see that what makes man human1         
beautiful1 and beneficent is conduct and
 intelligence2 and so increasing        
enlightenment will turn thought and     
admiration from position and wealth1    
from the pomp and show of life to what  
makes a man's self1 his character1 his  
mind1 his manners even1--for the source 
of manners lies within us4 ,in a society
 like ours1 the chosen ones1 the best1  
the models of life1 and the leaders of  
thought will be distinguished from the  
crowd not by accident or circumstance1  
but by inner strength and beauty1 by    
finer knowledge1 by purer love1 by a    
deeper faith in ,god1 by a more         
steadfast trust that it must1 and shall 
be1 well with a world which ,god makes  
and rules1 and which to the fairest mind

 is fairest1 and to the holiest soul    
most sacred4  ,here and now1 if ever    
anywhere at any time1 there is need of  
men1 there is appeal to what is godlike 
in man1 calling upon us to rise above   
our prosperities1 our politics1 our     
mechanical aims and implements1 and to  
turn the courage1 energy1 and practical 
sense which have wrought with miraculous
 power in developing the material       
resources of ,america1 to the           
cultivation of our spiritual faculties4 
,we alone of the great modern nations   
are without classical writers of our    
own1 without a national literature4 ,the
 thought and love of this people1 its   
philosophy1 poetry1 and art lies yet in 
the bud2 and our tens of thousands of   
books1 even the better sort1 must perish
 to enrich the soil that nourishes a    
life of heavenly promise4 ,hitherto we  
have been sad imitators of the ,english1
 but not the best the ,english have done
 will satisfy ,america4 ,their language 
indeed will remain ours1 and their men  

of genius1 above all their poets1 will  
enrich our minds with great thoughts    
nobly expressed4 ,but a literature is a 
national growth2 it is the expression of
 a people's life and character1 the more
 or less perfect utterance of what it   
loves1 aims at1 believes in1 hopes for2 
it has the qualities and the defects of 
the national spirit2 it bears the marks 
of the thousand influences that help to 
make that spirit what it is1--and       
,english literature cannot be ,american 
literature1 for the simple reason that  
,americans are not ,englishmen1 any more
 than they are ,germans or ,frenchmen4  
,we must be ourselves in our thinking   
and writing1 as in our living1 or be    
insignificant1 for it is a man's life   
that gives meaning to his thought2 and  
to write as a disciple is to write in an
 inferior way1 since the mind at its    
best is illumined by truth itself and   
not taught by the words of another4 ,it 
is not to be believed that this great1  
intelligent1 yearning ,american world   

will content itself with the trick and  
mannerism of foreign accent and style1  
or that those who build on any other    
than the broad foundation of our own    
national life shall be accepted as      
teachers and guides4 ,there is1 of      
course1 no method known to man by which 
a great author may be formed2 no science
 which teaches how a literature may be  
created4 ,the men who have written what 
the world will not permit to die have   
written generally without any clear     
knowledge of the worth of their work1   
just as great discoverers and inventors 
seem to stumble on what they seek2      
nevertheless one may hope by right      
endeavor to make himself capable of     
uttering true thoughts so that they     
shall become intelligible and attractive
 to others2 he may educate himself to   
know and love the best that has been    
spoken and written by men of genius1 and
 so become a power to lift the aims and 
enlarge the views of his fellow-men4 ,if
 many strive in this way to unfold their

 gifts and to cultivate their faculties1
 their influence will finally pervade   
the life and thought of thousands1 and  
it may be of the whole people4  ,i do   
not at all forget ,aristotle's saying   
that life is practice and not theory2   
that men are born to do and suffer1 and 
not to dream and weave systems2 that    
conduct and not culture is the basis of 
character and the source of strength2   
that a knowledge of ,nature is of vastly
 more importance to our material comfort
 and progress than philosophy1 poetry1  
and art4 ,this is not to be called in   
question2 but in this country and age it
 seems hardly necessary that it be      
emphasized1 for what is the whole world 
insisting upon but the necessity of     
scientific instruction1 the importance  
of practical education1 the cultivation 
of the money-getting faculty and habit1 
and the futility of philosophy1 poetry1 
and art8 ,who is there that denies the  
worth of what is useful8 ,where is there
 one who does not approve and encourage 

whatever brings increase of wealth8 ,are
 we not all ready to applaud projects   
which give promise of providing more    
abundant food1 better clothing1 and more
 healthful surrounding for the poor8    
,does not our national genius seem to   
lie altogether in the line of what is   
practically useful8 ,is it not our boast
 and our great achievement that we have 
in a single century made the wilderness 
of a vast continent habitable1 have so  
ploughed and drained and planted and    
built that it can now easily maintain   
hundreds of millions in gluttonous      
plenty8 ,is not our whole social and    
political organization of a kind which  
fits us to deal with questions and      
affairs that concern our temporal and   
material welfare8 ,what innumerable     
individuals among us are congressmen1   
legislators1 supervisors1 bank and      
school directors1 presidents of boards  
and companies1 committee-men1           
councilmen1 heads of lodges and         
societies1 lawyers1 professors1         

teachers1 editors1 colonels1 generals1  
judges1 party-leaders1 so that the      
sovereign people seems to have life and 
being only in its titled                
representatives6 ,what does this        
universal reign of title and office mean
 but the practical education which      
responsibility gives8 ,if from the midst
 of this paradise of utility1           
materialism1 and business1 a voice is   
raised to plead for culture1 for        
intelligence1 for beauty1 for           
philosophy1 poetry1 and art1 why need   
any one take alarm8 ,while human nature 
remains what it is1 can there be danger 
that the many will be drawn away from   
what appeals to the senses1 to what the 
soul loves and yearns for8 ,if the      
,almighty ,god does not win the         
multitude to the love of righteousness  
and wisdom1 how shall the words of man  
prevail8  ,it is a mistake to oppose use
 to beauty1 the serviceable to the      
excellent1 since they belong together4  
,beauty is the blossom that makes the   

fruit-tree fair and fragrant4 ,life     
means more than meat and drink1 house   
and clothing4 ,to live is also to       
admire1 to love1 to lose one's self in  
the contemplation of the splendor with  
which ,nature is clothed4 ,human life is
 the marriage of souls with things of   
light4 ,its basis1 aim1 and end is love1
 and love makes its object beautiful4   
,man may not even consent to eat1 except
 with decency and grace2 he must have   
light and flowers and the rippling music
 of kindly speech1 that as far as       
possible he may forget that his act is  
merely animal and useful4 ,he will lose 
sight of the fact that clothing is      
intended for protection and comfort1    
rather than not dress to make himself   
beautiful4 ,to speak merely to be       
understood1 and not to speak also with  
ease and elegance1 is not to be a       
gentleman4 ,how easily words find the   
way to the heart when uttered in        
melodious cadence by the lips of the    
fair and young4 ,home is the centre and 

seat of whatever is most useful to us2  
and yet to think of home is to think of 
spring-time and flowers1 of the songs of
 birds and flowing waters1 of the voices
 of children1 of floating clouds and    
sunsets that linger as though heaven    
were loath to bid adieu to earth4 ,the  
warmth1 the color1 and the light of     
their boyish days still glow in the     
hearts and imagination of noble men1 and
 redeem the busy trafficking world of   
their daily life from utter vulgarity4  
,what hues has not ,god painted on the  
air1 the water1 the fruit1 and the grain
 that are the very substance and        
nutriment of our bodies8 ,beauty is     
nobly useful4 ,it illumines the mind1   
raises the imagination1 and warms the   
heart4 ,it is not an added quality1 but 
grows from the inner nature of things2  
it is the thought of ,god working       
outward4 ,only from drunken eyes can you
 with paint and tinsel hide inward      
deformity4 ,the beauty of hills and     
waves1 of flowers and clouds1 of        

children at play1 of reapers at work1 of
 heroes in battle1 of poets inspired1 of
 saints rapt in adoration1--rises from  
central depths of being1 and is         
concealed from frivolous minds4 ,even in
 the presence of death1 the hallowing   
spirit of beauty is felt4 ,the full-ripe
 fruit that gently falls in the quiet   
air of long summer days1 the yellow     
sheaves glinting in the rays of autumn's
 sun1 the leaf which the kiss of the    
hoar frost has made blood-red and       
loosened from the parent stem1--are     
images of death but they suggest only   
calm and pleasant thoughts4 ,the        
,bedouin1 who1 sitting amid the ruins of
 ,ephesus1 thinks but of his goats and  
pigs1 heedless of ,diana's temple1      
,alexander's glory1 and the words of    
,saint ,paul1 is the type of those who  
place the useful above the excellent and
 the fair2 and as men who in their      
boards of trade buy and sell cattle and 
corn1 dream not of green fields and of  
grain turning to gold in the sun of     

,june1 so we all1 in the business and   
worry of life1 lose sight of beauty     
which makes the heart glad and keeps it 
young4  ,the mind of man is the earthly 
home of beauty1 and if any real thing   
were fair as the tender thought of      
imaginative youth1 heaven were not far4 
,all we love is but our thought of what 
only thought makes known and makes      
beautiful1 and for what we know love's  
thought may be the essence of all       
things4       ,fairer than waters where 
soft moonlight lies1     ,than flowers  
that slumber on the breast of ,spring1  
,than leafy trees in ,june when glad    
birds sing1     ,than a cool summer     
dawn1 than sunset skies2      ,than     
love1 gleaming through ,beauty's deep   
blue eyes1     ,than laughing child1    
than orchards blossoming2     ,than     
girls whose voices make the woodland    
ring1     ,than ruby lips that utter    
sweet replies1--      ,fairer than      
these1 than all that may be seen1       
,is the poetic mind1 which sheds the    

light     ,of heaven on earthly things1 
as ,night's young ,queen                
,forth-looking from some jagged mountain
 height     ,clothes the whole earth    
with her soft silvery sheen     ,and    
makes the beauty whereof eyes have      
sight4   ,nature is neither sad nor     
joyful4 ,we but see in her the          
reflection of our own minds4 ,gay scenes
 depress the melancholy1 and gloomy     
prospects have not the power to rob the 
happy of their contentment4 ,the spring 
may fill us with fresh and fragrant     
thoughts1 or may but remind us of all   
the hopes and joys we have lost2 and    
autumn will speak to one of decay and   
death1 to another of sleep and rest1    
after toil1 to prepare for a new and    
brighter awakening4 ,all the glory of   
dawn and sunset is but etheric waves    
thrilling the vapory air and impinging  
on the optic nerve2 but behind it all is
 the magician who sees and knows1 who   
thinks and loves4 ,it is the mind that  
makes the body rich4 ,thoughts take     

shape and coloring from souls through   
which they pass2 and a free and open    
mind looks upon the world in the mood in
 which a fair woman beholds herself in a
 mirror4 ,the world is his as much as   
the face is hers4 ,if we could live in  
the fairest spot of earth1 and in the   
company of those who are dear1 the      
source of our happiness would still be  
our own thought and love2 and if they   
are great and noble1 we cannot be       
miserable however meanly surrounded4    
,what is reality but a state of soul1   
finite in man1 infinite in ,god8 ,theory
 underlies fact1 and to the divine mind 
all things are godlike and beautiful4   
,the chemical elements are as sweet and 
pure in the buried corpse as in the     
blooming body of youth2 and it is       
defective intellect1 the warp of        
ignorance and sin1 which hides from     
human eyes the perfect beauty of the    
world4               ,earth's crammed   
with heaven1     ,and every common bush 
afire with ,god2     ,but only he who   

sees1 takes off his shoes4   ,what we   
all need is not so much greater         
knowledge1 as a luminous and symmetrical
 mind which1 whatsoever way it turn1    
shall reflect the things that are1 not  
in isolation and abstraction1 but in the
 living unity and harmony wherein they  
have their being4  ,the worth of        
religion is infinite1 the value of      
conduct is paramount2 but he who lacks  
intellectual culture1 whatever else he  
may be1 is narrow1 awkward1             
unintelligent4 ,the mirror of his soul  
is dim1 the motions of his spirit are   
sluggish1 and the divine image which is 
himself is blurred4  ,but let no one    
imagine that this life of the soul in   
the mind is easy2 for it is only less   
difficult than the life of the soul in  
,god4 ,to learn many things2 to master  
this or that science2 to have skill in  
law or medicine2 to acquaint one's self 
with the facts of history1 with the     
opinions of philosophers or the         
teachings of theologians1--is           

comparatively not a difficult task2 and 
there are hundreds who are learned1 who 
are skillful1 who are able1 who have    
acuteness and depth and information1 for
 one who has an open1 free1 and flexible
 mind1--which is alive and active in    
many directions1 touching the world of  
,god and ,nature at many points1 and    
beholding truth and beauty from many    
sides2 which is serious1 sober1 and     
reasonable1 but also fresh1 gentle1 and 
sympathetic2 which enters with equal    
ease into the philosopher's thought1 the
 poet's vision1 and the ecstasy of the  
saint2 which excludes no truth1 is      
indifferent to no beauty1 refuses homage
 to no goodness4 ,the ideal of culture  
indeed1 like that of religion1 like that
 of art1 lies beyond our reach1 since   
the truth and beauty which lure us on1  
and flee the farther the longer we      
pursue1 are nothing less than the       
eternal and infinite ,god4  ,and        
culture1 if it is not to end in mere    
frivolity and gloss1 must be pursued1   

like religion and art1 with earnestness 
and reverence4 ,if the spirit in which  
we work is not deep and holy1 we may    
become accomplished but we shall not    
gain wisdom1 power1 and love4 ,the      
beginner seeks to convert his belief    
into knowledge2 but the trained thinker 
knows that knowledge ends in belief1    
since beyond our little islets of       
intellectual vision1 lies the boundless1
 fathomless expanse of unknown worlds   
where faith and hope alone can be our   
guides4 ,once individual man was        
insignificant2 but now the earth itself 
is become so1--a mere dot in infinite   
space1 where1 for a moment1 men wriggle 
like animalcules in a drop of water4    
,and if at times a flash of light       
suddenly gleam athwart the mind1 and it 
seem as though we were about to get a   
glimpse into the inner heart of being1  
the brightness quickly dies1 and only   
the surfaces of things remain visible4  
,oh1 the unimaginable length of ages    
when on the earth there was no living   

thing6 then life's ugly1 slimy          
beginnings2 then the conscious soul's   
fitful dream stretching forth to endless
 time and space2 then the final sleep in
 abysmal night with its one star of hope
 twinkling before the all-hidden throne 
of ,god1 in the shadow of whose too     
great light faith kneels and waits6     
,why shall he whose mind is free1       
symmetrical1 and open1 be tempted to    
vain glory1 to frivolous boasting8      
,shall not life be more solemn and      
sacred to him than to another8 ,shall he
 indulge scorn for any being whom ,god  
has made1 for any thought which has     
strengthened and consoled the human     
heart8 ,shall he not perceive1 more     
clearly than others1 that the unseen    
,power by whom all things are1 is akin  
to thought and love1 and that they alone
 bring help to man who make him feel    
that faith and hope mean good1 and are  
fountains of larger and more enduring   
life8 ,the highest mind1 like the purest
 heart1 is a witness of the soul and of 

,god4     ,,chapter ,,iv4  ,,culture    
,,and ,,the ,,spirit ,,of ,,the ,,age4  
,but try1 ,i urge1--the trying shall    
suffice3 ,the aim1 if reached or        
not1 makes great the life4              
,,browning4    ,the mass of mankind1 if 
we pass the whole race in review1 are   
sunk in gross ignorance2 and even in    
civilized nations1 where education is   
free1 the multitude have but a rude     
acquaintance with the elements of       
knowledge4 ,their ability to read and   
write hardly serves intellectual and    
moral ends2 and such learning as they   
possess seems only to weaken their power
 to admire and love what is best in life
 and thought4  ,if we turn to the more  
cultivated1 whose numbers even in the   
most enlightened countries are not      
great1 we find but here and there an    
individual who has anything better than 
a sort of mechanical cleverness4        
,students1 it has been said1 on leaving 
college1 quickly divide into two        
classes1--those who have learned        

nothing1 and those who have forgotten   
everything4 ,in the professions1 the    
lawyer tends to become an advocate1 the 
physician an empiric1 the theologian a  
dogmatist2 and these are but instances  
of a general falling away from ideals4  
,the student of physical science is     
subdued to what he works in2 the man of 
letters loses depth and earnestness2 and
 the teacher1 whose business it is to   
rouse and illumine souls1 shrivels until
 he becomes merely a repeater of facts  
and doctrines in which there is no life1
 no power to exalt the imagination or to
 give tone to the intellect4 ,the       
teacher cannot create talent1 and his   
best work lies in stimulating and       
directing energy and impulse2 but this  
he seldom strives to do or to make      
himself capable of doing2 and hence     
pupils very generally leave school as   
men quit a prison1 with a sense of      
emancipation1 and with a desire to      
forget both the place and the kind of   
life there encouraged4 ,a talent is like

 seed-corn1--it bears within itself the 
power to break the confining walls and  
to spring upward to light1 if only it be
 sown in proper soil1 where the rain and
 the sunshine fall2 but this is a truth 
which those who make education a        
business are slow to accept4 ,they      
repress2 they overawe2 they are         
dictatorial2 they prescribe rules and   
methods for minds which can gain        
strength and wisdom only by following   
the bent given by their endowments1--and
 thus the young1 who are most easily    
discouraged in things which concern     
their highest gifts1 lose heart1 turn   
away from ideals1 and abandon the       
pursuit of excellence4 ,the nobler the  
mind1 the greater the danger of its     
being wrongly dealt with4 ,we seldom    
find a man whose thinking has helped to 
form opinion and to create literature1  
who1 if he care to say what he feels1   
will not declare that his scholastic    
training was bad4 ,milton1 ,gray1       
,dryden1 ,wordsworth1 ,byron1 ,cowley1  

,addison1 ,gibbon1 ,locke1 ,shelley1 and
 ,cowper had no love for the schools to 
which they were sent2 ,swift and        
,goldsmith received no college honors2  
and ,pope1 ,thomson1 ,burns1 and        
,shakespeare had little or nothing to do
 with institutions of learning4 ,a man  
educates himself2 and the best work     
teachers can do1 is to inspire the love 
of mental exercise and a living faith in
 the power of labor to develop faculty1 
and to open worlds of use and delight   
which are infinite1 and which each      
individual must rediscover for himself4 
,it is the educator's business to       
cherish the aspirations of the young1 to
 inspire them with confidence in        
themselves1 and to make them feel and   
understand that no labor can be too     
great or too long1 if its result be     
cultivation and enlightenment of mind4  
,for them ideals are real2 their life is
 as yet wrapped in the bud2 and to      
encourage them to believe that if they  
are but true to themselves1 the flower  

and the fruit will be fair and          
health-bringing1 is to open for them the
 fountain of hope and noble endeavor4   
,what men have done1 men can still do4  
,nay1 shall we not rather believe that  
the best is yet to be done8 ,the peoples
 whom we call ancient were but rude     
beginners4 ,we are the true ancients1   
the inheritors of all the wisdom and all
 the heroism of the past4 ,we stand in a
 wider world1 and move forward with more
 conscious purpose along more open ways4
 ,of the past we see but the summits1   
illumined by the rays of genius and     
glory4 ,could we look upon the plains   
where the multitudes lie in darkness1   
wearing the triple chain of servitude1  
ignorance1 and want1 we should          
understand how fair and beneficent our  
own age is4 ,enthusiasm for the past    
cannot inspire the best intellectual    
work4 ,the heart turns to the past2 but 
the mind looks to the future1 and is    
forever untwisting the cords which bind 
us to the things that pleased a         

childlike fancy4 ,to grow is to outgrow2
 and whatever of the past survives1     
survives1 as the very word implies1     
because it is still living and          
applicable here and now4 ,let not the   
young believe that the age of the heroic
 and godlike is gone4 ,good and the     
means of good are not harder to         
reconcile to-day than they were a       
hundred or a thousand years ago1 and    
they who have a heart may now1 as the   
best have done in the past1 wring even  
from despair the courage on which       
victory loves to smile4 ,if we are weak 
and inferior the fault lies in          
ourselves1 not in the age4 ,we are the  
age2 and if we but will and work1       
opportunities are offered us to become  
and to perform whatever may crown and   
glorify a human soul4 ,the time for     
doing best things1 like eternity1 is    
ever present4 ,let but the man stand    
forth1 and he will find and do his work4
  ,we are too near our own age to       
discern its true glory1 which shall best

 appear from the vantage-ground of      
another century2 but surely we can feel 
that it throbs with life1 with immortal 
yearnings1 with ever-growing desire to  
give to all men higher thoughts and     
purer loves4 ,society1 the ,state1 the  
,church1 the individual1 are striving   
with conscious purpose to make life     
moral and intelligent4 ,we have become  
more humane than men have ever been1 and
 accept more fully the duty and the task
 of extending the domain of justice1 of 
goodness1 and of truth4 ,the aim of our 
civilization is not merely to instruct  
the ignorant1 but to make ignorance     
impossible2 not merely to feed the      
hungry1 but to do away with famine2 not 
merely to visit the captive1 but to make
 captivity the means of his             
regeneration4 ,already the chains of the
 slave have been broken1 and the earth  
has become the home of ,god's free      
children4 ,disease has been tracked to  
its secret hiding-places1 and barriers  
have been built against pestilence and  

contagion4 ,war has become less frequent
 and less barbarous2 persecution for    
opinion and belief has become rare2     
man's inhumanity to woman1 which is the 
deepest stain upon the history of the   
race1 has yielded to the influence of   
religion and knowledge2 and with        
ever-increasing force the truth is borne
 in upon those who think and observe1   
that the fate of the rich and           
high-placed cannot be separated from    
that of the poor and lowly4 ,while we   
earnestly strive to control and repress 
every kind of moral evil1 we feel that  
society itself is responsible for sin   
and crime1 and that social and political
 conditions and constitutions must      
change1 until the weak and the          
heavy-laden are protected from the      
heartlessness of the strong and         
fortunate4 ,not only must those who     
labor with their hands have larger      
opportunities than hitherto have ever   
been given them1 but in the whole social
 life of man there must be more justice1

 more love1 more tenderness1 more of the
 spirit of ,christ1 than hitherto has   
ever been found there4  ,what marvelous1
 intellectual work are we not doing8    
,what admirable expression of the       
highest truth do we not find in the best
 writers of our age6 ,it is not all pure
 gold2 but whether we take a religious1 
a moral1 or an intellectual point of    
view1 we may not affirm of the          
literature of any age or country that it
 is perfect4 ,when man clothes in words 
what he thinks and loves1 what he knows 
and believes1 his work bears the marks  
of his defects not less than those of   
his qualities4 ,nay1 if we turn to the  
,bible itself1 how much do we not find  
there which we either fail to comprehend
 or are unable to apply6 ,has not the   
mind of ,christendom been trained and   
illumined by the literatures of ,greece 
and ,rome1 which in moral purity1 in    
elevation of sentiment1 in breadth and  
depth of thought1 in the knowledge of   
the laws of ,nature1 in scientific      

accuracy1 in sympathy and tenderness1   
are altogether inferior to the best     
writings of our own day8 ,it is a       
mistake to suppose that this is a       
material age in which the love of       
religion1 of poetry1 of art1 of         
excellence of whatever kind1 is dead4   
,the love of what is best has never at  
any time been alive save in the hearts  
of the chosen few2 and in such souls it 
burns now with as sweet and steady a    
glow as when ,plato spoke1 and the      
blessed ,saviour uttered words of divine
 wisdom4 ,here and now1 in and around   
us1 there is the heavenly presence of   
budding life1 of widening vision1 of new
 thoughts urgent as the growth of wings4
 ,let us turn the white forehead of hope
 to the fair time1 and deem no labor    
great by which we shall become less     
unfit to do the work of ,god and man4   
,nay1 never falter2 no great deed is    
done     ,by falterers who ask for      
certainty4     ,no good is certain but  
the steadfast mind1     ,the undivided  

will to seek the good3     ',t is that  
compels the elements and wrings     ,a  
human music from the indifferent air4   
,the greatest gift the hero leaves his  
race     ,is to have been a hero4 ,say  
we fail6     ,we feed the high tradition
 of the world     ,and leave our spirit 
in our children's breasts4   ,but to    
enter upon such a course of life with   
well-founded hope of success1 we must be
 reverent and devout4 ,the thrill of awe
 is1 as ,goethe says1 the best thing    
humanity has4 ,we must understand and   
feel that the visible is but the shadow 
of the invisible1 that the soul has its 
roots in ,god1 whose kingdom is within  
us4 ,we must perceive that what we know1
 believe1 admire1 love1 and yearn for   
makes our real life2 that we are worth  
what we are1 and not what we possess and
 use4 ,we must be lovers of perfection1 
as the divine ,saviour bids us          
become1--,be ye perfect1 even as your   
,father in heaven is perfect4 ,we must  
be conscious of the immortal spirit     

which is ourself1 and walk in the       
company of ,god and of just men made    
perfect1 striving after light and purity
 and strength1 which are of the soul4   
,we must love the inward1 the true1 and 
the eternal rather than the outward and 
transitory4 ,we must believe that in    
very truth we are akin to ,god1 that    
,god is in us1 and we in him1 and       
consequently that it is our first duty  
to follow after perfection1 completeness
 of life1 in thought1 in love1 and in   
conduct4 ,as it is good to know1 so is  
it good to be strong1 to be patient1 to 
be humble1 to be helpful2 so is it good 
to do right1 though the deed should be  
our only reward4  ,but we are beset by  
all manner of temptations to turn aside 
from a high and noble way of living4    
,the line of least resistance for us is 
the common highway of money-getters and 
place-winners2 and the moment a man     
gives evidence of ability1 the whole    
world urges him to put it to immediate  
use4 ,our public opinion identifies the 

good with the useful1 all else is       
visionary and unreal4 ,the average man  
controls us not only in politics1 but in
 religion1 in art1 and in literature4   
,to turn away from material good in     
order to gain spiritual and intellectual
 benefit is held to be evidence of a    
feeble or perverted understanding4 ,if a
 man is eloquent1 let him become a      
lawyer1 a politician1 or a preacher2 if 
he have a talent for science1 let him   
become a physician1 a practical chemist1
 or a civil engineer2 if he have skill  
in writing1 let him become a journalist 
or a contributor to magazines4 ,no one  
asks himself1 ,what shall ,i do to gain 
wisdom1 strength1 virtue1 completeness  
of life2 but the universal question is1 
,how shall ,i make a living1 get money1 
position1 notoriety8 ,in our hearts we  
should rather have the riches of a      
,rothschild than the mind of ,plato1 the
 imagination of ,shakespeare1 or the    
soul of ,saint ,theresa4 ,we believe the
 best is outside of us1 that the aids to

 the most desirable kind of life are to 
be found in material and mechanical     
things4 ,we talk with pride of our      
numbers1 our institutions1 our machines2
 we love the display and noise of life1 
are eager to mingle in crowds1 to live  
in great cities1 and to listen to       
exaggerated and declamatory speech4 ,the
 soberness of wisdom1 the humility of   
religion1 the plainness of worth1 are   
unattractive and unrecognized4 ,we rush 
after material things1 like hunters     
after game2 and in the excitement of the
 chase our pulse grows quick1 and our   
vision confused4 ,we have lost the art  
of patient work and expectation4 ,we are
 no more capable of living in our work1 
of making it the means of our growth and
 happiness4 ,what we do1 must be quickly
 done1 must have immediate results4 ,our
 success in solving the political and   
social problems has spoiled us4 ,when we
 hear of a man who has been prosperous  
for years1 whom no misfortune has       
sobered and softened1 we expect him to  

be narrow and supercilious2 and in the  
same way1 a prosperous people are       
exposed to the danger of becoming       
self-complacent and superficial4 ,we    
exaggerate the importance of our own    
achievements and think that which we    
have accomplished is the best2 whereas  
the wise hold what they have done in    
slight esteem1 and think only of        
becoming themselves nobler and wiser4   
,instead of boasting of our             
civilization1 because we have industrial
 and commercial prosperity1 wealth and  
liberty1 churches1 schools1 and         
newspapers1 we ought to ask ourselves   
whether civilization does not imply     
something more and higher than          
this1--what kind of soul lives and loves
 and thinks in this environment8        
,instead of trying to persuade ourselves
 that we are the greatest and most      
enlightened people1 would it not be     
worth while to ask ourselves1 in a      
dispassionate temper1 whether our best  
men and women are the most intellectual1

 the most interesting1 and the most     
,christian men and women to be found in 
the world8 ,do they not lack repose1    
distinction1 a sense for complete and   
harmonious living8 ,must we not still   
look to ,europe for our best religious  
and philosophic thought1 our best       
poetry1 painting1 music1 and            
architecture8 ,let the passion for      
,america1 says ,emerson1 cast out the   
passion for ,europe4 ,this is desirable1
 but numbers and wealth will not bring  
it about4 ,while the best is said and   
done in ,europe1 the better sort of     
,americans will look thither1--just as  
,europe looks to us for corn and cotton1
 or mechanical appliances4 ,we have done
 much1 and much that it was well to do4 
,we have1 as ,matthew ,arnold says1     
solved the political and social problems
 better than any other people1 though we
 ourselves perceive that the solution is
 by no means final4 ,the conditions of  
our life are favorable to the many4 ,it 
is easier for a man to assert himself   

here1 than it is or has ever been       
elsewhere4 ,a little sense1 a little    
energy1 is all that any one needs to    
make himself independent and            
comfortable2 and because success of this
 kind is so easy it threatens to absorb 
our whole life4 ,they alone seem to be  
living worthily who are doing practical 
work1 who are developing the natural    
wealth of the country1 starting new     
enterprises and inventing new machines4 
,the political problems which interest  
us are financial2 schools are maintained
 and fostered because they protect and  
strengthen our institutions2 religious  
beliefs are tolerated and encouraged    
because they are aids to morality1--and 
morality means sobriety1 honesty1       
industry1 which lead to thrift4 ,then   
there is an idea that religion is a     
conservative power1 useful as a bulwark 
against the assaults of anti-social     
fanatics4 ,philosophy1 poetry1 and art  
are not considered seriously1 because   
they are not seen to bear any clear     

relation to our institutions and        
temporal well-being4 ,opinion rules the 
wide world over2 and in the face of this
 strong public opinion which lays stress
 chiefly upon external things1--the     
environment1 the machinery of life1--and
 not upon spiritual and intellectual    
qualities1 it is not easy to love       
knowledge and virtue for themselves1 for
 the strength and beauty they give to   
the soul1 for their power to build up   
the being which is a man's very self4   
,it is rare that men have faith in what 
but few believe in2 they are gregarious1
 and need the encouragement that comes  
of having aims and hopes of which the   
millions approve4  ,the predominance of 
the average man1 of which our public    
opinion is the result1 puts other       
obstacles in the way of culture4 ,it    
makes us self-complacent1 easily        
satisfied with what we perform4 ,a      
representative man will become a lawyer1
 a soldier1 a merchant1 a legislator1 an
 author1 in turns1 as occasion offers1  

and he has no doubt of his sufficiency2 
because average work is all that is     
expected of any one4 ,to be able to do  
anything fairly well seems to us a more 
desirable accomplishment than to be able
 to do some one thing better than       
anybody else4 ,but this is a view which 
only those may take who live in an      
imperfectly developed society4 ,as men  
become more cultivated1 they more and   
more want only the best2 and the noblest
 natures feel the desire to do their    
best1 not with their actual power1 but  
with the skill which forty or fifty     
years of discipline and effort might    
give them4 ,they are laborious2 they are
 patient2 they persevere in one         
direction2 they believe that if they but
 continue to observe1 to think1 to read1
 to compare1 and to express in plain    
words what they know1 their power of    
seeing and of uttering will continue to 
grow4 ,the charm of increasing faculty  
in an infinite world sways and controls 
them4 ,they never know enough2 they are 

never able to say well enough what they 
know2 and so they grow old still        
learning many things4 ,they work in a   
spirit wholly different from that of the
 common man1 who if he get through with 
what he has in hand is satisfied4 ,they 
have an artist's sense of perfection2   
and like ,virgil would burn the works   
which if they once escape their own     
hands1 the world will never permit to   
perish4  ,it is hard to resist when many
 invite to utterance2 and with us       
whoever has ability is urged to put     
himself forward1 and consequently to    
dissipate in crude performances energies
 which if employed in self-culture might
 make of him a philosopher1 a poet1 or a
 man of science4 ,as it is easier to act
 than to think1 the multitude of course 
will be only talkers1 writers1 and      
performers2 but a great and civilized   
people must have at least a few men who 
take rank with the profound thinkers and
 finished scholars of the world4 ,no    
lover of ,america can help thinking it  

undesirable that any one should be able 
to say of us with truth1 what ,locke has
 said1 ,the ,americans are not all born 
with worse understandings than the      
,europeans1 though we see none of them  
have such reaches in the arts and       
sciences4 ,it is our aim to create the  
highest civilization2 but the highest   
civilization is favorable to the highest
 life1 which implies and requires more  
than the possession of material things4 
,conduct is necessary1 knowledge is     
necessary1 beauty is necessary1 manners 
are necessary1 and a civilized people   
must develop life in all these          
directions1 and as far as such a thing  
is possible1 harmoniously4 ,whoever     
excels in conduct1 or in knowledge1 or  
in a sense for the beautiful1 or in     
manners1 helps to raise the standard of 
living1--helps to give worth1 dignity1  
charm1 and refinement to life4 ,it is   
hard to take interest in a people who   
have no profound thinkers1 no great     
artists1 no accomplished scholars1 for  

only such men can lift a people above   
the provincial spirit1 and bring them   
into conscious relationship with former 
ages and the wide world4 ,the rule of   
the people looks to something higher    
than opportunity for every man to have  
food and a home2 to something more than 
putting a church1 a school1 and a       
newspaper at every man's door4 ,saints  
and heroes1 philosophers and poets1 are 
a people's glory4 ,they give us nobler  
loves1 higher thoughts1 diviner aims4   
,they show us how like a god man may    
become2 and political and social        
institutions which make saints and      
heroes1 philosophers and poets1         
impossible1 can have but inferior value4
 ,and there is some radical wrong where 
the noblest manhood and womanhood are   
not appreciated and reverenced4 ,not to 
recognize genuine worth is the mark of a
 superficial and vulgar character4 ,the 
servile spirit has no conception of the 
heroic nature2 and they who measure life
 by material standards1 do not perceive 

the infinite which is in man and which  
makes him godlike4 ,a few only in any   
age or nation love the best1 follow     
after ideal aims2 but when these few are
 wanting1 all life becomes common-place1
 and the millions pass from the cradle  
to the grave and leave no lasting       
impression upon the world4  ,the        
practical turn of mind which finds      
expression in our commercial and        
industrial achievements1 makes itself   
felt also in our intellectual activity1 
and those among us who have knowledge   
and power of utterance are expected1    
almost required1 to throw themselves    
into the breakers of controversy1 to    
discuss the hundred political1 social1  
religious1 financial1 sanitary1 and     
educational problems which are ever     
waiting to be solved4 ,let them enter   
the lists1 let them take sides1 let them
 strive to see clear in an atmosphere of
 smoke and fog2 and not to do this is1  
in the estimation of the many1 to be a  
dreamer1 a dilettante1 a thinker to no  

purpose4 ,but this is precisely what    
those who seek to cultivate themselves1 
who seek to learn and communicate the   
best that is known1 ought not to do4    
,they should live in a serene air1 in a 
world of tranquility and peace1 where   
the soul is not troubled by contention1 
where the view is not perturbed by      
passion4 ,they should have leisure1     
which is the original meaning of school 
and scholar2 for the mind1 like the     
soul1 is refreshed and strengthened by  
quiet meditation4 ,its improvement is   
slow1 is imperceptible often2 its       
training is the result of delicate      
methods which require patience and      
perseverance1 faith in ideals1 and a    
constant looking to the all-perfect     
,infinite2 and to throw it into the     
noise and confusion of the busy excited 
world of practical affairs is to stunt  
and warp its growth4 ,we do not hitch a 
race-horse to the plough1 nor should we 
ask the best intellects to do the common
 work of which every man is capable4    

,they render the best service1 when     
living in communion with the highest and
 most cultivated minds of the past and  
present1 they learn and teach the way of
 looking and thinking1 of behaving and  
doing1 which has been followed by the   
greatest and noblest of the race4       
,political and social questions are     
forever changing2 views which commend   
themselves to-day will in a few years   
seem absurd2 measures which are thought 
to be of vital importance will grow to  
be inapplicable4 ,to talk and write     
about such things is well1--may help to 
prevent stagnation and corruption in    
public life2 but they exercise          
altogether a higher office1 who live in 
the presence of what is permanently true
 and good and beautiful1 who believe in 
ideal aims and ends and prevent the     
masses from losing sight of what        
constitutes man's real worth4 ,they do  
what they alone can do1 whereas the     
practical and the useful may be any     
one's work4 ,they may not1 of course1   

isolate themselves2 on the contrary they
 must live closer than other men not    
only to ,god and ,nature1 but also to   
the past and present history of their   
country and of mankind4 ,they study the 
movements of the age1 but they study    
them in a philosophic and not in a      
partisan spirit4 ,they seek to know1 not
 what is popular1 but what is right and 
good2 and they often see clearly where  
the view of others is uncertain and     
confused4 ,encouragements and rewards   
are not necessary for them1 for they are
 drawn to the knowledge and love of the 
best by irresistible attractions1 and   
the more they learn and love the more   
beneficent and joy-giving does their    
life become4 ,their aims and ends are in
 harmony with the highest reason and the
 highest faith4 ,the world they live in 
abides2 and if they are neglected or    
forgotten now1 they can wait1 for truth 
and goodness and beauty can never lose  
their power or their charm4       ,the  
worthiest poets have remained uncrowned 

,till death has bleached their foreheads
 to the bone4      ,,chapter ,v4        
,,self-,,culture4                       
,there is     ,one great society alone  
on earth     ,the noble ,living and the 
noble ,dead4      ,,wordsworth4    ,the 
passion for truth and for the culture   
which makes its possession possible is  
not rightly felt by the heart of boy or 
of youth2 it is the man's passion1 and  
its power over him is most irresistibly 
asserted when outward restraint has been
 removed1 when escaping from the control
 of parents and teachers he is left to  
himself to shape his course and seek his
 own ends4 ,when his companions have    
finished their studies he feels that his
 own are now properly only about to     
begin2 when they are dreaming of liberty
 and pleasure1 of wealth and success1 of
 the world and its honors1 his mind is  
haunted by the mystery of ,god and      
,nature1 by visions of dimly discerned  
truth and beauty which he must follow   
whithersoever they lead2 and already he 

perceives that wisdom comes to those    
alone who toil and cease not from labor1
 who suffer and are patient4 ,hitherto  
he has learned the lessons given him by 
teachers appointed by others2 henceforth
 he is himself to choose his            
instructors4 ,as once1 half-unconscious1
 he played in the smile or frown of     
,nature1 and drank knowledge with       
delight1 so now in the world of man's   
thought1 hope1 and love1 he is1 with    
deliberate purpose1 to seek what is good
 for the nourishment of his soul4 ,happy
 is he1 for nearly all men toil and     
suffer that they may live2 but he is    
also to have time to labor1 to make life
 intelligent and fair4 ,he must know not
 only what the blind atoms are doing1   
but what saints1 sages1 and heroes have 
loved1 thought1 and done4 ,he will still
 keep close to ,nature who1 though she  
utters myriad sounds1 never speaks a    
human word2 but he will also lend his   
ear to the voice of wisdom which lies   
asleep in books1 and to sympathetic     

minds whispers from other worlds        
whatever high or holy truth has         
consecrated the life of man4 ,his       
guiding thought must be how to make the 
work by which he maintains himself in   
the world subserve moral and            
intellectual ends2 for his aim is not   
merely or chiefly to have goods1 but to 
be wise and good1 and therefore to build
 up within himself the power of conduct 
and the power of intelligence which     
makes man human1 and distinguishes him  
from whatever else on earth has life4   
,it is our indolence and frivolity that 
make routine duties1 however distracting
 or importunate1 incompatible with the  
serious application which the work of   
self-culture demands2 but we are by     
nature indolent and frivolous1 and only 
education can make us earnest and       
laborious4 ,none but a cultivated mind  
can understand that if the whole human  
race could be turned loose1 to eat and  
drink and play like thoughtless         
children1 life would become meaningless2

 that a paradise in which work should   
not be necessary would become wearisome4
 ,the progress of the race is the result
 of effort1 physical1 religious1 moral1 
and intellectual2 and the advance of    
individuals is proportional to their    
exertion4 ,nature herself pushes the    
young to bodily exercise2 but though    
activity is for them a kind of          
necessity1 only the discipline of habit 
will lead them to prefer labor to       
idleness2 and they will not even use    
their senses properly unless they are   
taught to look and to listen1--just as  
they are taught to walk and to ride4    
,the habit of manual labor1 as it is    
directly related to the animal existence
 to which man is prone1 and supplies the
 physical wants whose urgency is most   
keenly felt1 is acquired with least     
difficulty1 and it prepares the way for 
moral and intellectual life2 but it     
especially favors the life which has    
regard to temporal ends and conduces to 
comfort and well-being4 ,they whose     

instrument is the brain rarely aim at   
anything higher than wealth and         
position2 and if they become rich and   
prominent1 they remain narrow and       
uninteresting4 ,they talk of progress1  
of new inventions and discoveries1 and  
they neglect to improve themselves2 they
 boast of the greatness of their        
country1 while their real world is one  
of vulgar thought and desire2 they take 
interest in what seems to concern the   
general welfare1 but fail to make       
themselves centres of light and love4   
,what is worse they have the conceit of 
wisdom1--they lack reverence2 they are  
impatient1 and must have at once what   
they seek4 ,but the better among us see 
the insufficiency of the popular aims1  
and begin to yearn for something other  
than a life of politics1 newspapers1 and
 financial enterprise4 ,they desire to  
know and love the best that is known1   
and they are willing to be poor and     
obscure1 if they may but gain entrance  
into this higher world4 ,i shall ever   

consider myself1 says ,descartes1 more  
obliged to those who leave me to my     
leisure1 than ,i should to any who might
 offer me the most honorable            
employments4 ,this is the thought of    
every true student and lover of wisdom2 
for he feels that whatever a man's      
occupation may be1 his business is to   
improve his mind and to form his        
character4 ,he desires not to be known  
and appreciated1 but to know and        
appreciate2 not to have more1 but to be 
more2 not to have friends1 but to be the
 friend of man1--which he is when he is 
the lover of truth4 ,he turns from      
vulgar pleasures as he turns from pain1 
because both pleasure and pain in       
fastening the soul to the body deprive  
it of freedom and hinder the play of the
 mind4       ,he loves the best with    
single heart     ,and without thought   
what gifts it bring4   ,unless one have 
deep faith in the good of culture he    
will easily become discouraged in the   
work which is here urged upon him4 ,he  

must be drawn to the love of            
intellectual excellence by an attraction
 such as a poet feels in the presence of
 beauty2 he must believe in it as a     
miser believes in gold2 he must seek it 
as a lover seeks the beloved4 ,our wants
 determine our pleasures1 and they who  
have no intellectual cravings feel not  
the need of exercise of mind4 ,they are 
born and remain inferior4 ,they are     
content with the world which seems to be
 real1 forgetting the higher one1 which 
alone is real2 they are not urged to the
 intellectual life by irresistible      
instincts4 ,they are discouraged by     
difficulties1 thwarted by obstacles     
which lie in the path of all who strive 
to move forward and to gain higher      
planes4 ,it is not possible to advance  
except along the road of toil1 of       
struggle1 and of suffering4 ,we cannot  
emerge even from childish ignorance and 
weakness without experiencing a sense of
 loss4 ,mental work in the beginning and
 for a long time is weariness1 is little

 better than drudgery4 ,we labor1 and   
there seems to be no gain2 we study and 
there seems to be no increase of        
knowledge or power2 and if we persevere1
 we are led by faith and hope1 not by   
any clear perception of the result of   
persistent application4 ,genius itself  
is not exempt from this law4 ,poets and 
artists work with an intensity unknown  
to others1 and are distinguished by     
their faith in the power of labor4 ,the 
consummate musician must practice for   
hours1 day by day1 year in and year out4
 ,the brain is the most delicate and the
 finest of instruments1 and it is vain  
to imagine that anything else than      
ceaseless1 patient effort will enable us
 to use it with perfect skill2 indeed1  
it is only after long study that we     
become capable of understanding what the
 perfection of the intellect is1 that we
 become capable of discerning what is   
excellent1 beautiful1 and true in style 
and thought4  ,discouragement and       
weariness will1 again and again1 suggest

 doubts concerning the wisdom of this   
ceaseless effort to improve one's self4 
,why persist in the pursuit of what can 
never be completely attained8 ,why toil 
to gain what the mass of men neither    
admire nor love8 ,why wear out life in a
 course of action which leads neither to
 wealth nor honors8 ,why turn away from 
pleasures which lie near us to follow   
after ideal things8 ,these are questions
 which force themselves upon us2 and it 
requires faith and courage not to be    
shaken by this sophistry4 ,visions of   
ideal life float before young eyes1 and 
if to be attracted by what is high and  
fair were enough1 it were not difficult 
to be saint1 sage1 or hero2 but when we 
perceive that the way to the best is the
 road of toil and drudgery1 that we must
 labor long and accomplish little1      
wander far and doubt our progress1 must 
suffer much and feel misgivings whether 
it is not in vain1--then only the       
noblest and the bravest still push      
forward in obedience to inward law4 ,the

 ideal of culture appeals to them with  
irresistible force4 ,they consent to    
lack wealth1 and the approval of friends
 and the world's applause2 they are     
willing to turn away when fair hands    
hold out the cup of pleasure1 when      
bright eyes and smiling lips woo to     
indulgence4 ,if1 you ask1 ,how long8    
,they answer1 ,until we die6 ,they are  
lovers of wisdom and do not trust to    
hope of temporal reward4 ,their aim is  
light and purity of mind and heart2     
these they would not barter for comfort 
and position4 ,as saints1 while doing   
the common work of men1 walk uplifted to
 worlds invisible1 so they1 amid the    
noise and distractions of life still    
hear the appealing voice of truth2 and  
as parted lovers dream only of the hour 
when they shall meet again1 so these    
chosen spirits1 in the midst of whatever
 cares and labors1 turn to the time when
 thought shall people their solitude as 
with the presence of angels4 ,they hear 
heavenly voices asking1 ,why stay ye on 

the earth1 unless to grow8 ,vanity1     
frivolity1 and fickleness die within    
them2 and they grow to be humble and    
courageous1 disinterested and laborious1
 strong and persevering4 ,the           
cultivation of their higher nature      
becomes the law of their life2 and the  
sense of duty1 stern daughter of the    
voice of ,god1 which of all motives that
 sway the heart1 best stands the test of
 reason1 becomes their guide and        
support4 ,thus culture1 which looks to  
the ,infinite and ,all-wise as to its   
ideal1 rests upon the basis of morality 
and religion4  ,to think is difficult1  
and they who wish to grow in power of   
thought must hoard their strength4      
,excess1 of whatever kind1 is a waste of
 intellectual force4 ,the weakness of   
men of genius has impoverished the      
world4 ,sensual indulgence diminishes   
spiritual insight2 it perverts reason1  
and deadens love2 it enfeebles the      
physical man1 and weakens the organs of 
sense1 which are the avenues of the     

soul4 ,the higher self is developed     
harmoniously only when it springs from a
 healthful body4 ,it is the lack of     
moral balance which makes genius akin to
 madness4 ,nothing is so sane as reason1
 and great minds fall from truth only   
when they fail in the strength which    
comes of righteous conduct4  ,let the   
lover of wisdom then strive to live in a
 healthy body that his senses may report
 truly of the universe in which he      
dwells4 ,but this is not easy2 for      
mental labor exhausts1 and if the vital 
forces are still further diminished by  
dissipation1 disease and premature decay
 of the intellectual faculties will be  
the result4 ,the ideal of culture       
embraces the whole man1 physical1 moral1
 religious1 and intellectual2 and the   
loss of health or morality or faith     
cannot but impede the harmonious        
development of the mind itself4 ,passion
 is the foe of reason1 and may easily   
become strong enough to extinguish its  
light4 ,he who wishes to educate himself

 must learn to resist the desires of his
 lower nature1 which if indulged deaden 
sensibility1 weaken the will1 take from 
the imagination its freshness1 and from 
the heart the power of loving4 ,the task
 he has set himself is arduous1 and he  
cannot have too much energy1 too much   
warmth of soul1 too much capacity for   
labor4 ,let him not waste1 like a mere  
animal1 the strength which was given him
 that he might learn to know and love   
infinite truth and beauty4 ,the dwelling
 with one's self and with thoughts of   
what is true and high1 which is an      
essential condition of mental growth1 is
 impossible when the sanctuary of the   
soul is filled with unclean images4     
,intellectual honesty1 the disinterested
 love of truth1 without which no        
progress can be made1 will hardly be    
found in those who are the slaves of    
unworthy passions4 ,the more religious a
 man is1 the more does he believe in the
 worth and sacredness of truth1 and the 
more willing does he become to throw all

 his energies with persevering diligence
 into the work of self-improvement4     
,they who fail to see in the universe an
 all-wise1 all-holy1 and all-powerful   
,being1 from whom are all things and to 
whom all things turn1 easily come to    
doubt whether it holds anything of true 
worth4 ,history teaches this1 and it    
requires little reflection to perceive  
that it must be so4 ,of the ,solitary1  
,wordsworth says1--                     
,but in despite     ,of all this outside
 bravery1 within     ,he neither felt   
encouragement nor hope2     ,for moral  
dignity and strength of mind     ,were  
wanting1 and simplicity of life     ,and
 reverence for himself2 and1 last and   
best1     ,confiding thoughts1 through  
love and fear of ,him     ,before whose 
sight the troubles of this world        
,are vain4   ,the corrupt and the       
ignorant easily learn to feel contempt1 
but the scholar is reverent4 ,he moves  
in the midst of infinite worlds1 and    
knows that the least is part of the     

whole4  ,now1 how shall he who is       
resolved to educate himself set about   
his work8 ,what advice shall be given   
him8 ,what rules shall be made for him  
that he may not waste time and energy8  
,he who yearns for the cultivation of   
mind which makes wisdom possible must   
work his way to the light4 ,all         
intellectual men strive to educate      
themselves1 but each one strives in a   
different way4 ,they all aim at insight 
rather than information1 at the perfect 
use of their faculties rather than      
learning4 ,the power to see things as   
they are1 is what they want2 and        
therefore they look1 observe1 examine1  
compare1 analyze1 meditate1 read1 and   
write4 ,and they keep doing this day by 
day2 and the longer they work1 the more 
attractive their work grows to be4      
,descartes1 who is a typical lover of   
the intellectual life1 looked upon      
himself simply as a thinking being1 and 
gave all his thought to the cultivation 
of his higher faculties in the hope that

 he might finally discover some truth   
which would bring blessings to men4 ,he 
had no thought of literary fame1        
published little1 and sedulously avoided
 whatever might bring him into          
notoriety4 ,those1 he says1 who wish to 
know how to speak of everything and to  
acquire a reputation for learning1 will 
succeed most easily if they content     
themselves with the semblance of truth1 
which may readily be found4 ,the love of
 truth is the mark of the real student4 
,what is1 is2 it is man's business to   
know it4 ,he is the foe of pretense2    
sham for him means shame4 ,he will have 
sound knowledge2 he will do his work    
well2 whether men shall applaud or      
reward him for it1 is a foreign         
consideration4 ,he obeys an inward law1 
and the praise of those who cannot      
understand him sounds to him like       
mockery4 ,true thought1 like right      
conduct1 is its own reward4 ,to see     
truth and to love it is enough1--is more
 than to have the worship of the world4 

,the important thing is to be a man1 to 
have a serious purpose1 to be in        
earnest1 to yearn for what is good and  
holy2 and without this the culture of   
the intellect will not avail4  ,we must 
build upon the broad foundation of man's
 life1 and not upon any special faculty4
 ,the merely literary man is often the  
most pitiful of men1--able1 it may be1  
to do little else than complain that his
 merits are not recognized4 ,let it not 
be imagined then that the lover of      
wisdom1 the follower of intellectual    
good1 should propose to himself a       
literary career4 ,he may of course be or
 become a man of letters1 but this is   
incidental to his life-purpose1 which is
 to develop within himself the power of 
knowing and loving4 ,he will learn to   
think rightly and to act well1 first of 
all2 for he knows that a man's writing  
cannot be worth more than he himself is 
worth4 ,he is a seeker after truth and  
perfection2 and understanding at the    
price of what countless labors these may

 be hoped for1 he is slow to imagine    
that words of his may be of help to     
others4  ,observation1 reading1 and     
writing are the chief means by which    
thought is stimulated1 the mind         
developed1 and the intellect cultivated4
 ,the habit of looking and the habit of 
thinking are closely related4 ,a man    
thinks as he sees2 and for a mind like  
,shakespeare's1 for instance1           
observation is almost the only thing    
that is necessary for its development4  
,the boundless world breaks in upon him 
with creative force4 ,his sympathy is   
universal1 and therefore so is his      
interest4 ,he sees the like in the      
unlike1 the differences in things which 
are similar4 ,every little bird and     
every little flower are known to him4   
,he contemplates ,falstaff and ,poor    
,tom with as much interest as though    
they were ,hamlet and ,king ,lear4 ,in  
all original minds the power of         
observation is great4 ,it is the chief  
source of our earliest knowledge1 of    

that which touches us most nearly and   
most deeply colors the imagination4     
,when the boy is wandering through      
fields1 sitting in the shade of trees1  
or lying on the banks of murmuring      
streams1 he is not only learning more   
delightful things than books will ever  
teach him1 but he is also acquiring the 
habit of attention1 of looking at what  
he sees1 which nowhere else can be      
gotten in so natural and pleasant a way4
 ,hence the best minds have either been 
born in the country or have passed there
 some of their early years4 ,unless we  
have first learned to look with the eye1
 we shall never learn to look with the  
mind4 ,they who walk unmoved beneath the
 starlit heavens1 or by the ever-moving 
ocean1 or amid the silent mountains2 who
 do not find1 like ,wordsworth1 that the
 meanest flower that blows gives        
thoughts which often lie too deep for   
tears1 will not derive great help from  
the world of books4 ,but in the world of
 books the intellectual must also make  

themselves at home and live1 must thence
 draw nourishment1 light1 wisdom1       
strength1 for there as nowhere else the 
mind of man has stamped its image2 and  
there the thoughts of the master spirits
 still breathe1 still glow with truth   
and beauty4 ,the best books are powers  
,forever to be hallowed2 only less1     
,for what we are and what we may become1
     ,than ,nature's self1 which is the 
breath of ,god1     ,or his pure ,word1 
by miracle revealed4   ,but it is as    
difficult to know books as to know men4 
,there are but few men who can be of    
intellectual service to us2 and there   
are but few books which stimulate and   
nourish the mind4 ,the best books are1  
as ,milton says1 the precious life-blood
 of a master spirit2 and it is absurd to
 suppose that they will reveal their    
secret to every chance comer1 to every  
heedless reader4 ,as it takes a hero to 
know a hero1 so only an awakened mind   
can love and understand the great       
thinkers4 ,the reading of the ignorant  

is chiefly a mechanical proceeding2 and1
 indeed1 for men in general reading is  
little better than waste of time4 ,their
 reading1 like their conversation1      
leaves them what they were1 or worse4   
,the mass of printed matter has no      
greater value from an intellectual point
 of view at least than the wide         
ever-flowing stream of talk2 and for the
 multitude it is all the same whether   
they gossip and complain1 or read and   
nod4 ,however much they read1 they      
remain unintelligent2 what knowledge    
they gain is fragmentary1 unreal2 they  
learn merely enough to talk about what  
they do not understand4 ,we may of      
course read for entertainment1 as we may
 talk for entertainment2 but this is    
merely a recreation of the mind1 which  
is good only because it rests and       
prepares us for work4 ,the wise read    
books to be enlightened1 uplifted1 and  
inspired4 ,their reading is a labor in  
which every faculty of the mind is awake
 and active4 ,they are attentive2 they  

weigh1 compare1 judge4 ,they re-create  
within their own minds the images       
produced by the author2 they seek to    
enter into his inmost thought2 they     
admire each well-turned phrase1 each    
happy epithet2 they walk with him1 and  
make themselves at home in the          
wonderland which his genius has called  
into being2 past centuries rise before  
them1 and they almost forget that they  
did not hear ,plato discourse in the    
,academy1 or stroll with ,horace along  
the ,sacred ,way4 ,as they are brought  
thus intimately into the company of the 
noblest minds1 they think as they       
thought1 feel as they felt1 and so are  
enlightened and inspired4 ,they drink   
the spirit of the mighty dead1 and      
gradually come to live in a higher and  
richer world4 ,the best in life and     
literature is seen to be such only by   
those who have made themselves worthy of
 the heavenly vision2 and once we have  
learned to love the few real books of   
the world1 or rather what in these few  

is eternally true and beautiful1 we     
breathe the atmosphere of the           
intellectual life4 ,what is frivolous1  
or false1 or vulgar can no longer please
 us2 having seen and loved what is high 
we may not sink to the lower4           
,knowledge may be useful1 and yet have  
little power to nourish1 train1 and     
enlarge the mind1 and it is its         
disciplinary and educational value which
 we are here considering4 ,medicine for 
a physician1 law for an attorney1       
theology for a clergyman1 is the most   
useful knowledge2 but they are not      
therefore the best means of intellectual
 culture4 ,natural science1 though it is
 most useful1 ministering as it does in 
a thousand ways and with ever-increasing
 efficacy to our wants and comforts1 has
 but an inferior educational power4     
,acquaintance with the uniform          
co-existences and sequences of phenomena
 is not a mental tonic4 ,such knowledge 
not only leaves us unmoved1--it has a   
tendency even to fetter the free play of

 the mind and to chill the imagination4 
,it unweaves the rainbow1 and leaves us 
the dead chemical elements4 ,the        
information we have gained is practical1
 but it does not exalt the soul or      
render us more keenly alive to the      
divine beauty which rests on ,nature's  
face4 ,it does not enable us1 as does   
the knowledge of literature and history1
 to participate in the conscious life of
 the race4 ,it makes no appeal to our   
nobler human instincts4 ,there is no    
book on natural science1 nor can there  
ever be one1 which may take a place     
among the few immortal works which men  
never cease to read and love4 ,physical 
science has its own domain1 and its     
study will continue to enrich the world1
 to make specialists of a hundred kinds2
 but it never can take the place of     
literature and history as a means of    
culture2 and as an educational force its
 value is greatest when it is studied   
not experimentally1 but as              
literature1--though of course1 every    

cultivated man should be familiar with  
the inductive method1 and should receive
 consequently a certain scientific      
training4  ,history1 in bringing us into
 the presence of the greatest men and in
 showing us their mightiest             
achievements1 rouses our whole being4   
,it sets the mind aglow1 awakens        
enthusiasm1 and fires the imagination4  
,it makes us feel how blessed a thing it
 is to scorn delights and live laborious
 days2 how divine to perish in bringing 
truth and holiness to men4 ,we commingle
 with the makers of the world2 we hear  
them speak and see them act2 we catch   
the spirit of their lofty purpose1 their
 high courage1 their noble eloquence4   
,when we drink deeply of the wisdom     
which history teaches1 we come to       
understand that truth and justice1      
heroism and religion1 which are the     
virtues of the greatest men1 may be ours
 as easily as theirs2 that opportunity  
for true men is ever present1 and that  
the task set for each one of us is as   

sacred and important as any which has   
ever been entrusted to the human mind   
and will4 ,our thought is widened1 our  
hearts are strengthened1 and we come to 
feel that it shall be well for others   
that we too have lived4 ,when we have   
learned to be at home with lofty and    
generous natures1 the heroic mood       
becomes natural to us4  ,there are of   
course but few histories which have this
 tonic effect upon the mind and the     
will1 but with these the lover of       
culture should make himself familiar4   
,each one must find the book he needs2  
and though he should find no help in a  
volume which time and the consent of the
 learned have consecrated1 let him not  
be discouraged1 but continue to seek and
 to read until he meet with the author  
who fills his soul with joy and opens to
 his wondering eyes visions of new      
worlds4 ,to love any great book so that 
we read it--or at least those portions  
of it which especially appeal to        
us--many times1 and always with new     

pleasure 7as a mother never wearies of  
looking upon her child71 until the      
thought and style of the author become  
almost our own1 is to learn the secret  
of self-education2 for he who           
understands and loves one great book is 
sure to find his way to the love and    
knowledge of other works of genius4 ,he 
will not read chiefly to gain           
information1 but he will read for       
exaltation of spirit1 for enlightenment1
 for strength of soul1 for the help     
which springs from contact with generous
 and awakened minds4 ,he will mark his  
favorite passages and refer to them     
often1 as one loves to revisit places   
where he has been happy2 and these very 
pencil-marks will become dear to him as 
tokens of truth revealed1 of wisdom     
gained1 of joy bestowed4 ,the best      
reading is that which most profoundly   
stimulates thought1 which brings our own
 minds into active1 conscious communion 
with the mind of the author2 and hence  
the best poetry is the most efficacious 

and the most delightful aid to mental   
improvement4  ,poetry is1 as ,aristotle 
says1 the most philosophic of all       
writing4 ,it is also the writing which  
is most instinct with passion1 with     
life4 ,it springs from intense thought  
and feeling1 and bears within itself the
 power to call forth thought and        
feeling4 ,it is thought transfused with 
the glow of emotion1 and consequently   
thought made beautiful1 attractive1     
contagious4 ,it is1 to quote            
,wordsworth1 the breath and finer spirit
 of all knowledge2 it is the impassioned
 expression which is in the countenance 
of all science4 ,the poet has more      
enthusiasm and tenderness than other    
men1 a more sensitive soul1 a more      
comprehensive mind4 ,his wider sympathy 
gives him greater insight2 and his power
 to see absent things as though they    
were present enables him to bring the   
distant and the past before our eyes1 to
 make them live again in a new and      
immortal world2 he stimulates the whole 

mind and appeals to every faculty of the
 soul4 ,the greatest philosophers are1  
like ,plato1 poets too2 and unless the  
historian is also a poet1 there is no   
inspiration1 no life in what he writes4 
,it is as superficial and vulgar to     
sneer at poetry as to sneer at religion2
 and they alone are mockers who have    
eyes but for some counterfeit4 ,to be   
able to read a true poet is not a gift  
of ,nature2 it is a faculty to be       
acquired4 ,he creates1 as ,wordsworth   
says1 the taste by which he is          
appreciated4 ,to imagine we may read him
 as we read a frivolous novel is absurd2
 it may well happen we shall see no     
truth or beauty in him until patient    
study has made it plain4 ,it often takes
 the world a hundred years or more to   
recognize a great poet2 and a knowledge 
of his worth can be had by the student  
only at the price of patient labor4     
,wordsworth will attract scarcely any   
one at the first glance2 the great      
number of readers will soon weary of him

 and throw him aside2 but those who     
learn to understand him find in his     
writings treasures above all price4     
,there are but a few great poems in the 
literatures of the different nations1   
but he who wishes to have a cultivated  
mind must1 at the cost of whatever time 
and labor1 make himself familiar with   
them2 for there alone are found the best
 thoughts clothed in fittest words2     
there alone are rightly portrayed the   
noblest characters2 there alone is the  
world of men and things transfigured by 
the imagination and illumined by the    
pure light of the mind4 ,true poets help
 us to see1 they teach us to admire1    
they lift our thoughts1 they appeal to  
our higher nature2 they give us nobler  
loves1 more exalted aims1 more spiritual
 purposes2 they make us feel that to    
live for money or place is to lead a    
narrow and a slavish life2 and to men   
around whom the fetters of material and 
hardening cares are growing1 they cry   
and bid them--                          

,look abroad     ,and see to what fair  
countries they are bound4   ,but even   
the greatest poets have weaknesses1 and 
are great only by comparison4 ,there is 
not one who however he may enchant and  
strengthen1 does not also disappoint us4
 ,the perfect poet the future will      
bring2 and to his coming we shall look  
with more eager expectation than if we  
foresaw man dowered with wings4 ,the    
elevation we forebode is of the soul1   
not of the body4 ,progress we have      
already made4 ,it is no longer possible 
for a true poet to sing of sensual      
delights2 the man he creates is now no  
more the slave of low ambition or       
distempered love4 ,his theme is rather--
       ,no other than the heart of man  
,as found among the best of those who   
live1     ,not unexalted by religious   
faith1     ,nor uninformed by books1    
good books1 though few1     ,in         
,nature's presence4   ,writing is as    
great an aid to the cultivation of the  
mind as reading4 ,it is indeed          

indispensable1 and the accuracy of      
thought and expression of which ,bacon  
speaks1 is but one of its good results4 
,by writing1 says ,saint ,augustine1 ,i 
have learned many things which nothing  
else had taught me4 ,there is1 of       
course1 no question here of writing for 
publication4 ,to do this no one should  
be urged4 ,the farther we are from all  
thought of readers1 the nearer are we to
 truth2 and once an author has          
published1 a sort of madness comes over 
him1 and he seems to be doing nothing   
unless he continue to publish4 ,the     
truly intellectual man leads an interior
 life2 he dwells habitually in the      
presence of ,god1 of ,nature1 and of his
 own soul2 he swims in a current of     
ideas1 looks out upon a world of truth  
and beauty2 he would rather gain some   
new vision of the eternal reality than  
to have a mountain of gold or the       
suffrages of a whole people4 ,the great 
hindrance is lack of the power of       
prolonged attention1 of sustained       

thought2 and this the habit of serious  
writing gives4 ,but the habit itself is 
difficult to acquire4 ,at first in      
attempting to write we are discouraged  
to find how crude1 how unreal1 how      
little within our control our knowledge 
is2 and it will often happen that we    
shall simply hold the pen in idleness1  
either because we find nothing to write1
 or because the proper way to express   
what we think eludes our efforts4 ,when 
this happens day after day1 the         
temptation will come to abandon our     
purpose1 and to seek easier and less    
effective means of developing mental    
strength1 or else we shall write        
carelessly and without thought1 which is
 even a greater evil than not to write  
at all4 ,in the writing of which ,i am  
thinking there is no question of style1 
of what critics and readers will say2   
all that is asked is that we apply our  
minds to things as they appear to us1   
and put in plain words what we see4     
,thus our style will become the         

expression of our thought and life4 ,it 
will be the outgrowth of a natural      
method1 and consequently will have      
genuine worth4 ,what is written in this 
way should be preserved1 not that others
 may see it1 but that we ourselves by   
comparing our earlier with our later    
essays may be encouraged by the evidence
 of improvement4 ,it is not necessary to
 make choice of a subject1--whatever    
interests us is a fit theme2 and if     
nothing should happen specially to      
interest us1 by writing we shall gain   
interest in many things4  ,the method   
here proposed requires serious          
application1 perseverance1 diligence3 it
 is difficult2 but they who have the    
courage to continue to write1 undeterred
 by difficulties1 will gain more than   
they hope for4 ,they will grow in       
strength1 in accuracy1 in pliancy1 in   
openness of mind2 they will become      
capable of profound and just views1 and 
will gradually rise to worlds of truth  
and beauty of which the common man does 

not dream4 ,and it will frequently      
happen that there will be permanent     
value in what is written not to please  
the crowd or to flatter a capricious    
public opinion1 or to win gold or       
applause1 but simply in the presence of 
,god and one's own soul to bear witness 
to truth4 ,as the painter takes pallet  
and brush1 the musician his instrument1 
each to perfect himself in his art1 so  
he who desires to learn how to think    
should take the pen1 and day by day     
write something of the truth and love1  
the hope and faith1 which make him a    
living man4     ,,chapter ,,vi4         
,,growth ,,and ,,duty4        ,why stay 
we on the earth unless to grow8         
,,browning4    ,what life is in itself  
we do not know1 any more than we know   
what matter is in itself2 but we know   
something of the properties of matter1  
and we also have some knowledge of the  
laws of life4 ,here it is sufficient to 
call attention to the law of growth1    
through which the living receive the    

power of self-development1--of bringing 
their endowments into act1 of building  
up the being which they are4 ,whatever  
living thing is strong or beautiful has 
been made so by growth1 since life      
begins in darkness and impotence4 ,to   
grow is to be fresh and joyous4 ,hence  
the spring is the glad time2 for the    
earth itself then seems to renew its    
youth1 and enter on a fairer life4 ,the 
growing grass1 the budding leaves1 the  
sprouting corn1 coming as with unheard  
shout from regions of the dead1 fill us 
with happy thoughts1 because in them we 
behold the vigor of life1 bringing      
promise of higher things4  ,nature      
herself seems to rejoice in this vital  
energy2 for the insects hum1 the birds  
sing1 the lambs skip1 and the very      
brooks give forth a merry sound4 ,growth
 leads us through ,wonderland4 ,it      
touches the germs lying in darkness1 and
 the myriad forms of life spring to     
view2 the mists are lifted from the     
valleys1 and flowers bloom and shed     

fragrance through the air4 ,only the    
growing--those who each moment are      
becoming something more than they       
were--feel the worth and joyousness of  
life4 ,upon the youth nothing palls1 for
 he is himself day by day rising into   
higher and wider worlds4 ,to grow is to 
have faith1 hope1 courage4  ,the boy who
 has become able to do what a while ago 
was impossible to him1 easily believes  
that nothing is impossible2 and as his  
powers unfold1 his self-confidence is   
nourished2 he exults in the             
consciousness of increasing strength1   
and cannot in any way be made to        
understand the doubts and               
faint-heartedness of men who have ceased
 to grow4 ,each hour he puts off some   
impotence1 and why shall he not have    
faith in his destiny1 and feel that he  
shall yet grow to be poet1 orator1 hero1
 or what you will that is great and     
noble8 ,and as he delights in life1 we  
take delight in him4  ,in the same way a
 young race of people possesses a magic 

charm4 ,homer's heroes are barbarians2  
but they are inspiring1 because they    
belong to a growing race1 and we see in 
them the budding promise of the day when
 ,alexander's sword shall conquer the   
world2 when ,plato shall teach the      
philosophy which all men who think must 
know2 and when ,pericles shall bid the  
arts blossom in a perfection which is   
the despair of succeeding generations4  
,and so in the ,middle ,ages there is   
barbarism enough1 with its lawlessness  
and ignorance2 but there is also faith1 
courage1 strength1 which tell of youth1 
and point to a time of mature faculty   
and high achievement4 ,there is the rich
 purple dawn which shall grow into the  
full day of our modern life4  ,here in  
this ,new ,world we are the new people1 
in whose growth what highest hopes1 what
 heavenly promises lie6 ,all the nations
 which are moving forward1 are moving in
 directions in which we have gone before
 them1--to larger political and         
religious liberty2 to wider and more    

general education2 to the destroying of 
privilege and the disestablishment of   
churches2 to the recognition of the     
equal rights not only of all men1 but of
 all men and women4  ,we also lead the  
way in the revolution which has been set
 in motion by the application of science
 to mechanical purposes1 one of the     
results of which is seen in the         
industrial and commercial miracles of   
the present century4 ,it is our vigorous
 growth which makes us the most         
interesting and attractive of the modern
 peoples4 ,for whether men love us1 or  
whether they hate us1 they find it      
impossible to ignore us1 unless they    
wish to argue themselves unknown2 and   
the millions who yearn for freedom and  
opportunity turn first of all to us4    
,but observant minds1 however much they 
may love ,america1 however great their  
faith in popular government may be1     
cannot contemplate our actual condition 
without a sense of disquietude2 for     
there are aspects of our social         

evolution which sadden and depress even 
the most patriotic and loyal hearts4 ,it
 would seem1 for instance1 that with us1
 while the multitude are made           
comfortable and keen-witted1 the        
individual remains common-place and     
weak2 so that on all sides people are   
beginning to ask themselves what is the 
good of all this money and machinery if 
the race of godlike men is to die out1  
or indeed if the result is not to be    
some nobler and better sort of man than 
the one with whom we have all along been
 familiar4 ,is not the yearning for     
divine men inborn8 ,in the heroic ages  
such men were worshiped as gods1 and one
 of the calamities of times of          
degeneracy is the dying out of faith in 
the worth of true manhood caused by the 
disappearance of superior men4 ,such men
 alone are memorable1 and give to       
history its inspiring and educating     
power4 ,the ruins of ,athens and ,rome1 
the cathedrals and castles of ,europe1  
uplift and strengthen the heart1 because

 they bid us reflect what thoughts and  
hopes were theirs who thus could build4 
,how quickly kings and peasants1        
millionaires and paupers1 become a      
common1 undistinguished crowd6 ,but the 
hero1 the poet1 the saint1 defy the ages
 and remain luminous and separate like  
stars4 ,they--       ,waged contention  
with their time's decay1     ,and of the
 past are all that cannot pass away4    
,the soul1 which makes man immortal1 has
 alone the power to make him beneficent 
and beautiful4  ,but in this highest    
kind of man1 in whom soul--that is1     
faith1 hope1 love1 courage1             
intellect--is supreme1 we ,americans1   
who are on the crest of the topmost     
waves of the stream of tendency1 are not
 rich4 ,we have our popular heroes2 but 
so has every petty people1 every tribe  
its heroes4 ,the dithyrambic prose in   
which it is the fashion to celebrate our
 conspicuous men has a hollow sound1    
very like cant4 ,a marvelous development
 of wealth and numbers has taken place  

in ,america2 but what ,american--poet1  
philosopher1 scientist1 warrior1 ruler1 
saint--is there who can take his place  
with the foremost men of all this world8
 ,the ,american people seem still to be 
somewhat in the position of our new     
millionaires3 their fortune is above    
them1 overshadows1 and oppresses them4  
,they live in fine houses1 and have     
common thoughts2 they have costly       
libraries1 and cheap culture2 and their 
rich clothing poorly hides their coarse 
breeding4 ,nor does the tendency seem to
 be toward a nobler type of manhood4    
,the leaders of the ,revolution1 the    
framers of the ,federal ,constitution1  
the men who contended for ,state-rights1
 and still more those who led in the    
great struggle for human rights were of 
stronger and nobler mold than the       
politicians who now crowd the halls of  
,congress4 ,the promise of a literature 
which a generation ago budded forth in  
,new ,england was1 it appears1 delusive4
 ,what a sad book is not that recently  

issued from the press on the poets of   
,america6 ,it is the chapter on snakes  
in ,ireland which we have all           
read1--there are none4 ,and are not our 
literary men whom it is possible to     
admire and love either dead or old      
enough to die8  ,all this1 however1 need
 not be cause for discouragement1 if in 
the generations which are springing up  
around us1 and which are soon to enter  
upon the scene of active life1 we could 
discover the boundless confidence1 the  
high courage1 the noble sentiments1     
which make the faults of youth more     
attractive than the formal virtues of a 
maturer age4 ,but youth seems about to  
disappear from our life1 to leave only  
children and men4 ,for a true youth the 
age of chivalry has not passed1 nor has 
the age of faith1 nor the age of poetry1
 nor the age of aught that is godlike   
and ideal4 ,to our young men1 however1  
high thoughts and heroic sentiments are 
what they are to a railroad president or
 a bank cashier1--mere nonsense4 ,life  

for them is wholly prosaic and without  
illusions4 ,they transform ideas into   
interests1 faith into a speculation1 and
 love into a financial transaction4     
,they have no vague yearnings for what  
cannot be2 hardly have they any         
passions4 ,they are cold and            
calculating4 ,they deny themselves1 and 
do not believe in self-denial2 they are 
active1 and do not love labor2 they are 
energetic1 and have no enthusiasm2 they 
approach life with the hard1 mechanical 
thoughts with which a scientist studies 
matter4 ,their one idea is success1 and 
success for them is money4 ,money means 
power1 it means leisure1 it means       
self-indulgence1 it means display2 it   
means1 in a word1 the thousand comforts 
and luxuries which1 in their opinion1   
constitute the good of life4  ,in       
aristocratic societies the young have   
had a passion for distinction4 ,they    
have held it to be an excellent thing to
 belong to a noble family1 to occupy an 
elevated position1 to wear the          

glittering badges of birth and of       
office4 ,in ages of religious faith they
 have been smitten with the love of     
divine ideals2 they have yearned for    
,god1 and given all the strength of     
their hearts to make his will prevail4  
,but to our youth distinction of birth  
is fictitious1 and ,god is problematic2 
and so they are left face to face with  
material aims and ends2 and of such aims
 and ends money is the universal        
equivalent4  ,now1 it could not ever    
occur to me to think of denying that the
 basis of human life1 individual and    
social1 is material4 ,matter is part of 
our nature2 we are bedded in it1 and by 
it are nourished4 ,it is the instrument 
we must use even when we think and love1
 when we hope and pray4 ,upon this      
foundation our spiritual being is built2
 upon this foundation our social welfare
 rests4  ,concern for material interests
 is one of the chief causes of human    
progress2 since nothing else so         
stimulates to effort1 and effort is the 

law of growth4 ,the savage who has no   
conception of money1 but is satisfied   
with what ,nature provides1 remains     
forever a savage4 ,habits of industry1  
of order1 of punctuality1 of economy and
 thrift1 are1 to a great extent1 the    
result of our money-getting             
propensities4 ,our material wants are   
more urgent1 more irresistible2 they    
press more constantly upon us than any  
other2 and those whom they fail to rouse
 to exertion are1 as a rule1 hopelessly 
given over to indolence and sloth4 ,in  
the stimulus of these lower needs1 then1
 is found the impulse which drives men  
to labor2 and without labor welfare is  
not possible4       ,the poor must work1
 if they would drink and eat2       ,the
 weak must work1 if they in strength    
would grow2       ,the ignorant must    
work1 if they would know2     ,the sad  
must work1 if they sweet joy would meet4
      ,the strong must work1 if they    
would shun defeat2       ,the rich must 
work1 if they would flee from woe2      

,the proud must work1 if they would     
upward go2     ,the brave must work1 if 
they would not retreat4      ,so for all
 men the law of work is plain2       ,it
 gives them food1 strength1 knowledge1  
vict'ry1 peace2     ,it makes joy       
possible1 and lessens pain2       ,from 
passion's lawless power it wins release1
     ,confirms the heart1 and widens    
reason's reign1       ,makes men like   
,god1 whose work can never cease4       
,whatever enables man to overcome his   
inborn love of ease is1 in so far1 the  
source of good4 ,now1 money represents  
what more than anything else has this   
stimulating power4 ,it is the equivalent
 of what we eat and drink1 of the homes 
we live in1 of the comforts with which  
we surround ourselves1 of the           
independence which makes us free to go  
here or there1 to do this or that1--to  
spend the winter where orange blossoms  
perfume the soft air1 and the summer    
where ocean breezes quicken the pulse of
 life4 ,it unlocks for us the treasury  

of the world1 opens to our gaze whatever
 is sublime or beautiful2 introduces us 
to the master-minds who live in their   
works2 it leads us where orators        
declaim1 and singers thrill the soul    
with ecstasy4 ,nay1 more1 with it we    
build churches1 endow schools1 and      
provide hospitals and asylums for the   
weak and helpless4 ,it is1 indeed1 like 
a god of this nether world1 holding     
dominion over many spheres of life and  
receiving the heart-worship of millions4
  ,yet1 if we make money and its        
equivalents a life-purpose--the aim and 
end of our earthly hopes--our service   
becomes idolatry1 and a blight falls    
upon the nobler self4 ,money is the     
equivalent of what is venal1--of all    
that may be bought or sold2 but the     
best1 the godlike1 the distinctively    
human1 cannot be bought or sold4 ,a rich
 man can buy a wife1 but not a woman's  
love2 he can buy books1 but not an      
appreciative mind2 he can buy a pew1 but
 not a pure conscience2 he can buy men's

 votes and flattery1 but not their      
respect4 ,the money-world is visible1   
material1 mechanical1 external2 the     
world of the soul1 of the better self1  
is invisible1 spiritual1 vital4 ,god's  
kingdom is within4 ,what we have is not 
what we are2 and the all-important thing
 is to be1 and not to have4 ,our        
possessions belong to us only in a      
mechanical way4 ,the poet's soul owns   
the stars and the moonlit heavens1 the  
mountains and rivers1 the flowers and   
the birds1 more truly than a millionaire
 owns his bonds4 ,what ,i know is mine1 
and what ,i love is mine2 and as my     
knowledge widens and my love deepens1 my
 life is enlarged and intensified4 ,but1
 since all human knowledge is imperfect 
and narrow1 the soul stretches forth the
 tendrils of faith and hope4 ,looking   
upon shadows1 we believe in realities2  
possessing what is vain and empty1 we   
trust to the future to bring what is    
full and complete4  ,all noble          
literature and life has its origin in   

regions where the mind sees but darkly2 
where faith is more potent than         
knowledge2 where hope is larger than    
possession1 and love mightier than      
sensation4 ,the soul is dwarfed whenever
 it clings to what is palpable and      
plain1 fixed and bounded4 ,its home is  
in worlds which cannot be measured and  
weighed4 ,it has infinite hopes1 and    
longings1 and fears2 lives in the       
conflux of immensities2 bathes on shores
 where waves of boundless yearning      
break4 ,borne on the wings of time1 it  
still feels that only what is eternal is
 real1--that what death can destroy is  
even now but a shadow4 ,to it all       
outward things are formal1 and what is  
less than ,god is hardly aught4 ,in this
 mysterious1 super-sensible world all   
true ideals originate1 and such ideals  
are to human life as rain and sunshine  
to the corn by which it is nourished4   
,what hope for the future is there1     
then1 when the young have no enthusiasm1
 no heavenly illusions1 no divine       

aspirations1 no faith that man may      
become godlike1 more than poets have    
ever imagined1 or philosophers          
dreamed8--when money1 and what money    
buys1 is the highest they know1 and     
therefore the highest they are able to  
love8--when even the ambitious among    
them set out with the deliberate purpose
 of becoming the beggars of men's votes2
 of winning an office the chief worth of
 which1 in their eyes1 lies in its      
emoluments8--when even the glorious and 
far-sounding voice of fame for them     
means only the gabble and cackle of     
notoriety8  ,the only example which ,i  
can call to mind of an historic people  
whose ideals are altogether material and
 mechanical1 is that of ,china4 ,are we1
 then1 destined to become a sort of     
,chinese ,empire1 with three hundred    
millions of human beings1 and not a     
divine man or woman8  ,is what ,carlyle 
says is hitherto our sole               
achievement--the bringing into existence
 of an almost incredible number of      

bores--is this to be the final outcome  
of our national life8 ,is the commonest 
man the only type which in a democratic 
society will in the end survive8 ,does  
universal equality mean universal       
inferiority8 ,are republican            
institutions fatal to noble personality8
 ,are the people as little friendly to  
men of moral and intellectual           
superiority as they are to men of great 
wealth6 ,is their dislike of the        
millionaires but a symptom of their     
aversion to all who in any way are      
distinguished from the crowd8 ,and is   
this the explanation of the blight which
 falls upon the imagination and the     
hearts of the young8  ,ah6 surely1 we   
who have faith in human nature1 who     
believe in freedom and in popular       
government1 can never doubt what answer 
must be given to all these questions4 ,a
 society which inevitably represses what
 is highest in the best sort of men is  
an evil society4 ,a civilization which  
destroys faith in genius1 in heroism1 in

 sanctity1 is the forerunner of         
barbarism4 ,individuality is man's      
noblest triumph over fate1 his most     
heavenly assertion of the freedom of the
 soul2 and a world in which             
individuality is made impossible is a   
slavish world4 ,there man dwindles1     
becomes one of a multitude1 the         
impersonal product of a general law2 and
 all his godlike strength and beauty are
 lost4 ,is not one true poet more       
precious than a whole generation of     
millionaires2 one philosopher of more   
worth than ten thousand members of      
,congress2 one man who sees and loves   
,god dearer than an army of able        
editors8  ,the greater our control of   
,nature becomes1 the more its treasures 
are explored and utilized1 the greater  
the need of strong personality to       
counteract the fatal force of matter4   
,just as men in tropical countries are  
overwhelmed and dwarfed by ,nature's    
rich profusion1 so in this age1 in which
 industry and science have produced     

resources far beyond the power of       
unassisted ,nature1 only strong         
characters1 marked individualities1 can 
resist the influence of wealth and      
machinery1 which tend to make man of    
less importance than that which he eats 
and wears1--to make him subordinate to  
the tools he uses4  ,from many sides    
personality1 which is the fountain-head 
of worth1 genius1 and power1 is menaced4
 ,the spirit of the time would deny that
 ,god is a ,person1 and holds man's     
personality in slight esteem1 as not    
rooted in the soul1 but in aggregated   
atoms4 ,the whole social network1 in    
whose meshes we are all caught1 cripples
 and paralyzes individuality4 ,we must  
belong to a party1 to a society1 to a   
ring1 to a clique1 and deliver up our   
living thought to these soulless        
entities4 ,or1 if we remain aloof from  
such affiliation1 we must have no honest
 conviction1 no fixed principles1 but   
fit our words to business and           
professional interests1 and conform to  

the exigencies of the prevailing whim4  
,the minister is hired to preach not    
what he believes1 but what the people   
wish to hear2 the congressman is elected
 to vote not in the light of his own    
mind1 but in obedience to the dictates  
of those who send him2 the newspaper    
circulates not because it is filled with
 words of truth and wisdom1 but because 
it panders to the pruriency and         
prejudice of its patrons2 and a book is 
popular in inverse ratio to its         
individuality and worth4 ,our ,national 
,library is filled with books which have
 copyright1 but no other right1 human or
 divine1 to exist at all2 and when one  
of us does succeed in asserting his     
personality1 he usually only makes      
himself odd and ridiculous4 ,he rushes  
into polygamous ,mormonism1 or buffoon  
revivalism1 or shallow-minded atheism2  
nay1 he will even become an anarchist1  
because a few men have too much money   
and too little soul4 ,what we need is   
neither the absence of individuality nor

 a morbid individuality1 but high and   
strong personalities4  ,if our country  
is to be great and forever memorable1   
something quite other than wealth and   
numbers will make it so4 ,were there but
 question of countless millions of      
dollars and people1 then indeed the     
victory would already have been gained4 
,if we are to serve the highest         
interests of mankind1 and to mark an    
advance in human history1 we must do    
more than establish universal suffrage1 
and teach every child to read and write4
 ,as true criticism deals only with men 
of genius or of the best talent1 and    
takes no serious notice of mechanical   
writers and book-makers1 so true history
 loses sight of nations whose only      
distinction lies in their riches and    
populousness4  ,the noblest and most    
gifted men and women are alone supremely
 interesting and abidingly memorable4   
,we have already reached a point where  
we perceive the unreality of the        
importance which the chronicles have    

sought to give to mere kings and        
captains4 ,if the king was a hero1 we   
love him2 but if he was a sot or a      
coward1 his jeweled crown and purple    
robes leave him as unconsidered by us as
 the beggar in his rags4 ,whatever      
influence1 favorable or unfavorable1    
democracy may exert to make easy or     
difficult the advent of the noblest kind
 of man1 an age in which the people     
think and rule will strip from all sham 
greatness its trappings and tinsel4 ,the
 parade hero and windy orator will be   
gazed at and applauded1 but they are all
 the while transparent and contemptible4
 ,the scientific spirit1 too1 which now 
prevails1 is the foe of all pretense2 it
 looks at things in their naked reality1
 is concerned to get a view of the fact 
as it is1 without a care whether it be a
 beautiful or an ugly1 a sweet or a     
bitter truth4 ,the fact is what it is1  
and nothing can be gained by believing  
it to be what it is not4  ,this is a    
most wise and human way of looking at   

things1 if men will only not forget that
 the mind sees farther than the eye1    
that the heart feels deeper than the    
hand2 and that where knowledge fails1   
faith is left2 where possession is      
denied1 hope remains4 ,the young must   
enter upon their life-work with the     
conviction that only what is real is    
true1 good1 and beautiful2 and that the 
unreal is altogether futile and vain4   
,now1 the most real thing for every man1
 if he is a man1 is his own soul4 ,his  
thought1 his love1 his faith1 his hope1 
are but his soul thinking1 loving1      
believing1 hoping4 ,his joy and misery  
are but his soul glad or sad4 ,hence1 so
 far as we are able to see or argue1 the
 essence of reality is spiritual2 and   
since the soul is conscious that it is  
not the supreme reality1 but is         
dependent1 illumined by a truth higher  
than itself1 nourished by a love larger 
than its own1 it has a dim vision of the
 ,infinite ,being as essentially real   
and essentially spiritual4 ,a living    

faith in this infinite spiritual reality
 is the fountain-head not only of       
religion1 but of noble life4 ,all       
wavering here is a symptom of psychic   
paralysis4 ,when the infinite reality   
becomes questionable1 then all things   
become material and vile4 ,the world    
becomes a world of sight and sound1 of  
taste and touch4 ,the soul is poured    
through the senses and dissipated2 the  
current of life stagnates1 and grows    
fetid in sloughs and marshes4 ,minds for
 whom ,god is the ,unknowable have no   
faith in knowledge at all1 except as the
 equivalent of weight and measure1 of   
taste and touch and smell4  ,now1 if all
 that may be known and desired is       
reduced to this material expression1 how
 dull and beggarly does not life        
become1--mere atomic integration and    
disintegration1 the poor human          
pneumatic-machine purring along the     
dusty road of matter1 bound and helpless
 and soulless as a clanking engine6 ,no 
high life1 in individuals or nations1 is

 to be hoped for1 unless it is enrooted 
in the infinite spiritual reality1--in  
,god4 ,it is forever indubitable that   
the highest is not material1 and no     
argument is therefore needed to show    
that when spiritual ideals lose their   
power of attraction1 life sinks to lower
 beds4  ,sight is the noblest sense1 and
 the starlit sky is the most sublime    
object we can behold4 ,but what do we in
 reality see there8 ,only a kind of     
large tent1 dimly lighted with gas jets4
 ,this is the noblest thing the noblest 
sense reveals4 ,but let the soul appear1
 and the tent flies into invisible      
shreds2 the heavens break open from     
abyss to abyss1 still widening into     
limitless expanse1 until imagination    
reels4 ,the gas jets grow into suns1    
blazing since innumerable ages with     
unendurable light1 and binding whole    
planetary systems into harmony and life4
 ,so infinitely does the soul transcend 
the senses6 ,the world it lives in is   
boundless1 eternal1 sublime4 ,this is   

its home2 this the sphere in which it   
grows1 and awakens to consciousness of  
kinship with ,god4 ,this is the         
fathomless1 shoreless abyss of being    
wherein it is plunged1 from which it    
draws its life1 its yearning for the    
absolute1 its undying hope1 its love of 
the best1 its craving for immortality1  
its instinct for eternal things4 ,to    
condemn it to work merely for money1 for
 position1 for applause1 for pleasure1  
is to degrade it to the condition of a  
slave4 ,it is as though we should take  
some supreme poet or hero and bid him   
break stones or grind corn1--he who has 
the faculty to give to truth its        
divinest form1 and to lift the hearts of
 nations to the love of heavenly things4
  ,whatever our lot on earth may        
be--whether we toil with the hand1 with 
the brain1 or with the heart--we may not
 bind the soul to any slavish service4  
,let us do our work like men1--till the 
soil1 build homes1 refine brute matter1 
be learned in law1 in medicine1 in      

theology2 but let us never chain our    
souls to what they work in4 ,no earthly 
work can lay claim to the whole life of 
man2 for every man is born for ,god1 for
 the ,universe1 and may not narrow his  
mind4 ,we must have some practical thing
 to do in the world1--some way of living
 which will place us in harmony with the
 requirements and needs of earthly life2
 and what this daily business of ours   
shall be1 each one1 in view of his      
endowments and surroundings1 must decide
 for himself4  ,it is well to bear in   
mind that every kind of life has its    
advantages1 except an immoral life4     
,whatever we make of ourselves1         
then1--whether farmers1 mechanics1      
lawyers1 doctors1 or priests1--let us   
above all things first have a care that 
we are men2 and if we are to be men1 our
 special business work must form only a 
part of our life-work4 ,the aim--at     
least in this way alone can ,i look at  
human life--is not to make rich and     
successful bankers1 merchants1 farmers1 

lawyers1 and doctors1 but to make noble 
and enlightened men4 ,hence the final   
thought in all work is that we work not 
to have more1 but to be more2 not for   
higher place1 but for greater worth2 not
 for fame1 but for knowledge4 ,in a     
word1 the final thought is that we labor
 to upbuild the being which we are1 and 
not merely to build round our real self 
with marble and gold and precious       
stones4 ,this is but the ,christian     
teaching which has transformed the      
world2 which declares that it is the    
business of slaves even1 of beggars and 
outcasts1 to work first of all for ,god 
and the soul4 ,the end is infinite1 the 
aim must be the highest4 ,not to know   
this1 not to hear the heavenly          
invitation1 is to be shut out from      
communion with the best2 is to be cut   
off from the source of growth2 is to be 
given over to modes of thought which    
fatally lead to mediocrity and vulgarity
 of life4       ,to live for common ends
 is to be common4     ,the highest faith

 makes still the highest man2     ,for  
we grow like the things our souls       
believe1     ,and rise or sink as we aim
 high or low4     ,no mirror shows such 
likeness of the face     ,as faith we   
live by of the heart and mind4     ,we  
are in very truth that which we love2   
,and love1 like noblest deeds1 is born  
of faith4     ,the lover and the hero   
reason not1     ,but they believe in    
what they love and do4     ,all else is 
accident1--this is the soul     ,of     
life1 and lifts the whole man to itself1
     ,like a key-note1 which1 running   
through all sounds1     ,upbears them   
all in perfect harmony4   ,we cannot set
 a limit to the knowledge and love of   
man1 because they spring from ,god1 and 
move forever toward him who is without  
limit4 ,that we have been made capable  
of this ceaseless approach to an        
infinite ideal is the radical fact in   
our nature4 ,through this we are human2 
through this we are immortal2 through   
this we are lifted above matter1 look   

through the rippling stream of time on  
the calm ocean of eternity1 and beyond  
the utmost bounds of space1 see simple  
being1--life and thought and love1      
deathless1 imageless1 absolute4 ,this   
ideal creates the law of duty1 for it   
makes the distinction between right and 
wrong4 ,hence the first duty of man is  
to make himself like ,god1 through      
knowledge ever-widening1 through love   
ever-deepening1 through life            
ever-growing4  ,so only can we serve    
,god1 so only can we love him4 ,to be   
content with ignorance is infidelity to 
his infinite truth4 ,to rest in a lesser
 love is to deny the boundless charity  
which holds the heavens together and    
makes them beautiful1 which to every    
creature gives its fellow1 which for the
 young bird makes the nest1 for the     
child the mother's breast1 and in the   
heart of man sows the seed of faith and 
hope and heavenly pity4  ,ceaseless     
growth toward ,god1--this is the ideal1 
this is the law of human life1 proposed 

and sanctioned alike by ,religion1      
,philosophy1 and ,poetry4 ,dulcissima   
vita sentire in dies se fieri meliorem4 
,upward to move along a ,godward way1   
,where love and knowledge still         
increase1     ,and clouds and darkness  
yield to growing day1       ,is more    
than wealth or fame or peace4      ,no  
other blessing shall ,i ever ask4       
,this is the best that life can give2   
,this only is the soul's immortal task  
,for which 't is worth the pain to live4
   ,it is man's chief blessedness that  
there lie in his nature infinite        
possibilities of growth4 ,the growth of 
animals comes quickly to an end1 and    
when they cease to grow they cease to be
 joyful2 but man1 whose bodily          
development even is slow1 is capable of 
rising to wider knowledge and purer love
 through unending ages4 ,hence even when
 he is old1--if he has lived for what is
 great and exalted1--his mind is clear1 
his heart is tender1 and his soul is    
glad4 ,only those races are noble1 only 

those individuals are worthy1 who yield 
without reserve to the power of this    
impulse to ceaseless progress4 ,behold  
how the race from which we have         
sprung--the ,aryan--breaks forth into   
ever new developments of strength and   
beauty in ,greece1 in ,italy1 in        
,france1 in ,england1 in ,germany1 in   
,america2 creating literature1          
philosophy1 science1 art2 receiving     
,christian truth1 and through its aid   
rising to diviner heights of wisdom1    
power1 freedom1 love1 and knowledge4    
,and so there are individuals--and they 
are born to teach and to rule--for whom 
to live is to grow2 who1 forgetting what
 they have been1 and what they are1     
think ever only of becoming more and    
more4 ,their education is never         
finished2 their development is never    
complete2 their work is never done4     
,from victories won they look to other  
battlefields2 from every height of      
knowledge they peer into the widening   
nescience2 from all achievements and    

possessions they turn away toward the   
unapproachable ,infinite1 to whom they  
are drawn4 ,walking in the shadow of the
 too great light of ,god1 they are      
illumined1 and they are darkened4 ,this 
makes ,newton think his knowledge       
ignorance2 this makes ,saint ,paul think
 his heroic virtue naught4 ,oh1 blessed 
men1 who make us feel that we are of the
 race of ,god2 who measure and weigh the
 heavens2 who love with boundless love2 
who toil and are patient2 who teach us  
that workers can wait6 ,they are in love
 with life2 they yearn for fuller life4 
,life is good1 and the highest life is  
,god2 and wherever man grows in         
knowledge1 wisdom1 and strength1 in     
faith1 hope1 and love1 he walks in the  
way of heaven4  ,to you1 young          
gentlemen1 who are about to quit these  
halls1 to continue amid other           
surroundings the work of education which
 here has but begun1 what words shall ,i
 more directly speak8 ,if hitherto you  
have wrought to any purpose1 you will go

 forth into the world filled with       
resolute will and noble enthusiasm to   
labor even unto the end in building up  
the being which is yourself1 that you   
may unceasingly approach the type of    
perfect manhood4 ,this deep-glowing     
fervor of enthusiasm for what is highest
 and best is worth more to you1 and to  
any man1 than all that may be learned in
 colleges4 ,if ambition is akin to      
pride1 and therefore to folly1 it is    
none the less a mighty spur to noble    
action2 and where it is not found in    
youth1 budding and blossoming like the  
leaves and flowers in spring1 what      
promise is there of the ripe fruit which
 nourishes life8 ,the love of excellence
 bears us up on the swift wing and      
plumes of high desire1--       ,without 
which whosoe'er consumes his days1      
,leaveth such vestige of himself on     
earth     ,as smoke in air or foam upon 
the wave4   ,do not place before your   
eyes the standard of vulgar success4 ,do
 not say1 ,i will study1 labor1 exercise

 myself1 that ,i may become able to get 
wealth or office1 for to this kind of   
work the necessities of life and the    
tendency of the age will drive you2     
whereas1 if you hope to be true and     
high1 it is your business to hold       
yourselves above the spirit of the age4 
,it is our worst misfortune that we have
 no ideals4 ,our very religion1 it would
 seem1 is not able to give us a living  
faith in the reality of ideals2 for we  
are no longer wholly convinced that     
souls live in the atmosphere of ,god as 
truly as lungs breathe the air of earth4
 ,we find it difficult even to think of 
striving for what is eternal1 all-holy1 
and perfect1 so unreal1 so delusive do  
such thoughts seem4  ,who will          
understand that to be is better than to 
have1 and that in truth a man is worth  
only what he is8 ,who will believe that 
the kingdom of this world1 not less than
 the kingdom of ,heaven1 lies within8   
,who1 even in thinking of the worth of a
 pious and righteous life1 is not swayed

 by some sort of honesty-best-policy    
principle8 ,we love knowledge because we
 think it is power2 and virtue1 because 
we are told as a rule it succeeds4 ,ah6 
do you love knowledge for itself8--for  
it is good1 it is godlike to know4 ,do  
you love virtue for its own sake8--for  
it is eternally and absolutely right to 
be virtuous4 ,instead of giving your    
thoughts and desires to wealth and      
position1 learn to know how little of   
such things a true and wise man needs2  
for the secret of a happy life does not 
lie in the means and opportunities of   
indulging our weaknesses1 but in knowing
 how to be content with what is         
reasonable1 that time and strength may  
remain for the cultivation of our nobler
 nature4 ,ask ,god to inspire you with  
some great thought1 some abiding love of
 what is excellent1 which may fill you  
with gladness and courage1 and in the   
midst of the labors1 the trials1 and the
 disappointments of life1 keep you still
 strong and serene4     ,,chapter ,,vii4

  ,,right ,,human ,,life4       ,what do
 we gather hence but firmer faith       
,that every gift of noble origin     ,is
 breathed upon by ,hope's perpetual     
breath2     ,that virtue and the        
faculties within     ,are vital1 and    
that riches are akin     ,to fear1 to   
change1 to cowardice1 and death8        
,,wordsworth4    ,what is so delightful 
as spring weather8 ,to it1 whatever     
mystery life can make plain1 it reveals4
 ,there is universal utterance4 ,water  
leaps from its winding sheet of snow2   
the streams spring out to wander till   
they find their source2 the corn sprouts
 to receive the sun's warm kiss2 the    
buds unfold1 the blossoms send forth    
fragrance1 the heavens weep for joy2 the
 birds sing1 the children shout1 and the
 fuller pulse of life gives1 even to the
 old1 fresh thoughts and young desires4 
,now1 what is all this but a symbol of  
the soul1 which feels the urgency of    
,god calling upon it to make itself     
alive in him and in his universe of     

truth and beauty8  ,but the season of   
growth is also the time of blight4 ,a   
hundred germs perish for one that ripens
 into wholesome fruit2 a hundred young  
lives suffer physical or moral ruin for 
one that develops into some likeness of 
true manhood4 ,and upon what slight     
causes success or failure seems to      
depend6  ,as a mere word1 a glance1 will
 bring the blood to a maiden's cheek1 so
 may it sow the germ of moral death in  
the heart of youth4 ,how helpless and   
ignorant the young are in their seeming 
strength and smartness3 how             
self-sufficient in their unwisdom1 how  
little amenable to reason1 how slow to  
perceive true ideals4 ,what patient1    
persevering effort is required to form  
character1 and what a little thing will 
poison life in its source6 ,how easy it 
is to see and understand what is coarse 
and evil1 how difficult to appreciate   
what is pure and excellent4 ,how quickly
 a boy learns to find pleasure in what  
is animal or brutal2 but what infinite  

pains must be taken before he is won to 
the love of truth and goodness4         
,caricature delights him1 and he has no 
eyes for the chaste beauty of perfect   
art4 ,the story of an outlaw fills him  
with enthusiasm1 and the heroic         
struggles of godlike souls are for him  
meaningless4 ,he gazes with envious awe 
upon some vulgar rich man1 and finds a  
philosopher1 or a saint1 only queer4 ,he
 studies because he has been sent to    
school1 where ignorance will expose him 
to ridicule and humiliation1 and        
possibly too1 because he is told that   
knowledge will help him to win money and
 influence4 ,however great his          
proficiency1 he is in truth but a       
barbarian1 without wisdom1 without      
reverence1 without gentleness4 ,he has  
been brought only in a vague way into   
communion with the conscious life of the
 race2 he has no true conception of the 
dignity of souls1 no sense of the beauty
 of modest and unselfish action4 ,he    
mistakes rudeness for strength1         

boastfulness for ability1 disrespect for
 independence1 profanity for manliness1 
brutality for courage4  ,and to add to  
his misfortune1 he is blind to his own  
weakness and ignorance4 ,a sneer or a   
jest is his reply to the voice of       
wisdom1 as with a light heart he walks  
in the road to ruin2 and thus it happens
 that for one who becomes a true and    
noble man1 a hundred go astray or sink  
into an unintelligent and vulgar kind of
 life4 ,this fact is concealed from the 
eyes of the young1 from the eyes of the 
multitude1 indeed4 ,as we hide the dead 
in the earth that we may quickly forget 
our loss1 so society buries from sight  
and thought those who fail4 ,their      
number is so great that the oblivion    
which soon overwhelms them is needful to
 save even the brave from               
discouragement4 ,of a hundred college   
boys the lives of twenty-five will be   
ruined by dissipation1 by sensual       
indulgence2 twenty-five others will be  
wrecked by unhappy marriages1 foolish   

financial schemes1 dishonesty and       
indolence2 of the remaining fifty1      
forty1 let us say1 will manage to get on
 without loss of respectability1 while  
the ten 7who are still left7 will win a 
sort of notoriety by getting rich or by 
getting elected to office4 ,of the      
hundred will one become a saint1 a      
philosopher1 a poet1 a statesman1 or    
even a man of superior ability in       
natural knowledge or literature8 ,and if
 this estimate is rightly made they all 
fail2 and the emergence of a high and   
noble mind is so improbable that it may 
almost be looked upon1 like the birth of
 a genius1 as an accident1 so impossible
 is it1 with our limited view1 to bring 
such cases within the domain of law4    
,these hundred college boys have been   
taken from a thousand youths4 ,the nine 
hundred have remained outside the doors 
which open into the halls of culture1   
away from the special influences which  
thought and ingenuity have created to   
develop and perfect man's endowments4   

,as they are less favored1 we demand    
less of them1 and are content to have   
them reinforce the unenlightened army of
 laborers and money-getters4 ,but when  
we come among those to whom leisure and 
opportunity are given that they may     
learn to think truly and to act nobly1  
and find that they fail in this1 as     
nearly all of them do fail1 we are      
disappointed and saddened4 ,the         
thoughtless imagine that those who      
provide food and shelter do the most    
important work2 but such work is the    
most important only where there is no   
intellectual1 moral1 or religious life4 
,that is most necessary which nourishes 
the highest faculty1 and wherever       
civilization exists1 enlightened minds  
and great characters are indispensable4 
,the animal and the savage1 without much
 difficulty1 find what satisfies        
appetite2 but ,god appoints that only   
living souls shall provide what keeps   
souls alive4 ,now this soul-life1 which 
manifests itself in thought1 in conduct1

 in hope1 faith1 and love1 makes us     
human and lifts us above every other    
kind of earthly existence4 ,it is our   
distinctive attribute1 the godlike side 
of our being1 which1 under penalty of   
sinking to lower worlds1 we must bring  
out and cultivate4 ,the plant is alive4 
,by its own energy it springs from      
darkness1 it grows1 it waves its green  
leaves beneath the blue heavens2 but it 
is blind1 deaf and dumb1 senseless1 dead
 to the world of sight and sound1 of    
taste and smell4 ,the animal too is     
alive1 and in a higher way3 for all the 
glories of ,nature are painted upon its 
eye2 all sounds strike upon its ear2 it 
moves about and has all the sensations  
of physical pleasure of which man is    
capable2 but it is without thought1     
without sense of right and wrong1       
without imagination1 without hope and   
faith4 ,it is plain then that human     
life1 in its highest sense1 is life of  
the soul1--a life of thought and love1  
of faith and hope1 of imagination and   

desire2 and men are high or low as they 
partake more or less of this true life4 
,by this standard1 and by no other1     
reason requires that we form an estimate
 of human worth4 ,to be a king1 to have 
money1 to live in splendor1 to meet with
 approval from few or many1--is         
accidental1 is something which may      
happen to an ignorant1 a heartless1 a   
depraved1 a vulgar man4 ,the most       
vicious and brutal of men have1 again   
and again1 held the most exalted        
positions1 and as a rule cringing and   
lying1 trickery and robbery1 or         
speculation and gambling1 have been and 
are the means by which great fortunes   
are acquired4 ,position1 then1 and money
 are distinguishable from worth2 and    
they may be and often are found where   
the life of thought and love1 of faith  
and hope1 of imagination and desire1 is 
almost wholly wanting4 ,now1 it is this 
life--the only true human life--which   
education should bring forth and        
strengthen2 and the failure to lead this

 life1 of those who pass through our    
institutions of learning1 is a subject  
of deep concern for all who observe and 
reflect2 for among them we look for the 
leaders who shall cause wisdom and      
goodness to prevail over ignorance and  
appetite4 ,if those who receive the best
 nurture and care remain on the low     
plains of a hardly more than animal     
existence1 what hope is there that the  
multitude shall rise to nobler ways of  
living8  ,there is question here of the 
most vital interests2 and if we discover
 the causes of the evil1 a remedy may be
 found4 ,these causes of failure lie    
partly in our environment and partly    
within ourselves4 ,in the home1 in which
 we receive the first and the most      
enduring impressions1 true views and    
noble aims are frequently wanting2 and  
thus false and low estimates of life are
 formed at a time when what we learn    
sinks into the very substance of the    
mind1 and colors and shapes all our     
future seeing and loving4 ,this primal  

experience accompanies us1 and hangs    
about us like a mist to shut out the    
view of fairer worlds4 ,enthusiasm for  
intellectual and moral excellence is    
never roused1 because our young souls   
were not made magnetic by the words and 
deeds of those whom we looked up to as  
gods4 ,fortunate is he who bears with   
him into the life-struggle pure memories
 of a happy home4 ,when ,i think of the 
bees ,i have seen coming back to the    
hive1 honey-laden1 in the golden light  
of setting suns1 when ,i was a boy at   
home1 a feeling comes over me as though 
,i had lived in paradise and been driven
 forth into a bleak world4 ,when one is 
young1 and one's father and mother are  
full of health and joy2 when the roses  
are blooming and the brooks are laughing
 to themselves from simple gladness1 and
 the floating clouds and the silent     
stars seem to have human thoughts1--what
 more could we ask of ,god but to know  
that all this is eternal1 and is from   
him8  ,in such a mood1 how easy it is to

 turn the childlike soul to the world of
 spiritual and immortal things4 ,with   
what efficacy then a mother's soft voice
 teaches us that we were born upon this 
earth for no other purpose than to know 
truth1 to love goodness1 to do right1   
that so1 having made ourselves godlike1 
we may forever be with ,god4 ,and if    
these high lessons blend in our thought 
with memories which make home a type of 
heaven1 how shall they not through life 
be a spur to noble endeavor to          
accomplish the task thus set us8 ,when  
great-hearted1 high-souled boys go forth
 to college from homes of intelligence  
and love1 then is there well-founded    
hope that they shall grow to be wise and
 helpful men1 who know and teach truth1 
who see and create beauty1 who do and   
make others do what becomes a man4 ,of  
hardly less importance is the           
neighborhood in which our early years   
are passed1 and next to the             
companionship of the home fireside1 a   
boy's best neighbor is ,nature4 ,well   

for him shall it be1 if1 like colts and 
calves1 and all happy young things1 he  
is permitted to breath the wholesome air
 of woods and fields1 to drink from     
flowing streams1 to lie in the shade of 
trees on the green sward1 or to stand   
alone beneath the silent starlit heavens
 until the thought and feeling of the   
infinite and eternal sink deep into his 
soul1 and make it impossible that he    
should ever look upon the universe of   
time and space1 or the universe of      
duty's law within his breast1 in a      
shallow or irreverent spirit4 ,little   
shall be said to him1 and little shall  
he speak1 and to the unobservant he     
shall seem dull2 but he is ,nature's    
nursling1 and she paints her colors on  
his brain and infuses her strength into 
his heart4 ,she hardens him and teaches 
him patience2 she shows him real things1
 fills him with the love of truth1 and  
makes him understand that sham is shame4
  ,his progress may be slow2 but he will
 persevere1 he will have faith in the   

power of labor and of time1 and when in 
after years we shall look about for a   
man with some ,diogenes' lantern1 there 
are a thousand chances to one that when 
we find him we shall find him           
country-born1 not city-bred4 ,too soon  
is the town-boy made self-conscious2 he 
is precocious2 all the tricks and       
devices of civilization are known to    
him2 all artifices and contrivances he  
sees in shop-windows2 the street1 the   
theatre1 the newspaper are the rivals of
 the home1 and they quickly teach him   
irreverence and disobedience4 ,he loses 
innocence1 experience of evil gives him 
flippant views4 ,he becomes wise in his 
own conceit2 having eyes only for the   
surfaces of things1 he easily persuades 
himself that he knows all4 ,of such a   
youth how shall any college make an     
enlightened1 a noble1 and a reverent    
man8 ,but the home and the neighborhood 
are not our whole environment4 ,as we   
are immersed in an atmospheric ocean1 so
 do we swim in the current of our       

national life4 ,to praise this life is  
easy4 ,we all see and feel how vigorous 
it is1 how confident1 how eager4 ,here  
is a world of busy men and women1 active
 in many directions4 ,they found        
,states1 they build cities1 they create 
wealth1 they discuss all problems1 they 
try all experiments1 they hurry on to   
new tasks1 and think they have done     
nothing while aught remains to do4      
,they live in the midst of the          
excitement of ever-recurring elections1 
of speculation1 of financial schemes and
 commercial enterprises4 ,it is an      
unrestful1 feverish1 practical life1 in 
which all the strong natures are        
thinking of doing something1 of gaining 
something1--a life in the market-place1 
where high thought and noble conduct are
 all but impossible1 where the effort to
 make one's self a man1 instead of      
striving to get so many thousands of    
money1 would seem ridiculous4 ,it is a  
life of inventions and manufactures1 of 
getting and spending1 in which we bring 

forth and consume in a single century   
what it has taken ,nature many thousand 
years to hoard4 ,our aim is to have more
 rather than to be more2 our ideal is   
that of material progress2 our praise is
 given to those who invent and discover 
the means of augmenting wealth4 ,liberty
 is opportunity to get rich2 education  
is the development of the money-getting 
faculty4 ,our national life may1 of     
course1 be looked at from many sides1   
but the general drift of opinion and    
effort is in the direction here pointed 
out4 ,nine tenths of our thought and    
energy are given to material interests1 
and these interests represent nine      
tenths of our achievements4 ,this may be
 true of men in general1 it may be true 
also that material progress is a        
condition of moral and intellectual     
growth2 but none the less is it true    
that right human life is a life of      
thought and love1 of hope and faith1 of 
imagination and desire4 ,consequently in
 a well-ordered society1 the chief      

aim--nine tenths of all effort1 let us  
say--will have for its object the       
creation of enlightened and loving men  
and women1 whom faith and hope shall    
make strong1 whom imagination shall     
refresh1 and the desire of perfection   
shall keep active4 ,the aims which the  
ideals of democracy suggest are not     
wholly or chiefly material4 ,we strive1 
indeed1 to create a social condition in 
which comfort and plenty shall be within
 the reach of all2 but the better among 
us understand that this is but an       
inferior part of our work1 and they take
 no delight whatever in our great       
fortunes and great cities4 ,if democracy
 is the best government1 it follows that
 it is the kind of government which is  
most favorable to virtue1 intelligence1 
and religion4 ,it is faint praise to say
 that in ,america there is more         
enterprise1 more wealth1 than elsewhere4
 ,what we should strive to make         
ourselves able to say1 is1 that there is
 here a more truly human life1 more     

public and private honesty1 purity1     
sympathy1 and helpfulness2 more love of 
knowledge1 more perfect openness to     
light1 greater desire to learn1 and     
greater willingness to accept truth than
 is to be found elsewhere4 ,it should be
 our endeavor to create a world of which
 it may be said1 there life is more     
pleasant1 beauty more highly prized1    
goodness held in greater reverence1 the 
sense of honor finer1 the recognition of
 talent and worth completer than        
elsewhere4  ,wealth and population      
should be considered merely as means1   
which1 if we ourselves do not sink      
beneath our fortune1 we shall use to    
help us to develop on a vast scale1 a   
nobler1 freer1 and fairer life than     
hitherto has ever existed4 ,we          
,americans have a great capacity for    
seeing things as they are4 ,a thousand  
shams and glittering vanities have gone 
down before our straight-looking eyes2  
and because such things fail to impress 
us1 we seem to be irreverent4 ,we must  

look more steadfastly1 deeper still1    
until we clearly perceive and understand
 that to live for money is to lead a    
false and vulgar life1 to rest with     
complacency in mere numbers is to have a
 superficial and unreal mind4 ,to form a
 right judgment of a people1 as of      
individuals1 we must consider what they 
are2 not what they have1 except in so   
far as their possessions are the result 
of work which at once forms and reveals 
character4 ,and we must know that work  
is good only in as much as it helps to  
make life human1--that is1 intelligent1 
moral and religious4 ,and what we have  
the right to demand of those to whom we 
give a higher education is1 that they   
shall body forth these principles in    
their lives and become leaders in the   
task of spreading them among the        
multitude4 ,we demand1 first of all1    
that they become men whose hearts are   
pure and loving1 whose minds are open   
and enlightened1 whose motives are      
benevolent and generous1 whose purposes 

are high and religious2 and if they are 
such men1 it shall matter little to what
 special pursuits they turn1 for        
whatever their occupation1 honor1 truth1
 and intelligence shall go with them1   
bearing1 like mercy1 a blessing for     
those who give and a blessing for those 
who receive4 ,the spirit in which they  
work shall be more than what they do1 as
 they themselves shall be more than what
 they accomplish4  ,a right spirit      
transforms the whole man1 and the first 
and highest aim of the educator should  
be to impart a new heart1 a new purpose1
 which shall bring into play forces that
 may oppose and overcome those faults of
 the young of which ,i have spoken1 and 
which1 if not corrected1 lead to        
failure4  ,and here we come to the      
causes of ill success which lie within  
ourselves4 ,we have our individual      
qualities and defects1 and we have also 
the qualities and defects of the people 
whence we are sprung1 and of the        
time-spirit into which we are born4 ,it 

is the aim of education1 as it is the   
aim of religion1 to lift us above the   
spirit of the age2 but in attempting to 
do this1 they who lose sight of what is 
true and beneficent in that spirit1     
commit a serious blunder4 ,a national   
spirit1 too1 is a narrow1 and often a   
harsh and selfish spirit2 but when      
culture and religion strive to make us  
citizens of the world and universally   
benevolent1 a care must be had that we  
retain what is strong and noble in the  
character we inherit from our ancestors4
  ,the lover of intellectual excellence1
 however1 is little inclined to dwell   
with complacency either upon his own    
qualities1 or upon the greatness of his 
country or his age4 ,the untaught       
optimism which leads the crowd to       
exaggerate the worth of whatever they in
 any way identify with themselves1 he   
looks upon with suspicion1 if not with  
aversion4 ,self-complacency is pleasant2
 but truth alone is good1 and they who  
think least are best content with       

themselves and with their world4 ,he who
 seeks to improve his mind1 neither     
boasts of his age and country1 nor rails
 at them2 but tries to understand them  
as he tries to know himself4 ,the       
important knowledge here is of obstacles
 and defects2 for when these are        
removed1 to advance is easy4 ,the first 
lesson which we must learn is that in   
the work of mental culture1 time and    
patience are necessary elements4 ,the   
young1 who are eager and restless1 find 
it difficult to work with patience and  
perseverance1 especially when the reward
 of labor is remote1 and in the         
excitement and hurry of ,american life1 
such work often seems to be impossible4 
,but by this kind of work alone can true
 culture be acquired4 ,it is this       
,buffoon means when he calls genius a   
great capacity for taking pains4 ,when  
,albert ,drer said1 ,sir1 it cannot be  
better done2 he simply meant that he had
 bestowed infinite pains upon his work4 
,now1 they who are in a hurry cannot    

take pains2 and they who work for money 
will take pains only in so far as it is 
profitable to do so4 ,we must live in   
our work and love it for its own sake4  
,to do work we love makes us happy1     
makes us free1 and according to its kind
 educates us2 and whatever its kind1 it 
will at least teach us the sovereign    
virtue of patience1 and give us         
something of the spirit of the old      
masters who in dingy shops ceased not   
from labor1 and kept their cheerful     
serenity to the end1 though the outcome 
was only the most perfect fiddle1 or a  
deathless head4 ,but they themselves had
 the souls of artists1 and were honest  
men1 who in their work found joy and    
freedom1 and therefore what they did    
remains as a source of delight and      
inspiration4 ,if we find it impossible  
to put our hearts into our work and     
consequently impossible to take infinite
 pains with it1 then this is work for   
which we were not born4 ,the impatient  
cannot love the labor by which the mind 

is cultivated1 because impatience       
implies a sense of restraint1 a lack of 
freedom4 ,they are restless1 easily grow
 weary or despondent1 find fault with   
themselves and their task1 and either   
throw off the yoke or bear it in a      
spirit of disappointment and bitterness4
 ,as they fail to make themselves strong
 and serene1 their work bears the marks 
of haste and feebleness1 for work       
reveals character2 it is the likeness of
 the doer1 as style shows the man4 ,then
 the young are blinded by the glitter   
and glare of life1 by the splendors of  
position and wealth2 they are drawn to  
what is external2 they would be here and
 there2 they love the unchartered       
liberty of chance desires1 and are      
easily brought to look upon the task of 
self-improvement as a slavish work4     
,they would have done with study that   
they may be free1 may enter into what   
they suppose to be a fair and rich      
heritage4 ,they cannot understand that  
so long as they are narrow1 sensual1 and

 unenlightened1 the possession of a     
world could not make them high or happy4
 ,they do not know that to have liberty1
 without the power of using it for      
worthy ends1 is a curse not a blessing4 
,they imagine that experience of the    
world's ways and wickedness will make   
them wise1 whereas it will make them    
depraved4  ,how can they realize that   
the good of life consists in being1 and 
not in having8 that we are worth what   
our knowledge1 love1 admiration1 hope1  
faith1 and desire make us worth8 ,they  
will not perceive that happiness and    
unhappiness are conditions of soul1 and 
consequently that the wise1 the loving1 
and the strong1 whatever their outward  
fortune1 are happy1 while the ignorant1 
the heartless1 and the weak are         
miserable4 ,to know ourselves1 we should
 seek to discover the kind of life our  
influence tends to create4 ,consider the
 kind of world college boys make for    
themselves1 the things they admire1 the 
companions they find pleasant1 the      

subjects in which they take interest1   
the books that delight them1--and one   
great cause of the failure of education 
will be made plain2 for though they are 
sent to school to be taught by          
professors1 their influence upon one    
another is paramount4 ,instead of       
helping one another to see that their   
real business is to educate themselves1 
they persuade one another that life is  
given for common ends and vulgar        
pleasures4 ,hence they look with envy   
upon their companions who are the sons  
of rich men1 as they have not lived long
 enough to learn that the fate of four  
fifths of the sons of rich men in this  
country1 is moral and physical ruin4 ,if
 such is the public opinion of the world
 in which they live2 and if even strong 
men are feeble in the presence of public
 opinion1--how shall we find fault with 
them for not being attracted by the     
ideals of intellectual and moral        
excellence4 ,for the trained mind even  
to think is difficult1 and for them     

independent thought is almost           
impossible4 ,they do not know the little
 less than creative power of right      
education1 or that as we are changed by 
action1 we are transformed by thought4  
,what patient labor may do to exalt and 
refine the mental faculties1 until we   
become capable of entering into the life
 of every age and every people1 has not 
been shown to them2 and hence they are  
not inspired by the high hope of        
dwelling1 in very truth1 with all the   
noble and heroic souls who have passed  
through this world and left record of   
themselves4 ,we bid the youth learn many
 things which he cannot but find both   
useless and uninteresting4 ,and yet     
unless we discover the secret of winning
 him to the love of study1 the          
educational value of what he learns is  
lost2 for what leaves him unmoved1      
leaves him unimproved4 ,his information 
and accomplishments are comparatively   
unimportant4 ,what he himself is1 and   
what his real self gives us grounds for 

hoping he shall become1 is the true     
concern4 ,to be able to translate       
schylus or ,plato is not a great thing2 
but it is a great thing to have the     
,greek's sense of what is fair1 noble   
and intellectual4 ,to be able to solve a
 complex mathematical problem may be    
unimportant2 but to have the mental     
habit of accurate1 close1 patient       
thinking is important4 ,it is easy to   
forget one's ,greek or the higher       
mathematics2 but an intellectual or a   
moral habit is not easily lost4  ,he who
 has right habits will go farther and   
rise higher than he who has only        
brilliant attainments4 ,it is an error1 
and a very common one1 to suppose that  
education is merely1 or chiefly1 a      
mental process1 and consequently that   
the best school is that in which the    
various kinds of knowledge are best     
taught4 ,our whole being1 physical1     
intellectual1 and moral1 is subject to  
the law of education4 ,we may educate   
the eye1 the ear1 the hand1 the foot2   

and each member of the body may be      
trained in many ways4 ,the eye of the   
microscopist has received a training    
different from that of the painter2 the 
sculptor's hand has been taught a       
cunning unlike that of the surgeon2 the 
voice of the orator is developed in one 
way1 that of the singer in another4 ,and
 so the faculties of the mind may be    
drawn forth1 and each one in various    
ways4 ,the powers of observation1 of    
reflection1 of intuition1 of            
imagination1 are all educable4 ,one of  
the most important and most difficult   
lessons to learn is that of attention4  
,we know only what we are conscious of1 
and we are conscious only of that to    
which we give heed4 ,if we but hold the 
mind to any subject with perseverance1  
it will deliver its secret4 ,the little 
knowledge we have is often vague and    
unreal1 because we are heedless1 because
 we have never taught ourselves to dwell
 in conscious communion with the objects
 of thought4 ,the trained eye sees      

innumerable beauties which are hidden   
from others1 and so the mind which is   
taught to look right sees truths the    
uneducated can never know4 ,we may be   
taught to judge as well as to look4     
,indeed1 once we have learned to see    
things as they are1 correct opinions and
 judgments naturally follow4 ,all       
faculty is the result of education4     
,poets1 orators1 philosophers1 and      
saints bring not their gifts into the   
world with them2 but by looking and     
thinking1 doing and striving1 they rise 
from the poor elements of half-conscious
 life to the clear vision of truth and  
beauty4 ,natural endowments are not     
equal2 but the chief cause of inequality
 lies in the unequal efforts which men  
make to develop their endowments4 ,the  
lack of imagination in the multitude    
makes their life dull1 uninteresting1   
and material1 and it is assumed that we 
are born with1 or without1 imagination1 
and that there is no remedy for this    
misery4 ,and those who admit that       

imagination is subject to the law of    
development1 frequently hold that it    
should be repressed rather than         
strengthened4 ,doubtless the imagination
 can be cultivated1 just as the eye or  
the ear1 the judgment or the reason1 can
 be cultivated2 and since imagination1  
like faith1 hope1 and love1 helps us to 
live in higher and fairer worlds1 an    
educator is false to his calling when he
 leaves it unimproved4 ,the classics1   
and especially poetry1 are the great    
means of intellectual culture1 because  
more than anything else they have power 
to exalt and ennoble the imagination4   
,to suppose that this faculty is one    
which only poets and artists need1 is to
 take a shallow and partial view4 ,the  
historian1 the student of ,nature1 the  
statesman1 the minister of religion1 the
 teacher1 the mechanic even1 if they are
 to do good work1 must possess          
imagination1 which is at once an        
intellectual1 a moral1 and a religious  
faculty4 ,it is the mother and mistress 

of faith1 hope1 and love4 ,it is the    
source of great thoughts1 of high       
aspirations1 and of heavenly dreams4    
,without it the illimitable starlit     
expanse loses its sublimity1 oceans and 
mountains their awfulness and majesty1  
flowers their beauty1 home its sacred   
charm1 youth its halo1 and the grave its
 solemn mystery4  ,those powers within  
us which are directly related to        
conduct1 the impulses to                
self-preservation1 and to the           
propagation of the race1 are subject to 
the law of education1 not less than our 
physical and intellectual endowments4   
,and the importance of dealing rightly  
with these powers is readily perceived  
if we reflect that conduct is the       
greater part of human life1 which is a  
life of thought and love1 of hope and   
faith1 of imagination and desire4  ,as  
we can educate the faculties of thought 
and imagination1 so can we develop the  
power to love1 to hope1 to believe1 and 
to desire4 ,when there is question of   

the intellect1 teachers seek to impart  
information rather than to strengthen   
the mind1 and when there is question of 
the moral nature1 they have recourse to 
precepts and maxims instead of striving 
to confirm the will and to direct       
impulse4 ,it is generally held1 in fact1
 that will is a gift1 not a growth1 and 
the same view is taken of all our moral 
dispositions4 ,we are supposed to       
receive from ,nature a warm or a cold   
heart1 a hopeful or a despondent temper1
 a believing or a skeptical turn of     
mind1 a spiritual or a sensual bent4    
,now as ,i have already admitted1       
endowments are unlike2 but what has this
 to do with the drift of the argument8  
,minds1 though by nature unequal1 may   
all be educated2 and so wills may be    
educated1 and so that which makes us    
capable of faith1 hope1 and desire1 may 
be drawn forth1 strengthened1 and       
refined4 ,emerson1 whose thought is     
predominantly spiritual1 takes a low and
 material view of the moral faculties1  

confusing strength of will with health4 
,courage1 he says1 is the degree of     
circulation of the blood in the         
arteries4444 ,when one has a plus of    
health1 all difficulties vanish before  
it4 ,but will is a moral rather than a  
constitutional power2 and in so far as  
it is moral1 it may be cultivated and   
directed to noble aims and ends4 ,and if
 the teacher perform this work with fine
 knowledge and tact1 he becomes an      
educator2 for upon the will1 more than  
upon the intellectual faculties1 success
 or failure depends4 ,whatever we are   
able to will1 we are able to learn to   
do2 and the best service we can render  
another is to rouse and confirm within  
him the will to live and to work1 that  
he may make himself a complete man1 that
 thus he may become a benefactor of men 
and a co-worker with ,god4 ,the rational
 will1 which is the educated will1      
should give impulse and guidance to all 
our thinking1 loving1 and doing4 ,it    
should control appetite2 it should      

nourish faith and hope2 it should lead  
us on through the illusory world of     
sensual delights1 through the hardly    
less illusory world of wealth and power1
 still bidding us look and see that the 
world to which the conscious self really
 belongs1 is infinite and eternal1 and  
that to seek to rest in aught else is to
 apostatize from reason and conscience4 
,thus it would awaken in us a divine    
discontent1 a sacred unrest1 which might
 urge us on through the darkness of     
appetite and the unwholesome air of     
avarice and ambition1 whispering to us  
that our life-work is to know truth1 to 
love beauty1 to do righteousness4 ,to   
none is the education of the will so    
necessary as to the lovers of           
intellectual excellence1 for they who   
live in the world of ideas are easily   
content to let the world of deeds take  
care of itself4 ,as the astronomer sees 
the earth lost like a grain of sand in  
infinite space1 so to the wide and deep 
view of one who is familiar with the    

course of human thought and action1 what
 any man1 what the whole race of man1   
may do1 can seem but insignificant4     
,from the vanity and noise of actors who
 fret and storm for their brief hour1   
and then pass forever from life's stage1
 he flies to ideal worlds where truth   
never changes1 where beauty never grows 
old1 and lives more richly blest than   
lovers in ,tempe or the dales of        
,arcady4 ,and then the habit of looking 
at things from many sides leads to      
doubt1 hesitation1 and inaction4 ,while 
the wise deliberate1 the young and      
inexperienced have won or lost the      
battle4 ,thus the purely intellectual   
life tends to weaken faith1 hope1 and   
desire1 which are the sources whence    
conduct springs1 the drying up of which 
leaves us amid barren wastes1 where high
 thinking1 if it be not impossible1     
brings neither strength nor joy2 for the
 secret of strength and joy lies in     
doing and not in thinking4 ,it is a law 
of our nature that conduct brings the   

most certain and the most permanent     
satisfaction1 and hence whatever our    
ideals1 the pursuit should be inspired  
by the sense of duty4       ,stern      
law-giver6 yet thou dost wear     ,the  
,godhead's most benignant grace2        
,nor know we anything so fair     ,as is
 the smile upon thy face4     ,flowers  
laugh before thee on their beds     ,and
 fragrance in thy footing treads4       
,then only do we move with certain step 
when we hear ,god's voice bidding us go 
forward1 as he commands the starry host 
to fly onward1 and all living things to 
spring upward to light and warmth4 ,when
 we understand that he has made progress
 the law of life1 we learn to feel that 
not to grow is not to live4 ,then our   
view is enlarged2 we become lovers of   
perfection2 we cherish every gift1 and  
in many ways we strive to cultivate the 
many powers which go to the making of a 
man4 ,they all are from him1 and from   
him is the effort by which they are     
improved4 ,we were born to make         

ourselves alive in him and in his       
universe1 and like the setter in the    
field1 we stretch eye and ear and nose  
to catch whatever message may be borne  
to us from his boundless game park4 ,we 
observe1 reflect1 compare2 we read best 
books2 we listen to whoever speaks what 
he knows and feels to be truth4 ,we take
 delight in whatever in ,nature is      
sublime or beautiful1 and fresh thoughts
 and innocent hearts make us glad4      
,wherever an atom thrills1 there too is 
,god1 and in him we feel the thrill and 
are at home4 ,our faith grows pure2 our 
hope is confirmed2 and our love and     
sympathy identify us with an            
ever-widening sphere of life beyond us4 
,the exclusive self passes into the     
larger movement of the social and       
religious world around us1 which1 as we 
now realize1 is also within us1 giving  
aims and motives to our love and        
self-devotion4 ,we understand that what 
hurts another can never help us1 and    
that our private good must tend to      

become a general blessing4 ,thus we find
 and love ourselves in the intellectual1
 moral1 and religious life of the race1 
which is a type and symbol of the       
infinite life of ,god1 the omen and     
promise of the soul's survival4 ,as we  
become conscious of ourselves only      
through communion with what is not      
ourselves1 so we truly live only when we
 live for ,god and the world he         
creates1--losing life that we may find  
it2 dying1 like seed-corn1 that we may  
rise to a new and richer life4 ,not what
 gratifies our selfish or sensual nature
 will help us to lead this right human  
life2 but that which illumines and      
deepens thought and love1 which gives to
 faith a boundless scope1 to hope an    
everlasting foundation1 to desire the   
infinite beauty which1 though unseen1 is
 felt1 like memory of music fled4 ,the  
unseen world ceases to be a future      
world2 and is recognized as the very    
world in which we now think and love1   
and so intellectual and moral life      

passes into the sphere of religion4 ,we 
no longer pursue ideals which forever   
elude us1 but we become partakers of the
 divine life2 for in giving ourselves to
 the ,eternal and ,infinite we find ,god
 in our souls4 ,the ideal is made real2 
,god is with us1 and through faith1     
hope1 and love we are one with him1 and 
all is well4 ,henceforth in seeking to  
know more1 to become more1 we are       
animated by a divine spirit4 ,now we may
 grow old1 still learning many things1  
still smitten with the love of beauty1  
still finding delight in fresh thoughts 
and innocent pleasures1 and it may be   
that we shall be found to be teachers of
 wisdom and of holiness4 ,then1 indeed1 
shall we be happy1 for it is better to  
teach truth than to win battles4 ,a     
war-hero supposes a barbarous condition 
of the race1 and when all shall be      
civilized1 they who know and love the   
most shall be held to be the greatest   
and the best4     ,,chapter ,,viii4     
,,university ,,education4   ,as they who

 look on the ocean think of its         
vastness2 of the many shores in many    
climes visited by its waves to ply their
 priest-like task of clean ablution2 of 
cities and empires that rose beside its 
waters1 flourished1 decayed1 and became 
a memory2 of others that shall rise and 
also pass away1 while the moving element
 remains1--so we to-day beholding       
ancient ,faith1 laying1 in the ,new     
,world1 the cornerstone of an           
institution which better than anything  
else symbolizes the aim and tendency of 
modern life1 find ourselves dwelling in 
thought upon what has been and what will
 be4  ,on the one hand rises the        
venerable form of that religion whose   
voice re-echoed in the hearts of        
,abraham1 ,moses1 ,david1 and ,isaiah2  
whose lips1 when the ,saviour spoke1    
uttered diviner truth and thrilled the  
hearts of men with purer love1 living   
with them in deserts and catacombs1     
leading them along bloodstained ways to 
victory and peace1 until at length the  

,church gleamed forth from amid the     
parting storm-clouds and shone like a   
mountain-built city bathed in sunlight4 
,on the other stands the ,genius of the 
,republic1 the embodied spirit of the   
sovereign people1 who1 accepting as     
literal truth the ,christian principles 
that ,god is a ,father1 and men brothers
 and therefore equal1 strive to take    
from political society the blindness and
 fatality of natural law1 and to endow  
it with the divine and human attributes 
of justice1 mercy1 and intelligence4    
,from the very beginning our ,american  
history is full of religious zeal1 of   
high courage and strong endeavor4 ,when 
,columbus1 saddened by the frivolousness
 or the perfidy of courts1 but unshaken 
in his purpose1 walked the streets of   
the ,spanish capital1 lonely and        
forsaken1 the children1 as he passed    
along1 would point to their foreheads   
and smile1 for was not his mind         
unhinged1 and did he not believe the    
world was round and on the other side   

men walked like flies upon a ceiling8   
,but a woman's heart understood that his
 folly was of the kind which is the     
wisdom of ,god1 and with her help he set
 sail1 not timidly or doubting like the 
,portuguese who for fifty years hugged  
the ,african coast1 advancing and then  
receding1 but facing the awful and      
untraveled ocean with a heart stronger  
than its storm-swept billows1 he steered
 due west4 ,in his journal1 day after   
day1 he wrote these simple but sublime  
words1 ,that day he sailed westward1    
which was his course4 ,and still1 as    
hope rose and fell1 as misgivings and   
terrors seized on his men1 as the       
compass varied in inexplicable ways as  
though they were entering regions where 
the very laws of ,nature change1 the    
soul of the great admiral stood firm and
 each evening he wrote again the        
self-same words1 that day he sailed     
westward which was his course1 until at 
length seeing what he foresaw1 he gave  
to ,christendom another world and       

enlarged the boundaries and scope of    
earthly life4 ,what hearts had not the  
men who in ,new ,england1 in ,virginia1 
in ,maryland1 and elsewhere1 settled in 
little bands on the edge of vast and    
unexplored regions1 covered by          
interminable forests1 where savages lay 
in wait1 athirst for blood4 ,we hear    
without surprise that wise and prudent  
men looked upon the early attempts to   
take possession of ,america as not less 
wild and visionary than the legendary   
exploits of ,amadis de ,gaul2 but what  
,utopian dreamer1 what poet soaring in  
the high regions of his fancy1 could    
have imagined two centuries and a half  
ago the beauty1 the power1 the free and 
majestic sweep of the stream of human   
life which has poured across this       
continent8 ,who could have dared to hope
 that the religious exiles who sought   
here a home for the ,christian          
conscience were a seed1 the least of    
all1 which was destined to grow into a  
tree whose boughs should shelter the    

land1 and bring refreshment to the weary
 and heavy-laden from every part of the 
earth8  ,who could have thought that    
these fugitives from the tyrant's power 
would1 in little more than a century1   
grow like the tribes of ,israel into a  
people able to withstand the onslaughts 
of the oppressor1 and to abolish forever
 within their borders despotic rule8    
,who could have had faith that men of   
different creeds1 speaking various      
tongues1 bred in unlike social          
conditions1 would here coalesce and     
co-operate for the general purposes of  
free government8 ,above all1 who could  
have believed that a form of government 
rarely tried1 even in small ,states1 and
 when tried found practicable only for  
brief periods1 would here become so     
stable1 so strong1 that every hamlet1   
every village1 is self-poised and       
manages its own affairs8 ,the           
achievement is greater than we are able 
to know2 nor does it lie chiefly in the 
millions who coming from many lands have

 here made homes and found themselves   
free2 nor in the building of cities1 the
 clearing of forests1 the draining of   
swamps1 the binding of two oceans1 and  
the opening of lines of rapid           
communication in every direction4 ,not  
to numbers or wealth do we owe our      
significance among the nations2 but to  
the fact that we have shown that respect
 for law is compatible with civil and   
religious liberty2 that a free people   
can become prosperous and strong1 and   
preserve order without king or standing 
army2 that the ,state and the ,church   
can move in separate orbits and still   
co-operate for the common welfare2 that 
men of different races and beliefs may  
live together in peace2 that in spite of
 an abnormally rapid increase of        
population and of wealth1 and of the    
many evils thence resulting1 the        
prevailing tendency is to sanity of     
thought and sentiment1 thus plainly     
manifesting the vigor of our life and   
institutions2 that the government of the

 majority1 where men put their trust in 
,god and in knowledge1 is in the end the
 government of the good and the wise4   
,we have thus helped to establish       
confidence in human nature2 to prove    
that man's instincts1 like the laws of  
,nature1 are conservative2 to show that 
the enthusiasts who would overturn      
everything1 destroy everything1 have no 
abiding place or influence in the       
affairs of a free people1 as volcanic   
and cyclonic forces are but transitory  
and superficial in their action upon the
 earth4 ,we have shown in a word that   
under a popular government1 where men   
are faithful and intelligent1 it is as  
impossible that society should become   
chaotic as that the planets should      
dissolve into star dust4  ,it is        
difficult to realize what an advance    
this is on all previous views of        
political life2 how full it is of       
promise1 how accordant with the         
sentiments of the noblest minds in every
 part of the world4 ,it gives us the    

leading place among the nations which   
are moving along rising ways to higher  
and freer life4 ,to turn to the         
,catholic ,church in ,america2 all      
observers remark its great development  
here1 the rapid increase in the number  
of its adherents1 its growth in wealth  
and influence1 the firm yet gentle hand 
with which it brings heterogeneous      
populations under the control of a      
common faith and discipline1 the ease   
with which it adapts itself to new      
conditions and organizes itself in every
 part of the country4 ,it is not a      
little thing1 in spite of unfriendly    
public opinion and of great and numerous
 obstacles1 in spite of the burden which
 high achievements impose and of the    
lack of easy and supple movement which  
gathering years imply1 to enter new     
fields1 to bend one's self to           
unaccustomed work1 and to struggle for  
the right to live in the midst of a     
generation heedless of the good1 and    
mindful only of the evil which has been 

associated with one's life4 ,this is    
what the ,catholic ,church in ,america  
has had to do1 and has done with a      
success which recalls the memory of the 
spread of ,christianity through the     
,roman ,empire4 ,it counts its members  
here by millions1 while a hundred years 
ago it counted them by thousands2 and   
its priests1 churches1 schools1 and     
institutions of charity it reckons by   
the thousand1 while then they could be  
counted hardly by tens4 ,public opinion 
which was then hostile is no longer so  
in the same degree4 ,prejudice has not  
indeed ceased to exist2 for where there 
is question of religion1 of society1 of 
politics1 even the fairest minds fail to
 see things as they are1 and the        
multitude1 it may be supposed1 will     
never become impartial2 but the tendency
 of our life and of the age is opposed  
to bigotry1 and as we lose faith in the 
justice and efficacy of persecution1 we 
perceive more clearly that true religion
 can neither be defended nor propagated 

by violence and intolerance1 by appeals 
to sectarian bitterness and national    
hatred4 ,by none is this more sincerely 
acknowledged1 or more deeply felt1 than 
by the ,catholics of the ,united        
,states4  ,the special significance of  
our ,american ,catholic history is not  
found in the phases of our life which   
attract attention1 and are a common     
theme for declamation2 but it lies in   
the fact that our example proves that   
the ,church can thrive where it is      
neither protected nor persecuted1 but is
 simply left to itself to manage its own
 affairs and to do its work4 ,such an   
experiment had never been made when we  
became an independent people1 and its   
success is of world-wide import1 because
 this is the modern tendency and the    
position toward the ,church which all   
the nations will sooner or later assume2
 just as they all will be forced finally
 to accept popular rule4 ,the great     
underlying principle of democracy1--that
 men are brothers and have equal rights1

 and that ,god clothes the soul with    
freedom1--is a truth taught by ,christ1 
is a truth proclaimed by the ,church2   
and the faith of ,christians in this    
principle1 in spite of hesitations and  
misgivings1 of oppositions and obstacles
 and inconceivable difficulties1 has    
finally given to it its modern vigor and
 beneficent power4 ,the spirit of love  
and mercy1 which is the spirit of       
,christ1 breathes like a heavenly zephyr
 through the whole earth1 and under its 
influence the age is moved to attempt   
greater things than hitherto have seemed
 possible4 ,never before has sympathy   
among men been so widespread2 never has 
the desire to come to the relief of all 
who suffer pain or wrong been so general
 or so intelligent4 ,to feed the hungry1
 to clothe the naked1 to visit the sick1
 seems now comparatively a little thing4
 ,our purpose is to create a social     
condition in which none shall lack food 
or clothing or shelter2 following the   
divine command3 ,o ,israel1 thou shalt  

not suffer that there be a beggar or a  
pauper within thy borders4 ,kindness to 
slaves ceased to be a virtue for us when
 we abolished slavery2 and we look      
forward to the day when nor man nor     
woman nor child shall work and still be 
condemned to a life of misery4 ,that    
great blot upon the page of history1    
woman's fate1 has partly been erased1   
and we are drawing near to the time when
 in the world as in ,christ there shall 
be made no distinction between slave and
 freeman1 between man and woman4 ,if we 
compare modern with ancient and medieval
 epochs1 wars have become less frequent1
 and in war men have become more humane 
and merciful4  ,increasing knowledge of 
human life as it is found in the savage1
 in the barbarian1 and in the civilized 
man1 fixes us more unalterably in our   
belief in the worth of progress4 ,the   
savage and the barbarian are hopelessly 
ignorant1 and therefore weak and        
wretched1 since ignorance is the chief  
source of man's misery4 ,my people1 says

 the prophet1 are destroyed for lack of 
knowledge4 ,from ignorance rather than  
from depravity have sprung the most     
appalling crimes1 the most pernicious   
vices4 ,in darkness of mind men have    
worshiped senseless material things1    
have deified every cruel and carnal     
passion2 at the dictate of unenlightened
 conscience they have oppressed1 laid   
waste1 and murdered2 for lack of        
knowledge they have perished in the     
snows of winter1 been wasted by         
miasmatic air1 have fallen victims to   
famine and pestilence1 and have bowed   
for centuries beneath the degrading yoke
 of tyranny4 ,science is a ministering  
angel4 ,the ,jesuits by bringing quinine
 to the knowledge of civilized man have 
done more to relieve suffering than all 
the builders of hospitals4 ,vaccine has 
wrought more potently than the          
all-forgetful love of mothers2 more than
 all the patriots gunpowder has won     
victories over tyrants2 and the         
printing-press is a greater teacher than

 philosophers1 writers1 poets1 schools1 
and universities4 ,like a heavenly      
messenger the compass guides man        
whithersoever he will go1 still turning 
to the one fixed point1 as turn the     
hearts of the children of men to ,god4  
,the nations intermingle and lose their 
jealousies and hatreds1 borne everywhere
 by the power of steam2 and the thoughts
 of men are carried by lightning round  
the whole earth4 ,commerce has become a 
world-wide interchange of good offices2 
and while it adds to the comfort of all1
 it enlarges thought and strengthens    
sympathy4 ,our greater knowledge has    
enabled us to lengthen human life2 to   
extinguish some of the most virulent    
diseases2 to perform surgical operations
 without pain2 to increase the fertility
 of the soil2 to make pestilential      
regions habitable2 to illumine our      
cities and homes at night with the      
brilliancy of day2 to give to laborers  
better clothing and dwellings than      
princes in other ages have had4 ,it has 

opened to our vision the limitless      
sidereal expanse1 and revealed to us a  
heavenly glory which transcends the     
imagination of inspired poets4 ,before  
this new light the earth has dwindled   
away and become an atom1 as the stars   
hide when the great sun wheels upward   
from out the night4 ,we have looked into
 the very heart of the sun itself1 and  
know of what it is made2 and with the   
microscope we have caught sight of the  
marvelous world of the infinitesimally  
small1 have seen what human eye had     
never beheld1 and have watched unseen   
life building up and breaking down all  
living organisms4 ,we have learned how  
to walk secure in the depths of ocean1  
to soar in mid-air1 to rush on our way  
unimpeded through the stony hearts of   
mountains4 ,we see the earth grow from a
 fire-ball to be the home of man2 we    
know its anatomy2 we read its history2  
and we behold races of animals which    
passed away ages before the eye of man  
looked forth upon the boundless mystery 

and saw the shadow of the presence of   
the infinite ,god4 ,better than the     
,greeks we know the history of ,greece2 
than the ,romans that of ,rome4 ,words  
that were never written have whispered  
to us the dreams and hopes of people    
that perished and left no record2 and   
the more we have learned of the past the
 more clearly do we perceive how far the
 present age surpasses all others in    
knowledge and in power4  ,the mighty    
movement by which this development has  
been caused1 has not slackened1 but     
seems each day to gain new force2 and   
the marvelous changes1 political1       
social1 moral1 intellectual1 and        
physical1 which give character to the   
nineteenth century are but the prelude  
to a drama which shall make all past    
achievements of our race appear weak and
 contemptible4 ,to imagine that our     
superiority is merely mechanical and    
material is to fail to see things as    
they are4 ,greater individuals may have 
lived than now are living1 but never    

before has the world been governed with 
so much wisdom and so much justice2 and 
the power back of our progress is       
intellectual1 moral1 and religious4     
,science is not material4 ,it is the    
product of intellect and will2 and the  
great founders of modern science1       
,copernicus1 ,kepler1 ,bacon1           
,descartes1 ,galileo1 ,newton1          
,leibnitz1 ,ampre1 ,liebig1 ,fresnel1   
,faraday1 and ,mayer1 were ,christians4 
,however paradoxical it may sound1 says 
,du,bois-,reymond1 modern science owes  
its origin to ,christianity4  ,since the
 course of events is left chiefly to the
 direction of natural causes1 and since 
science enables man to bend the stars1  
the lightning1 the winds1 and the waves 
to his purposes1 what shall resist the  
onward march of those who are armed with
 such power8 ,since life is a warfare1 a
 struggle1 how shall the ignorant and   
the thoughtless survive in a conflict in
 which natural knowledge has placed in  
the hands of the wise forces which the  

angels may not wield8 ,since the        
prosperity of the ,church is left       
subject to human influence1 shall the   
,son of ,man find faith on earth when he
 comes if the most potent instrument    
,god has given to man is abandoned to   
those who know not ,christ8 ,why should 
we who reckon it a part of the glory of 
the ,church in the past that she labored
 to civilize barbarians1 to emancipate  
slaves1 to elevate woman1 to preserve   
the classical writings1 to foster music1
 painting1 sculpture1 architecture1     
poetry1 and eloquence1 think it no part 
of her mission now to encourage         
scientific research8 ,to be ,catholic is
 to be drawn not only to the love of    
whatever is good and beautiful1 but also
 to the love of whatever is true2 and to
 do the best work the ,catholic ,church 
must fit herself to a constantly        
changing environment1 to the character  
of every people1 and to the wants of    
each age4 ,has not ,christ declared that
 whoever is not against us is for us2   

and may we not therefore find friends in
 all who work for worthy ends1--for     
liberty and knowledge1 for increase of  
power and love8 ,this large sympathy1   
which true religion and the best culture
 promote1 is ,catholic1 and it is also  
,american2 for here with us1 ,i think1  
the whole world is for men of good-will 
who are not fools4 ,we who are the      
children of ancient ,faith1 who inherit 
the boon from fathers who held it to be 
above all price1 are saved1 where there 
is question of former times1 from       
irreverent thoughts and shallow views4  
,for us the long past ages have not     
flown2     ,like our own deeds they     
travel with us still2     ,reviling     
them1 we but ourselves disown2     ,we  
are the stream their many currents fill4
     ,from their rich youth our manhood 
has upgrown1     ,and in our blood their
 hopes and loves yet thrill4   ,but if  
like the old1 the ,church can look to   
the past1 like the young1 she can look  
to the future4 ,if there are ,catholics 

who linger regretful amid glories that  
have vanished1 there are also ,catholics
 who in the midst of their work feel a  
confidence which leaves no place for    
regret2 who well understand that the    
earthly environment in which the ,church
 lives is subject to change and decay1  
and that new surroundings imply new     
tasks and impose new duties4 ,the       
splendor of the medieval ,church1 its   
worldly power1 the pomp of its          
ceremonial1 the glittering pageantry in 
which its pontiffs and prelates vied    
with kings and emperors in gorgeous     
display1 are gone1 or going2 and were it
 given to man to recall the past1 the   
spirit whereby it lived would still be  
wanting4 ,but it is the mark of youthful
 and barbarous natures to have eyes     
chiefly for the garb and circumstance of
 religion1 to see the body only and not 
the soul4 ,at all events the course of  
life is onward1 and enthusiasm for the  
past cannot become the source of great  
and far reaching action4 ,the present   

alone gives opportunity2 and the face of
 hope turns to the future1 and the wise 
are busy with what lies at hand1 with   
immediate duty1 and not with schemes for
 bringing back the things that have     
passed away4 ,leaving their dead with   
the dead1 they work for life and for the
 living4  ,as in each individual there  
is a better and a worse self1 so in each
 age there are conflicting tendencies2  
but it is the part of enlightened minds 
and generous hearts to see what is true1
 and to love what is good4 ,the         
fault-finder is hateful both in life and
 in literature2 and it is ,iago1 the    
most despicable of characters1 whom     
,shakespeare makes say1 ,i am nothing if
 not critical4 ,a ,christian of all men 
is without excuse for being fretful and 
sour1 for thinking and acting as though 
this were a devil's world1 and not the  
eternal ,god's1 as though there were    
danger lest the ,almighty should not    
prevail4 ,we know that ,god is1 and     
therefore that all will be well2 and if 

it were conceivable that ,god is not1 it
 would still be the part of a true man  
to labor to make knowledge and virtue   
prevail4 ,the criticism of the age which
 gives a better understanding of its    
needs is good2 all other is baneful4    
,opinion rules the world1 and a right   
appreciation of the influences by which 
opinion is molded is the surest guide to
 a knowledge of the time4 ,in ignorant  
and barbarous ages the notions and      
beliefs of men are crude1 and are       
controlled by a few1 for only a few     
possess knowledge and influence2 and    
even in the age of ,pericles and        
,augustus1 the thought of mankind means 
the thoughts of some dozens of men4 ,a  
few vigorous minds founded schools of   
opinion and style1 became intellectual  
dictators1 and asserted their authority 
for centuries4 ,as the art of printing  
was yet unknown1 and books were rare1   
the teacher was the speaker2 orators    
held sway over the destiny of nations2  
and the ,christian pulpit became the    

world's university4 ,but the            
printing-press in giving to thought a   
permanent form which is placed under the
 eyes of the whole world has made the   
passion1 the splendor1 the majestic     
phrase of oratory seem unreal as an     
actor's speech1 evanescent as a singer's
 tones2 and hence the pulpit and the    
rostrum1 though they still have         
influence1 can never again exercise the 
control over opinion which belonged to  
them when all men had not become        
readers4  ,what is true of eloquence may
 be affirmed of all art4 ,in spite of   
ourselves1 even the best of us find it  
difficult to make art a serious         
business2 and unless taken seriously1 it
 is vain1 loses its soul1 and falls into
 the hands of pretenders and            
sentimentalists4 ,once painting1        
sculpture1 architecture1 and song were  
the expression of thoughts and moods    
which irresistibly appealed for         
utterance2 but with us they are a       
fashion1 like cosmetics and laces4      

,poetry1 the highest of arts1 has lost  
its original character of song1 and the 
poet now deals1 in an imaginative way1  
with problems which puzzle              
metaphysicians and theologians4 ,the    
causes that have robbed art of so much  
of its charm and power have necessarily 
diminished the influence of ceremonial  
worship1 which is the artistic          
expression of the soul's faith and love1
 of its hopes and yearnings4 ,we are1   
indeed1 still subdued by the majesty of 
dimly lighted cathedrals1 by solemn     
music1 and the various symbolism of the 
ritual1 but we feel not the deep awe of 
our fathers whose knees furrowed the    
pavement stones1 and whose burning lips 
kissed them smooth2 and to blame        
ourselves for this would serve no       
purpose4 ,to those who find no pleasure 
in sweet sounds1 we pipe in vain1 and   
argument to show that one ought to be   
moved by what leaves him cold1 is       
meaningless4 ,emotion is spontaneous1   
and adorers1 like lovers1 neither ask   

nor care for reasons4 ,there is in fact 
an element of illusion in feeling2      
passion is non-rational2 and when the   
spirit of the time is intellectual1 men 
are seldom devout1 however religious    
they may be4 ,the scientific habit of   
mind is not favorable to childlike and  
unreasoning faith2 and the new views of 
the physical universe which the modern  
mind is forced to take1 bring us face to
 face with new problems in religion and 
morals1 in politics and society4        
,whatever we may think of the past1     
whatever we may fear or hope for the    
future1 if we would make an impression  
on the world around us1 we must         
understand the thoughts1 the purposes1  
and the methods of those with whom we   
live2 and we must at the same time      
recognize that though the truth of      
religion be unchangeable1 the mind of   
man is not so1 and that the point of    
view varies not only from people to     
people1 and from age to age1 but from   
year to year in the growing thought of  

the individual and of the world4 ,as in 
travelling round the earth1 time        
changes1 and when it is morning here1 it
 is evening there1 so with difference of
 latitude and longitude1 of civilization
 and barbarism1 the opinions and manners
 of men grow different4 ,they who       
observe from positions widely separate  
do not see the same things1 or do not   
see them in the same light4 ,proof for a
 peasant is not proof for a philosopher2
 and arguments which in one age are held
 to be unanswerable1 in another lose    
power to convince1 or become altogether 
meaningless4 ,it is not to be imagined  
that the hearts of ,christians should   
again burn with the devotional          
enthusiasm and the warlike ardor of the 
,crusaders2 and just as little is it    
conceivable that men should again become
 passionately interested in the         
questions which in the fourth and fifth 
centuries filled the world with the     
noise of theological disputation4 ,it   
were mere loss of time to beat now the  

waste fields of the ,protestant         
controversy4 ,wiseman's book on science 
and revealed religion1 which fifty years
 ago attracted attention1 lies like a   
stranded ship on a deserted shore1 and  
attempts of the kind are held in slight 
esteem4 ,the immature mind is eager to  
reduce faith to knowledge2 but the      
accomplished thinker understands that   
knowledge begins and ends in faith4     
,there is oppugnancy between belief in  
an all-wise1 all-good1 and all-powerful 
,god1 and belief in the divine origin of
 ,nature1 whose face is smeared with    
filth and blood2 but we hold that the   
conflicting faiths and increasing       
knowledge cannot add to the difficulty4 
,on the contrary1 the higher the        
intelligence1 the purer ,nature seems to
 grow4 ,the chemical elements are as    
fair and sweet in the corpse as in the  
living body1 and the earthquake and the 
cyclone obey the same laws which make   
the waters flow and the zephyrs breathe 
perfume4 ,it is the imagination and not 

the reason that is overwhelmed by the   
idea of unending space and time4 ,to the
 intellect1 eternity is not more        
mysterious than the present moment1 and 
the distance which separates us from the
 remotest stars is not more             
incomprehensible than a hand's breadth4 
,science is the widening thought of man1
 working on the hypothesis of universal 
intelligibility toward universal        
intelligence2 and religion is the soul1 
escaping from the labyrinth of matter to
 the light and love of the ,infinite2   
and on the heights they meet and are at 
peace4  ,meanwhile they who seek natural
 knowledge must admit that faith1 hope1 
and love are the everlasting foundations
 of human life1 and that a philosophic  
creed is as sterile as ,platonic love2  
and they who uphold religion must       
confess that faith which ignorance alone
 can keep alive is little better than   
superstition4 ,to strive to attain truth
 under whatever form is to seek to know 
,god2 and yet no ideal can be true for  

man1 unless it can be made to minister  
to faith1 hope1 and love2 for by them we
 live4 ,let us then teach ourselves to  
see things as they are1 without         
preoccupation or misgivings lest what is
 should ever make it impossible1 for us 
to believe and hope in the better yet to
 be4 ,science and morality need religion
 as much as thought and action require  
emotion2 and beyond the utmost reach of 
the human mind lie the boundless worlds 
of mystery where the soul must believe  
and adore what it can but dimly discern4
 ,the ,copernican theory of the heavens 
startled believers at first2 but we have
 long since grown accustomed to the new 
view which reveals to us a universe     
infinitely more glorious than aught the 
ancients ever imagined4 ,we do not      
rightly see either the things which are 
always around us1 or those which for the
 first time are presented to our eyes2  
and when novel theories of the visible  
world1 which in some sense is part of   
our very being1 profoundly alter our    

traditional notions1 the mind is        
disturbed and overclouded1 and the lapse
 of time alone can make plain the real  
bearing of the new learning upon life1  
upon religion1 and upon society4 ,there 
can be no doubt but increase of         
knowledge involves incidental evils1    
just as the progress of civilization    
multiplies our wants2 but the wise are  
not therefore driven to seek help from  
ignorance and barbarism4 ,whatever the  
loss1 all knowledge is gain4 ,the evils 
that spring from enlightenment of mind  
will find their remedy in greater       
enlightenment4 ,such at least is the    
faith of an age whose striking          
characteristic is confidence in         
education4 ,men have ceased to care for 
the bliss there may be in ignorance1 and
 those who dread knowledge1 if such     
there still be1 are as far away from the
 life of this century as the dead whose 
bones crumbled to dust a thousand years 
ago4  ,the aim the best now propose to  
themselves is to provide not wealth or  

pleasure1 or better machinery or more   
leisure1 but a higher and more effective
 kind of education2 and hence whatever  
one's preoccupation1 whether social1    
political1 religious1 or industrial1 the
 question of education forces itself    
upon his attention4 ,pedagogy has grown 
to be a science1 and chairs are founded 
in universities to expound the theory   
and art of teaching4 ,the learning of   
former times has become the ignorance of
 our own2 and the classical writings    
have ceased to be the treasure-house of 
knowledge1 and in consequence their     
educational value has diminished4       
,whoever three hundred years ago wished 
to acquaint himself with philosophic1   
poetic1 or eloquent expression of the   
best that was known1 was compelled to   
seek for it in the ,greek and ,latin    
authors2 but now ,greek and ,latin are  
accomplishments chiefly1 and a classical
 scholar1 if unacquainted with modern   
science and literature1 is hopelessly   
ignorant4 ,if any one1 said ,hegius1 the

 teacher of ,erasmus1 wishes to learn   
grammar1 rhetoric1 mathematics1 history1
 or holy scripture1 let him read ,greek2
 and in his day this was as true as it  
is false and absurd in our own4 ,in the 
,middle ,ages1 ,latin was made the      
groundwork of the educational system1   
not on account of any special value it  
may have been supposed to possess as a  
mental discipline1 but because it was   
the language of the learned1 of all who 
spoke or wrote on questions of religion1
 philosophy1 literature1 and science2   
but now1 who that is able to think      
dreams of burying his thought in a      
,greek or ,roman urn8 ,the ,germans in  
philosophy1 the ,english in poetry1 have
 surpassed the ,greeks2 and ,french     
prose is not inferior in qualities of   
style to the ancient classics1 and in   
wealth of thought and knowledge so far  
excels them as to preclude comparison4  
,the life of ,greece and ,rome1 compared
 with ours1 was narrow and superficial2 
their ideas of ,nature were crude and   

often grotesque2 they lacked sympathy2  
the ,greek had no sense of sin2 the     
,roman none of the mercy which tempers  
justice4 ,in their eyes the child was   
not holy1 woman was not sacred1 the     
slave was not man4 ,their notion of     
liberty was political and patriotic     
merely2 the human soul1 standing forth  
alone1 and appealing from ,states and   
emperors to the living ,god1 was to them
 a scandal4 ,now literature is the      
outgrowth of a people's life and        
thought1 and the nobler the life1 the   
more enlightened the thought1 the more  
valuable will the expression be2 and    
since there is greater knowledge1       
wisdom1 freedom1 justice1 mercy1        
goodness1 power1 in ,christendom now    
than ever existed in the pagan world1 it
 would certainly be an anomaly if modern
 literature were inferior to the        
classical4 ,the ancients1 indeed1 excel 
us in the sense for form and symmetry4  
,there is also a freshness in their     
words1 a joyousness in their life1 a    

certain heroic temper in their thinking 
and acting1 which give them power to    
engage the emotions2 and hence to deny  
them exceptional educational value is to
 take a partial view4 ,but even though  
we grant that the study of their        
literatures is in certain respects the  
best intellectual discipline1 education1
 it must be admitted1 means knowledge as
 well as training2 and thorough training
 is something more than refined taste4  
,it is strength as well1 and ability to 
think in many directions and on many    
subjects4 ,nothing known to men should  
escape the attention of the wise2 for   
the knowledge of the age determines what
 is demanded of the scholar4 ,and since 
it is our privilege to live at a time   
when knowledge is increasing more       
rapidly even than population and wealth1
 we must1 if we hope to stand in the    
front ranks of those who know1 keep pace
 with the onward movement of mind4 ,to  
turn away from this outburst of splendor
 and power2 to look back to pagan       

civilization or ,christian              
barbarism1--is to love darkness more    
than light4 ,aristotle is a great mind1 
but his learning is crude and his ideas 
of ,nature are frequently grotesque4    
,saint ,thomas is a powerful intellect2 
but his point of view in all that       
concerns natural knowledge has long     
since vanished from sight4 ,what poverty
 of learning does not the early medieval
 scheme of education reveal2 and when in
 the twelfth century the idea of a      
university rises in the best minds1 how 
incomplete and vague it is6 ,amid the   
ruins of castles and cathedrals we grow 
humble1 and think ourselves inferior to 
men who thus could build4 ,but they were
 not as strong as we1 and they led a    
more ignorant and a blinder life2 and so
 when we read of great names of the     
past1 the mists of illusion fill the    
skies1 and our eyes are dimmed by the   
glory of clouds tinged with the         
splendors of a sun that has set4        
,certainly a true university will be the

 home both of ancient wisdom and of new 
learning2 it will teach the best that is
 known1 and encourage research2 it will 
stimulate thought1 refine taste1 and    
awaken the love of excellence2 it will  
be at once a scientific institute1 a    
school of culture1 and a training ground
 for the business of life2 it will      
educate the minds that give direction to
 the age2 it will be a nursery of ideas1
 a centre of influence4 ,the good we do 
men is quickly lost1 the truth we leave 
them remains forever2 and therefore the 
aim of the best education is to enable  
students to see what is true1 and to    
inspire them with the love of all truth4
 ,professional knowledge brings most    
profit to the individual2 but philosophy
 and literature1 science and art1       
elevate and refine the spirit of the    
whole people1 and hence the university  
will make culture its first aim1 and its
 scope will widen as the thoughts and   
attainments of men are enlarged and     
multiplied4 ,here if anywhere shall be  

found teachers whose one passion is the 
love of truth1 which is the love of ,god
 and of man2 who look on all things with
 a serene eye2 who bring to every       
question a calm1 unbiased mind2 who1    
where the light of the intellect fails1 
walk by faith and accept the omen of    
hope2 who understand that to be         
distrustful of science is to lack       
culture1 to doubt the good of progress  
is to lack knowledge1 and to question   
the necessity of religion is to want    
wisdom2 who know that in a ,god-made and
 ,god-governed world it must lie in the 
nature of things that reason and virtue 
should tend to prevail1 in spite of the 
fact that in every age the majority of  
men think foolishly and act unwisely4   
,how divine is not man's apprehensive   
endowment6 ,when we see beauty fade1 the
 singer lose her charm1 the performer   
his skill1 we feel no commiseration2 but
 when we behold a noble mind falling to 
decay1 we are saddened1 for we cannot   
believe that the godlike and immortal   

faculty should be subject to death's    
power4 ,it is a reflection of the light 
that never yet was seen on sea or land2 
it is the magician who shapes and colors
 the universe1 as a drop of water       
mirrors the boundless sky4 ,is not this 
the first word the ,eternal             
speaks8--,let there be light4 ,and does 
not the blessed ,saviour come talking of
 life1 of light1 of truth1 of joy1 and  
peace8 ,have not the ,christian nations 
moved forward following after liberty   
and knowledge8 ,is not our religion the 
worship of ,god in spirit and in truth8 
,is not its motive ,love1 divine and    
human1 and is not knowledge ,love's     
guide and minister8  ,the future        
prevails over the present1 the unseen   
over what touches the senses only in    
high and cultivated natures2 and it is  
held to be the supreme triumph of ,god  
over souls when the young1 to whom the  
earth seems to be heaven revealed and   
made palpable1 turn from all the beauty 
and contagious joy to seek1 to serve1 to

 love ,him who is the infinite and only 
real good4 ,yet this is what we ask of  
the lovers of intellectual excellence1  
who work without hope of temporal reward
 and without the strength of heart which
 is found in obeying the ,divine ,will2 
for mental improvement is seldom urged  
as a religious duty1 although it is     
plain that to seek to know truth is to  
seek to know ,god1 in whom and through  
whom and by whom all things are1 and    
whose infinite nature and most awful    
power may best be seen by the largest   
and most enlightened mind4 ,mind is     
,heaven's pioneer making way for faith1 
hope1 and love1 for higher aims and     
nobler life2 and to doubt its worth and 
excellence is to deny the reasonableness
 of religion1 since belief1 if not      
wholly blind1 must rest on knowledge4   
,the best culture serves spiritual and  
moral ends4 ,its aim and purpose is to  
make reason prevail over sense and      
appetite2 to raise man not only to a    
perception of the harmonies of truth1   

but also to the love of whatever is good
 and fair4 ,not in a darkened mind does 
the white ray of heavenly light break   
into prismatic glory2 not through the   
mists of ignorance is the sweet         
countenance of the divine ,saviour best 
discerned4 ,if some have pursued a      
sublime art frivolously2 have soiled a  
fair mind by ignoble life1--this leaves 
the good of the intellect untouched4    
,some who have made strongest profession
 of religion1 who have held high and the
 highest places in the ,church1 have    
been unworthy1 but we do not thence     
infer that the tendency of religion is  
to make men so4 ,they who praise the    
bliss and worth of ignorance are        
sophists4 ,stupidity is more to be      
dreaded than malignity2 for ignorance1  
and not malice1 is the most fruitful    
cause of human misery4 ,let knowledge   
grow1 let truth prevail4 ,since ,god is 
,god1 the universe is good1 and the more
 we know of its laws1 the plainer will  
the right way become4 ,the investigator 

and the thinker1 the man of culture and 
the man of genius1 cannot free          
themselves from bias and limitation2 but
 the work they do will help me and all  
men4  ,indifference or opposition to the
 intellectual life is but a survival of 
the general anti-educational prejudices 
of former ages4 ,it is also a kind of   
envy1 prompting us to find fault with   
whatever excellence is a reproach to our
 unworthiness4 ,the disinterested love  
of truth is a rare virtue1 most         
difficult to acquire and most difficult 
to preserve4 ,if knowledge bring power  
and wealth1 if it give fame and         
pleasure1 it is dear to us2 but how many
 are able to love it for its own sake8  
,do not nearly all men strive to        
convince themselves of the truth of     
those opinions which they are interested
 in holding8 ,what is true1 good1 or    
fair is rarely at once admitted to be   
so2 but what is practically useful men  
quickly accept1 because they live       
chiefly in the world of external things1

 and care little for the spiritual      
realms of truth and beauty4 ,the        
ignorant do not even believe that       
knowledge gives power and pleasure1 and 
the educated1 except the chosen few1    
value it only for the power and pleasure
 it gives4 ,as the disinterested love of
 truth is rare1 so is perfect sincerity4
 ,indeed1 insincerity is here the       
radical vice4 ,good faith is essential  
to faith2 and a sophistical mind is as  
immoral and irreligious as a depraved   
heart4 ,let a man be true1 seek and     
speak truth1 and all good things are    
possible2 but when he persuades himself 
that a lie may be useful and ought to be
 propagated1 he becomes the enemy of his
 own soul and the foe of all that makes 
life high and godlike4  ,now1 to be able
 to desire to see things as they are1   
whatever their relations to ourselves   
may be1 and to speak of them simply as  
they appear to us1 is one result of the 
best training of the intellect1 which in
 the world of thought and opinion gives 

us that sweet indifference which is the 
rule of saints when they submit the     
conduct of their lives wholly to divine 
guidance4 ,why should he whose mind is  
strong1 and rests on ,god1 be disturbed8
 ,it is with opinion as with life4 ,we  
cannot tell what moment truth will      
overthrow the one and death the other2  
but thought cannot change the nature of 
things4 ,the clouds dissolve1 but the   
eternal heavens remain4 ,over the       
bloodiest battlefields they bend calm   
and serene1 and trees drink the sunlight
 and flowers exhale perfume4 ,the       
moonbeam kisses the crater's lip4 ,over 
buried cities the yellow harvest waves1 
and all the catastrophes of endless time
 are present to ,god1 who dwells in     
infinite peace4 ,he sees the universe   
and is not troubled1 and shall not we   
who are akin to him learn to look upon  
our little meteorite without losing     
repose of mind and heart8 ,were it not a
 sweeter piety to trust that he who made
 all things will know how to make all   

things right2 and therefore not to grow 
anxious lest some investigator should   
find him at fault or thwart his plans8  
,as living bodies are immersed in an    
invisible substance which feeds the     
flame of life1 so souls breathe and     
think and love in the atmosphere of     
,god1 and the higher their thought and  
love the more do they partake of the    
divine nature4 ,many things1 in this age
 of transition1 are passing away2 but   
true thoughts and pure love are         
immortal1 and whatever opinions as to   
other things a man may hold1 all know   
that to be human is to be intelligent   
and moral1 and therefore religious4 ,a  
hundred years hence our present         
machinery may seem to be as rude as the 
implements of the middle age look to us1
 and our political and social           
organization may appear barbarous1--so  
rapid has the movement of life become4  
,but we do not envy those who shall then
 be living1 partly it may be because we 
can have but dim visions of the greater 

blessings they shall enjoy1 but chiefly 
because we feel that after all the true 
worth of life lies in nothing of this   
kind1 but in knowing and doing1 in      
believing and loving2 and that it would 
not be easier to live for truth and     
righteousness were electricity applied  
to aerial navigation and all the heavens
 filled with argosies of magic sail4 ,it
 is not possible to love sincerely the  
best thoughts1 as it is not possible to 
love ,god when our aim is something     
external1 or when we believe that what  
is mechanical merely has power to       
regenerate and exalt mankind4           
,it takes a soul     ,to move a body2 it
 takes a high-souled man     ,to move   
the masses 444 even to a cleaner sty2   
,it takes the ideal to blow a           
hair's-breadth off     ,the dust of the 
actual--,ah1 your ,fouriers failed1     
,because not poets enough to understand 
,that life develops from within4   ,he  
who believes in culture must believe in 
,god2 for what but ,god do we mean when 

we talk of loving the best thoughts and 
the highest beauty8 ,no ,god1 no best2  
but at most better and worse4 ,and how  
shall a man's delight in his growing    
knowledge not be blighted by a hidden   
taint1 if he is persuaded that at the   
core of the universe there is only blind
 unconscious force8 ,but if he believe  
that ,god is infinite power working for 
truth and love1 then can he also feel   
that in seeking to prepare his mind for 
the perception of truth and his heart   
for the love of what is good and fair1  
he is working with ,god1 and moves along
 the way in which his omnipotent hand   
guides heavenly spirits and all the     
countless worlds4 ,he desires that all  
men should be wiser and stronger and    
more loving1 even though he should be   
doomed to remain as he is1 for then they
 would have power to help him4 ,he is   
certain of himself1 and feels no fear   
nor anger when his opinions are opposed4
 ,he learns to bear what he cannot      
prevent1 knowing that courage and       

patience make tolerable immedicable     
ills4 ,he feels no self-complacency1 but
 rather the self-dissatisfaction which  
comes of the consciousness of possessing
 faculties which he can but imperfectly 
use4 ,and this discontent he believes to
 be the infinite ,god stirring within   
the soul4 ,as the earthquake which      
swallows some island in another         
hemisphere disturbs not the even tenor  
of our way1 so the passions of men whose
 world is other than his1 who dwell     
remote from what he contemplates and    
loves1 shake not his tranquil mind4     
,while they threaten and pursue1 his    
thought moves in spheres unknown to     
them4 ,he knows how little life at the  
best can give1 and is not hard to       
console for the loss of anything4 ,there
 is no true thought which he would not  
gladly make his own1 even though it     
should be the watchword of his enemies4 
,since morality is practical truth1 he  
understands that increasing knowledge   
will make it at once more evident and   

more attractive4 ,hatred between races  
and nations he holds to be not less     
unchristian than the hatred which arms  
the individual against his fellow-man4  
,it is impossible for him to be a       
scoffer2 for whatever has strengthened  
or consoled a human soul is sacred in   
his eyes2 and wherever there is question
 of what is socially complex1 as of a   
religion or a civilization1 there is    
question of many human lives1 their     
hopes1 their joys1 their strivings1     
their yearnings1 disappointments1       
agonies1 and deaths2 and he is able to  
perceive that in the ports of levity    
there is no refuge for hearts that      
mourn4 ,does not love itself1 in its    
heaven of bliss1 turn away from him who 
mocks8 ,the lover of the intellectual   
life knows neither contempt nor         
indignation1 is not elated by success or
 cast down by failure2 money cannot make
 him rich1 and poverty helps to make him
 free4 ,his own experience teaches him  
that men in becoming wiser will become  

nobler and happier2 and this sweet truth
 has in his eyes almost the elements of 
a religion4 ,with growing knowledge his 
power of sympathy is enlarged2 until    
like ,saint ,francis1 he can call the   
sun his brother and the moon his sister2
 can grieve with homeless winds1 and    
feel a kinship with the clod4 ,the very 
agonies by which his soul has been wrung
 open to his gaze visions of truth which
 else he had never caught1 and so he    
finds even in things evil some touch of 
goodness4 ,praise and blame are for     
children1 but to him impertinent4 ,he is
 tolerant of absurdity because it is so 
all-pervading that he whom it fills with
 indignation can have no repose4 ,while 
he labors like other men to keep his    
place in the world1 he strives to make  
the work whereby he maintains himself1  
and those who cling to him1 serve       
intellectual and moral ends4 ,he has a  
meek and lowly heart1 and he has also a 
free and illumined mind1 and a soul     
without fear4 ,he knows that no gift or 

accomplishment is incompatible with true
 religion2 for has not the ,church      
intellects as many-sided and as high as 
,augustine and ,chrysostom1 ,dante and  
,calderon1 ,descartes and ,da ,vinci1   
,de ,vega and ,cervantes1 ,bossuet and  
,pascal1 ,saint ,bernard and ,gregory   
the ,seventh1 ,aquinas and ,michael     
,angelo1 ,mozart and ,fnelon8 ,ah6 ,i   
behold the youthful throng1 happier than
 we1 who here1 in their own sweet       
country1--in this city of government and
 of law with its wide streets1 its open 
spaces1 its air of freedom and of       
light1--undisturbed by the              
soul-depressing hum of commerce and the 
unintellectual din of machinery1 shall  
hearken to the voice of wisdom and walk 
in the pleasant ways of knowledge1      
alive1 in every sense1 to catch whatever
 message may come to them from ,god's   
universe2 who1 as they are drawn to what
 is higher than themselves1 shall be    
drawn together1 like planets to a sun2  
whose minds1 aglow with high thinking1  

shall taste joy and delight fresher and 
purer than merriest laughter ever tells4
 ,who has not seen1 when leaden clouds  
fill the sky and throw gloomy shadows on
 the earth1 some little meadow amid the 
hills1 with its trees and flowers1 its  
grazing kine and running brook1 all     
bathed in sunlight1 and smiling as      
though a mother said1 ,come hither1     
darling8  ,such to my fancy is this     
favored spot1 whose invitation is to the
 fortunate few who believe that the     
noblest mind the best contentment has1  
and that the fairest land is that which 
brings forth and nurtures the fairest   
souls4 ,when youthful friends drift     
apart1 and meet again after years1 they 
find they have been living not only in  
different cities1 but in different      
worlds4 ,those who shall come up to the 
university must turn away from much the 
world holds dear2 and while the         
companions they leave behind shall      
linger in pleasant places or shall get  
money1 position1 and applause1 they must

 move on amid ever-increasing loneliness
 of life and thought4 ,xanthippe would  
have had altogether a better opinion of 
,socrates had he not been a philosopher1
 and the best we do is often that for   
which our age and our friends care the  
least2 but they who have once tasted the
 delights of a cultivated mind would not
 exchange them for the gifts of fortune1
 and to have beheld the fair face of    
wisdom is to be forever her votary4     
,words spoken for the masses grow       
obsolete2 but what is fit to be heard by
 the chosen few shall be true and       
beautiful while such minds are found on 
earth4 ,in the end1 it is this little   
band--this intellectual aristocracy--who
 move and guide the world4 ,they see    
what is possible1 outline projects1 and 
give impulse1 while the people do the   
work4 ,that which is strongest in man is
 mind2 and when a mind truly vigorous1  
open1 supple1 and illumined reveals     
itself1 we follow in its path of light4 
,how it may be ,i do not know2 but the  

very brain and heart of genius throbs   
forever in the words on which its spirit
 has breathed4 ,let this seed1 though   
hidden like the grain in mummy pits for 
thousands of years1 but fall on proper  
soil1 and soon the golden harvest shall 
wave beneath the dome of azure skies2   
let but some generous youth bend over   
the electric page1 and lo6 all his being
 shall thrill and flame with new-born   
life and light4 ,genius is a gift4 ,but 
whoever keeps on doing in all           
earnestness something which he need not 
do1 and for which the world cares hardly
 at all1 if he have not genius1 has at  
least one of its chief marks2 and it is1
 ,i think1 an important function of a   
university to create an intellectual    
atmosphere in which the love of         
excellence shall become contagious1     
which whosoever breathes shall1 like the
 ,sibyl1 feel the inspiration of divine 
thoughts4  ,sweet home6 where ,wisdom1  
like a mother1 shall lead her children  
in pleasant ways1 and to their thoughts 

a touch of heaven lend6 ,from thee ,i   
claim for my faith and my country more  
blessings than ,i can speak1--          
,our scattered knowledges together bind2
       ,our freedom consecrate to noble 
aims4     ,to music set the visions of  
the mind2       ,give utterance to the  
truth pure faith proclaims4     ,lead   
where the perfect beauty lies enshrined1
       ,whose sight the blood of        
low-born passion tames4   ,and now1 how 
shall ,i more fittingly conclude than   
with the name of her whose generous     
heart and enlightened mind were the     
impulse which has given to what had long
 been hope deferred and a dreamlike     
vision1 existence and a                 
dwelling-place1--,mary ,gwendolen       
,caldwell4   ,,the ,,end4     ,by ,,rt4 
,,rev4 ,j4 ,l4 ,,spalding4   ,thoughts  
and ,theories of ,life and ,education4  
#abmo1 #bce pages1 #a4jj4  ,the bishop  
writes out of the fullness of his heart1
 and with abundant love and charity4    
,his works make the world wiser1        

happier1 and better4 ,these ,thoughts   
and ,theories are couched in polished   
,english1 in sentences terse and full of
 meaning2 few living writers command a  
more charming style4   ,education and   
the ,higher ,life4 #abmo1 #baj pages1   
#a4jj4  ,bishop ,spalding has struck a  
note which must vibrate in every heart  
which loves the glory of ,christianity  
and the progress of humanity4444 ,the   
book is a stimulant1 a tonic1 a         
trumpet-call to higher things1 a beacon 
light for better days4--,the ,catholic  
,union and ,times4   ,things of the     
,mind4 #abmo1 #bcg pages1 #a4jj4  ,out  
of a disciplined and fertile mind he    
pours forth epigrammatic sentences and  
suggestions in a fashion which recalls  
,emerson4 ,he is always and everywhere  
,american1 and the last chapter is at   
once wisely critical and soundly        
laudatory of our country4--,the ,sunday 
,school ,times1 ,philadelphia4   ,means 
and ,ends of ,education4 #abmo1 #bcb    
pages1 #a4jj4  ,bishop ,spalding comes  

nearer being an essayist in education   
than any other ,american4 ,he has that  
rarest of educational gifts1--the       
ability to throw light brilliantly1 and 
yet softly1 making his paragraphs both  
bright and mellow1 all without          
preaching1 without pedantry1 and without
 being cranky4--,journal of ,education1 
,boston4   ,opportunity1 and ,other     
,essays and ,addresses4 #abmo1 #bbh     
pages1 #a4jj4  ,in this volume1 as in   
his other books1 ,bishop ,spalding is   
occupied with the larger problems of    
education4 ,in addition to the          
specifically educational subjects there 
are themes of the widest possible       
interest1 to the treatment of which the 
ripe experience of the writer gives high
 value4   ,songs1 chiefly from the      
,german4 #afmo1 gilt top1 #a4be4  ,he   
has gathered the flowers from the       
,german garden of song and translated   
them1 giving a literal rendering1 but   
still preserving the melody1--an art    
which was thought to have been lost with

 ,longfellow4--,the ,chicago ,record4   
,sold by all booksellers1 or mailed1 on 
receipt of price1 by  ,a4 ,c4           
,mc,c,l,u,r,g  ,,co41 ,,publishers1     
,,chicago4     ,by ,mrs4 ,elizabeth     
,wormeley ,latimer4   ,,judea3 ,from    
,cyrus to ,titus1 #ecg ,b4 ,c4--#gj ,a4 
,d4 ,handsomely illustrated4 #hvo4      
#b4ej4  ,this is a book for the people  
rather than for scholars1 but written   
with the resources of scholarship at    
command4 ,not entering into the mooted  
questions of criticism1 it is a well    
written narrative of the eventful period
 it covers1 presenting the story of     
,judea in its connection with the       
general movement of the world1 as well  
as with the career of illustrious       
men4--,the ,outlook1 ,new ,york4        
,mrs4 ,latimer's ,former ,works4   ,my  
,scrap ,book of the ,french ,revolution4
 ,illustrated4 #hvo4 #b4ej4  ,spain in  
the #aith ,century4 ,illustrated4 #hvo4 
#b4ej4  ,italy in the #aith ,century4   
,illustrated4 #hvo4 #b4ej4  ,europe in  

,africa in the #aith ,century4          
,illustrated4 #hvo4 #b4ej4  ,england in 
the #aith ,century4 ,illustrated4 #hvo4 
#b4ej4  ,russia and ,turkey in the #aith
 ,century4 ,illustrated4 #hvo4 #b4ej4   
,france in the #aith ,century4          
,illustrated4 #hvo4 #b4ej4   ,sold by   
all booksellers1 or mailed on receipt of
 price by  ,a4 ,c4 ,mc,c,l,u,r,g  ,,co41
 ,publishers1 ,,chicago4     ,a         
,,general ,,survey ,,of ,,american      
,,literature  ,by ,,mary ,,fisher  ,gilt
 top1 deckle edges1 #abmo4 #a4ej   ,in  
this volume ,miss ,fisher has treated a 
subject of vital interest and importance
 for all ,american lovers of literature1
 and she has accomplished her task with 
rare feminine appreciation and sympathy1
 with a clear and decisive interest1    
with a catholicity of judgment and a    
fine sense of discrimination and        
proportion and with a warmth and        
delicacy of treatment that transform    
these biographical sketches into little 
gems of portraiture4--,the ,commercial  

,advertiser1 ,new ,york4  ,the great    
value of the book lies in the fact that 
while ,miss ,fisher has a thorough      
familiarity with the subjects of her    
essays1 she writes as she might if she  
were ignorant of the estimation in which
 they are held by the public or by the  
critics4 ,she applies discriminating    
reason and sound principles of judgment 
to the work of the various writers1     
without the slightest reference to their
 personal dignity or their literary     
fame4--,the ,book ,buyer1 ,new ,york4   
,the whole range of notable writers are 
dealt with in a style at once           
discriminating and attractive4 ,the     
human touch is pleasingly apparent      
throughout the book4--,the ,living ,age1
 ,boston4     ,a ,,group ,,of ,,french  
,,critics  ,by ,,mary ,,fisher  #abmo4  
#a4be4   ,those who are in the habit of 
associating modern ,french writing with 
the materialistic view of life and the  
realistic method1 will find themselves  
refreshed and encouraged by the vigorous

 protest of men like ,scherer and other 
,french critics against the dominance of
 these elements in recent years4--,the  
,outlook1 ,new ,york4  ,a ,group of     
,french ,critics deserves a friendly    
welcome from everybody who desires to   
know something of the best in           
contemporary ,french letters4--,the     
,philadelphia ,press4  ,sold by all     
booksellers1 or mailed on receipt of    
price by  ,a4 ,c4 ,mc,c,l,u,r,g  ,,co41 
,publishers1 ,,chicago4     ,,tales     
,,from ,,foreign ,,lands4               
,,memories4 ,a ,story of ,german ,love4 
,translated from the ,german of ,,max   
,,muller by ,,george ,p4 ,,upton4       
,,graziella4 ,a ,story of ,italian      
,love4 ,translated from the ,french of  
,a4 ,,de ,,lamartine1 by ,,james ,b4    
,,runnion4       ,,marie4 ,a ,story of  
,russian ,love4 ,from the ,russian of   
,,alexander      ,,pushkin1 by ,,marie  
,h4 ,,de ,,zielinska4       ,,madeleine4
 ,a ,story of ,french ,love 7crowned by 
the ,french ,academy74      ,translated 

from the ,french of ,,jules ,,sandeau by
 ,,francis ,,charlot4       ,,marianela4
 ,a ,story of ,spanish ,love4           
,translated from the ,spanish of        
,b4 ,,perez ,,galdos1 by ,,helen ,w4    
,,lester4       ,,cousin ,,phillis4 ,a  
,story of ,english ,love4 ,by ,mrs4     
,,gaskell4       ,,karine4 ,a ,story of 
,swedish ,love4 ,translated from the    
,german of      ,,wilhelm ,,jensen1 by  
,,emma ,a4 ,,endlich4       ,,maria     
,,felicia4 ,a ,story of ,bohemian ,love4
 ,translated from the      ,bohemian of 
,,caroline ,,svetla by ,,antonie        
,,krejsa4       ,handsomely printed on  
fine laid paper1 #afmo1 gilt tops1 per  
volume1      #a4jj4 ,the six volumes in 
neat box1 per set1 #f4jj2 in half calf  
or      half morocco1 gilt tops1 #ac4ej2
 in half calf or half morocco1 gilt     
edges1 #ae4jj2 limp calf or morocco1    
gilt edges1 #ah4jj4       ,this series  
of volumes forms perhaps the choicest   
addition to the      literature of the  
,english language that has been made in 

recent      years4   ,an attractive     
series of stories of love in different  
countries1--all gems of literature1 full
 of local coloring4--,journal of        
,education1 ,boston4  ,the stories are  
attractive for their purity1 sweetness1 
and pathos4444 ,a rare collection of    
representative national classics4 ,new  
,york ,telegram4  ,a series especially  
to be commended for the good taste      
displayed in the mechanical execution of
 the works4 ,type and paper are         
everything that could be desired1 and   
the volumes are set off with a gilt top 
which adds to their general appearance  
of neatness4--,herald1 ,rochester4      
,sold by all booksellers1 or mailed1 on 
receipt of price1 by the publishers4    
,a4 ,c4 ,mc,c,l,u,r,g  ,,co41 ,,chicago4
     ,,the ,,book-,,lover4 ,a ,guide to 
the ,best ,reading4 ,by ,,james         
,,baldwin1 ,ph4 ,d4 ,sixth edition1     
#afmo1 cloth1 gilt top1 #bja pages4     
,price1 #a4jj4  ,in half calf or half   
morocco1 #b4ej4   ,of this book1 on the 

best in ,english ,literature1 which has 
already been declared of the highest    
value by the testimony of the best      
critics in this country1 an edition of  
one thousand copies has just been       
ordered for ,london1 the home of        
,english ,literature1--a compliment of  
which its scholarly western author may  
justly be proud4  ,we know of no work of
 the kind which gives so much useful    
information in so small a               
space4--,evening ,telegram1 ,new ,york4 
,sound in theory and in a practical     
point of view4 ,the courses of reading  
laid down are made of good books1 and in
 general1 of the best4--,independent1   
,new ,york4  ,mr4 ,baldwin has written  
in this monograph a delightful eulogium 
of books and their manifold influence1  
and has gained therein two classes of   
readers1--the scholarly class1 to which 
he belongs1 and the receptive class1    
which he has benefited4--,evening ,mail 
and ,express1 ,new ,york4  ,if a man    
needs that the love of books be         

cultivated within him1 such a gem of a  
book as ,dr4 ,baldwin's ought to do the 
work4 ,perfect and inviting in all that 
a book ought outwardly to be1 its       
contents are such as to instruct the    
mind at the same time that they answer  
the taste1 and the reader who goes      
carefully through its two hundred pages 
ought not only to love books in general 
better than he ever did before1 but to  
love them more wisely1 more             
intelligently1 more discriminatingly1   
and with more profit to his own         
soul4--,literary ,worlds1 ,boston4      
,sold by all booksellers1 or mailed on  
receipt of price1 by  ,a4 ,c4           
,mc,c,l,u,r,g  ,,co41 ,,publishers4     
,,life ,,of ,,abraham ,,lincoln1  ,by   
the ,hon4 ,,isaac ,n4 ,,arnold4 ,with   
,steel ,portrait4 #hvo1 cloth1 #dga     
pages4 ,price1 #a4ej4  ,in half calf or 
half morocco1 #c4ej4   ,it is decidedly 
the best and most complete ,life of     
,lincoln that has yet                   
appeared4--,contemporary ,review1       

,london4  ,mr4 ,arnold succeeded to a   
singular extent in assuming the broad   
view and judicious voice of posterity   
and exhibiting the greatest figure of   
our time in its true perspective4--,the 
,tribune1 ,new ,york4  ,it is the only  
,life of ,lincoln thus far published    
that is likely to live1--the only one   
that has any serious pretensions to     
depict him with adequate veracity1      
completeness1 and dignity4--,the ,sun1  
,new ,york4  ,the author knew ,mr4      
,lincoln long and intimately1 and no one
 was better fitted for the task of      
preparing his biography4 ,he has written
 with tenderness and fidelity1 with keen
 discrimination1 and with graphic powers
 of description and analysis4--,the     
,interior1 ,chicago4  ,mr4 ,arnold's    
,life of ,president ,lincoln is         
excellent in almost every respect4444   
,the author has painted a graphic and   
life-like portrait of the remarkable man
 who was called to decide on the        
destinies of his country at the crisis  

of its fate4--,the ,times1 ,london4     
,the book is particularly rich in       
incidents connected with the early      
career of ,mr4 ,lincoln2 and it is      
without exception the most satisfactory 
record of his life that has yet been    
written4 ,readers will also find that in
 its entirety it is a work of absorbing 
and enduring interest that will enchain 
the attention more effectually than any 
novel4--,magazine of ,american ,history1
 ,new ,york4   ,sold by all booksellers1
 or mailed on receipt of price1 by  ,a4 
,c4 ,mc,c,l,u,r,g  ,,co41 ,,publishers4 
,,laurel-,,crowned ,,tales4             
,,abdallah2 ,,or1 ,,the ,,four-,,leaved 
,,shamrock4 ,by ,,edouard ,,laboulaye4  
,translated by ,,mary ,l4 ,,booth4      
,,rasselas1 ,,prince ,,of ,,abyssinia4  
,by ,,samuel ,,johnson4       ,,raphael2
 ,,or1 ,,pages ,,of ,,the ,,book ,,of   
,,life ,,at ,,twenty4 ,from the ,french 
of ,,alphonse ,,de ,,lamartine4         
,,the ,,vicar ,,of ,,wakefield4 ,by     
,,oliver ,,goldsmith4       ,,the       

,,epicurean4 ,by ,,thomas ,,moore4      
,,picciola4 ,by ,x4 ,b4 ,,saintine4     
,,an ,,iceland ,,fisherman4 ,by ,,pierre
 ,,loti4       ,,paul ,,and ,,virginia4 
,by ,,bernardin ,,de ,,st4 ,,pierre4    
,handsomely printed from new plates1 on 
fine laid paper1 #afmo1      cloth1 with
 gilt tops1 price per volume1 #a4jj4    
,in half calf or half morocco1 per      
volume1 #b4ej4  ,in planning this       
series1 the publishers have aimed at a  
form which should combine an            
unpretentious elegance suited to the    
fastidious book-lover with an           
inexpensiveness that must appeal to the 
most moderate buyer4  ,it is the intent 
to admit to the series only such tales  
as have for years or for generations    
commended themselves not only to the    
fastidious and the critical1 but also to
 the great multitude of the refined     
reading public1--tales1 in short1 which 
combine purity and classical beauty of  
style with perennial popularity4  ,a    
contribution to current literature of   

quite unique value and interest4 ,they  
are furnished with a tasteful outfit1   
with just the amount of matter one likes
 to find in books of this class1 and are
 in all ways very                       
attractive4--,standard1 ,chicago4       
,sold by all booksellers1 or mailed1 on 
receipt of price1 by  ,a4 ,c4           
,mc,c,l,u,r,g  ,,co41 ,,publishers4     
,,laurel-,,crowned ,,verse  ,edited by  
,,francis ,f4 ,,browne4         ,,the   
,,lady ,,of ,,the ,,lake4 ,by ,,sir     
,,walter ,,scott4       ,,childe        
,,harold',s ,,pilgrimage4 ,a ,romaunt4  
,by ,,lord ,,byron4       ,,lalla       
,,rookh4 ,,an ,,oriental ,,romance4 ,by 
,,thomas ,,moore4       ,,idylls ,,of   
,,the ,,king4 ,by ,,alfred1 ,,lord      
,,tennyson4       ,,paradise ,,lost4 ,by
 ,,john ,,milton4       ,,the ,,iliad   
,,of ,,homer4 ,translated by ,,alexander
 ,,pope4 #b ,vols4       ,each volume is
 finely printed and bound2 #afmo1 cloth1
 gilt tops1      price per volume1      
#a4jj4   ,in half calf or half morocco1 

per volume1 #b4ej4   ,all the volumes of
 this series are from a specially       
prepared and corrected text1 based upon 
a careful collation of all the more     
authentic editions4  ,the special merit 
of these editions1 aside from the       
graceful form of the books1 lies in the 
editor's reserve4 ,whenever the author  
has provided a preface or notes1 this   
apparatus is given1 and thus some       
interesting matter is revived1 but the  
editor himself refrains from loading the
 books with his own writing4--,the      
,atlantic ,monthly4  ,a series noted for
 their integral worth and typographical 
beauties4--,public ,ledger1             
,philadelphia4  ,the typography is quite
 faultless4--,critic1 ,new ,york4  ,for 
this series the publishers are entitled 
to the gratitude of lovers of classical 
,english4--,school ,journal1 ,new ,york4
   ,sold by all booksellers1 or mailed1 
on receipt of price1 by  ,a4 ,c4        
,mc,c,l,u,r,g  ,,co41 ,,publishers1     
,,chicago4     ,,laurel-,,crowned       

,,letters         ,,best ,,letters ,,of 
,,lord ,,chesterfield4 ,with an         
,introduction by ,,edward      ,,gilpin 
,,johnson4       ,,best ,,letters ,,of  
,,lady ,,mary ,,wortley ,,montagu4 ,with
 an ,introduction by      ,,octave      
,,thanet4       ,,best ,,letters ,,of   
,,horace ,,walpole4 ,with an            
,introduction by ,,anna ,b4             
,,mcmahan4       ,,best ,,letters ,,of  
,,madame ,,de ,s,,vign4 ,with an        
,introduction by ,,edward               
,,playfair ,,anderson4       ,,best     
,,letters ,,of ,,charles ,,lamb4 ,with  
an ,introduction by ,,edward ,,gilpin   
,,johnson4       ,,best ,,letters ,,of  
,,percy ,,bysshe ,,shelley4 ,with an    
,introduction by      ,,shirley ,c4     
,,hughson4       ,,best ,,letters ,,of  
,,william ,,cowper4 ,with an            
,introduction by ,,anna ,b4             
,,mcmahan4       ,handsomely printed    
from new plates1 on fine laid paper1    
#afmo1      cloth1 with gilt tops1 price
 per volume1 #a4jj4   ,in half calf or  

half morocco1 per volume1 #b4ej4   ,amid
 the great flood of ephemeral literature
 that pours from the press1 it is well  
to be recalled by such publications as  
the ,laurel-,crowned ,letters to books  
that have won an abiding place in the   
classical literature of the world4--,the
 ,independent1 ,new ,york4  ,the        
,laurel-,crowned ,series recommends     
itself to all lovers of good literature4
 ,the selection is beyond criticism1 and
 puts before the reader the very best   
literature in most attractive and       
convenient form4 ,the size of the       
volumes1 the good paper1 the clear type 
and the neat binding are certainly      
worthy of all praise4--,public ,opinion1
 ,washington4  ,these ,laurel-,crowned  
volumes are little gems in their way1   
and just the books to pick up at odd    
times and at intervals of               
waiting4--,herald1 ,chicago4   ,sold by 
all booksellers1 or mailed1 on receipt  
of price1 by  ,a4 ,c4 ,mc,c,l,u,r,g     
,,co41 ,,publishers4 ,,chicago4   ,,the 

,,standard ,,operas4 ,their ,plots1     
their ,music1 and their ,composers4 ,by 
,,george ,p4 ,,upton1 author of ,woman  
in ,music1 etc41 etc4  #abmo1 flexible  
cloth1 yellow edges #a4ej  ,the same1   
extra gilt1 gilt edges #b4jj  ,mr4      
,upton has performed a service that can 
hardly be too highly appreciated1 in    
collecting the plots1 music1 and the    
composers of the standard operas1 to the
 number of sixty-four1 and bringing them
 together in one perfectly arranged     
volume4444 ,his work is one simply      
invaluable to the general reading       
public4 ,technicalities are avoided1 the
 aim being to give to musically         
uneducated lovers of the opera a clear  
understanding of the works they hear4   
,it is description1 not criticism1 and  
calculated to greatly increase the      
intelligent enjoyment of music4--,boston
 ,traveller4  ,among the multitude of   
handbooks which are published every     
year1 and are described by easy-going   
writers of book-notices as supplying a  

long-felt want1 we know of none which so
 completely carries out the intention of
 the writer as ',the ,standard ,operas1'
 by ,mr4 ,george ,p4 ,upton1 whose      
object is to present to his readers a   
comprehensive sketch of each of the     
operas contained in the modern          
repertory4444 ,there are thousands of   
music-loving people who will be glad to 
have the kind of knowledge which ,mr4   
,upton has collected for their benefit1 
and has cast in a clear and compact     
form4--,r4 ,h4 ,stoddard1 in ,evening   
,mail and ,express 7,new ,york74  ,the  
summaries of the plots are so clear1    
logical1 and well written1 that one can 
read them with real pleasure1 which     
cannot be said of the ordinary operatic 
synopses4 ,but the most important       
circumstance is that ,mr4 ,upton's book 
is fully abreast of the times4--,the    
,nation 7,new ,york74   ,sold by all    
booksellers1 or mailed1 post-paid1 on   
receipt of price1 by  ,a4 ,c4           
,mc,c,l,u,r,g  ,,co41 ,,publishers4     

,,the ,,standard ,,oratorios4 ,their    
,stories1 their ,music1 and their       
,composers4 ,a ,handbook4 ,by ,george   
,p4 ,upton4 #abmo1 #cce pages1 yellow   
edges1 price1 #a4ej2 extra gilt1 gilt   
edges1 #b4jj4  ,in half calf1 gilt top  
#c4be  ,in half morocco1 gilt edges     
#c4ge  ,music lovers are under a new    
obligation to ,mr4 ,upton for this      
companion to his ,standard ,operas1--two
 books which deserve to be placed on the
 same shelf with ,grove's and ,riemann's
 musical dictionaries4--,the ,nation1   
,new ,york4  ,mr4 ,george ,p4 ,upton has
 followed in the lines that he laid down
 in his ,standard ,operas1 and has      
produced an admirable handwork1 which   
answers every purpose that such a volume
 is designed to answer1 and which is    
certain to be popular now and for years 
to come4--,the ,mail and ,express1 ,new 
,york4  ,like the valuable art handbooks
 of ,mrs4 ,jamison1 these volumes       
contain a world of interesting          
information1 indispensable to critics   

and art amateurs4 ,the volume under     
review is elegantly and succinctly      
written1 and the subjects are handled in
 a thoroughly comprehensive             
manner4--,public ,opinion1 ,washington4 
,the book is a masterpiece of skillful  
handling1 charming the reader with its  
pure ,english style1 and keeping his    
attention always awake in an arrangement
 of matter which makes each succeeding  
page and chapter fresh in interest and  
always full of instruction1 while always
 entertaining4--,the ,standard1         
,chicago4  ,the author of this book has 
done a real service to the vast number  
of people who1 while they are lovers of 
music1 have neither the leisure nor     
inclination to become deeply versed in  
its literature4444 ,the information     
conveyed is of just the sort that the   
average of cultivated people will       
welcome as an aid to comprehending and  
talking about this species of musical   
composition4--,church ,magazine1        
,philadelphia4   ,sold by all           

booksellers1 or mailed on receipt of    
price1 by  ,a4 ,c4 ,mc,c,l,u,r,g  ,,co41
 ,,publishers4     ,,the ,,standard     
,,cantatas4 ,their ,stories1 their      
,music1 and their ,composers4 ,a        
,handbook4 ,by ,,george ,p4 ,,upton4    
#abmo1 #cfg pages1 yellow edges1 price1 
#a4ej2 extra gilt1 gilt edges1 #b4jj4   
,in half calf1 gilt top            #c4be
 ,in half morocco1 gilt edges           
#c4ge         99       99       99      
99       99  ,the ,standard ,cantatas   
forms the third volume in the uniform   
series which already includes the now   
well known ,standard ,operas and the    
,standard ,oratorios4 ,this latest work 
deals with a class of musical           
compositions1 midway between the opera  
and the oratorio1 which is growing      
rapidly in favor both with composers and
 audiences4  ,as in the two former      
works1 the subject is treated1 so far as
 possible1 in an untechnical manner1 so 
that it may satisfy the needs of        
musically uneducated music lovers1 and  

add to their enjoyment by a plain       
statement of the story of the cantata   
and a popular analysis of its music1    
with brief pertinent selections from its
 poetical text4  ,the book includes a   
comprehensive essay on the origin of the
 cantata1 and its development from rude 
beginnings2 biographical sketches of the
 composers2 carefully prepared          
descriptions of the plots and the music2
 and an appendix containing the names   
and dates of composition of all the best
 known cantatas from the earliest times4
  ,this series of works on popular music
 has steadily grown in favor since the  
appearance of the first volume on the   
,operas4 ,when the series is completed1 
as it will be next year by a volume on  
the ,standard ,symphonies1 it will be1  
as the ,new ,york ,nation has said1     
indispensable to every musical library4 
,sold by all booksellers1 or mailed on  
receipt of price1 by ,a4 ,c4            
,mc,c,l,u,r,g  ,,co41 ,,publishers4     
,,the ,,standard ,,symphonies4 ,their   

,history1 their ,music1 and their       
,composers4 ,a ,handbook4 ,by ,,george  
,p4 ,,upton4 #abmo1 #cba pages1 yellow  
edges1 price #a4ej2 extra gilt1 gilt    
edges1 #b4jj4  ,in half calf1 gilt top  
#c4be ,in half morocco1 gilt edges      
#c4ge         99       99       99      
99       99  ,the usefulness of this    
handbook cannot be doubted4 ,its pages  
are packed full of these fascinating    
renderings4 ,the accounts of each       
composer are succinct and yet           
sufficient4 ,the author has done a      
genuine service to the world of music   
lovers4 ,the comprehension of orchestral
 work of the highest character is aided 
efficiently by this volume4 ,the        
mechanical execution of the volume is in
 harmony with its subject4 ,no worthier 
volume can be found to put into the     
hands of an amateur or a friend of      
music4--,public ,opinion1 ,washington4  
,none who have seen the previous books  
of ,mr4 ,upton will need assurance that 
this is as indispensable as the others  

to one who would listen intelligently to
 that better class of music which       
musicians congratulate themselves       
,americans are learning to              
appreciatively enjoy4--,home ,journal1  
,new ,york4  ,there has never been1 in  
this country at least1 so thorough an   
attempt to collate the facts of         
programme music4444 ,as a definite      
helper in some cases and as a refresher 
in others we believe ,mr4 ,upton's book 
to have a lasting value4444 ,the book1  
in brief1 shows enthusiastic and        
honorable educational purpose1 good     
taste1 and sound scholarship4--,the     
,american1 ,philadelphia4  ,upton's     
books should be read and studied by all 
who desire to acquaint themselves with  
the facts and accomplishments in these  
interesting forms of musical            
composition4--,the ,voice1 ,new ,york4  
,it is written in a style that cannot   
fail to stimulate the reader1 if also a 
student of music1 to strive to find for 
himself the underlying meanings of the  

compositions of the great composers4 ,it
 contains1 besides1 a vast amount of    
information about the symphony1 its     
evolution and structure1 with sketches  
of the composers1 and a detailed        
technical description of a few symphonic
 models4 ,it meets a recognized want of 
all concert goers4--,the ,chautauquan4  
,sold by all booksellers1 or mailed on  
receipt of price1 by ,a4 ,c4            
,mc,c,l,u,r,g  ,,co41 ,,publishers4     
,,ground ,,arms6  ,the ,story of a      
,life4  ,,by ,,bertha ,,von ,,suttner4  
#abmo1 #bhf pages4 ,price1 #a4jj4       
99       99       99       99       99  
,this story is one of the strongest     
works of fiction of the present decade4 
,the author is a philosopher and a      
philanthropist4 ,her clear1 incisive    
reasoning1 her large sympathies1        
combined with rare power of description1
 enable her to give the world a story   
which will hold in its thrall even the  
most shallow novel-reader who can       
appreciate good literature4--,the       

,arena1 ,boston4  ,the author pierces to
 the marrow of the thing that has taken 
hold of her4 ,by that thing she is      
verily possessed2 it has made of her a  
seer4444 ,the bare1 bald outline of ,die
 ,waffen nieder6 7,ground ,arms671 which
 is all we have been able to attempt1   
can give but a faint1 feeble idea of its
 power and pathos1 and none at all of   
the many light and humorous touches1 the
 well-drawn minor characters1 the       
thrilling episodes1 the piquant glimpses
 of the great world of ,austria and     
,france1 which relieve the gloom of the 
tragic story4--,international ,journal  
of ,ethics4  ,we have here              
unquestionably a very remarkable work4  
,as a plea for a general disarmament it 
stands unrivaled4 ,for a familiarity    
with the details of the subject treated1
 for breadth of view1 for logical       
acumen1 for dramatic effect and literary
 excellence1 it stands unequaled by any 
work written with a purpose4--,literary 
,digest4  ,with a powerful pen the      

author tells of the horrors of war2 not 
alone the desolation of battlefields1   
but the scourges of typhus and cholera  
that follow in their wake1 and the      
wretchedness1 misery1 and poverty       
brought to countless homes4 ,the story  
in itself is simple but pathetic4444    
,the book1 which is sound and calm in   
its logic and reasoning1 has made a     
grand impression upon military circles  
of ,europe1 and its influence is        
destined to extend far into the         
future4--,public ,opinion1 ,new ,york4  
,sold by all booksellers1 or mailed1 on 
receipt of price1 by ,a4 ,c4            
,mc,c,l,u,r,g  ,,co41 ,,publishers4