,,means ,,and ,,ends  ,,of ,,education  
,,by  ,j4 ,l4 ,,spalding  ,bishop of    
,peoria       ,,who ,,bringeth ,,many   
,,things1   ,,for ,,each ,,one          
,,something ,,brings     ,,chicago  ,a4 
,c4 ,mc,c,l,u,r,g ,,and ,,company  #ahie
     ,,copyright  ,,by ,a4 ,c4 ,,mcclurg
 ,l ,co4  ,a4,d4 #ahie      ,by ,bishop 
,spalding    ,,education ,,and ,,the    
,,higher ,,life4  #abmo4  #a4jj4        
,,things ,,of ,,the ,,mind4  #abmo4     
#a4jj4   ,,means ,,and ,,ends ,,of      
,,education4  #abmo4  #a4jj4   ,a4 ,c4  
,mc,c,l,u,r,g ,,and ,,co4   ,,chicago4  
,,contents4   ,,chapter     ,i4  ,,truth
 ,,and ,,love   ,,ii4  ,,truth ,,and    
,,love  ,,iii4  ,,the ,,making ,,of     
,,one',s ,,self   ,,iv4  ,,woman ,,and  
,,education    ,v4  ,,the ,,scope ,,of  
,,public-,,school ,,education   ,,vi4   
,,the ,,religious ,,element ,,in        
,,education  ,,vii4  ,,the ,,higher     
,,education     ,,means ,,and ,,ends    
,,of ,,education4     ,,chapter ,i4     
,,truth ,,and ,,love4  ,none of us yet  

know1 for none of us have yet been      
taught in early youth1 what fairy       
palaces we may build of beautiful       
thought--proof against all              
adversity2--bright fancies1 satisfied   
memories1 noble histories1 faithful     
sayings1 treasure-houses of precious and
 restful thoughts2 which care cannot    
disturb1 nor pain make gloomy1 nor      
poverty take away from us--houses built 
without hands for our souls to live     
in4--,,ruskin4  ,stirred up with high   
hopes of living to be brave men and     
worthy patriots1 dear to ,god and famous
 to all ages4--,,milton4   ,a great     
man's house is filled chiefly with      
menials and creatures of ceremony2 and  
great libraries contain1 for the most   
part1 books as dry and lifeless as the  
dust that gathers on them3 but from     
amidst these dead leaves an immortal    
mind here and there looks forth with    
light and love4  ,from the point of view
 of the bank president1 ,emerson tells  
us1 books are merely so much rubbish4   

,but in his eyes the flowers also1 the  
flowing water1 the fresh air1 the       
floating clouds1 children's voices1 the 
thrill of love1 the fancy's play1 the   
mountains1 and the stars are worthless4 
,not one in a hundred who buy           
,shakspere1 or ,milton1 or a work of any
 other great mind1 feels a genuine      
longing to get at the secret of its     
power and truth2 but to those alone who 
feel this longing is the secret         
revealed4  ,we must love the man of     
genius1 if we would have him speak to   
us4  ,we learn to know ourselves1 not by
 studying the behavior of matter1 but   
through experience of life and intimate 
acquaintance with literature4  ,our     
spiritual as well as our physical being 
springs from that of our ancestors4     
,freedom1 however1 gives the soul the   
power not only to develop what it       
inherits1 but to grow into conscious    
communion with the thought and love1 the
 hope and faith of the noble dead1 and1 
in thus enlarging itself1 to become the 

inspiration and source of richer and    
wider life for those who follow4  ,as   
parents are consoled by the thought of  
surviving in their descendants1 great   
minds are upheld and strengthened in    
their ceaseless labors by the hope of   
entering as an added impulse to better  
things1 from generation to generation1  
into the lives of thousands4  ,the      
greatest misfortune which can befall    
genius is to be sold to the advocacy of 
what is not truth and love and goodness 
and beauty4  ,the proper translation of 
timeo hominem unius libri is not1 ,i    
fear a man of one book1 but ,i dread a  
man of one book3 for he is sure to be   
narrow1 one-sided1 and unreasonable4    
,the right phrase enters at once into   
our spiritual world1 and its power      
becomes as real as that of material     
objects4  ,the truth to which it gives  
body is borne in upon us as a star or a 
mountain is borne in upon us4  ,kings   
and rich men live in history when genius
 happens to throw the light of abiding  

worlds upon their ephemeral estate4     
,carthage is the typical city of        
merchants and traders4  ,why is it      
remembered8 ,because ,hannibal was a    
warrior and ,virgil a poet4  ,the strong
 man is he who knows how and is able to 
become and be himself2 the magnanimous  
man is he who1 being strong1 knows how  
and is able to issue forth from himself1
 as from a fortress1 to guide1 protect1 
encourage1 and save others4  ,life's    
current flows pure and unimpeded within 
him1 and on its wave his thought and    
love are borne to bless his fellowmen4  
,if he who gives a cup of water in the  
right spirit does ,god's work1 so does  
he who sows or reaps1 or builds or      
sweeps1 or utters helpful truth or plays
 with children or cheers the lonely1 or 
does any other fair or useful thing4    
,take not seriously one who treats with 
derision men or books that have been    
deemed worthy of attention by the best  
minds4  ,he is false or foolish4  ,as we
 cherish a human being for the courage  

and love he inspires1 so books are dear 
to us for the noble thoughts and        
generous moods they call into being4    
,to drink the spirit of a great author  
is worth more than a knowledge of his   
teaching4  ,he who desires to grow wise 
should bring his reason to bear         
habitually upon what he sees and hears  
not less than upon what he reads2 for   
thus he soon comes to understand that   
whatever he thinks or feels1 says or    
does1 whatever happens within the sphere
 of his conscious life1 may be made the 
means of self-improvement4  ,he is not  
born for glory1 says ,vauvenargues1 who 
knows not the worth of time4  ,the      
educational value of books lies in their
 power to set the intellectual          
atmosphere in vibration1 thereby rousing
 the mind to self-activity2 and those   
which have not this power lack vitality4
  ,if in a whole volume we find one     
passage in which truth is expressed in a
 noble and striking manner1 we have not 
read in vain4  ,to read with profit1 we 

should read as a serious student reads1 
with the mind all alive and held to the 
subject2 for reading is thinking1 and it
 is valuable in proportion to the       
stimulus it gives to the exercise of    
faculty4  ,the conversation of high and 
ingenuous minds is doubtless as         
instructive as it is delightful1 but it 
is seldom in our power to call around us
 those with whom we should wish to hold 
discourse2 and hence we go back to the  
emancipated spirits1 who having         
transcended the bounds of time and      
space1 are wherever they are desired and
 are always ready to entertain whoever  
seeks their company4  ,genius neither   
can nor will discover its secret4  ,why 
his thought has such a mould and such a 
tinge he no more knows than why the     
flowers have such a tint and such a     
perfume2 and if he knew he would not    
care to tell4  ,nothing is wholly       
manifest4  ,in the most trivial object1 
as in the simplest word1 there lies a   
world of meaning which does not reveal  

itself to a passing glance4  ,if        
therefore thou wouldst come to right    
understanding1 consider all things with 
an awakened and interested curiosity4   
,when the mind at last finds itself     
rightly at home in its world1 it is as  
delighted as children making escape from
 restraining walls1 as full of spirit as
 colts newly turned upon the greensward4
  ,in the realm of truth each one is    
king1 and what he knows is as much his  
own as though he were its first         
discoverer4  ,however firmly thou       
holdest to thy opinions1 if truth       
appears on the opposite side1 throw down
 thy arms at once4  ,a book has the     
power almost of a human being to inspire
 admiration or disgust1 love or hatred4 
,to be useful is a noble thing1 to be   
necessary is not desirable4  ,the youth 
has not enough ambition unless he has   
too much4  ,it is difficult to give     
lessons in the art of pleasing without  
teaching that of lying4  ,the           
discouraged are already vanquished4  ,in

 judging the deed let not the character 
of the doer influence thy opinion1 for  
good is good1 evil evil1 by whomsoever  
done4  ,when the author is rightly      
inspired his words need not             
interpretation4  ,they are as natural   
and as beautiful as the faces of        
children or as new-blown flowers1 and   
their meaning is plain4  ,the spirit and
 love of dogmatism is characteristic of 
the imperfectly educated4  ,as there is 
a communion of saints1 there is a       
communion of noble minds1 living and    
dead4  ,to speak of love which is not   
felt1 of piety which is not a living    
sentiment within us1 is to weaken both  
in ourselves and in those who hear us   
the power of faith and affection4 ,the  
best that has been known and experienced
 by minds and hearts lies asleep in     
books1 ready to awaken for whoever holds
 the magician's wand4 ,books which at   
their first appearance create a breeze  
of excitement1 are forgotten when the   
wind falls4  ,a human soul rightly      

uttering itself1 in whatever age or     
country1 ceases to belong to any age or 
country1 and becomes part of the        
universal life of man4  ,a sprightly wit
 may serve only to lead us astray1 and  
to enmesh us more hopelessly in error4  
,deeper knowledge is the remedy for the 
foolishness of sciolism3 like cures     
like4  ,in the books in which men worth 
knowing have put some of the vital      
quality which makes them worth knowing1 
there is perennial inspiration4  ,they  
are the form and substance of an        
immortal spirit which1 in creating them1
 became itself4  ,i have not made my    
book1 says ,montaigne1 more than my book
 has made me4  ,were one to ask an      
acquaintance who knows men to point out 
the individuals whom he should make his 
friends1 his request would probably     
receive an unsatisfactory reply3 for    
how1 except by trial1 is it possible to 
say who will suit whom8  ,those whose   
friendship would be valuable might1 for 
whatever cause1 be disagreeable to him1 

as the greatest and noblest may be      
unpleasant companions4  ,many a one whom
 we admire as he stands forth in        
history1 whose words and deeds thrill   
and uplift us1 we should detest had we  
known him in life2 and others to whom we
 might have been drawn would have cared 
nothing for us4  ,between men and books 
there is doubtless a wide difference1   
though a good book contains the best of 
the life of some true man4  ,but when we
 are asked to point out the books one   
should learn to love1 we are confronted 
with much the same difficulty as had we 
been asked to name the persons whom he  
should make his friends4  ,a book can   
have worth for us only when we have     
learned to love it2 and since a real    
book1 like a real man1 has its proper   
character1 it is not easy to determine  
whom it will please or displease4  ,once
 it has taken a safe place in           
literature1 it will1 of course1 be      
praised by everybody2 but this1 like the
 praise of men1 is often meaningless4   

,all who read know something about the  
great books1 but their knowledge1 unless
 it leads them to intimate acquaintance 
with some one or several of these books1
 has little worth4 ,books are1 indeed1 a
 world which each one must discover for 
himself4 ,another may tell us about     
them1 but the truth and beauty there is 
in them for each one1 each one must     
find4  ,the value of a book1 like that  
of a man1 lies not in its freedom from  
fault1 but in its qualities1 in the good
 it contains4  ,words which inspire the 
love of spiritual beauty and noble      
action cannot be false3 the consent of  
the wise places them in the canon4  ,the
 imperishable goods are truth1 freedom1 
love1 and beauty4  ,valuable alone is   
that which enriches and ennobles life4  
,there are natures for whom the lack of 
knowledge is as painful as the lack of  
food4  ,they are ahungered and athirst  
for it1 and their suffering impels them 
to ceaseless meditation and study1 as   
the only means of relief4  ,the         

self-educator's first and simplest aim  
should be to learn to know and do well  
whatever he knows and does2 and to this 
end let him often observe and consider  
how rare are they who know anything     
thoroughly or do well any of the hundred
 things which are part of daily life3   
who talk well1 or write well1 or behave 
well4  ,herbert ,spencer affirms that it
 is better to learn the meanings of     
things than the meanings of words2 but  
he loses sight of the fact that the     
meanings of things become plain only    
when things are clothed in words1 which1
 in truth1 are things1 being nothing    
else than the very form and body of     
nature as it reveals itself within the  
mind of man4  ,the world is chiefly a   
mental fact4  ,from mind it receives the
 forms of time and space1 the principle 
of causality1 color1 warmth1 and beauty4
  ,were there no mind1 there would be no
 world4  ,the end of man is the pursuit 
of perfection1 through communion with   
,god1 his fellows1 and nature1 by means 

of knowledge and conduct1 of faith1     
hope1 admiration1 and love4  ,it is easy
 to praise work overmuch4  ,like money1 
it is a means1 not an end1 and it is    
good or evil as it is made to help or   
harm the worker1 for man is an end1 not 
a means4  ,the work which millions are  
still forced to do is a curse1--the     
trail of the serpent is over it all1 and
 no people has the right to call itself 
civilized1 while work which dehumanizes 
is not merely permitted1 but encouraged4
  ,let us not teach the young to believe
 they are born into a world of delights 
and pleasures1 but let us strive to     
enable them to realize that1 upon this  
earth1 only the wise and good and strong
 can make themselves really at home2    
that for the wicked and the weak its    
very delights and pleasures turn to     
sorrow and suffering4  ,we pity the     
hard-driven beast of burden4  ,how then 
is it possible to look with complacency 
on a world in which multitudes of human 
beings are condemned to the work of the 

ox and the ass8  ,for the healthy man1  
wealth and happiness would seem to be   
identical1 if his desires are confined  
to the things of which money is the     
equivalent4  ,but this is a delusion1   
for the plenary possession of these     
things has never satisfied a human      
being4  ,man needs virtue1 knowledge1   
love1 and to take the obvious view1 he  
needs the power to enjoy the things     
money buys2 and of this money deprives  
him4  ,when we consider the many        
unworthy means men take to gain wealth  
and office1 we are forced to believe    
that to reach their ends they are ready 
to profess to hold opinions and beliefs 
about which they care nothing or which  
they really do not accept at all4  ,by  
this following of time-servers and      
place-hunters every noble cause is      
weakened and the purest faith is        
corrupted4  ,to labor for those we love1
 to sit in the hours of rest1 with wife 
and children about us1 smiling in the   
blaze of the fire we have lighted1      

sheltered by the roof we have built1    
secure in the sense of protection our   
presence inspires1 is to feel that life 
is good4  ,but is it not a higher thing 
to turn away1 in disrespect of all this 
peace and comfort1 and to strive alone1 
by thought and deed1 to find the way    
which leads to ,god and to be a pioneer 
therein for those who wander helpless   
and astray8  ,the more we dwell with    
truth and love1 the more conscious we   
become that they are the best1 and are  
everlasting2 and thus our immortality is
 revealed to us4  ,visibly we float on  
the boundless stream and disappear2 but 
inasmuch as we are truth-loving and     
love-cherishing1 we dwell in an abiding 
city1 and may behold our bodies carried 
forth by the flood1 as a man sees his   
house swept away1 while he himself      
remains4  ,our thoughtlessness and      
indifference1 our indolence and         
frivolousness1 blind us to the infinite 
worth and significance of life2 and they
 who call themselves religious often    

take it as lightly as worldlings and    
unbelievers4  ,in the ,universe there is
 nothing which exists separate and apart
 from other things4  ,the satellites    
hold to the planets1 the planets to the 
suns1 the suns to one another1 all in   
obedience to the same laws which bind   
the body to earth1 and cause the water  
to flow and the vapor to rise4  ,for the
 senses there is separateness1 but for  
the mind there is union and unity4      
,communion is the law of souls as of    
bodies4  ,both are immersed in a        
boundless world1 from which if they     
could be drawn forth they would cease to
 be4  ,the principle of this infinite   
harmony is love1 is ,god4  ,the right   
human bond is that which unites soul    
with soul2 and only they are truly akin 
who consciously live in the same world1 
who think1 believe1 and love alike1 who 
hope for the same things1 aspire to the 
same ends4  ,our mental view never      
reaches the ultimate nature of being1   
and hence our knowledge1 whether of     

material or of spiritual things1 is     
incomplete4  ,faith is the effort to    
supply the defect which inheres in all  
our knowing4  ,knowledge springs from   
faith1 faith from knowledge1 as rivers  
from clouds1 clouds from rivers4  ,the  
more we know1 the more we believe2 and  
our growing consciousness does not make 
us content to rest in a mechanical view 
of nature1 but it brings home to us with
 increasing power the awfulness of the  
infinite mystery1 which we more and more
 clearly perceive to be a spiritual     
rather than a material fact4  ,if at    
present there is a certain failure of   
will and consequent discouragement in   
the pursuit of moral and intellectual   
perfection1 this is a result of our     
passing bewilderment in the presence of 
the revelations of science and of the   
mighty forces it places in the hands of 
man1 and not of any new knowledge which 
tends to inspire misgivings concerning  
the being of ,god and our kinship with  
,him3---    ,from nature up to law1 from

 law to love3   ,this is the ascendant  
path in which we move1   ,impelled by   
,god in ways that lighten still1   ,till
 all things meet in one eternal thrill4 
,as the ,universe revealed by the       
,copernican astronomy and the other     
natural sciences is infinitely more     
sublime and marvellous than such a world
 as the ,israelites1 the ,greeks1 or the
 ,romans imagined1 so they who see      
rightly in the luminous ether of modern 
intelligence understand better than the 
ancients that human life is not an      
ephemeral and superficial1 but an       
immortal and central power1 enrooted in 
,god1 and drawing its substance and     
sustenance from ,him4  ,the appeal to   
shame is a poor argument4  ,the fact    
that men of great intellectual power and
 learning have held an opinion to be    
true does not make it so4  ,new         
knowledge may have shown it to be false1
 or the general advance of the race may 
have changed the point of view4  ,the   
presumption of the larger wisdom of the 

,ancients we cannot accept3 for we1 not 
they1 are the true ancients4  ,the      
purest and the holiest prayer men speak 
is this3 ,thy will be done4  ,they who  
utter it from the inmost soul1 find     
peace1 even as a fretful child sinks to 
rest upon the mother's bosom4  ,in      
learning to love the will of ,god they  
come at last not merely to believe1 but 
to feel that ,his will guides the       
,universe1 and that all will be well4   
,when an utterance comes forth from the 
depths of our spiritual being1 men      
cannot but hearken4  ,it is as though we
 should bring to exiles tidings of a    
long-lost home and country4  ,to what a 
weight he stoops who addresses himself  
with fixed resolve to the life of       
thought6  ,the burden indeed is heavy1  
but the pathway lies through pleasant   
fields where great souls move to and fro
 in freedom and at peace4  ,and as he   
grows accustomed to his labor1 the world
 widens1 the heavens break open1 the    
dead live again1 and with them he rises 

into the high regions where the petty   
cares and passions of mortals do not    
reach4  ,he who would educate himself   
must make use of his own powers4  ,he   
must observe1 think1 examine1 read1     
argue1 ponder2 he must learn when to    
hold judgment in suspense1 and when to  
give the wings of the soul free sweep   
through the high and serene realms of   
truth and beauty4  ,the farther we dwell
 from the crowd1 with its current       
opinion1 the better and truer shall we  
and our thoughts become4  ,they who     
write for multitudinous readers rise    
with difficulty above the dignity of    
mountebanks4  ,there is a radical defect
 in the character of whoever works in   
the spirit of a trifler1 however        
blameless his conduct4  ,the power to   
inspire faith in the seriousness and    
goodness of life is a sufficient test of
 the worth of a scheme of education4    
,no one should fill an office which he  
is unable to hold without hindrance to  
the play of mind and heart that makes   

him a man4  ,the dignities we possess at
 the cost of knowledge and virtue are   
like jewels for the sake of which one   
goes hungry and naked2 mere glittering  
baubles for which we barter the soul's  
prosperity4  ,experience is personal1   
and it is largely incommunicable2 but   
genius--and in this lies its power and  
charm--renders it communicable4 ,what   
the poet or the painter has felt and    
seen1 he makes all men feel and see4    
,the difference between man and man1    
between the child and the youth1 the    
youth and the adult1 is chiefly a       
difference in feeling1 in the manner in 
which they are impressed2 and it is our 
nature to be drawn in admiration or     
reverence to those who by their words or
 deeds give us deeper impressions of the
 worth of life1 and thus open for us new
 sources of feeling4  ,fair thoughts    
rise in the heart and mind of genius1   
like the fragrant breath which the dewy 
flowers exhale in the face of the rising
 sun1 and they utter themselves as      

simply as matin songs warbled by        
sweet-throated birds4  ,faith in the    
infinite nature and worth of truth1     
goodness1 and love1 is the dawn which   
shall merge into the fulness of day1    
when1 in other worlds1 ,god looks upon  
the soul1 reborn from out this          
seemingness4  ,our position1 our        
reputation1 our wealth1 our comforts1   
are but a vesture like the body itself4 
,they shall fall away1 and we shall     
remain with ,god4  ,there is no liberty 
but obedience to the impulse of the     
higher nature which urges us to think   
nobly1 to act rightly1 and to love      
constantly4  ,the dominion of appetite  
is slavery2 the dominion of reason and  
conscience is freedom4  ,renan somewhere
 says he could wish for nothing better  
than that a little volume of selections 
from his writings might commend itself  
to young women1 whose fair faces should 
bend over it1 and find there a          
reflection of their own pure souls4     
,but where there is no ,god1 the soul is

 not mirrored1 and we never really love 
an author who weakens faith and hope4   
,with whatever success we advance       
towards the wide and serene life of the 
pure reason1 let us still cling to      
faith1 hope1 and love1 the primal powers
 which keep watch at our birth1 and     
which bend over our cradles1 and which  
alone lift us into the world of enduring
 peace and hold us within the sheltering
 arms of ,god4  ,in the enlightened     
mind1 faith is a higher virtue than it  
can be for the ignorant1 and to sustain 
it there is need of a nobler life4  ,he 
whom neither learning nor power nor     
wealth can corrupt must have virtue2 for
 learning breeds conceit1 and power     
begets pride1 and wealth debases both   
the mind and heart4  ,the intellect does
 not recognize that conscience may      
forbid its exercise1 since knowledge    
cannot be evil4  ,if earth were a hell  
and life a curse and the ,universe but a
 cinder1 it would still be good to know 
the fact4  ,the saddest truth is better 

than the merriest lie4  ,to know a thing
 is to be conscious of its relation to  
the mind4  ,we know it1 not in itself1  
but in and through this relation4  ,our 
knowledge of ,god1 who is the absolute1 
is not absolute knowledge1 but a        
knowledge of ,him in so far as ,he is   
related to the mind of man4  ,since1    
however1 mind is reason and not         
unreason1 there is harmony between it   
and things1 between it and ,god2 and    
hence to be conscious of its relation to
 ,god and the universe is to be         
conscious of a real relation1 in which  
both the thinker and his thought are in 
truth what they seem to be4  ,the       
ultimate reality is inferred1 not       
directly perceived4  ,it reveals itself 
to the purest faith and love1 and may be
 hidden from one who knows all the      
sciences4  ,as man's relations to his   
fellows make him a social and political 
being1 so his relations to the unseen   
power behind and within the visible     
world1 of whose presence he is always1  

however dimly1 conscious1 and to whom he
 refers whatever touches the senses1 as 
well as the principle of life itself1   
make him a religious being4  ,in        
identifying what seem to be our         
particular interests with the interests 
of all1 we make escape from narrowness  
and isolation into the general life of  
humanity2 and when we come to understand
 that not only mankind but all nature is
 a ,unity in the ,consciousness of the  
,infinite and ,eternal1 bound together  
by thought and love1 we enter into the  
glorious liberty of the ,sons of ,god1  
and feel that nor height nor depth nor  
things past nor things to come shall    
separate us from the divine charity4    
,we are akin to all that may become part
 of our life2 and whatever we know or   
love or admire is spiritualized and made
 human4  ,to understand the things of   
the spirit we must have spiritual       
experience4 ,the intuitions of time and 
space1 as well as the principle of      
causality1 are given in the constitution

 of the mind4  ,so is the idea of being1
 of perfection1 of beauty1 of eternity1 
of infinity1 of duty4 ,to think implies 
being1 to perceive things as existing in
 time and space implies consciousness of
 eternity and infinity4  ,to know the   
imperfect is possible only in the light 
of the perfect4  ,subject is itself     
object1 the first known and best        
understood1 and the laws of mind are    
laws of being4  ,if the constitution of 
mind makes the revelation of the        
material world possible only under the  
forms of time and space1 intelligible   
only as sequence of cause and effect1   
the reason is to be found in the nature 
of things4  ,if the constitution of mind
 postulates one who knows and shapes1 in
 a world in which whatever is1 is       
intelligible1 in which there is order1  
proportion1 and purpose1 it is because  
such an ,one is given in the nature of  
things1 and ,he is ,god4  ,however      
living our faith1 it is faith and not   
knowledge2 and should it become         

knowledge1 it would cease to be faith4  
,there are three kinds of               
authors1--those who impart knowledge1   
those who give delight1 and those who   
strengthen and inspire4  ,a noble       
thought rightly expressed sweeps the    
higher nerve centres as the touch of a  
perfect performer the strings of an     
instrument2 but if the instrument is    
poor and irresponsive1 the appeal is    
made in vain4 ,life has the power to    
propagate itself1 and if the words thou 
utterest are living1 they will strike   
root somewhere and bud and blossom and  
bear fruit2 but if there is no life in  
them1 be content to have them fall and  
lie amid the dust of the dead4  ,god and
 the universe are what they are1 and the
 best even genius can do is to throw    
over them a revealing light4  ,he who   
feels that he is always in the presence 
of ,god will strive as religiously to   
think only what is true as he will      
strive to do only what is right4  ,a    
phrase which leaps forth aglow with life

 from the heart and brain of genius1 not
 only lives forever1 but retains forever
 the power to awaken1 when brought into 
contact with a brain and heart1 the     
thrill with which it first came into    
being4  ,only a few know and love the   
poet1 but they are young and fair1 and  
the music of high thoughts and pure love
 is rhythmic with the current of their  
blood2 and if among them there be found 
some who are old1 they are choice       
spirits who have risen from out the     
lapses of time into regions where what  
is true and beautiful is so forever4    
,this little band of chosen ones        
accompanies him adown the centuries1 and
 listens to the melody which wells in   
his heart and breaks into songs that    
shall give delight as long as the air of
 spring is pleasant and the flowers     
fragrant and the carollings of birds    
delightful2 and while the poet strolls  
on the outskirts of time1 thus loved and
 thus attended1 the stormy and          
glittering favorites of the crowd drop  

from sight and are forgotten1 or        
remembered but as the echo of a name4   
,a line from ,homer1 which sounds like a
 response from our own heart1 is clothed
 with the mystery of diviner power1     
because it makes us feel that we were   
alive thousands of years ago amid the   
,grecian isles1 thus revealing to us the
 unreality of time and space1 and the   
everlasting nature of truth and beauty4 
,as it is right to admire and love      
whatever is good wherever it is found1  
it needs must be the part of wisdom to  
seek to know and appreciate all that is 
true and high in the works of genius1   
though there1 like precious stones and  
metals in the mine1 it be mingled with  
baser matter4  ,it is but narrowness or 
intellectual pharisaism to turn from a  
great author because in his life and    
works there may be things of which we   
cannot approve4  ,shall we abandon ,god 
because ,his world is full of evil1 or  
,christ because there is corruption in  
the church8  ,st4 ,paul appeals to pagan

 literature1 ,st4 ,augustine is the     
disciple of ,plato1 ,st4 ,thomas        
,aquinas of ,aristotle1 and the culture 
and civilization of ,christendom are    
largely due to influences which are not 
,christian4  ,whatever is good is from  
,god4  ,there is no surer mark of the   
lack of culture than the use of         
ill-natured and abusive epithets4 ,to   
feel the need of injurious words to     
express one's opinion1 merely shows that
 one is angry1 and anger is vulgar4     
,whatever is inspired by vanity is in   
bad taste4  ,this is why a showy style  
is a false style1 why fine writing is   
poor writing4  ,the author yields to the
 spirit of vainglory1 whereas he should 
be wholly bent upon uttering his thought
 as he knows it4  ,it is as though he   
should call our attention to a costly   
garb when what we want to see is a man4 
,as a plain face is better than a mask1 
though fine1 so one's own style1 though 
inferior1 is better than any which is   
borrowed4  ,true books survive without  

help or let of critics1 by virtue of    
their vital quality1 which attracts     
kindred spirits with irresistible power4
  ,when their worth becomes known1 the  
critics set up a howl of praise1 and    
many buy2 but only a few make them their
 serious study1 and learn to know and   
love them4  ,truth is the mind's food2  
and1 like that of the body1 it is       
nourishment only when it has been       
digested and assimilated4 ,it is1 after 
all1 but a little while since man began 
to think4  ,as yet he is learning the   
alphabet4  ,take heart then1 and apply  
thy mind4  ,as we grow older the years  
seem to run to months1 the months to    
weeks1 the weeks to days1 the days to   
hours1 the hours to moments1 until time1
 like an exhalation1 appears to dissolve
 in the inane1 and become the nothing it
 was and is and will be for eternity4   
,if thought were given us1 like house   
and clothing1 merely for our personal   
comfort1 wisdom would lead us to think  
with and like all the world4  ,they who 

are eager for the good opinion of others
 seem to have but weak faith in their   
own worth4  ,the art of pleasing would  
better deserve our study were there more
 who are worth pleasing1 or were it less
 difficult to please without loss of    
sincerity and without stooping to the   
service of vulgar interests4  ,not how  
much or how many things thou knowest is 
of import4  ,an industrious reader1 of  
retentive memory1 will easily know more 
things than a great philosopher compared
 with whom he is but a child4  ,know    
thyself was the sum of what ,socrates   
taught1 and each of the seven wise men  
rested his fame upon an apothegm4  ,to  
expect the multitude to appreciate the  
best in life or literature1 is to expect
 them to be what they have never been   
and will probably never be4  ,would you 
have an ox admire the sunrise or the    
pearly dew1 when all he feels the need  
of is grass8  ,appeal to the many if you
 will1 but if your appeal is for the    
highest1 only the few will hearken4     

,consider not what great men or books   
are worth in themselves1 but what they  
are worth to thee2 for thou art able to 
judge of their value only in so far as  
thou understandest and lovest them4  ,if
 thou canst not bear trouble1 sorrow1   
and disappointment without loss of      
composure1 thou art poorly equipped for 
life's struggle4  ,if thou mayst not    
lead the life thou wouldst wish1 thou   
canst at least make the life thou       
leadest the means to improve thyself4   
,if we were so constituted that thought1
 feeling1 and imagination might have    
free and healthful play in ever-during  
darkness and isolation1 life would still
 be good4  ,could ,i live surrounded by 
those ,i love1 ,i should feel less      
keenly the discontent which the         
consciousness of my higher needs        
creates2 and besides1 it is not easy to 
rest in the comforts and luxuries which 
make and keep us inferior1 except in the
 company of those we love4  ,if our     
ordinary power of sight were as great as

 that we gain with the help of the      
microscope1 the world would become for  
us a place of horrors2 and if we could  
clearly see ourselves as we are1 life   
would be less endurable4  ,god blurs our
 vision as a mother hides from her child
 its wound4  ,pleasures which quickly   
end in revulsion of feeling are but     
momentary escapes from pain2 and they   
alone are fortunate who are able to     
persevere in pursuits which give them   
pure delight4  ,all good1 says ,kant1   
which is not based on the highest moral 
principle is but empty appearance and   
splendid misery4  ,sensations of color1 
taste1 sound1 smell1 touch1 heat and    
cold1 perceptions of magnitude1 and     
temporal and spatial relations1 is the  
sum of what we know2 and yet we are     
conscious that reason means infinitely  
more than this1 that its proper object  
is the eternal world of truth1 goodness1
 and beauty4  ,think for thyself with a 
single view to truth2 for so only will  
thy thought be of worth and service to  

others4  ,we feel ourselves only in     
action1 and hence the need of doing lest
 we lose ourselves and be swallowed in  
nothingness4  ,and for the old and      
feeble even worry1 ,i suppose1 is a     
comfort1 for it helps to keep this      
self-consciousness alive4  ,it is       
impossible to say whence a thought      
comes1 and it is often difficult to     
determine the occasion by which it has  
been suggested4  ,fortunate are the     
children all of whose knowledge comes   
from man and nature in their purity1    
whose memory holds no words which are   
not the symbols of what they themselves 
have seen and felt1 in whose minds no   
will-o'-the-wisp from chimera worlds    
flits to and fro4  ,it is only by       
keeping men in ignorance and vice that  
it is possible to keep them from the    
contagion of great thoughts4  ,they who 
have little are thought to have no right
 to anything4  ,thus the plagiarized    
sayings of ,napoleon and other nurslings
 of fame pass for their own2 who their  

real authors were1 seeming to be a      
matter of indifference4  ,if ,i am not  
pleased with myself1 but should wish to 
be other than ,i am1 why should ,i think
 highly of the influences which have    
made me what ,i am8  ,should ,i publish 
what ,i believe to be true and well     
expressed1 and competent judges should  
declare it to be worthless in form and  
substance1 the verdict would be         
interesting to me1 and ,i should set to 
work to discover why and how ,i had so  
far failed in discernment4  ,a          
thoroughly cultivated man1 says         
,fontenelle1 is informed by all the     
thinkers of the past1 as though he had  
lived and continued to grow in knowledge
 during all the centuries4  ,the author 
is rewarded when his readers are made   
better4  ,the most persuasive of men are
 the praisers of patent medicines4      
,their eloquence is more richly rewarded
 than that of all the orators1 who also 
are paid1 for the most part1 in inverse 
ratio to the amount of truth they utter4

  ,fame1 as fame1 is the merest vanity4 
,no wise man wishes to be talked and    
written about1 living or dead1 to be a  
theme chiefly for fools4  ,literature is
 writing in which genuine thought and   
feeling are rightly expressed4  ,they   
who content themselves with what others 
have uttered1 learn nothing4  ,the blind
 need a guide1 but they who are able to 
see should look for themselves4  ,there 
is1 indeed1 in the words of genius a    
glow which never dies2 but it only      
dazzles and misleads1 if it fails to    
stimulate and strengthen our own powers 
of vision4  ,true speech is not idle2 it
 is utterance of life1 the mate of      
action1 and the begetter of noble deeds4
  ,strive for knowledge and strength1   
but do not appear to have them4  ,a     
book1 says ,la ,bruyere1 which exalts   
the mind and inspires high and manly    
thoughts1 is good1 and the work of a    
master4  ,a phrase suffices to tell the 
man is ignorant or the book worthless4  
,as the body is nourished by dead       

things1 vegetable and animal1 so the    
mind feeds on the thoughts of those who 
have ceased to live1 which1 it would    
seem1 are never rightly understood until
 the thinkers have passed away4  ,to be 
unwilling to be proved wrong is to fail 
in love of truth2 to resent an objection
 is to lack culture4  ,one may believe  
what cannot be demonstrated1 but to grow
 angry because there is no proof is     
absurd4  ,to do deeds and to utter      
thoughts which long after we have       
departed shall remain to cheer1 to      
illumine1 to strengthen and console1 is 
to be like ,god2 and the desire of noble
 minds is not of praise1 but of abiding 
power for good4  ,he who is certain of  
himself needs not the good opinion of   
men1 not of those even who are competent
 to judge4  ,only the vain and foolish  
or the designing and dishonest will wish
 to receive credit for more ability and 
virtue than they have4  ,an exaggerated 
reputation may nourish conceit or win   
favor2 but the wise and the good put    

away conceit1 and desire not favors     
which are granted from mistaken notions4
  ,i hate false words1 says ,landor1 and
 seek with care1 difficulty1 and        
moroseness those that fit the thing4    
,dwell not with complacency upon aught  
thou hast or hast achieved1 but address 
thyself each day1 like a simple-hearted 
child1 to the task ,god sets thee2 and  
remember when the last hour comes thou  
canst carry nothing to ,him but faith in
 ,his mercy and goodness4     ,,chapter 
,,ii4  ,,truth ,,and ,,love4  ,truth1   
which only doth judge itself1 teacheth  
that the inquiry of truth1 which is the 
love-making or wooing of it2 the        
knowledge of truth1 which is the        
presence of it2 and the belief of truth1
 which is the enjoying of it1 is the    
sovereign good of human                 
nature4--,,bacon4   ,as those who have  
little think their little much1 so those
 who have few ideas believe with        
obstinacy that they are the sum of all  
truth4  ,if the world could but be made 

to see what they see there would be no  
ills4  ,they have not even a suspicion  
of the unutterable complexity of the    
warp and woof of nature and of life2 and
 when their opinions are combated they  
imagine they thereby acquire new        
importance1 and they defend them with   
such zeal that they make proselytes and 
found sects in religion1 politics1 and  
literature4  ,the source of the greater 
part of error is the absoluteness the   
mind attributes to its knowledge and1 as
 part of this1 the persuasion that at   
each stage of our mental life1 we are   
capable of seeing things as they are4   
,the aim of the philosopher1 as of the  
,christian1 is to escape from the       
ephemeral self by renouncing what is    
petty1 partial1 apparent1 and           
transitory1 that the true self may      
unfold in the world of the permanent1 of
 things which have an aptitude for      
perpetuity2 but the philosopher's       
efforts are intellectual and moral1     
while the ,christian's source of        

strength is the love which is enrooted  
in divine faith4  ,the brief precept1   
says ,st4 ,augustine1 is given there    
once for all1--,love1 and do what thou  
wilt4  ,if thou art silent1 be silent   
for love2 if thou speakest1 speak for   
love2 if thou correctest1 correct for   
love2 if thou sparest1 spare for love4  
,the root of love is within1 and from it
 only good can come4  ,life springs from
 love1 and love is its being1 aim1 and  
end4  ,each soul is born of souls       
yearning that he be born1 and he lives  
only so far as he leaves himself and    
becomes through love part of the life of
 ,god and the race of man4  ,primordial 
matter1 with which the physicists start1
 is twin brother of nothing4  ,in every 
conceivable hypothesis1 we assume either
 that nothing is the cause of something1
 or that from the beginning there was   
something or some one who is all the    
universe may become4  ,if truth and love
 and goodness are of the essence of the 
highest life evolved in nature1 they are

 of the essence of that by which nature 
exists and energizes4  ,if reason is    
valid at all1 it avails as an immovable 
foundation for faith in ,god and in     
man's kinship with him4  ,the larger the
 world we live in1 the greater the      
opportunities for self-education4 ,he   
who knows friends and foes1 who is      
commended and found fault with1 who     
tastes the delights of home and breathes
 the air of strange lands1 who is       
followed and opposed1 who triumphs and  
suffers defeat1 who contends with many  
and is left alone1 who dwells with his  
own thoughts and in the company of the  
great minds of all time1--necessarily   
gains wisdom and power1 and learns to   
feel himself a man4  ,science springs   
from man's yearning for truth2 art1 from
 his yearning for beauty2 religion1 from
 his yearning for love3 and as truth1   
beauty1 and love are a harmony1 so are  
science1 art1 and religion2 and if      
conflicts arise1 they are the results of
 ignorance and passion4  ,the charm of  

faith1 hope1 and love1 of knowledge1    
beauty1 and religion1 lies in their     
power to open life's prison1 thus       
permitting the soul to escape to commune
 with the ,infinite and ,eternal1 with  
the boundless mysterious world of being 
which forever draws us on and forever   
eludes our grasp4  ,the higher the man1 
the more urgent this need of            
self-escape4  ,we look upon lifelong    
imprisonment of the body as among the   
greatest of evils1 but that the mind    
should be suffered to languish in the   
dungeon of ignorance1 error1 and        
prejudice1 seems comparatively a slight 
thing4 ,thy whole business1 as a        
rational being1 is to know and follow   
truth1--with gratitude and joy if       
possible1 but1 in any case1 with courage
 and resignation4  ,mind maketh man2 and
 the most money and place can do1 is to 
make millionnaires and titularies4  ,the
 ,alpine guides1 who lead travellers    
through the sublimest scenery in the    
world1 are as insensible to its grandeur

 as the stocks they grasp2 and we nearly
 all are as indifferent as these drudges
 to ,nature's divine spectacle1 with its
 starlit heavens1 its risings and       
settings of sun and moon1 its storms and
 calms1 its changes of season1 its      
clouds and snows and breath of          
many-tinted flowers1 its children's     
faces1 and plumage and songs of birds4  
,as we judge of many things by samples1 
a glance may suffice to show the        
worthlessness of a book1 but the value  
of one that is genuine is not quickly   
perceived1 for it reveals itself the    
more the oftener it is read and         
pondered4  ,there is not a more certain1
 a purer1 or a more delightful source of
 contentment and independence than a    
taste for the best literature4  ,in the 
midst of occupations and cares of       
whatever kind it enables us to look     
forward to the hour when the noblest    
minds and most generous hearts shall    
welcome us to their company to be       
entertained with great thoughts rightly 

uttered and with information concerning 
whatever is of interest to man4  ,in    
every home the best works of the great  
poets1 historians1 philosophers1        
orators1 and story-writers should lie   
within reach of the young1 who should be
 permitted1 not urged1 to read them4    
,we may know a man by the company he    
keeps2 we may know him better still by  
the books he loves3 and if he loves     
none1 he is not worth knowing4  ,matthew
 ,arnold praises culture for its        
inexhaustible indulgence1 its           
consideration of circumstances1 its     
severe judgment of actions joined to its
 merciful judgment of persons4  ,when we
 have learned to love work1 to love     
honest work1 work well done1 excellently
 well done1 we have within ourselves the
 most fruitful principle of education4  
,who shall speak ill of bodily health   
and vigor8  ,herbert ,spencer affirms   
that it is man's first duty to be a good
 animal4  ,but since we cannot all be   
athletes or be well even1 let us not    

refuse to find consolation in the fact  
that much of what is greatest1 whether  
in the world of thought or action1 has  
been wrought by mighty souls in feeble  
and suffering bodies2 and since men     
gladly risk health and life to acquire  
gold1 shall we not be willing1 if need  
be1 to be sicklied o'er with the pale   
cast of thought1 if so we may attain to 
truth and love8  ,great things are      
accomplished only by concentration4     
,what we ourselves think1 love1 and do1 
until it becomes a habit1 is the form   
and substance of our life4  ,to live in 
the company of those who have or seek   
culture is to breathe the vital air of  
mental health and vigor4  ,the          
scientific investigator gives his whole 
attention to the facts before him2 but  
the discipline of close observation1    
however favorable it may be to accuracy1
 weakens capacity for wide and profound 
views4 ,on the other hand1 the          
speculative thinker is apt to grow      
heedless or oblivious of facts4  ,hence 

a minute observer is seldom a great     
philosopher1 a great philosopher rarely 
a careful observer4  ,employment1 says  
,ruskin1 is the half1 and the primal    
half of education1 for it forms the     
habits of body and mind1 and these are  
the constitution of man4  ,tell me at   
and in what thou workest1 and ,i will   
tell thee what thou art4  ,the secret of
 education lies in the words of         
,christ1--,he that hath eyes to see1 let
 him see2 he that hath ears to hear1 let
 him hear4  ,the soul must flow through 
the channels of the senses until it     
meets the universe and clothes it with  
the beauty and meaning which reveal     
,god4  ,when ,i think of all the truth  
which still remains for me to learn1 of 
all the good ,i yet may do1 of all the  
friends ,i still may serve1 of all the  
beauty ,i may see1 life seems as fresh  
and fair1 as full of promise1 as is to  
loving souls the dawn of their bridal   
day4  ,animals1 children1 savages1 the  
thoughtless and frivolous1 live in the  

present alone2 they consequently lead a 
narrow1 ephemeral1 and superficial      
existence4  ,they strike no deep roots  
into the past1 they forebode no divine  
future1 they enter not behind the veil  
where the soul finds ever-during truth  
and power4    ,the world is too much    
with us2 late and soon1   ,getting and  
spending1 we lay waste our powers4      
,whatever sets the mind in motion may   
lead us to secret worlds1 though it be a
 falling apple1 as with ,newton1 or the 
swing of the pendulum1 as with ,galileo1
 or a boy's kite1 as with ,franklin1 or 
throwing pebbles into the water1 as with
 ,turner4  ,watt sat musing by the fire1
 and noticed the rise and fall of the   
lid of the boiling kettle1 and the steam
 engine1 like a vision from unknown     
spheres1 rose before his imagination4   
,a child1 carelessly playing with the   
glasses that lay on the table of a      
spectacle-maker1 gave the clew to the   
invention of the telescope4  ,the       
pestle1 flying from the hand of         

,schwarz1 told him he had found the     
explosive which has transformed the     
world4  ,drifting plants1 of a strange  
species1 whispered to ,columbus of a    
continent that lay across the ,atlantic4
  ,patient observation and work are the 
mightiest conquerors4  ,among the       
maxims1 called triads1 which have come  
down to us from the ,celtic bards1 we   
find this3 ,the three primary requisites
 of genius1--an eye that can see nature2
 a heart that can feel nature2 and      
boldness that dares follow nature4  ,he 
who has no philosophy and no religion1  
no theory of life and the world1 has    
nothing which he finds it greatly       
important to say or do4  ,he lacks the  
impulse of genius1 the educator's energy
 and enthusiasm4  ,having no ideal1 he  
has no end to which he may point and    
lead4  ,to do well it is necessary to   
believe in the worth of what we do4     
,the power which upholds and leads us on
 is faith1--faith in ,god1 in ourselves1
 in life1 in education4  ,forever to be 

blessed and cherished is the            
love-inspired mother or the teacher     
whose generous heart and luminous mind  
first leads us to believe in the        
priceless worth of wisdom and virtue1   
thus kindling within the soul a         
quenchless fire which warms and         
irradiates our whole being4  ,to be     
,god's workman1 to strive1 to endure1 to
 labor1 even to the end1 for truth and  
righteousness1 this is life4  ,my       
desire1 says ,dante1 and my will rolled 
onward1 like a wheel in even motion1    
swayed by the love which moves the sun  
and all the stars4  ,if there are any   
who shrink from wrong more than from    
disgrace they best deserve to be called 
religious4  ,strive not to be original  
or profound1 but to think justly and to 
express clearly what thou seest2 and so 
it may happen that thy view shall pierce
 deeper than thou knowest4  ,the words  
and deeds which are most certain to     
escape oblivion are those which nourish 
the higher life of the soul4            

,self-love1 the love of one's real self1
 of one's soul1 is the indispensable    
virtue4  ,it is this we seek when we    
strive to know and love truth and       
justice2 it is this we seek1 when we    
love ,god and our fellow-men4  ,in      
turning from ourselves to find them1 we 
still seek ourselves2 in abandoning life
 we seek richer and fuller life4  ,truth
 separate from love is but half truth4  
,think of that which unites thee with   
thy fellows rather than of what divides 
thee from them4 ,religion is the bond of
 love1 and not a subject for a debating 
club4 ,if thou wouldst refute thy       
adversaries1 commit the task to thy life
 more than to thy words4  ,read the     
history of controversy and ask thyself  
whether there is in it the spirit of    
,christ1 the meek and lowly ,one8  ,its 
champions belong to the schools of the  
sophists rather than to the worshippers 
of ,god in spirit and in truth4  ,and   
what has been the issue of all their    
disputes but hatreds and sects1         

persecutions and wars8  ,if it is my    
duty to be polite and helpful to my     
neighbor1 it is plainly also my duty to 
treat his opinions and beliefs with     
consideration and fairness4  ,there is a
 place in ,south ,america where the     
whole population have the goitre1 and if
 a stranger who is free from the        
deformity chances to pass among them1   
they jeer and cry1 ,there goes one who  
has no goitre4 ,what could be more      
delightfully human8  ,we think it a holy
 thing to put down duelling1 the battle 
of one with one2 but we are full of     
enthusiasm over battles of a hundred    
thousand with a hundred thousand4 ,thus 
the ,southern slave-owners were sworn   
advocates of the rights of man and of   
popular liberty4  ,the explanation of   
many provoking things is to be found in 
,dr4 ,johnson's words1--,ignorance1     
simple ignorance2 but of many more      
probably in these other words1--,greed1 
simple greed4  ,in science1 says        
,bulwer1 read by preference the newest  

books2 in literature1 the oldest4  ,this
 is wiser than ,emerson's saying3 ,never
 read a book which is not a year old4   
,the facility with which it is now      
possible to get at whatever is known on 
any subject has a tendency to create the
 opinion that reading up in this or that
 direction is education1 whereas such   
reading as is generally done1 is        
unfavorable to discipline of mind4      
,shall our ,chautauquas and summer      
schools help to foster this             
superstition8  ,what passion can be more
 innocent than the passion for          
knowledge8  ,and what passion gives     
better promise of blessings to one's    
self and to one's fellow-men8  ,why     
desire to have force and numbers on thy 
side8 ,is it not enough that thou hast  
truth and justice8  ,the loss of the    
good opinion of one's friends is to be  
regretted1 but the loss of self-respect 
is the only true beggary4  ,zeal for a  
party or a sect is more certain of      
earthly reward than zeal for truth and  

religion4  ,as it is unfortunate for the
 young to have abundance of money1 fine 
clothes1 and social success1 so         
popularity is hurtful to the prosperity 
of the best gifts4  ,it draws the mind  
away from the silence and strength of   
eternal truth and love into a world of  
clamor and noise4 ,patience is the      
student's great virtue2 it is the mark  
of the best quality of mind4  ,it takes 
an eternity to unfold a universe2 man is
 the sum of the achievements of         
innumerable ages1 and whatever endures  
is slow in acquiring the virtues which  
make for permanence4  ,the will to know1
 manifesting itself in persistent       
impulse1 in never-satisfied yearning1 is
 the power which urges to mental effort 
and enables us to attain culture4  ,if a
 thing is good1 says ,landor1 it may be 
repeated4  ,the repetition shows no want
 of invention2 it shows only what is    
uppermost in the mind1 and by what the  
writer is most agitated and inflamed4   
,what hast thou learned to admire1 to   

long for1 to love1 genuinely to hope for
 and believe8  ,the answer tells thy    
worth and that of the education thou    
hast received4  ,when we have said a    
thousand things in praise of education1 
we must1 at last1 come back to the      
fundamental fact that nearly everything 
depends on the kind of people of whom we
 are descended1 and on the kind of      
family in which our young years have    
passed4  ,nearly everything1 but not    
everything2 and it is this little which 
makes liberty possible1 which inspires  
hope and courage1 which1 like the       
indefinable something that gives the    
work of genius its worth and stamp1     
makes us children of ,god and masters of
 ourselves4  ,wisdom is the principal   
thing1 says ,solomon2 therefore get     
wisdom1 and with all thy getting1 get   
understanding4  ,he who makes himself   
the best man is the most successful one1
 while he who gains most money or       
notoriety may fail utterly as man4      
,with the advance of civilization our   

wants increase2 and yet it is the       
business of religion and culture to     
raise us above the things money buys1   
and consequently to diminish our wants4 
,they who are nearest to ,god have      
fewest wants2 and they who know and     
follow truth need not place or title or 
wealth4  ,to every one the tempter      
comes1 with a thousand pretexts drawn   
both from the intellect and the         
emotional nature1 promising to lull     
conscience to sleep that he may lead the
 lower life in peace2 but he who        
hearkens becomes a victim as helpless   
and as wretched as the victims of       
alcohol and opium4  ,in deliberate      
persevering action for high ends1 all   
the subconscious forces within us1 the  
many currents1 which1 like hidden       
water-veins1 go to make our being1 are  
taken up and turned in a deep-flowing   
stream into the ocean of our life4  ,in 
such course of conduct the baser self is
 swallowed1 and we learn to feel that we
 are part of the divine energy which    

moves the universe to finer issues4  ,as
 life is only by moments and in narrow  
space1 a little thing may disturb us and
 a little thing may take away the cause 
of our trouble4  ,we are petty beings in
 a world of petty concerns4  ,a little  
food1 a little sleep1 a little joy is   
enough to make us happy4  ,a word can   
fill us with dismay1 a breath can blow  
out the flickering flame of our         
self-consciousness4  ,i often ride among
 graves1 and think how easy it is for   
the fretful children of men to grow     
quiet4  ,there they lie1 having become  
weary of their toys and plays1 on the   
breast of the great mother from whom    
they sprang1 about whose face they      
frolicked and fought and cried for a    
day1 and then fell back into her        
all-receiving arms1 as raindrops fall   
into the water and mingle with it and   
are lost4  ,no sight is so pathetic as  
that of a vast throng seeking to enjoy  
themselves4  ,the hopelessness of the   
task is visible on all their thousand   

faces1 athwart which1 while they talk or
 listen or look1 the shadow of care     
flits as if thrown from dark wings      
wheeling in circuits above them4  ,the  
sorrow and toil and worry they have     
thought to put away1 still lie close to 
them1 like a burden which1 having been  
set down1 waits to be taken up again4   
,god surely sees with love and pity ,his
 all-enduring and all-hoping children2  
it is ,his voice we hear in the words of
 ,christ1 ,misereor super turbam4  ,i   
cannot but wish to be myself1 and       
therefore to be happy2 but when ,i think
 of ,god as essential to my happiness1  
,i feel it is enough for me to know and 
love ,him2 for to imagine ,i might be of
 service to ,him would be the fondest   
conceit4  ,but ,he makes it possible for
 me to help my fellows1 and in doing    
this1 ,i fulfil the will of ,him who is 
the father of all4  ,the divine reveals 
itself in the human2 and that religion  
alone is true which1 striking its roots 
deep into humanity1 exerts all its power

 to make men more godlike by making them
 more human4  ,they who in good faith   
inflicted the tortures of the           
,inquisition were led not by the light  
of reason1 or that which springs from   
the contemplation of the life of        
,christ1 but by the notion that the rack
 and fagot are instruments of mercy1 if 
employed to save men from eternal       
torments2 and tyrants1 who are always   
cruel1 gave encouragement and aid to the
 victims of fanaticism4  ,why should the
 sorrow or the sin or the loss of any   
human being give me pleasure8  ,is it   
not always the same story8  ,in the fall
 of one we all are degraded1 since1     
whoever fails1 it is our common nature  
which suffers hurt4  ,whether or not we 
have come forth from a merely animal    
condition1 let us thank ,god we are     
human1 and bend all our energies to     
remove the race farther and farther from
 the life over which thought and love   
and conscience have no dominion4  ,in   
the presence of the mighty machine1     

whose wheels and arms are everywhere1   
whose power is drawn from the           
exhaustless oceans and the boundless    
heavens1 the importance of the          
individual dwindles and seems threatened
 with extinction4  ,at such a time it is
 good to know that a right human soul is
 greater than a universe of machinery4  
,we feel that we are higher than all the
 suns and planets1 because we know and  
love1 and they do not2 but when1 in the 
light of this superiority1 we turn to   
the thought of our own littleness1 being
 scarcely more than nothing1 such       
trouble rises in the soul that we throw 
ourselves upon ,god to escape doubt of  
the reality of life4  ,if we believe    
that man is what he eats1 his education 
is simply a question of alimentation2   
but if we hold that he is what he knows1
 and loves1 and yearns1 and strives for1
 his education is a problem of          
soul-nutrition4  ,the child is made     
educable by its faith in the father and 
mother1 which is nothing else than faith

 in their truth and love2 and the       
educableness of the man is in proportion
 to his faith in the sovereign and      
infinite nature of truth and love1 which
 is faith in ,god4  ,it is in youth that
 we are most susceptible of education1  
because it is the privilege of youth to 
be free from tyrannic cares1 and to be  
sensitive to the charm of noble and     
disinterested passions4  ,if we show the
 young soul the way to higher worlds1 he
 will not ask us to strew it with       
flowers1 or pave it with gold1 but he   
will be content to walk with bruised    
feet along mountain wastes1 if at the   
summit is illumination and joy and      
peace4  ,as in religion many are called 
but few chosen1 as in the race for      
wealth and place many start but few win 
the prize1 so in the pursuit of         
intellectual and moral excellence1 of   
the few who begin1 the most soon weary1 
while of the remnant1 many grow infirm  
in purpose or in body before the goal is
 reached4  ,time and space1 which hold  

all things1 separate all things2 but    
religion and culture bind them into     
unity through faith in ,god and through 
knowledge1 thus forming a communion of  
holy souls and noble minds1 for whom    
discord and division disappear in the   
harmony of the divine order in which    
temporal and spatial conditions of      
separateness yield to the eternal       
presence of truth and love4  ,new ideas 
seem at first to remain upon the surface
 of the soul1 and generations sometimes 
pass before they enter into its         
substance and become motives of conduct2
 and1 in the same way1 sentiments may   
influence conduct1 when the notions from
 which they sprang have long been       
rejected4  ,the old truth must renew    
itself as the race renews itself2 it    
must be re-interpreted and re-applied to
 the life of each individual and of each
 generation1 if its liberating and      
regenerating power is to have free      
scope4  ,reason and conscience are      
,god's most precious gifts2 and what    

does ,he ask but that we make use of    
them8  ,right thinking1 like right      
doing1 is the result of innumerable     
efforts1 innumerable failures1 the final
 outcome of which is a habit of right   
thought and conduct4  ,whoever believes 
in truth1 freedom1 and love1 and follows
 after them with his whole heart1 walks 
in ,god's highway1 which leads to peace 
and blessedness4  ,a thing may be       
obscure from defect of light or defect  
of sight2 and in the same way an author 
may be found dull either because he is  
so1 or because his readers are dull4    
,the noblest book even is but dead      
matter until a mind akin to its         
creator's awakens it to life again4     
,the appeal to the imagination has      
infinitely more charm than the appeal to
 the senses4  ,but when evening falls1  
says ,machiavelli1 ,i go home and enter 
my study4  ,on the threshold ,i lay     
aside my country garments1 soiled with  
mire1 and array myself in courtly garb4 
,thus attired1 ,i make my entrance into 

the ancient courts of the men of old1   
where they receive me with love1 and    
where ,i feed upon that food which only 
is my own1 and for which ,i was born4   
,for four hours' space ,i feel no       
annoyance1 forget all care2 poverty     
cannot frighten nor death appall me4  ,a
 man of genius works for all1 for he    
compels all to think4  ,an enlightened  
mind and a generous heart make the world
 good and fair4  ,where there is perfect
 confidence1 conversation does not drag2
 while for those who love it is enough  
that they be together3 if they are      
silent1 it is well2 if they speak1 mere 
nothings suffice4  ,the world of        
knowledge1 all that men know1 is1 in    
truth1 little and simple enough4  ,it   
seems vast and intricate because we are 
imperfectly educated4  ,the soul1 like  
the body1 has its atmosphere1 out of    
which it cannot live4  ,when opinions   
take the place of convictions1 ideas    
that of beliefs1 great characters become
 rare4  ,the pith of virtue lies not in 

thinking1 but in doing4  ,a real man    
strives to assert himself2 for whether  
he seeks wealth1 or power1 or fame1 or  
truth1 or virtue1 or the good of his    
fellows1 he knows that he can succeed   
only through self-assertion1 through the
 prevalence of his own thought and life4
  ,they who abdicate the rights ,god    
gives the individual1 seek in vain to   
preserve by constitutional enactments a 
semblance of liberty4  ,if it is human  
to hate whom we have injured1 it is not 
less so to despise whom we have         
deceived2 and yet those who are easily  
deceived are the most innocent or the   
most high-minded and generous4  ,it     
seems hardly a human and must therefore 
be a divine thing1 to live and deal with
 men without in any way giving them     
trouble and annoyance4  ,truth loves not
 contention1 and when men fight for it1 
it vanishes in the noise and smoke of   
the combat4  ,the controversies of the  
schools1 whether of philosophy1         
theology1 literature1 or natural        

science1 have been among the saddest    
exhibitions of ineptitude4  ,is it      
conceivable that a thinker1 or a        
believer1 or a scholar1 or an           
investigator should wrangle in the      
spirit of a pothouse politician8  ,the  
more certain we are of ourselves and of 
the truth of what we hold1 the easier it
 is for us to be patient and tolerant4  
,wicked is whoever finds pleasure in    
another's pain4  ,we can know more than 
we can love4  ,hence communion with the 
world is wider through the mind than    
through the heart1 though less intimate 
and less satisfying4 ,it is1 however1   
longer active1 for we continue to be    
delighted by new truth when we have     
ceased to care to make new friends4     
,learn to bear the faults of men as thou
 sufferest the changes of weather1--with
 equanimity2 for impatience and anger   
will no more improve thy neighbors than 
they will prevent its being hot or cold4
  ,what men think or say of thee is     
unimportant--give heed to what thou     

thyself thinkest and sayst4 ,if thou art
 ignored or reviled1 remember such has  
been the fate of the best1 while the    
world's favorites are often men of blood
 or lust or mere time-servers4  ,he who 
does genuine work is conscious of the   
worth of what he does1 and is not       
troubled with misgivings or discouraged 
by lack of recognition4  ,if ,god looked
 away from ,his universe it would cease 
to be2 and ,he sees him4  ,the more we  
detach ourselves from crude realism1    
from the naive views of uneducated      
minds1 the easier it becomes for us to  
lead an intellectual and religious life1
 for such detachment enables us to      
realize that the material world has     
meaning and beauty only when it has     
passed through the alembic of the spirit
 and become purified1 fit object for the
 contemplation of ,god and of souls4    
,they are true students who are drawn to
 seek knowledge by mental curiosity1 by 
affinity with the intelligible1 like    
that which binds and holds lover to     

lover1 making their love all-sufficient 
and above all price4  ,all that is of   
value in thy opinions is the truth they 
contain--to hold them dearer than truth 
is to be irrational and perverse4  ,thy 
faith is what thou believest1 not what  
thou knowest4 ,the crowd loves to hear  
those who treat the tenets of their     
opponents with scorn1 who overwhelm     
their adversaries with abuse1 who make a
 mockery of what their foes hold sacred2
 but to vulgarity of this kind a        
cultivated mind cannot stoop4  ,to do so
 is a mark of ignorance and inferiority2
 is to confuse judgment1 to cloud       
intellect1 and to strengthen prejudice4 
,if there are any who are so absurd or  
so perverse as to be unworthy of fair   
and rational treatment1 to refute them  
is loss of time1 to occupy one's self   
with them is to keep bad company4  ,with
 the contentious1 who are always        
dominated by narrow and petty views and 
motives1 enter not into dispute1 but    
look beyond to the wide domain of reason

 and to the patience and charity of     
,christ4  ,when minds are alive and     
active1 opposing currents of thought    
necessarily arise4  ,contradiction is   
the salt which keeps truth from         
corruption4 ,as we let the light fall at
 different angles upon a precious stone1
 and change our position from point to  
point to study a work of art1 so it is  
well to give more than one expression to
 the same truth1 that the intellectual  
rays falling upon it from several       
directions1 and breaking into new tints 
and shades1 its full meaning and worth  
may finally be brought clearly into     
view4  ,if those with whom thou art     
thrown appear to thee to be hard and    
narrow1 call to mind that they have the 
same troubles and sorrows as thyself1   
essentially too the same thoughts and   
yearnings2 and as1 in spite of all thy  
faults1 thou still lovest thyself1 so   
love them too1 even though they be too  
warped and prejudiced to appreciate thy 
worth4    ,the wise man never utters    

words of scorn1   ,for he best knows    
such words are devil-born4   ,our       
opponents are as necessary to us as our 
friends1 and when those who have nobly  
combated us die1 they seem to take with 
them part of our mental vigor2 they     
leave us with a deeper sense of the     
illusiveness of life4  ,freedom is found
 only where honest criticism of men and 
measures is recognized as a common      
right4  ,as one man's meat is another's 
poison1 so in the world of intelligible 
things what refreshes and invigorates   
one1 may weary and depress another4     
,what delights the child makes no       
impression upon the man4 ,men and women1
 the ignorant and the learned1          
philosophers and poets1 mothers and     
maidens1 doers and dreamers1 find their 
entertainment largely in different      
worlds4  ,napoleon despised the         
idealogue2 the idealogue sees in him but
 a conscienceless force4  ,outcries     
against wrong have little efficacy4     
,they alone improve men who inspire them

 with new confidence1 new courage1 who  
help them to renew and purify the inner 
sources of life4  ,harsh zeal provokes  
excess1 because it provokes             
contradiction4  ,whoever stirs the soul 
to new depths1 whoever awakens the mind 
to new thoughts and aspirations1 is a   
benefactor4  ,the common man sees the   
fruits of his toil2 the seed which      
divine men sow1 ripens for others4  ,the
 counsels worldlings give to genius can 
only mislead4  ,not only the truth which
 ,christ taught1 but the truth which    
nearly all sublime thinkers have taught1
 has seemed to the generation to which  
it was announced but a beggarly lie4    
,the powerful have sneered with ,pilate1
 while the mob have done the teachers to
 death4  ,make truth thy garb1 thy      
house1 wherein thou movest and dwellest1
 and art comfortable and at home4  ,if  
thou knowest what thou knowest and      
believest what thou believest1 thou     
canst not be disturbed by contradiction1
 but shalt feel that thy opposers are   

appointed by ,god to confirm thee in    
truth4  ,as the merchant keeps journal  
and ledger1 so should he whose wealth is
 truth1 take account in writing of the  
thoughts he gains from observation1     
reflection1 reading1 and intercourse    
with men4  ,we become perfectly         
conscious of our impressions only in    
giving expression to them2 hence ability
 to express what we feel and know is one
 of the chief and most important aims   
and ends of education4  ,what thou mayst
 not learn without employing spies1 or  
listening to the stories of the         
malignant or the gossip of the vulgar1  
be content not to know4  ,our miseries  
spring from idleness and sin2 and       
idleness is sin and the mother of sin4  
,to confide in one's self and become    
something of worth1 says ,michelangelo1 
is the best and safest course4          
,life-weariness1 when it is not the     
result of long suffering1 comes of lack 
of love1 for to love any human being in 
a true and noble way makes life good4   

,whatever mistakes thou mayst have made 
in the choice of a profession and in    
other things1 it is still possible for  
thee to will and do good1 to know truth1
 and to love beauty1 and this is the    
best life can give4  ,think of living1  
and thou shalt find no time to repine4  
,the character of the believer          
determines the character of his faith1  
whatever the formulas by which it is    
expressed4  ,what we are is the chief   
constituent of the world in which we now
 live1 and this must be true also of the
 world in which we believe and for which
 we hope4  ,for the sensualist a        
spiritual heaven has neither            
significance nor attractiveness4  ,the  
highest truth the noblest see has no    
meaning for the multitude1 or but a     
distorted meaning4  ,what is divinest in
 the teaching of ,christ1 only one in   
thousands1 now after the lapse of       
centuries1 rightly understands and      
appreciates4  ,it is not so much the    
things we believe1 know1 and do1 as the 

things on which we lay the chief stress 
of hope and desire1 that shape our      
course and decide our destiny4  ,they   
alone receive the higher gifts1 who1 to 
obtain them1 renounce the lower         
pleasures and rewards of life4  ,those  
races are noblest1 those individuals are
 noblest1 who care most for the past and
 the future1 whose thoughts and hopes   
are least confined to the world of sense
 which from moment to moment ceaselessly
 urges its claims to attention4 ,desire 
fanned by imagination1 when it turns to 
sensual things1 makes men brutish2 but  
when its object is intellectual and     
moral1 it lifts them to worlds of pure  
and enduring delight4  ,when we would   
form an estimate of a man1 we consider  
not what he knows1 believes1 and does1  
but what kind of being his knowledge1   
faith1 and works have made of him4  ,he 
who makes us learn more than he teaches 
has genius4  ,whoever has freed himself 
from envy and bitterness may begin to   
try to see things as they are4  ,each   

one is the outcome of millions of       
causes1 which1 so far as he can see1 are
 accidental4  ,how ridiculous then to   
complain that if this or that only had  
not happened1 all would be well4  ,it is
 ignorance or prejudice to make a man's 
conduct an argument against the worth of
 his writings4  ,byron was a bad man1   
but a great poet2 ,bacon was venal1 but 
a marvellous thinker4  ,books1 to be    
interesting to the many1 must abound in 
narrative1 must run on like chattering  
girls1 and make little demand upon      
attention4 ,the appeal to thought is    
like a beggar's appeal for alms1--heeded
 by one only in hundreds who pass2 for1 
to the multitude1 mental effort is as   
disagreeable as parting with their      
money4  ,a newspaper is old the day     
after its publication1 and there are    
many books which issue from the press   
withered and senile1 but the best1 like 
the gods1 are forever young and         
delightful4  ,whatever bit of a wise    
man's work1 says ,ruskin1 is honestly   

and benevolently done1 that bit is his  
book or his piece of art4  ,it is mixed 
always with evil fragments1--ill-done1  
redundant1 affected work2 but if you    
read rightly1 you will easily discover  
the true bits1 and those are the book4  
,again3 ,no book is worth anything which
 is not worth much2 nor is it           
serviceable until it has been read and  
re-read1 and loved1 and loved again2 and
 marked so that you may refer to the    
passages you want in it4  ,unity1       
steadfastness1 and power of will mark   
the great workers4  ,a dominant impulse 
urges them forward1 and with firm tread 
they move on till death bids them stay4 
,as the will succumbs to idleness and   
sin1 it can be developed and maintained 
in health and vigor only by right       
action4  ,if thou makest thy            
intellectual and moral improvement thy  
chief business1 thou shalt not lack for 
employment1 and with thy progress thy   
joy and freedom shall increase4         
,progress is betterment of life4  ,the  

accumulation of discoveries1 the        
multiplication of inventions1 the       
improvement of the means of comfort1 the
 extension of instruction1 and the      
perfecting of methods1 are valuable in  
the degree in which they contribute to  
this end4  ,the characteristic of       
progress is increase of spiritual force4
  ,in material progress even1 the       
intellectual and moral element is the   
value-giving factor4  ,progress begets  
belief in progress4  ,as we grow in     
worth and wisdom1 our faith in knowledge
 and conduct is developed and confirmed1
 and with more willing hearts we make   
ourselves the servants of righteousness 
and love2 for in the degree in which    
religion and culture prevail within us1 
co-operation for life tends to supersede
 the struggle for life1 which if not the
 dominant law1 is1 at least1 the general
 course of things when left to ,nature's
 sway4  ,catchwords1 such as progress1  
culture1 enlightenment1 and liberty1 are
 for the multitude rarely more than     

psittacisms1 mere parrot sounds4  ,so   
long as we genuinely believe in an ideal
 and strive to incarnate it1 the spirit 
of hope kindles the flame of enthusiasm 
within the breast4 ,its attainment1     
however1 if the ideal is sensual or     
material1 leads to disappointment and   
weariness4  ,behold yonder worshipper at
 the shrine of money and pleasure1 whose
 life is but a yawn between his woman   
and his wine4  ,but if the ideal is     
spiritual1 failure in the pursuit cannot
 dishearten us1 and success but opens to
 view diviner worlds towards which we   
turn our thought and love with          
self-renewing freshness of mind4  ,if   
thou seekest for beauty1 it is          
everywhere2 if for hideousness1 it too  
is everywhere4  ,to believe in one's    
self1 to have genuine faith in the      
impressions1 thoughts1 hopes1 loves1 and
 aspirations which are in one's own     
soul1 and to strive ceaselessly to come 
to clear knowledge of this inner world  
which each one bears within himself1 is 

the secret of culture4 ,to bend one's   
will day by day to the weaving this     
light of the mind and warmth of the     
heart into the substance of life1 into  
conduct1 is the secret of character4    
,at whatever point of time or space we  
find ourselves1 we can begin or continue
 the task of self-improvement2 for the  
only essential thing is the activity of 
the soul1 seeking to become conscious of
 itself1 through and in ,god and ,his   
universe4    ,the little bird upbuilds  
its nest   ,of little things by         
ceaseless quest3   ,and he who labors   
without rest   ,by little steps will    
reach life's crest4   ,the true reader  
is brought into contact with a          
personality which reveals itself or     
permits its secret to be divined4  ,in  
spirit and imagination he lives the life
 of the author4  ,in his book he finds  
the experience and wisdom of years      
compressed into a few pages which he    
reads in an hour4  ,the vital           
sublimation of what made a man is thus  

given him in its essence to exalt or to 
degrade1 to inspire or to deaden his    
soul4  ,in looking through the eyes of  
another1 he learns to see himself1 to   
understand his affinities and his       
tendencies1 his strength and his        
weakness4  ,eat this volume and go speak
 to the children of ,israel1 said the   
spirit to the prophet ,ezekiel4  ,the   
meaning is--mentally devour1 digest1 and
 assimilate the book into the fibre and 
structure of thy very being1 and then   
shalt thou be able to utter words of    
truth and wisdom to ,god's chosen ones4 
,the world's spiritual wealth1 so far as
 it has existence other than in the     
minds of individuals1 is stored in      
literature1 in books1--the great        
treasure-house of the soul's life1 of   
what the best and greatest have thought1
 known1 believed1 felt1 suffered1       
desired1 toiled1 and died for2 and      
whoever fails to make himself a home in 
this realm of truth1 light1 and freedom1
 is shut out from what is highest and   

most divine in human experience1 and    
sinks into the grave without having     
lived4  ,to those who have uttered      
themselves in public speech1 there comes
 at times a feeling akin to             
self-reproach4  ,they have taken upon   
themselves the office of teacher1 and   
yet what have they taught that is worth 
knowing and loving8  ,they have lost the
 privacy in which so much of the charm  
and freedom of life consists2 they have 
been praised or blamed without          
discernment2 and a great part of what   
they have said and written seems to     
themselves little more than a skeleton  
from which the living vesture has       
fallen4  ,ask them not to encourage any 
one to become an author4  ,the more they
 have deafened the world with their     
voices1 the more will they1 like        
,carlyle1 praise the ,eternal ,silence4 
,they have in fact been taught1 by hard 
experience1 that the worth of life lies 
not in saying or writing anything       
whatever1 but in pure faith1 in humble  

obedience1 in brave and steadfast       
striving4  ,the woman who sweeps a room1
 the mother who nurses her child1 the   
laborer who sows and reaps1 believing   
and feeling that they are working with  
,god1 are leading nobler lives and doing
 diviner things than the declaimers and 
theorizers1 and the religion which      
upholds them and lightens their burdens 
is better than all the philosophies4    
,,chapter ,,iii4  ,,the ,,making ,,of   
,,one',s ,,self4  ,the wise man will    
esteem above everything and will        
cultivate those sciences which further  
the perfection of his soul4--,,plato4   
,it has become customary to call these  
endings of the scholastic year          
commencements2 just as the people of the
 civilized world have agreed to make    
themselves absurd by calling the ninth  
month the seventh1 the tenth the eighth1
 the eleventh the ninth1 and the twelfth
 the tenth4 ,and1 indeed1 the discourses
 which are delivered on these occasions 
would be more appropriate and more      

effective if made to students who1      
having returned from the vacations with 
renewed physical vigor1 feel also fresh 
urgency to exercise of mind4  ,but now1 
so little is man in love with truth1 the
 approach of the moment when you are to 
make escape and find yourselves in what 
you imagine to be a larger and freer    
world1 occupies all your thoughts1 and  
thrills you with an excitement which    
makes attention difficult2 and1 like the
 noise of crowds and brazen trumpets1   
prevents the soul from mounting to the  
serene world where alone it is free and 
at home4  ,since1 however1 the          
invitation with which ,i have been      
honored directs my address to the       
graduates of ,notre ,dame in this her   
year of ,golden ,jubilee1 ,i may1       
without abuse of the phrase1 entitle it 
a commencement oration2 for the day on  
which a graduate worthy of the name     
leaves his college is the commencement  
day of a new life of study1 more earnest
 and more effectual than that which is  

followed within academic walls1 because 
it is the result of his sense of duty   
alone and of his uncontrolled           
self-activity4  ,and1 though ,i am      
familiar with the serious disadvantages 
with which a reader as compared with a  
speaker has to contend1 ,i shall read my
 address1 if for no other reason1       
because ,i shall thus be able to measure
 my time2 and if ,i am prolix1 ,i shall 
be so maliciously1 and not become so    
through the obliviousness which may     
result from the illusive enthusiasm that
 is sometimes produced in the speaker by
 his own vociferation1 and which he     
fondly imagines he communicates to his  
hearers4  ,the chief benefit to be      
derived from the education we receive in
 colleges and universities1 and from the
 personal contact into which we are     
there thrown with enlightened minds1 is 
the faith it tends to inspire and       
confirm in the worth of knowledge and   
culture1 of conduct and religion2 for   
nothing else we there acquire will abide

 with us as an inner impulse to         
self-activity1 a self-renewing urgency  
to the pursuit of excellence4  ,if we   
fail1 we fail for lack of faith2 but    
belief is communicated from person to   
person1--fides ex auditu1--and to       
mediate it is the educator's chief      
function4  ,through daily intercourse   
with one who is learned and wise and    
noble1 the young gain a sense of the    
reality of science and culture1 of      
religion and morality2 which thus cease 
to be for them vague somethings of which
 they have heard and read1 and become   
actual things1--realities1 like         
monuments they have inspected1 or       
countries through which they have       
travelled4  ,they have been taken by the
 hand and led where1 left to themselves1
 they would never have gone4  ,the true 
educator inspires not only faith1 but   
admiration also1 and confidence and     
love1--all soul-evolving powers4  ,he is
 a master whose pupils are              
disciples1--followers of him and        

believers in the wisdom he teaches4 ,he 
founds a school which1 if it does not   
influence the whole course of thought   
and history1 like that of ,plato or     
,aristotle1 does at least form a body of
 men1 distinguished by zeal for truth   
and love of intellectual and moral      
excellence4  ,to be able thus1 in virtue
 of one's intelligence and character1 to
 turn the generous heart and mind of    
youth to sympathy with what is          
intelligible1 fair1 and good in thought 
and life1 is to be like ,god1--is to    
have power in its noblest and most human
 form2 and its exercise is the teacher's
 chief and great reward4 ,to be a       
permanent educational force is the      
highest earthly distinction4 ,is not    
this the glory of the founders of       
religions1 of the discoverers of new    
worlds8  ,in stooping to the mind and   
heart of youth1 to kindle there the     
divine flame of truth and love1 we      
ourselves receive new light and warmth4 
,to listen to the noise made by the     

little feet of children when at play1   
and to the music of their merry         
laughter1 is pleasant2 but to come close
 to the aspiring soul of youth1 and to  
feel the throbbings of its deep and     
ardent yearnings for richer and wider   
life1 is to have our faith in the good  
of living revived and intensified4  ,it 
is the divine privilege of the young to 
be able to believe that the world can be
 moulded and controlled by thought and  
spiritual motives2 and in breathing this
 celestial air1 the choice natures among
 them learn to become sages and saints2 
or if it be their lot to be thrown into 
the fierce struggles where selfish and  
cruel passions contend for the mastery  
over justice and humanity1 they carry   
into the combat the serene strength of  
reason and conscience2 for their        
habitual and real home is in the unseen 
world1 where what is true and good has  
the ,omnipotent for its defence4  ,of   
this soul of youth we may affirm without
 fear of error--    ,the soul seeks     

,god2 from sphere to sphere it moves1   
,immortal pilgrim of the ,infinite4     
,life is the unfolding of a mysterious  
power1 which in man rises to            
self-consciousness1 and through         
self-consciousness to the knowledge of a
 world of truth and order and love1     
where action may no longer be left      
wholly to the sway of matter or to the  
impulse of instinct1 but may and should 
be controlled by reason and conscience4 
,to further this process by deliberate  
and intelligent effort is to educate4   
,hence education is man's conscious     
co-operation with the ,infinite ,being  
in promoting the development of life2 it
 is the bringing of life in its highest 
form to bear upon life1 individual and  
social1 that it may raise it to greater 
perfection1 to ever-increasing potency4 
,to educate1 then1 is to work with the  
,power who makes progress a law of      
living things1 becoming more and more   
active and manifest as we ascend in the 
scale of being4  ,the motive from which 

education springs is belief in the      
goodness of life and the consequent     
desire for richer1 freer1 and higher    
life4  ,it is the point of union of all 
man's various and manifold activity2 for
 whether he seeks to nourish and        
preserve his life1 or to prolong and    
perpetuate it in his descendants1 or to 
enrich and widen it in domestic and     
civil society1 or to grow more conscious
 of it through science and art1 or to   
strike its roots into the eternal world 
through faith and love1 or in whatever  
other way he may exert himself1 the end 
and aim of his aspiring and striving is 
educational1--is the unfolding and      
uplifting of his being4  ,the radical   
craving is for life1--for the power to  
feel1 to think1 to love1 to enjoy4  ,and
 as it is impossible to reach a state in
 which we are not conscious that this   
power may be increased1 we can find     
happiness only in continuous progress1  
in ceaseless self-development4 ,this    
craving for fulness of life is          

essentially intellectual and moral1 and 
its proper sphere of action is the world
 of thought and conduct4 ,he who has a  
healthy appetite does not long for      
greater power to eat and drink4  ,a     
sensible man who has sufficient wealth  
for independence and comfort does not   
wish for more money2 but he who thinks  
and loves and acts in obedience to      
conscience feels that he is never able  
to do so well enough1 and hence an inner
 impulse urges him to strive for greater
 power of life1 for perfection4  ,he is 
akin to all that is intelligible and    
good1 and is drawn to bring himself into
 ever-increasing harmony with this high 
world4  ,hence attention is for him like
 a second nature1 for attention springs 
from interest2 and since he feels an    
affinity with all things1 all things    
interest him4 ,and what is thus         
impressed upon his mind and heart he is 
impelled to utter in deed or speech or  
gesture or song1 or in whatever way     
thought and sentiment may manifest      

themselves4  ,attention and expression  
are thus the fundamental forms of       
self-activity1 the primary and essential
 means of education1 of developing      
intellectual and moral power4  ,interest
 is aroused and held by need1 which     
creates desire4  ,if we are hungry1     
whatever may help us to food interests  
us4  ,our first and indispensable       
interests relate to the things we need  
for self-preservation and the           
perpetuation of the race2 and to awaken 
desire and stimulate effort to obtain   
them1 instinct is sufficient1 as we may 
see in the case of mere animals4  ,but  
as progress is made1 higher and more    
subtle wants are developed4  ,we crave  
for more than food and wife and         
children4  ,the social organism evolves 
itself2 and as its complexity increases1
 the relations of the individual to the 
body of which he is a member are        
multiplied1 and become more intricate4  
,as we pass from the savage to the      
barbarous1 and from the barbarous to the

 civilized state1 intellect and         
conscience are brought more and more    
into play4  ,mental power gains the     
mastery over brute force1 and little by 
little subdues the energies of inorganic
 nature1 and makes them serve human     
ends4  ,iron is forced to become soft   
and malleable1 and to assume every      
shape2 the winds bear man across the    
seas2 the sweet and gentle water is     
imprisoned and tortured until with its  
fierce breath it does work in comparison
 with which the mythical exploits of    
gods and demi-gods are as the play of   
children4  ,strength of mind and        
character takes precedence of strength  
of body4  ,hercules and ,samson are but 
helpless infants in the presence of the 
thinker who reads ,nature's secret and  
can compel her to do his bidding4  ,if  
we bend our thoughts to this subject1 we
 shall gain insight into the meaning and
 purpose of education1 which is nothing 
else than the urging of intellect and   
conscience to the conquest of the world1

 and to the clear perception and        
practical acknowledgment of the primal  
and fundamental truth that man is man in
 virtue of his thought and love4        
,instruction1 which is but part of      
education1 has for its object the       
development of the intellect and the    
transmission of knowledge4  ,this1      
whether we consider the individual or   
society1 is indispensable4  ,it is good 
to know4  ,knowledge is not only the    
source of many of our highest and purest
 joys1 but without it we can attain     
neither moral nor material good in the  
nobler forms4  ,virtue when it is       
enlightened gains a higher quality4     
,and if we hold that action and not     
thought is the end of life1 we cannot   
deny that action is1 in some degree at  
least1 controlled and modified by       
thought4  ,nevertheless1 instruction is 
not the principal part of education2 for
 human worth is more essentially and    
more intimately identified with         
character and heart than with knowledge 

and intellect4  ,what we will is more   
important than what we know2 and the    
importance of what we know is derived   
largely from its influence on the will  
or conduct4  ,a nation1 like an         
individual1 receives rank from character
 more than from knowledge2 since the    
true measure of human worth is moral    
rather than intellectual4  ,the teaching
 of the school becomes a subject of     
passionate interest1 through our belief 
in its power to educate sentiment1      
stimulate will1 and mould character4    
,for in the school we do more than learn
 the lessons given us3 we live in an    
intellectual and moral atmosphere1      
acquire habits of thought and behavior2 
and this1 rather than what we learn1 is 
the important thing4  ,to imagine that  
youths who have passed through colleges 
and universities1 and have acquired a   
certain knowledge of languages and      
sciences1 but have not formed strongly  
marked characters1 should forge to the  
front in the world and become leaders in

 the army of religion and civilization1 
is to cherish a delusion4  ,the man     
comes first2 and scholarship without    
manhood will be found to be ineffectual4
  ,the semi-culture of the intellect1   
which is all a mere graduate can lay    
claim to1 will but help to lead astray  
those who lack the strength of moral    
purpose2 and they whom experience has   
made wise expect little from young men  
who have bright minds and have passed   
brilliant examinations1 but who go out  
into the world without having trained   
themselves to habits of patient industry
 and tireless self-activity4  ,man is   
essentially a moral being2 and he who   
fails to become so1 fails to become     
truly human4  ,individuals and nations  
are brought to ruin not by lack of      
knowledge1 but by lack of conduct4  ,now
 that the world is filled with learned  
men1 said ,seneca1 good men are wanting4
  ,he was ,nero's preceptor1 and saw    
plainly how powerless intellectual      
culture was to save ,rome from the      

degeneracy which undermined its         
civilization and finally brought on its 
downfall4  ,if in college the youth does
 not learn to govern and control        
himself1--to obey and do right in all   
things1 not because he has not the power
 to disobey and do wrong1 but because he
 has not the will1--nothing else he may 
learn will be of great service4  ,it    
seems to me ,i perceive in our young men
 a lack of moral purpose1 of sturdiness1
 of downright obstinate earnestness1 in 
everything--except perhaps in           
money-getting pursuits2 for even in     
these they are tempted to trust to      
speculation and cunning devices rather  
than to persistent work and honesty1    
which become a man more than crowns and 
all the gifts of fortune4  ,without     
truthfulness1 honesty1 honor1 fidelity1 
courage1 integrity1 reverence1 purity1  
and self-respect no worthy or noble life
 can be led4  ,and unless we can get    
into our colleges youths who can be made
 to drink into their inmost being this  

vital truth1 little good can be         
accomplished there4  ,now1 it often     
happens that these institutions are1 in 
no small measure1 refuges into which the
 badly organized families of the wealthy
 send their sons in the vain expectation
 that the fatal faults of inheritance   
and domestic training will be repaired4 
,in college1 as wherever there are men1 
quality is more precious than quantity4 
,the number of students is great enough 
when they are of the right kind2 and the
 work which now lies at our hand is to  
make it possible that those who have    
talent and the will to improve          
themselves may enter our institutions of
 learning4 ,but those who are shown to  
be insusceptible of education should be 
eliminated2 for they profit not         
themselves1 and are a hindrance to the  
others4  ,gladly ,i turn from them to   
you1 young gentlemen1 who have          
persevered in the pursuit of knowledge  
and virtue1 and to-day are declared     
worthy to receive the highest honor     

,notre ,dame can confer4  ,the deepest  
and the best thing in us is faith in    
reason2 for when we look closely1 we    
perceive that faith in ,god1 in the     
soul1 in good1 in freedom1 in truth1 is 
faith in reason4  ,individuals1 nations1
 the whole race1 wander in a maze of    
errors4  ,the world of the senses is    
apparent and illusive1 that of pure     
thought vague and shadowy4  ,science    
touches but the form and surface2       
speculation is swallowed in abysses and 
disperses itself2 ignorance darkens1    
passion blinds the mind2 the truth of   
one age becomes the error of a          
succeeding2 opinions change from        
continent to continent and from century 
to century4  ,the more we learn1 the    
less we know2 and what we most of all   
desire to know eludes our grasp4  ,but1 
nevertheless1 our faith in reason is    
unshaken2 and holding to this faith1 we 
hold to ,god1 to good1 to freedom1 and  
to truth4  ,goodness is the radical     
principle2 the good1 the primal aim and 

final end of life2 for the good is      
whatever is helpful to life4  ,hence    
what is true is good1 what is useful is 
good1 what is fair is good1 what is     
right is good2 and the true1 the useful1
 the fair1 and the right are intertwined
 and circle about man like a noble      
sisterhood1 to waken him to life1 and to
 urge him toward ,god1 the supreme good1
 whose being is power1 wisdom1 love     
without limit4  ,the degree of goodness 
in all things is measured by their      
approach to this absolute ,being4       
,hence the greater our strength1 wisdom1
 and love1 the greater our good1 the    
richer and more perfect our life4       
,there is no soul which does not bow    
with delight and reverence before       
,beauty and ,power2 and when we come to 
true insight1 we perceive that holiness 
is ,beauty and goodness ,power4 ,genuine
 spiritual power is from ,god1 and      
compels the whole mechanic world to     
acknowledge its absoluteness4  ,the     
truths of religion and morality are of  

the essence of our life2 they cannot be 
learned from another1 but must be       
wrought into self-consciousness by our  
own thinking and doing1--by habitual    
meditation1 and constant obedience to   
conscience4  ,virtue1 knowledge1        
goodness1 and greatness are their own   
reward3 they are primarily and          
essentially ends1 and only incidentally 
means4  ,hence those who strive for     
perfection with the view thereby to gain
 recognition1 money1 or place1 do not   
really strive for perfection at all4    
,they are also unwise2 for virtue1      
knowledge1 goodness1 and greatness are  
not the surest means to such ends1 and  
they can be acquired only with infinite 
pains4  ,the highest human qualities    
cease to be the highest when they are   
made subordinate to the externalities of
 office and wealth4  ,the one aim of a  
mind smitten with the love of excellence
 is to live consciously and lovingly    
with whatever is true or good or fair4  
,and such a one cannot be disturbed     

whether by the general indifference of  
men or by their praise or blame4  ,the  
standpoint of the soul is3 ,what thou   
art1 not what others think thee4 ,if    
thou art at one with thy true self1 ,god
 and the eternal laws bear thee up and  
onward4  ,the moral and the religious   
life interpenetrate each other4  ,to    
sunder them is to enfeeble both4  ,to   
weaken faith is to undermine character2 
to fail in conduct is to deprive faith  
of inspiration and vigor4  ,learn to    
live thy religion1 and thou shalt have  
little need or desire to argue and      
dispute about it4  ,truth is mightier   
than its witnesses1 religion greater    
than its saints and martyrs4 ,learn to  
think1 and thou shalt easily learn to   
live4  ,in the presence of the highest  
manifestations of thought and love1 of  
truth and beauty1 nothing perfect or    
divine is incredible4  ,men of genius1  
philosophers1 poets1 and saints1 who by 
thinking and doing make this ethereal   
but most real world rise before us in   

concrete form and substance1 are        
heavenly messengers and illuminators of 
the soul4  ,had none of them lived1 how 
should we see and understand that man is
 ,godlike and that ,god is truth and    
love8  ,we cannot make this high world  
plain by telling about it4  ,it is not a
 land which may be described4 ,it is a  
state of soul which they alone          
comprehend who have been transformed by 
patient meditation and faithful         
striving4  ,but once it is revealed1 a  
thousand errors and obscurities fall    
away from us4  ,if not educated1 strive 
at least to be educable1--a believer in 
wisdom1 and sensitive to all high       
influence1 and eager to be quit of thy  
ignorance and hardness4  ,as the dead   
cannot produce the live1 so mechanical  
minds1 however much they may be able to 
drill1 train1 and instruct1 cannot      
educate4  ,the secret of the mother's   
specific educational power lies in the  
fact that she is a spiritual not a      
mechanical force1 loves and is loved by 

her pupils4  ,the most ennobling and the
 most thoroughly satisfying sentiment of
 which we are capable is love4  ,until  
we love we are strangers to ourselves4  
,we are like beings asleep or lost to   
the knowledge of themselves and all     
things1 till1 awakening to the appeal of
 the pure light and the balmy air1 they 
look upon what is not themselves2 and1  
finding it fair and beautiful1 learn in 
loving it to feel and know themselves4  
,increase of the power to love is       
increase of life4  ,but love needs      
guidance4  ,we first awaken in the world
 of the senses1 and are attracted by    
what we see and touch and taste4  ,the  
aim of education is to help the soul to 
rise above this world1 in which1 if we  
remain1 we are little better than       
brutes4  ,hence the teacher seeks in    
many ways to reveal to the young the    
fact that the perfect1 the best1 cannot 
be seen or touched1 cannot be grasped   
even by the mind2 but that it is1       
nevertheless1 that which they should    

strive to make themselves capable of    
loving above all things4  ,and thus he  
prepares them to understand what is     
meant by the love of truth and          
righteousness1 by the love of ,god4  ,in
 the training of animals even1 patience 
and gentleness are more effective than  
violence4  ,how1 then1 shall we hope by 
physical constraint and harsh methods to
 educate human beings1 who are human    
precisely because they are capable of   
love and are swayed by rational motives8
  ,there is no soul so gross1 so deeply 
buried in matter1 but it shall from some
 point or other make a sally to show it 
still bears the impress of ,god's image4
  ,at such points the educator will keep
 watch1 studying how he may make this   
single ray of light interfuse itself    
with his pupil's whole being4  ,it is   
not possible to know there is no ,god1  
no soul1 no free will1 no right or      
wrong2 at the worst1 it is only possible
 to doubt all this4 ,the universe is as 
inconceivable as ,god1 and theories of  

matter as full of difficulties as       
theories of spirit4  ,it is a question  
of belief or unbelief2 ultimately a     
question of health or disease1 of life  
or death4 ,they who have no faith in    
,god can have little faith in the worth 
of life1 which can be for them but an   
efflorescence of death1 a sort of       
inexplicable malady of atoms dreaming   
they are conscious4  ,if the age tends  
irresistibly to destroy belief in ,god1 
the end will be the ruin of belief in   
the good of life4  ,in the mean while   
the doubt which weakens the springs of  
hope and love is not a symptom of health
 but of disease1 pregnant with suffering
 and misery for all1 but most of all for
 the young4  ,he who is loved in a true 
and noble way is surrounded by an       
element of spiritual light in which his 
worth is revealed to him4 ,in perceiving
 what he is to another1 he comes to     
understand what he is or may be in      
himself4  ,our self respect even is     
largely due to the love we receive in   

childhood and youth4  ,enthusiasm       
springs from faith in ,god and in the   
soul1 which begets in us a high and     
heroic belief in the divine good of     
life4  ,it is thus an educational force 
of highest value4  ,it calms and exalts 
the soul like the view of the starlit   
heavens and the everlasting mountains4  
,it is1 in every good and noble cause1 a
 fountain head of endurance and         
perseverance4  ,it bears us on with a   
sense of joy and vigor1 such as is felt 
when1 mounted on a high-mettled steed1  
we ride in the pleasant air of a spring 
morning1 amid the beauties and grandeurs
 of nature4  ,in the front of battle and
 in the presence of death it throws     
around the soul the light of immortal   
things4  ,it gives us the plenitude of  
existence1 the full and high enjoyment  
of living4  ,on its wings the poet1 the 
lover1 the orator1 the hero1 and the    
saint are borne in rapture through      
worlds whose celestial glory and        
delightfulness cold and unmoved minds do

 not suspect4  ,it is not a flame from  
the dry wood and withered grass1 but a  
heat and glow from the abysmal depths of
 being4  ,it makes us content to follow 
after truth and love in dark and narrow 
ways1 as the miner1 in central deeps    
where sunlight has never fallen1 seeks  
his treasure4  ,it keeps us fresh and   
young2 and1 like the warmer sun1        
reclothes the world day by day with new 
beauty4  ,it teaches patience1 the love 
of work without haste and without worry4
  ,it gives strength to hear and speak  
truth1 and to walk in the sacred way of 
truth1 as though we but idly strolled   
with pleasant friends amid fragrant     
flowers4  ,it gives us deeper           
consciousness of our own liberty1 faith 
in human perfectibility1 which lies at  
the root of our noblest efforts2 to     
which the more we yield ourselves the   
more we feel that we are free4  ,it     
knows a thousand words of truth and     
might1 which it whispers in gentlest    
tones to rightly attuned ears3 ,since   

the universe is a harmony whose diapason
 is ,god1 why should thy life strike a  
discordant note8  ,yield not to         
discouragement2 thou art alive1 and ,god
 is in ,his world4  ,the combat and not 
the victory proclaims the hero4  ,if thy
 success had been greater1 thou hadst   
been less4  ,the noisy participants in  
great conflicts1 of whatever kind1      
exercise less influence upon the outcome
 than choice spirits1 who1 turning aside
 from the thunder and smoke of battle1  
gain in lonely striving and meditation  
view of new truth by which the world is 
transformed4  ,we owe more to ,columbus 
than to ,isabella2 to ,descartes than to
 ,louis ,,xiv42 to ,bacon than to       
,elizabeth2 to ,pestalozzi than to      
,napoleon2 to ,goethe than to ,bluecher2
 to ,pasteur than to ,bismarck4  ,if    
thou wouldst be persuaded and convinced1
 persuade and convince thyself4  ,be thy
 aim not increase of happiness1 but of  
knowledge1 wisdom1 power1 and virtue2   
and thou shalt1 without thinking of it1 

find thyself also happy4 ,character is  
formed by effort1 resistance1 and       
patience4  ,if necessity is the mother  
of invention1 suffering is the mother of
 high moods and great thoughts4  ,poets 
have sung to ease their sorrow-burdened 
or love-tortured hearts2 and the travail
 of souls yearning with ineffable pain  
for truth has led to the nearest view of
 ,god4  ,wisdom is the child of         
suffering1 as beauty is the child of    
love4  ,if a truth discourages thee1    
thou art not yet ripe for it2 for thee  
it is not yet wholly true4 ,work not    
like an ox at the plough1 but like a    
setter afield2 not because thou must1   
but because thou takest delight in thy  
task4  ,only they have come of age who  
have learned how to educate themselves4 
,education1 like life1 works from within
 outward3 the teacher loosens the soil  
and removes the obstacles to light and  
warmth and moisture2 but growth comes of
 the activity of the soul itself4  ,a   
new century will not make new men2 but  

if1 in truth1 it be a new century1 it   
will be made so by the deeper thought   
and diviner love of men and women4  ,let
 the old tell what they have done1 the  
young what they are doing1 and fools    
what they intend to do4  ,the power to  
control attention1 as a good rider holds
 his horse to the road and to his gait1 
is a result of education2 and when it is
 acquired other things become easy4     
,let not poverty or misfortune or insult
 or flattery or success1 ,o seeker after
 truth and beauty6 turn thee from thy   
divine task and purpose4  ,pardon every 
one except thyself1 and put thy trust in
 ,god and in thyself4  ,if ,i buy thee1 
asked one of a ,spartan captive1 and    
treat thee well1 wilt thou be good8--,i 
will1 he replied1 if thou buy me or not2
 or if1 having bought me1 thou treat me 
ill4  ,if there be anything of worth in 
thee1 it will make thee strong and      
contented2 it is so good for thee to    
have it that thou canst easily forget it
 is unrecognized by others4  ,if all    

sufferings1 sorrows1 and disappointments
 had been left out of thy life1 wouldst 
thou be more or less than thou art8     
,less worthy1 doubtless1 and less wise4 
,in these evils1 then1 there is         
something good4  ,if thou couldst but   
bear this always in mind1 thou shouldst 
be better able to suffer pain1 whether  
of body or soul4  ,there are things thou
 hast greatly desired which1 had they   
been given thee1 would make thee        
wretched4  ,the wiser thou growest1 the 
better shalt thou understand how little 
we know what is for the best4  ,had ,i  
but lived6 cried ,obermann4  ,and a     
woman of genius replied3 ,be consoled1  
,o ,obermann6  ,hadst thou lived1 thou  
hadst lived in vain4  ,so it is4  ,in   
the end we neither regret that pleasures
 have been denied us1 nor feel that     
those we have enjoyed were a gain unless
 they are associated with the memory of 
high faith and thought and virtuous     
action4  ,he who is careful to fill his 
mind with truth and his heart with love 

will not lack for retreats in which he  
may take refuge from the stress and     
storms of life4  ,noise1 popularity1 and
 buncombe3 onions1 smoke1 and bedbugs4  
,be thy own rival1 comparing thyself    
with thyself1 and striving day by day to
 be self-surpassed4  ,if thy own little 
room is well lighted the whole world is 
less dark4  ,if thou art busy seeking   
intellectual and moral illumination and 
strength1 thou shalt easily be          
contented4 ,higher place would mean for 
thee less liberty1 less opportunity to  
become thyself4  ,the secret of progress
 lies in knowing how to make use1 not of
 what we have chosen1 but of what is    
forced upon us4  ,to occupy one's self  
with trifles weans from the habit of    
work more effectually than idleness4    
,perfect skill comes of talent1 study1  
and exercise2 and the study and exercise
 must continue through the whole course 
of life4  ,to cease to learn is to lose 
freshness and the power to interest4    
,we lack will rather than strength2 are 

able to do more and better than we are  
inclined to do2 and say we can not      
because we have not the courage to say  
we will not4  ,the law of unstable      
equilibrium applies to thee1 as to      
whatever has life4  ,thou canst not     
remain what thou art1 but must rise or  
fall4  ,the body is under the sway of   
physical law1 but the progress of the   
mind is left in a large measure to the  
play of free will4  ,if thou willest    
what thou oughtest1 thou canst do what  
thou willest2 for obligation cannot     
transcend ability4  ,happy are they who 
from earliest youth understand the      
meaning of duty1 and hearken to the     
stern but all-reasonable voice of this  
daughter of ,god1 the smile upon whose  
face is the fairest thing we know4  ,he 
who willingly accepts the law of moral  
necessity is free2 for in thus accepting
 it he transcends it1 and is            
self-determined2 while he who rebels    
against this law sinks to a lower plane 
of being than the properly human1 and   

becomes the slave of appetite and       
passion4  ,duty means sacrifice2 it is a
 turning from the animal to the         
spiritual self2 from the allurements of 
the world of manifold sensation--from   
ease1 idleness1 gain1 and pleasure--to  
the high and lonely regions1 where the  
command of conscience speaks in the name
 of ,god and of the nature of things4   
,forget thyself and do thy best1 as     
unconscious of vain-glorious thoughts as
 though thou wert a wind or a stream1 an
 impersonal force in the service of ,god
 and man4  ,obey conscience1 and laugh  
in the face of death4  ,convince thyself
 that the best thing for thee is to know
 truth and to make truth the law of thy 
life4  ,let this faith subordinate all  
else1 as it is1 indeed1 faith in reason 
and in ,god4  ,abhorrence of lies is the
 test of character4  ,hold fast by what 
thou knowest to be true1 not doubting   
for a moment because thou canst not     
reconcile it with other truth4          
,somewhere1 somehow1 truth will be      

matched with truth1 as love mates heart 
with heart4  ,a man's word is himself1  
his reason1 his conscience1 his faith1  
his love1 his aspiration4  ,if it is    
false or vain or vile1 he is so4  ,it is
 the expression of life as it has come  
to consciousness within him4  ,it is the
 revelation of quality of being2 it is  
of the man himself1 his sign and symbol1
 the form and mould and mirror of his   
soul4    ,thou thinkest to serve ,god   
with lies1     ,thou devil-worshipper   
and fool6  ,the moral value of the study
 of science lies in the love of truth it
 inspires and inculcates4  ,he who knows
 science knows that liars are imbeciles4
  ,from the educator's point of view1   
truthfulness is the essential thing4    
,his aim and end is to teach truth1 and 
the love of truth1 which leavens the    
whole mass and makes it life-giving4    
,but the liar has no proper virtue of   
any kind4  ,the doubt of an earnest1    
thoughtful1 patient1 and laborious mind 
is worthy of respect4  ,in such doubt   

there may be found indeed more faith    
than in half the creeds4  ,but the      
scepticism of sciolists lacks the depth 
and genuineness of truth4  ,to be       
frivolous where there is question of all
 that gives life meaning and value is   
want of sense4 ,the sciolist is one who 
has a superficial knowledge of various  
things1 which for lack of deep views and
 coherent thought1 for lack of the      
understanding of the principles of      
knowledge itself1 he is unable to bring 
into organic unity4  ,the things he     
knows are confused and intermingled1 and
 thus fail either to enlighten his mind 
or to impel him to healthful activity4  
,he forms opinions lightly and          
pronounces judgment rashly4  ,knowing   
nothing thoroughly1 he has no suspicion 
of the infinite complexity of the world 
of life and thought4  ,the evil effects 
of this semi-culture are most           
disagreeable and most harmful in those  
whose being has been developed only on  
its temporal and earthly side4  ,their  

spiritual and moral nature has no centre
 about which it may move1 and they      
wander on the surface of things in      
self-satisfied conceit1 proclaiming that
 what is beyond the senses is beyond the
 reach of the mind1 as though our       
innermost consciousness were not of what
 is intangible and invisible4  ,all     
divine things are within and about us1  
here and now2 but we are too gross to   
see the celestial light1 or to catch the
 whisperings of the heavenly voices4    
,god is here2 but we1 like plants and   
mollusks1 live in worlds of which we do 
not dream1 upheld and nourished and     
borne onward by a ,power of whom we are 
but dimly conscious1--nay1 of whom1 for 
the most part1 we are unconscious4      
,there is a truth above the reach of    
logic1 an impulse of the mind and heart 
which urges beyond the realms of sense1 
beyond the ken of the dialectician1 to  
the ,infinite and ,eternal1 before whom 
the material universe is but a force at 
whose finest touch souls awaken to the  

thrill of thought and love4  ,when we   
are made conscious of the fact that the 
,divine ,word is the light of men1 we   
readily understand that our every true  
thought1 our every good deed1 our every 
deeper view of nature and of life1 comes
 from ,god1 who is always urging us into
 the glorious liberty of ,his children1 
until we become a heavenly republic in  
which righteousness1 peace1 and joy     
shall reign4  ,the restless desire of   
every man to improve his position in the
 world is the motive power of all social
 development1 of all progress1 says     
,scherr1 unable to perceive that the    
mightiest impulses to nobler and wider  
life have been given by those who were  
not thinking at all of improving their  
position1 but were wholly bent upon     
improving themselves4  ,make choice1 ,o 
youth6 between having and being4  ,if   
having is thy aim1 consent to be        
inferior2 if being is thy aim1 be       
content with having little4  ,real      
students1 cultivators of themselves1 are

 not inspired by the love of fame or    
wealth or position1 but they are driven 
by an inner impulse to which they cannot
 but yield4  ,their enthusiasm is not a 
fire that blazes for an hour and then   
dies out2 it is a heat from central     
depths of life1 self-fed and            
inextinguishable4  ,the impulse to      
nobler and freer life springs1 never    
from masses of men1 but always from     
single luminous minds and glowing       
hearts4  ,the lightning of great        
thoughts shows the way to heroic deeds4 
,it is better to know than to be known1 
to love than to be loved1 to help than  
to be helped2 for since life is action1 
it is better to act than to be acted    
upon4  ,whosoever makes himself purer1  
worthier1 wiser1 works for his country1 
works for ,god4  ,the belief that the   
might of truth is so great that it must 
prevail in spite of whatever opposition1
 needs1 to say the least1               
interpretation2 for it has often        
happened that truth has been overcome   

for whole generations and races2 and the
 important consideration is not whether 
it shall finally prevail1 but whether it
 shall prevail for us1 for our own age  
and people4  ,it is of the nature of    
spiritual gifts to work in every        
direction2 they enrich the individual   
and the nation2 they develop1 purify1   
and refine the intellectual1 moral1 and 
physical worlds in which men live and   
strive4 ,the ,state and the ,church are 
organisms2 the body1 the social and     
religious soul1 under the guidance of   
,god1 creates for itself4  ,and not only
 should there be no conflict between    
them1 but there should be none between  
them and the free and full development  
of the individual4  ,a peasant whose    
mental state is what it might have been 
a thousand years ago is for us1 however 
moral and religious1 an altogether      
unsatisfactory kind of man4  ,all       
knowledge is pure1 and all speech is so 
if it spring from the simple desire to  
utter what is seen and recognized as    

truth4  ,the love of liberty is rare4   
,it is not found in those whose life-aim
 is money1 pleasure1 and place1 which   
enslave2 but in those who love truth1   
which is the only liberating power4     
,knowledge is the correlative of being1 
and only a high and loving soul can know
 what truth is or understand what       
,christ meant when ,he said3 ,ye shall  
know truth1 and truth shall make you    
free4  ,high thinking and right loving  
may make enemies of those around us1 but
 they make us ,godlike4 ,how seldom in  
our daily experience of men do we find  
one who wishes to be enlightened1       
reformed1 and made virtuous6  ,how easy 
it is to find those who wish to be      
pleased and flattered6  ,at no period in
 history has civilization been so       
widespread or so complex as to-day4     
,never have the organs of the social    
body been so perfect4  ,never has it    
been possible for so many to co-operate 
intelligently in the work of progress4  
,you1 gentlemen1 have youth and faith   

and the elements of intellectual and    
moral culture4  ,in the freshness and   
vigor of early manhood1 you stand upon  
the threshold of the new century4  ,you 
speak ,shakspeare's and ,milton's       
tongue2 in your veins is the blood which
 in other lands and centuries has       
nourished the spirit which makes        
martyrs1 heroes1 and saints4  ,your     
religion strikes its roots into the     
historic past of man's noblest          
achievements1 and looks to the future   
with the serene confidence with which it
 looks to ,god4  ,your country1 if not  
old1 is not without glory4  ,its soil is
 as fertile1 its climate as salubrious  
as its domain is vast4  ,it is peopled  
by that ,aryan race1 which1 from most   
ancient days1 has been the creator and  
invincible defender of art and science  
and philosophy and liberty2 and with all
 this the divine spirit and doctrine of 
the ,son of ,man have been interfused4  
,we are here in ,america constituted on 
the wide basis of universal freedom1    

universal opportunity1 universal        
intelligence1 universal good-will4  ,our
 government is the rule of all for the  
welfare of all2 it has stood the test of
 civil war1 and in many ways proved     
itself both beneficent and strong4      
,already we have subdued this continent 
to the service of man4  ,within a       
hundred years we have grown to be one of
 the most populous and wealthy and also 
one of the most civilized and           
progressive nations of the earth4  ,your
 opportunities are equal to the fullest 
measure of human worth and genius4  ,in 
the midst of a high and noble           
environment it were doubly a disgrace to
 be low and base4  ,in intellectual and 
moral processes and results the         
important consideration is not how much1
 but what and how4  ,how much1 for      
instance1 one has read or written gives 
us little insight into his worth and    
character2 but when we know what and how
 he has read and written1 we know       
something of his life4  ,when ,i am told

 that ,america has more schools1        
churches1 and newspapers than any other 
land1 ,i think of their kind1 and am    
tempted to doubt whether it were not    
better if we had fewer4  ,the more      
general and the higher the average      
education of the people1 the more urgent
 is the need of thoroughly cultivated   
and enlightened minds to lead them      
wisely4  ,the standard of our           
intellectual and professional education 
is still low2 and neither from the press
 nor the pulpit nor legislative halls do
 we hear highest wisdom rightly uttered4
 ,to be an intellectual force in this   
age one must know--must know much and   
know thoroughly2 for now in many places 
there are a few1 at least1 who are      
acquainted with the whole history of    
thought and discovery1 who are familiar 
with the best thinking of the noblest   
minds that have ever lived2 and to      
imagine that a sciolist1 a half-educated
 person1 can have anything new or       
important to impart is to delude one's  

self4  ,but if you fail1 you will fail  
like all who fail1--not from lack of    
knowledge1 but from lack of conduct2 for
 the burden which in the end bears us   
down is that of our moral delinquencies4
  ,all else we may endure1 but that is a
 sinking and giving way of the source of
 life itself4  ,it is better1 in every  
way1 that you should be true ,christian 
men than that you should do deeds which 
will make your names famous4 ,and if you
 could believe this with all your heart1
 you would find peace and freedom of    
spirit1 even though your labors should  
seem vain and your lives of little      
moment4  ,the more reason and conscience
 are brought to bear upon you1 the more 
will you be lifted into the high and    
abiding world1 where truth and love and 
holiness are recognized to be man's     
proper and imperishable good4  ,become  
all it is possible for you to become4   
,what this is you can know only by      
striving day by day1 from youth to age1 
even unto the end2 leaving the issue    

with ,god and ,his master-workman1      
,time4     ,,chapter ,,iv4  ,,woman     
,,and ,,education4    ,progress1 man's  
distinctive mark alone2   ,not ,god's   
and not the beasts'2 ,god is1 they are2 
,man partly is and wholly hopes to      
be4--,browning4   ,the partialness of   
man's life1 the low level on which the  
race has been content to dwell1 is      
attributable1 in no small measure1 to   
the injustice done to woman4  ,it was   
assumed she was inferior1 and to make   
the assumption true1 she was kept in    
ignorance1 dwarfed and treated as a     
means rather than as an end4  ,the right
 to grow is the primal right2 it is the 
right to live1 to unfold our being on   
every side in the ceaseless striving for
 truth and love and beauty4  ,in        
comparison with this1 purely political  
and civil rights are unimportant4  ,and 
in a free state this fundamental right  
must not only be acknowledged and       
defended1 but a public opinion must be  
created which shall declare it to be the

 most sacred and inviolable4 ,the       
principle is universal1 and is as       
applicable to woman as to man4  ,there  
is not a religion1 a philosophy1 a      
science1 an art for man and another for 
woman4  ,consequently there is not1 in  
its essential elements at least1 an     
education for man and another for woman4
  ,in souls1 in minds1 in consciences1  
in hearts1 there is no sex4  ,what is   
the best education for woman8  ,that    
which will best help her to become a    
perfect human being1 wise1 loving1 and  
strong4  ,what is her work8 ,whatever   
may help her to become herself4  ,what  
is forbidden her8 ,nothing but what     
degrades or narrows or warps4  ,what has
 she the right to do8  ,any good and    
beautiful and useful thing she is able  
to do without hurt to her dignity and   
worth as a human being4  ,between her   
and man the real question is not of more
 and less1 of inferiority and           
superiority1 but of unlikeness4         
,chastity is woman's great virtue2      

truthfulness1 which is the highest form 
of courage1 is man's2 yet men and women 
are equally bound to be chaste and      
truthful4 ,mildness and sweet           
reasonableness are woman's subtlest     
charms2 wisdom and valor1 man's2 yet    
women should be wise and brave1 and men 
should be mild and reasonable4  ,the    
spiritual endowment of the sexes is much
 the same1 but they are not equally     
interested in the same things4  ,man    
prefers thought2 woman1 sentiment2 he   
reaches his conclusions through analysis
 and argument2 she1 through feeling and 
intuition4  ,he has greater power of    
self-control2 she1 of self-sacrifice4   
,he is guided by law and principle2 she1
 by insight and tact2 he demands        
justice2 she1 equity4  ,he wishes to be 
honored for wealth and position2 she1   
for herself4  ,for him what he possesses
 is a means2 for her1 something to which
 she holds and is attached4  ,he asks   
for power2 she1 for affection4  ,he     
derives his idea of duty from reason2   

she1 from faith and love4  ,he prefers  
science and philosophy2 she1 literature 
and art4 ,his religion is a code of     
morality2 hers1 faith and hope and love 
and imagination4  ,for her1 things      
easily become persons2 for him1 persons 
are little more than things4  ,she has  
greater power of self-effacement1       
forgetting herself wholly in her love4  
,whether she marry or become a nun1 she 
abandons her name1 the symbol of her    
identity1 in proof that she is dedicate 
to the race and to ,god4  ,the arguments
 of infidels have less weight with her  
than with man1 for her sense of religion
 is more genuine1 her faith more        
inevitable4  ,she passes over objections
 as a chaste mind passes over what is   
coarse or impure4  ,she more easily     
finds complacency in her appearance and 
surroundings1 but she has less pride and
 conceit than man4  ,she is more        
grateful1 too1 because she loves more1  
and the heart makes memory true4  ,if   
her greater fondness for jewelry and    

showy adornment proves her to be more   
barbarous1 her greater refinement and   
chastity prove her to be more civilized 
than man4  ,and does not her delight in 
dress come of her care for beauty1 which
 in a world of coarse and ugly creatures
 is a virtue as fair as the face of     
spring8  ,why should the flowers and the
 fields1 the hills and the heavens1 be  
beautiful1 and man hideous1 and the     
cities where he abides dismal8  ,are we 
but cattle to be stalled and fed8  ,are 
corn and beef and iron the only good and
 useful things8  ,are we not human      
because we think and admire1 and are    
exalted in the presence of what is      
infinitely true and divinely fair8      
,faith1 hope1 and love are larger and   
more enduring powers for woman than for 
man4  ,she feeds the sacred fire which  
never dies on the altars of home and    
religion and country4  ,she lives a more
 interior life1 and more easily retains 
consciousness of the soul's reality and 
of ,god's presence4  ,if she speaks less

 of patriotism in peaceful times1 in the
 hour of danger the white light flashes 
from her soul4  ,it is this that makes  
brave men think of their mothers and    
wives and sisters when they march to    
battle4  ,they know that those sweet    
hearts1 however keen the pangs they     
suffer1 would rather have them dead than
 craven4  ,when woman shall grow to the 
full measure of her endowments1 a purer 
flame will glow upon the hearth1 and    
love of country will be a more genuine  
passion4  ,if she gain a wider and more 
varied interest in life1 she will become
 happier1 more willing and more able to 
help the progress of the race4 ,like    
man1 she exists for herself and ,god1   
and in her relations to others1 her     
duties are not to the home alone1 but to
 the whole social body1 religious and   
civil4  ,whether man or woman1 is a     
minor thing2 to be wise and worthy and  
loving is all in all4  ,our deeper      
consciousness and practical recognition 
of the equality of the sexes is better  

evidence that we are becoming ,christian
 and civilized than popular government  
and all our mechanical devices4  ,we1   
however1 still have prejudices as       
ridiculous and harmful as that which    
made it unbecoming in a woman to know   
anything or in a man of birth to engage 
in business4 ,if we hold that every     
human being has the right to do whatever
 is fair or noble or useful1 we must    
also hold that it is wrong to throw     
hindrance in the way of the complete    
education of any human being4  ,we at   
last1 however slowly1 are approaching   
the standpoint of ,christ1 who1 with his
 divine eye upon the sexless soul1      
overlooks distinctions of sex1 and      
placing the good of life in knowing and 
loving1 in being and doing1 makes it the
 privilege and duty of all to help all  
to know and love1 to become and do4  ,is
 it true8  ,is it right8  ,these are the
 immortal questions1 springing from what
 within us is most like ,god1 and they  
who deal deceitfully with them have no  

claim upon attention4  ,they are        
jugglers and liars4  ,what is developed 
is not really changed1 but made more    
fully itself1 and by giving to woman a  
truer education1 the beauty and charm of
 her nature will be brought more        
effectively into play4  ,none of us love
 a woman impudent and mannish grown2 but
 knowledge and culture and strength of  
mind and heart and body have no tendency
 to produce such a caricature4  ,whether
 there is question of man or woman1 the 
aim and end of education is to bring    
forth in the individual the divine image
 of humanity as it exists in the thought
 of ,god1 as it is revealed in the life 
of ,christ4    ,yet in the long years   
liker must they grow2   ,the man be more
 of woman1 she more of man3   ,he gain  
in sweetness and in moral height1   ,nor
 lose the wrestling thews that throw the
 world2   ,she mental breadth1 nor fail 
in childward care2   ,more as the       
double-natured poet each4   ,the        
apothegm1 man is born to do1 woman to   

endure1 no longer commends itself to our
 judgment4  ,both are born to do and to 
endure2 and in educating girls1 we now  
understand that it is our business to   
strengthen them and to stimulate them to
 self-activity4  ,we strive to give them
 self-control1 sanity1 breadth of view1 
wide sympathies1 and an abiding sense of
 justice4  ,one might1 indeed1 be       
tempted to think it were well woman     
should retain a touch of folly1 that she
 still may be able to believe the man   
she loves is half divine2 but to think  
so one must be a man1 with his genius   
for self-conceit4  ,to train a girl     
chiefly with a view to success in       
society is to pervert1 is to hinder from
 attaining to the power of free1 rich1  
and varied life4  ,it is to neglect     
education for accomplishments2 it is to 
prefer form to substance1 manner to     
conduct1 graceful carriage and dress to 
thought and love4  ,we degrade her when 
we consider her as little else than a   
candidate for matrimony4  ,a man may    

remain single and become the noblest of 
his kind1 and so may a woman4  ,marriage
 is first of all for the race2 the      
individual may stand alone and grow to  
the full measure of human strength and  
worth4  ,the popular contempt for single
 women who have reached a certain age1  
is but a survival of the contempt for   
all women which is found among savages  
and barbarians4  ,in the education of   
woman1 as of man1 the end is increase of
 power1--of the might there is in       
intelligence and love1 of the strength  
there is in gentleness and sweetness and
 light1 of the vigor there is in health1
 in the rhythmic pulse and in deep      
breathing1 of the sustaining joy there  
is in pure affection and in devotion to 
high purposes4  ,whether there is       
question of boys or of girls1 the safe  
way is to strive to make them all it is 
possible for them to become1 putting our
 trust for the rest in human nature and 
in ,god2 for talent1 like genius1 is a  
divine gift1 and to prevent its         

development is to sin against religion  
and humanity4  ,for girls as for boys1  
the aim should be not knowledge1 but    
power2 not accomplishments1 but faculty4
  ,nine-tenths of what we learn in      
school is quickly forgotten1 and is     
valueless unless it issue in increase of
 moral and intellectual strength4  ,in  
whatever direction ,i turn my thoughts1 
says ,schleiermacher1 it seems to me    
that woman's nature is nobler and her   
life happier than man's2 and if ever ,i 
play with an idle wish it is that ,i    
might be a woman4  ,hardly any man1 ,i  
imagine1 would rather be a woman1 and   
many women doubtless would rather be    
men2 and yet there is much in           
,schleiermacher's thought1 if we        
believe1 as the wise do believe1 that   
love is the best1 and that they who love
 most are the highest and1 therefore1   
the happiest1 since the noblest mind the
 best contentment has4    ,what         
fountains to the desert are1   ,what    
flowers to the fresh young spring1      

,what heaven's breast is to the star1   
,that woman's love to earth doth bring4 
,whether mid deserts she is found1   ,or
 girt about by happy home1   ,where'er  
she treads is holy ground   ,above which
 rises love's high dome4    ,or be she  
mother called or wife1   ,or sister or  
the soul's twin mate1   ,she still is   
each man's best of life1   ,his crown of
 joy1 his high estate4   ,what is our   
,christian faith but the revelation of  
the supreme and infinite worth of love1 
as being of the essence of ,god himself8
  ,is it not easy to believe that to a  
loving soul in an all-chaste body the   
unseen world may lie open to view8      
,that ,joan of ,arc saw heavenly visions
 and heard whisperings from higher      
worlds1 who can doubt that has          
considered how her most pure womanly    
soul redeemed a whole people1 and1 by   
them forsaken1 from midst fierce flames 
took its flight to ,god8  ,should women 
vote8  ,the rule of the people is good  
only when it is the rule of the good and

 wise among the people1 and of these1   
women1 in great numbers1 are part4  ,the
 leadership of the best comes near to   
being the leadership of ,god4  ,but the 
question of the suffrage for women is   
grave2 it is one on which an enlightened
 mind will long hold judgment in        
suspense4  ,does not political life1 as 
it exists in our democracy1 tend to     
corrupt both voters and office-seekers8 
,is it not largely a life of cant1      
pretence1 and hypocrisy1 of venality1   
corruption1 and selfishness1 of lying1  
abuse1 and vulgarity8  ,do not public   
men1 like public women1 sell themselves1
 though in a different way8  ,is the    
professional politician1 the            
professional caucus-manipulator1 the    
professional voter1 the type of man we  
can admire or respect even8  ,the       
objection so frequently raised1 that    
political life would corrupt women1 has1
 at least1 the merit of a certain grim  
humorousness4  ,could it by any chance  
make them as bad as it makes men8  ,to  

tell them they are the queens of the    
home1 to whom the mingling with         
plebeians is degrading1 is an insult to 
their intelligence4  ,we have forsworn  
kings and queens1 both in private and in
 public life1 and at home women are1 for
 the most part1 drudges4 ,what need is  
there of a hollow phrase when the appeal
 to truth is obvious8    ,a servant with
 this clause     ,makes drudgery divine2
   ,who sweeps a room as for thy laws1  
,makes that and the action fine4        
,active participation in political life 
is not a refining1 an ennobling1 a      
purifying influence4  ,is it desirable  
that the half of the people to which the
 interests of the home1 of the heart1 of
 the religious and moral education of   
the young are especially committed1     
should be hurled into the maelstrom of  
selfish passion and coarse excitement8  
,the smartness and self-assertiveness of
 ,american women are already excessive2 
they lack repose1 serenity1 and         
self-restraint4  ,if they rush into the 

arena of noisy and vulgar strife1 will  
not the evil be increased8  ,will not   
the political woman lose something of   
the sacred power of the wife and mother8
  ,are not the primal virtues1 those    
which make life good and fair and which 
are a woman's glory1--are they not      
humble and quiet and unobtrusive8  ,the 
suffrage has not emancipated the masses 
of men1 who are still held captive in   
the chains of poverty and dehumanizing  
toil4  ,do women themselves1 those1 at  
least1 in whom the woman soul1 which    
draws us on and upward1 is most itself1 
desire that the vote be given them8     
,but whatever our opinions on the       
subject may be1 let us not lose         
composure4  ,if a great change is to be 
made1 says ,edmund ,burke1 the minds of 
men will be fitted to it1 the general   
opinions and feelings will draw that    
way4  ,every fear1 every hope will      
forward it2 and then they who persist in
 opposing the mighty current will appear
 rather to resist the decrees of        

,providence itself than the mere designs
 of men4 ,they will not be resolute and 
firm1 but perverse and obstinate4       
,whether or not woman shall become a    
politician1 there is no doubt that she  
is becoming a worker in a constantly    
widening field4  ,the elementary        
education of the country is already     
intrusted to her4  ,she is taking her   
position in the higher institutions of  
learning4  ,she has gained admission to 
professional life4  ,in the business    
world1 her competition with man is more 
and more felt4  ,in literature1 in our  
country at least1 her appreciativeness  
is greater than man's1 and her          
performance not inferior to his4  ,there
 is a larger number of serious students 
among women than among men4  ,in the    
divinely imposed task of self-education1
 they are fast becoming the chief       
workers4  ,they are the great readers of
 books1 especially of poetry4  ,the muse
 was the first school-mistress1 and the 
love of genuine poetry is still the     

finest educational influence4  ,the     
vulgar passions and coarse appetites    
which rob young men of faith in the     
higher life and of the power to labor   
perseveringly for ideal ends1 have      
little hold upon the soul of woman4 ,her
 betrayers are frivolity and vanity1 and
 a too confiding heart2 and the more she
 is educated the less will she take     
delight in what is merely external1 and 
the greater will become her ability to  
bring sentiment under the control of    
reason and conscience4  ,there are not  
two educations1 then1 one for man1 and  
another for woman1 but both alike we bid
 contend to the uttermost for           
completeness of life2 bid both trust in 
human educableness1 which makes possible
 the hope of attaining all divine       
things4  ,true faith in education is    
ever associated with genuine humility4  
,only they strive infinitely who feel   
that their lack is infinite4  ,the power
 of education is as many sided and as   
manifold as life4  ,there is no finest  

seed or flower or fruit1 no most        
serviceable animal1 which has not been  
brought to perfection by human thought  
and labor1 or which1 were this help     
withdrawn1 would not degenerate2 and if 
the highest thought and the most        
intelligent labor were made to bear     
ceaselessly upon the improvement of the 
race of man1 we should have a new world4
  ,when we consider all the beauty1     
knowledge1 and love which are within    
man's reach1 how is it possible not to  
believe that infinitely more and higher 
lie beyond8  ,call to mind whatever     
quality of life1 physical1 intellectual1
 or moral1 and you will have little     
difficulty in seeing that it is a result
 of education4  ,we are born1 indeed1   
with unequal endowments2 but strength of
 limb1 ease and swiftness of motion1    
grace and fluency of speech1 modulation 
of voice1 distinctness of articulation1 
correctness of pronunciation1 power of  
attention1 fineness of ear1 clearness of
 vision1 control of hand and certainty  

of touch in drawing1 writing1 painting1 
playing upon instruments and operating  
with the knife1 truth and vividness of  
imagination1 force of will1 refinement  
of manner1 perfection of taste1 skill in
 argument1 purity of desire1 rectitude  
of purpose1 power of sympathy and love1 
together with whatever else goes to the 
making of a perfect man or woman1 are   
all acquired through educational        
processes4  ,education is the training  
of a human being with a view to make him
 all he may become2 and hence it is     
possible to educate one's self in many  
ways and on many sides4  ,refinement1   
grace1 and cleanliness are aims and     
ends1 as truly as are vigor and         
suppleness of mind and strength and     
purity of heart4  ,like sunshine and    
flowers and the songs of birds1 they    
help to make life pleasant and          
beautiful4  ,even the fishes are not    
clean1 but the only clean animal is here
 and there a man or a woman who has     
forsworn dirt visible and invisible4    

,we can educate ourselves in every      
direction1 to sleep well even1 and      
neither physicians nor poets have told  
half the good there is in sleep4  ,the  
bare thought of it always brings to me  
the memory of lulling showers1 and      
grazing sheep1 and murmuring streams1   
and bees at work1 and the breath of     
flowers and cooing doves and children   
lying on the sward1 and lazy clouds     
slumbering in azure skies4 ,it is       
pleasant as the approach of evening1    
fresh and fair as the rising sun which  
sets all the world singing1 sacred and  
pure as babes smiling in their dreams on
 the breasts of gentle mothers4  ,if    
thou canst not see the divine worth in  
nature and in works of genius1 it is    
because thou art what thou art4  ,can   
the worm at thy feet recognize thy      
superiority8  ,the blind and the        
heedless see nothing1 ,o foolish maid4  
,what ,i know and love is of my very    
being1 is1 in fact1 my knowing and      
loving self4  ,quality of knowledge and 

love determines quality of life1 and    
when ,i know and love ,god ,i am divine4
  ,as trees are enrooted in earth1 as   
fishes are immersed in water1 and our   
bodies in air1 that they may live1 so   
the soul has its being in ,god that it  
may have life1 that it may know and     
love4  ,i become self-conscious only in 
becoming conscious of what is not       
myself2 and when the not-myself is the  
,eternal1 is ,god1 my self-consciousness
 is divine4  ,the marvel and the mystery
 of our being is that self-consciousness
 should exist at all1 not that it should
 continue to exist forever4  ,but words 
cannot strengthen or explain or destroy 
our belief in ,god1 in the immortality  
of the soul1 and in the freedom of the  
will4  ,the antagonism supposed to exist
 between scientific facts or theories   
and religious faith would cease to be   
recognized as real1 were it not for the 
eagerness with which those who are      
incapable of profound and comprehensive 
views1 catch up certain shibboleths and 

hurl them like firebrands upon the      
combustible imaginations of the         
unthinking4  ,to prove1 means1 in the   
proper sense of the word1 to test1 to   
bring ideas1 opinions1 and beliefs to   
the ordeal of reason1 of accepted       
standards of judgment4  ,it is a        
criticism of the mind and its           
operations1 and hence it may easily     
happen that to prove is to weaken and   
unsettle4  ,in what is most vital1 in   
belief in ,god1 immortality1 and freedom
 of the will1 in religion and morality1 
our faith is stronger than any proof    
that may be brought in its defence2 and 
this is not less true of our faith in   
the reality of nature and the laws of   
science2 and when this is made plain by 
criticism1 those whose mental grasp is  
weak or partial1 are confused and       
tempted to doubt4  ,they are not helped1
 but harmed1 and our ceaseless          
discussions and provings1 in press and  
pulpit1 are the source of much of the   
unrest1 religious doubt1 and moral      

weakness of the age4  ,the people need  
to be taught by those who know and      
believe1 not by those whose skill is    
chiefly syllogistic and critical4       
,philosophic speculation is like a vast 
mountain into which men1 generation     
after generation1 have sunk shafts in   
search of some priceless treasure1 and  
have left in the materials they have    
thrown out the mark and evidence of     
failure4  ,but the noblest minds will   
still be haunted by the infinite mystery
 which they will seek in vain to        
explain4  ,their faith in reason1 like  
that of the vulgar1 cannot be shaken1   
nor can defeat1 running through         
thousands of years1 enfeeble their      
courage or dampen their ardor4  ,let our
 increasing insight into ,nature's laws 
fill us with thankfulness and joy4  ,it 
is good1 and makes for good4  ,let us   
bow with respect and reverence before   
the army of patient investigators who   
bring highly disciplined faculties to   
bear upon the most useful researches4   

,let knowledge grow4  ,a nearer and     
truer view of the boundless fact will   
not make the world less wonderful1 or   
the soul less divine1 or ,god less      
adorable4  ,if one should declare that  
it is contrary to the teachings of faith
 to hold that conversation may be       
carried on by persons a thousand miles  
apart1 it would be sufficient to reply  
that such conversation takes place1 and 
that to attempt to annul fact by        
doctrine is absurd4  ,there is no excuse
 for the controversial conflict between 
science and religion2 for science is    
ascertained fact1 not theory about fact1
 and when fact is rightly ascertained it
 is accepted of all men4 ,the most      
certain fact1 for each one1 is that he  
knows and loves1 and that this power    
comes to him through communion with what
 is higher and deeper and wider than    
himself1--with ,god4  ,there was a time 
when collisions among the masses of the 
sidereal system were frequent1 shocks of
 unimaginable force by which the        

celestial bodies were shivered into     
atoms1 so that what now remains is but a
 survival of worlds which escaped       
destruction in the chaotic struggle when
 suns madly rushed on one another and   
rose in star-dust about the face of     
,god1 who was1 and is1 and shall be1    
eternal and forever the same4  ,where   
there is no thinker1 there is no thing4 
,it is in1 and through1 and with ,him   
that we know ourselves and our          
environment2 and recognize that our     
particular life is1 in its implications1
 universal and divine4  ,he is the      
principle of unity which is present in  
whatever is an object of thought1 and   
which gives the mind the power to       
co-ordinate the manifold of sensation   
into the harmony of truth2 ,he is the   
principle of goodness and beauty1 which 
makes the universe fair1 and thrills the
 heart of man with hope and love4  ,amid
 endless change1 ,he alone is permanent1
 and ,he is power and wisdom and love1  
and they only are good and wise and     

strong who cleave to ,his eternal and   
absolute being4  ,but since here and now
 the real world of matter as            
distinguished from the apparent is      
hidden behind the veil of sense1 it is  
vain to hope that the world of eternal  
life shall be made plain to the pure    
reason4  ,religion1 like life1 is faith1
 hope1 and love1 striving and doing1 not
 intellectual intuition and beatific    
vision4  ,we find it impossible to      
separate our thought of ,god from that  
of infinite goodness and love2 but when 
we look away from our own souls to      
,nature's pitiless and fatal laws1 we   
realize that this faith in all-embracing
 and all-conquering love is opposed by  
seemingly insurmountable difficulties4  
,it is a mystery we believe1 not a truth
 we comprehend4  ,systems of philosophy1
 morality1 and religion1 however        
cunningly devised1 cannot make men      
philosophers1 sages1 or saints4 ,this   
they can become only through the        
communion which faith1 hope1 and love   

have power to establish with the living 
fountain-head of truth1 wisdom1 and     
goodness4  ,the pursuit of knowledge1   
like the struggle for wealth and place1 
ends in disillusion1 in the             
disappointment which results from the   
contrast between what we hope for and   
what we attain4  ,the greater the       
success1 the more complete the          
disenchantment4  ,as the rich and famous
 best see the unsatisfactoriness of     
wealth and honor1 so they who know much 
best understand how knowledge avails    
not1 how it is but a cloud-built        
citadel1 whose foundations rest upon the
 uncertain air1 whose walls and turrets 
lose in substance what they gain in     
height4  ,when we imagine we know all   
things1 we awake as from a dream to find
 that we know nothing1 that our knowing 
is but a believing1 our science but a   
faith4  ,we are little children who     
wander in a father's wide domain1 seeing
 many things and understanding not      
anything1 who imagine we are in a real  

and abiding world1 while in truth we are
 but passing through the picture-gallery
 of the senses4    ,faith1 ,hope1 and   
,love3--these three     ,are life's deep
 root2   ,they reach into infinity1     
,whence life doth shoot4   ,but ,faith  
and ,hope have not attained     ,the    
,eternal best2   ,while ,love1 sweet    
,love1 the end has gained1--     ,in    
,god to rest4   ,so long as these       
life-begetting1 life-sustaining1 and    
life-developing powers hold mightier    
sway over the soul of woman than over   
that of man1 so long will woman's heel  
crush the serpent's head and woman's    
arms bear salvation to the world4  ,she 
will not worship the rising sun1 or     
become the idolatress of success1 but   
within her heart will cherish fallen    
heroes and lost causes and the memory of
 all the sorrows by which ,god humanizes
 the world4  ,if we consider mankind    
merely as a phenomenon1 the extinction  
of the race need give us little more    
concern than the disappearance of       

,pterodactyls and ,ichthyosauri4  ,what 
repels from such contemplation is not   
man's physical1 but his spiritual       
being1--that which makes him capable of 
thought and love1 of faith and hope4    
,the universe is anthropomorphized1 for 
whithersoever man looks he sees the     
reflection of his own countenance4      
,what he calls things are stamped with  
the impress and likeness of himself1 as 
he himself is an image of the eternal   
mind1 in which all things are mirrored4 
,an atheist or a materialist1 an        
agnostic or a pessimist1 may have       
greater knowledge1 greater intellectual 
force than the most devout believer in  
,god2 but is it possible for him to feel
 so thoroughly at home in the world1 to 
feel so deeply that1 whatever happens1  
it is and will be well with him8  ,in an
 atheistic world the spirit of man is   
ill at ease4  ,he who has no ,god makes 
himself the centre of all things1 and1  
like a spoiled child1 loses the power to
 admire1 to enjoy1 and to love4         

,genuine faith in ,god is such an       
infinite force that one may be tempted  
to doubt whether it is found4           
,undisciplined minds become victims of  
the formulas they receive1 and if what  
they have accepted as truth is shown to 
be false or incomplete1 they grow       
discouraged and lose faith2 but the wise
 know that the verbal vesture of truth  
is a symbol which has but a proximate   
and relative value4  ,the spirit is     
alive1 and ceaselessly outgrows or      
transmutes the body with which it is    
clothed4  ,what we can do with          
anything1--with money1 knowledge1       
wealth1--depends on what we are4        
,ruskin prefers holy work to holy       
worship2 but the antithesis is mistaken1
 for if worship is holy it impels to    
work1 if work is holy it impels to      
worship4  ,god's most sacred visible    
temple is a human body1 and its         
profanation is the worst sacrilege4     
,all true belief1 when we come to the   
last analysis1 is belief in ,god1 and   

the teacher of religion must keep this  
fact always in view4  ,the law of the   
struggle for life applies to opinions1  
beliefs1 hopes1 aims1 ideals1 just as it
 applies to individuals and species4    
,whatever survives1 survives through    
conflict1 because it is fit to survive4 
,it does not follow1 however1 that the  
best survives1 though we must think that
 in the end this is so1 since we believe
 in ,god4  ,when serious minds grapple  
with problems so remote from vulgar     
opinion that they seem to be meaningless
 or insoluble1 the multitude1 ever      
ready1 like a crowd of boys1 to mock and
 jeer1 break forth into insult4  ,these 
men1 they cry are wicked1 or they are   
fools4  ,in a society where it is       
assumed that all are equal1 those who   
are really superior incur suspicion as  
though it were criminal to be different 
from the multitude2 and hence they      
rarely win the favor of the crowd4  ,the
 life-current of those who stir up a    
noise about them1 runs shallow4  ,the   

champion of the prize-ring or the       
race-course is hailed with shouts1 for  
the crowd understand the achievement2   
but what can they know of the worth of a
 sage or a saint8  ,the noblest         
struggles are of the mind and heart     
wrestling with unseen powers1 with      
spirits1 as ,st4 ,paul says1 that they  
may compel them to give up the secret of
 truth and holiness4  ,a glimpse of     
truth1 a thrill of love1 is better than 
the applause of a whole city4  ,in      
striving steadfastly for thy own        
perfection and the happiness of others  
thou walkest and workest with ,god4     
,thy progress will help others to labor 
for their own1 and the happiness thou   
givest will return to thee and become   
thine2 and what is the will of ,god1 if 
it is not the perfection and happiness  
of his children8  ,to have merely enough
 strength to bear life's burden1 to do  
the daily task1 to face the cares which 
return with the sun and follow us into  
the night1 is to be weak1 is to lack the

 strong spirit for which work is light  
as play1 and whose secret is heard in   
whispers by the hero and the saint4  ,to
 be able to give joy and help to others 
we must have more life1 wisdom1 virtue1 
and happiness than we need for          
ourselves2 and it is in giving joy and  
help to others that we ourselves receive
 increase of life1 wisdom1 virtue1 and  
happiness4  ,be persuaded within thy    
deepest soul1 that moral evil can never 
be good1 and that sin can never be gain4
  ,so act that if all men acted as thou1
 all would be well4  ,if to be like     
others is thy aim1 thou art predestined 
to remain inferior4  ,to be followed and
 applauded is to be diverted from one's 
work4  ,better alone with it in a garret
 than a guest in a banquet hall4    ,let
 thy prayer be work and work thy prayer1
   ,as ,god's truth and love are        
everywhere1   ,and whether by word or   
deed thou strive   ,in ,him alone thou  
canst be alive4   ,if thou hast done thy
 best1 ,god will give it worth4  ,if    

thou carest not for truth and love1 for 
thee they are nothing worth2 but it is  
because thou thyself art worthless4     
,wisdom and virtue is all thou lackest2 
of other things thou hast enough4  ,when
 the passion for self-improvement is    
strong within us1 all our relations to  
our fellow-men and nature receive new   
meaning and power1 as opportunities to  
make ourselves what it is possible for  
us to become2 and as we grow accustomed 
to take this view of whatever happens1  
we are made aware that disagreeable     
things are worth as much as the         
pleasant1 that foes are as useful as    
friends4  ,the obstacle arrests         
attention1 provokes effort1 and         
educates4  ,it throws the light back    
upon the eye1 and reveals the world of  
color and form2 from it all sounds      
reverberate4 ,we grow by overcoming2 the
 force we conquer becomes our own4  ,we 
rise on difficulties we surmount4  ,what
 opposes1 arouses1 strengthens1 and     
disciplines the will1 discloses to the  

mind its power1 and implants faith in   
the efficacy of patient1 persevering    
labor4  ,they who shrink from the combat
 are already defeated4  ,to make        
everything easy is to smooth the way    
whereby we descend4  ,to surround the   
young with what they ought themselves to
 achieve is to enfeeble and corrupt     
them4 ,happy is the poor man's son1 who 
whithersoever he turns1 sees the        
obstacle rise to challenge him to become
 a man2 miserable the children of the   
rich1 whose cursed-blessed fortune is an
 ever-present invitation to idleness and
 conceit4  ,o mothers1 you whose love is
 the best any of us have known1 harden  
your sons1 and urge them on1 not in the 
race for wealth1 but in the steep and   
narrow way wherein1 through             
self-conquest and self-knowledge1 they  
rise toward ,god and all high things4   
,nothing that has ever been said of your
 power tells the whole truth1 and the   
only argument against you is the men who
 are your children4  ,education is      

always the result of personal influence4
  ,a mother1 a father in the home1 a    
pure and loving heart at the altar1 a   
true man or woman in the school1 a noble
 mind uttering itself in literature1    
which is personal thought and           
expression1--these are the forces which 
educate4  ,life proceeds from life1 and 
religion1 which is the highest power of 
life1 can proceed only from ,god and    
religious souls4  ,not by preaching and 
teaching1 but by living the life1 can we
 make ourselves centres of spiritual    
influence4  ,be like others1 walk in the
 broad way1 one of a herd1 content to   
graze in a common pasture1 believing    
equality man's highest law1 though its  
meaning be equality with the brute4  ,is
 this our ideal8  ,it is an atheistic   
creed4  ,there is no ,god1 there is     
nothing but matter1 but atoms1 and atoms
 are alike and equal1--let men be so    
too4  ,to struggle with infinite faith  
and hope for some divine good is        
idolatry1 is to believe in ,god2 to be  

one's self is the unpardonable sin4  ,it
 is thy aim to rise1 to distinguish     
thyself2 this means thou wouldst have   
higher place1 more money1 a greater     
house than thy neighbor's4  ,it is a    
foolish ambition4  ,instead of trying to
 distinguish thyself1 strive to become  
thyself1 to make thyself worthy of the  
approval of ,god and wise men4  ,i am   
not to be pitied1 my lord1 said ,bayard2
 ,i die doing my duty4  ,god has not    
given ,his world into thy keeping1 but  
he has given thee to thyself to fashion 
and complete4  ,if thou art busy seeking
 money or pleasure or praise1 little    
time will remain wherein to seek and    
find thyself4  ,they who are interesting
 to themselves1 are interesting to      
themselves alone4  ,the self-absorbed   
are the victims of mental and moral     
disease4  ,the life which flows out to  
others1 bearing light and warmth and    
fragrance1 feels itself in the blessings
 it gives2 that which is self-centred1  
stagnates like a pool1 and becomes the  

habitation of doleful creatures4  ,there
 is a popularity which is born of the   
worship of noble deeds1--it is the best4
  ,there is another1 which comes of the 
crowd's passion for what is noisy and   
spectacular1--it is the worst4  ,the one
 is the popularity of heroes1 the other 
that of charlatans4  ,whatever thy      
chosen work1 it is thy business to make 
thyself a man or a woman1 and not a mere
 specialist2 yet in following a         
specialty with enthusiasm1 thou shalt go
 farther towards perfection and         
completeness of life than the multitude 
of pretenders1 who are not in earnest   
about anything4  ,every harsh and unjust
 sentiment1 every narrow and unworthy   
thought consented to and entertained1   
remains like a stain upon character4    
,whoever speaks or writes against       
freedom or knowledge or faith in ,god1  
or love of man or reverence of woman1   
but makes himself ridiculous2 for men   
feel and believe that their true world  
is a world of high thoughts and noble   

sentiments1 and they can neither respect
 nor trust those who strive to weaken   
their hold upon this world4  ,become    
thyself2 do thy work4  ,for this1 all   
thy days are not too many or too long4  
,if thou and it are worthy to be known1 
the presentation can be made in briefest
 time2 and it matters little though it  
be deferred until after thy death4      
,besides whatever other conditions1 time
 is necessary to bring the best things  
to maturity1 and to imagine that        
excellence demands less than lifelong   
work1 is to mistake4  ,it is by the     
patient observation of the infinitesimal
 that science has done its best work2   
and it is only by unwearying attention  
to the thousand little things of life   
that we may hope to make some approach  
to moral and intellectual perfection4   
,he who works with joy and cheerfulness 
in the field which himself has found and
 chosen1 will acquire knowledge and     
skill1 and his labor will be transformed
 into increase and newness of life4  ,we

 gain a clear view of things only when  
we set them apart from ourselves1 and   
contemplate them simply as objects of   
thought4  ,to see them aright we must be
 free from emotion and behold them in   
the cold air of the intellect4  ,to look
 on them as in some way bound up with   
our personal good or evil1 is to have   
the vision blurred4  ,study in the      
spirit of an investigator1 who has no   
other than a scientific interest in what
 he sets himself to examine4  ,the wise 
physician is wholly intent upon making a
 correct diagnosis1 though the patient  
be his mother4  ,what gain would        
self-delusion bring him or her he loves8
 ,things are what they are1 and it is   
our business to know them4  ,observe and
 hold thy judgment in suspense until    
patient looking shall have made truth so
 plain that to pass judgment is         
superfluous4  ,the aim of mental        
training is clearness and accuracy of   
view1 together with the strength to keep
 steadfastly looking into the world of  

intelligible things4  ,what rouses      
desire tends to enslave2 what gives     
delight tends to liberate2 the one      
appeals to the senses1 the other to the 
soul4  ,hence1 intellectual and moral   
pleasures alone are associated with the 
sense of freedom and pure joy4  ,the    
lovers of freedom are as rare as the    
lovers of truth and of ,god4  ,for most1
 liberty is but a trader's commodity1 to
 be parted with for price1 as their     
obedience is a slave's service4  ,the   
chief good consists in acting justly and
 nobly1 rather than in thinking acutely 
and profoundly4  ,the free play of the  
mind is delightful1 but the law of moral
 obligation is the deepest thing in us4 
,honor1 place1 and wealth1 which are won
 at the price of self-improvement1 the  
wise will not desire4  ,great           
opportunities seldom present themselves1
 but every moment of every hour of thy  
conscious life is an opportunity to     
improve thyself1 which for thee is the  
best and most necessary thing4  ,since  

our power over others is small1 but over
 ourselves large1 let us devote our     
energies to self-improvement4 ,nor let  
any man say1 writes ,locke1 he cannot   
govern his passions1 nor hinder them    
from breaking out and carrying him into 
action2 for what he can do before a     
prince or great man he can do alone or  
in the presence of ,god1 if he will4    
,the sure way to happiness is to yield  
ourselves wholly to ,god1 knowing that  
he has care of us1 and at the same time 
to seek to draw from life whatever joy  
and delight it may bestow upon a high   
mind and a pure heart1 receiving the    
blessing gladly1 conscious all the while
 that what is external cannot really be 
ours1 and is not1 therefore1 necessary  
to our contentment4  ,that many are     
wiser and stronger than thou1 is not a  
motive for discouragement2 the          
depressing thought is1 that so few are  
wise and strong4  ,he who gives his     
whole life to what he believes he is    
most capable of doing1 succeeds1        

whatever be the worth of his work4      
,there are many who are busy with many  
things2 but one who has a high purpose1 
and who devotes all his energies to its 
fulfillment1 is not easily found2 and   
great and interesting characters are1   
therefore1 rare4  ,to what better use   
can we put life than to employ it in    
ameliorating life8  ,it is to this every
 wise and good man devotes himself1     
whether he be priest or teacher1        
physician or lawyer1 philosopher or     
poet1 captain of industry or statesman4 
,,chapter ,v4  ,,the ,,scope ,,of       
,,public-,,school ,,education4  ,our    
system of ,public-,school ,education is 
a result of the faith of the people in  
the need of universal intelligence for  
the maintenance of popular government4  
,does this system include moral         
training8  ,since the teaching of       
religious doctrines is precluded1 this1 
,i imagine1 is what we are to consider  
in discussing the ,scope of             
,public-,school ,education4  ,the       

equivalents of scope are aim1 end1      
opportunity1 range of view2 and the     
equivalents of education are training1  
discipline1 development1 instruction4   
,the proper meaning of the word         
education1 it seems1 is not a drawing   
out1 but a training up1 as vines are    
trained to lay hold of and rise by means
 of what is stronger than themselves4   
,my subject1 then1 is the aim1 end1     
opportunity1 and range of view of       
public-school education1 which to be    
education at all1 in any true sense1    
must be a training1 discipline1         
development1 and instruction of man's   
whole being1 physical1 intellectual1 and
 moral4  ,this1 ,i suppose1 is what     
,herbert ,spencer means when he defines 
education to be a preparation for       
complete living4  ,montaigne says the   
end of education is wisdom and virtue2  
,comenius declares it to be knowledge1  
virtue1 and religion2 ,milton1 likeness 
to ,god through virtue and faith2       
,locke1 health of body1 virtue1 and good

 manners2 ,herbart1 virtue1 which is the
 realization in each one of the idea of 
inner freedom2 while ,kant and ,fichte  
declare it to consist chiefly in the    
formation of character4 ,all these      
thinkers agree that the supreme end of  
education is spiritual or ethical4  ,the
 controlling aim1 then1 should be1 not  
to impart information1 but to upbuild   
the being which makes us human1 to form 
habits of right thinking and doing4     
,the ideal is virtually that of         
,israel1--that righteousness is         
life1--though the ,greek ideal of beauty
 and freedom may not be excluded4  ,it  
is the doctrine that manners make the   
man1 that conduct is three-fourths of   
life1 leaving but one-fourth for        
intellectual activity and aesthetic     
enjoyment2 and into this fourth of life 
but few ever enter in any real way1     
while all are called and may learn to do
 good and avoid evil4  ,in the end1 says
 ,ruskin1 the ,god of heaven and earth  
loves active1 modest1 and kind people1  

and hates idle1 proud1 greedy1 and cruel
 ones4  ,we can all learn to become     
active1 modest1 and kind2 to turn from  
idleness1 pride1 greed1 and cruelty4    
,but we cannot all make ourselves       
capable of living in the high regions of
 pure thought and ideal beauty2 and for 
the few even who are able to do this1 it
 is still true that conduct is          
three-fourths of life4  ,the end of man1
 says ,buechner1 is conversion into     
carbonic acid1 water1 and ammonia4      
,this also is an ideal1 and he thinks we
 should be pleased to know that in dying
 we give back to the universe what had  
been lent4  ,he moralizes too2 but if   
all we can know of our destiny is that  
we shall be converted into carbonic     
acid1 water1 and ammonia1 the sermon may
 be omitted4  ,on such a faith it is not
 possible to found a satisfactory system
 of education4  ,men will always refuse 
to think thus meanly of themselves1 and 
in answer to those who would persuade   
them that they are but brutes1 they     

will1 with perfect confidence1 claim    
kinship with ,god2 for from an utterly  
frivolous view of life both our reason  
and our instinct turn4  ,the ,scope of  
,public-,school ,education is to        
co-operate with the physical1 social1   
and religious environment to form good  
and wise men and women4  ,unless we bear
 in mind that the school is but one of  
several educational agencies1 we shall  
not form a right estimate of its office4
  ,it depends almost wholly for its     
success upon the kind of material       
furnished it by the home1 the state1 and
 the church2 and1 to confine our view to
 our own country1 ,i have little        
hesitation in affirming that our home   
life1 our social and political life1 and
 our religious life have contributed far
 more to make us what we are than any   
and all of our schools4  ,the school1   
unless it works in harmony with these   
great forces1 can do little more than   
sharpen the wits4 ,many of the teachers 
of our ,indian schools are doubtless    

competent and earnest2 but their pupils1
 when they return to their tribes1      
quickly lose what they have gained1     
because they are thrown into an         
environment which annuls the ideals that
 prevailed in the school4  ,the         
controlling aim of our teachers should  
be1 therefore1 to bring their           
pedagogical action into harmony with    
what is best in the domestic1 social1   
and religious life of the child2 for    
this is the foundation on which they    
must build1 and to weaken it is to      
expose the whole structure to ruin4     
,hence the teacher's attitude toward the
 child should be that of sympathy with  
him in his love for his parents1 his    
country1 and his religion4  ,his reason 
is still feeble1 and his life is largely
 one of feeling2 and the fountain-heads 
of his purest and noblest feelings are  
precisely his parents1 his country1 and 
his religion1 and to tamper with them is
 to poison the wells whence he draws the
 water of life4  ,to assume and hold    

this attitude with sincerity and tact is
 difficult2 it requires both character  
and culture2 it implies a genuine love  
of mankind and of human excellence2     
reverence for whatever uplifts1         
purifies1 and strengthens the heart2    
knowledge of the world1 of literature1  
and of history1 united with an earnest  
desire to do whatever may be possible to
 lead each pupil toward life in its     
completeness1 which is health and       
healthful activity of body and mind and 
heart and soul4  ,as the heart makes the
 home1 the teacher makes the school4    
,what we need above all things1 wherever
 the young are gathered for education1  
is not a showy building1 or costly      
apparatus1 or improved methods or       
text-books1 but a living1 loving1       
illumined human being who has deep faith
 in the power of education and a real   
desire to bring it to bear upon those   
who are intrusted to him4  ,this applies
 to the primary school with as much     
force as to the high school and         

university4  ,those who think1 and they 
are1 ,i imagine1 the vast majority1 that
 any one who can read and write1 who    
knows something of arithmetic1          
geography1 and history1 is competent to 
educate young children1 have not even   
the most elementary notions of what     
education is4  ,what the teacher is1 not
 what he utters and inculcates1 is the  
important thing4  ,the life he lives1   
and whatever reveals that life to his   
pupils2 his unconscious behavior1 even2 
above all1 what in his inmost soul he   
hopes1 believes1 and loves1 have far    
deeper and more potent influence than   
mere lessons can ever have4  ,it is     
precisely here that we ,americans1 whose
 talent is predominantly practical and  
inventive1 are apt to go astray4  ,we   
have won such marvellous victories with 
our practical sense and inventive genius
 that we have grown accustomed to look  
to them for aid1 whatever the nature of 
the difficulty or problem may be4       
,machinery can be made to do much1 and  

to do well what it does4  ,with its help
 we move rapidly2 we bring the ends of  
the earth into instantaneous            
communication2 we print the daily       
history of the world and throw it before
 every door2 we plough and we sow and we
 reap2 we build cities1 and we fill our 
houses with whatever conduces to comfort
 or luxury4  ,all this and much more    
machinery enables us to do4  ,but it    
cannot create life1 nor can it1 in any  
effective way1 promote vital processes4 
,now1 education is essentially a vital  
process4  ,it is a furthering of life2  
and as the living proceed from the      
living1 they can rise into the wider    
world of ideas and conduct only by the  
help of the living2 and as in the       
physical realm every animal begets after
 its own likeness1 so also in the       
spiritual the teacher can give but what 
he has4  ,if the well-spring of truth   
and love has run dry within himself1 he 
teaches in vain4  ,his words will no    
more bring forth life than desert winds 

will clothe arid sands with verdure4    
,much talking and writing about         
education have chiefly helped to obscure
 a matter which is really plain4  ,the  
purpose of the public school is or      
should be not to form a mechanic or a   
specialist of any kind1 but to form a   
true man or woman4  ,hence the number of
 things we teach the child is of small  
moment4  ,those schools1 in fact1 in    
which the greatest number of things are 
taught give1 as a rule1 the least       
education4  ,the character of the ,roman
 people1 which enabled them to dominate 
the earth and to give laws to the world1
 was formed before they had schools1 and
 when their schools were most           
flourishing they themselves were in     
rapid moral and social dissolution4  ,we
 make education and religion too much a 
social affair1 and too little a personal
 affair4  ,their essence lies in their  
power to transform the individual1 and  
it is only in transforming him that they
 recreate the wider life of the         

community4  ,the ,founder of            
,christianity addressed himself to the  
individual1 and gave little heed to the 
state or other environment4  ,he looked 
to a purified inner source of life to   
create for itself a worthier            
environment1 and simply ignored devices 
for working sudden and startling        
changes4  ,they who have entered into   
the hidden meaning of this secret and   
this method turn in utter incredulity   
from the schemes of declaimers and      
agitators4  ,the men who fill the world1
 each with his plan for reforming and   
saving it1 may have their uses1 since   
the poet tells us there are uses in     
adversity1 which1 like the toad1 ugly   
and venomous1 wears yet a precious jewel
 in its head2 but to one deafened by    
their discordant and clamorous voices1  
the good purpose they serve seems to be 
as mythical as the jewel in the toad's  
head4  ,have not those who mistake their
 crotchets for ,nature's laws invaded   
our schools8  ,have they not succeeded  

in forming a public opinion and in      
setting devices at work which render    
education1 in the true sense of the     
word1 if not impossible1 difficult8     
,literature is a criticism of life1 made
 by those who are in love with life1 and
 have the deepest faith in its          
possibilities2 and all criticism which  
is inspired by sympathy and faith and   
controlled by knowledge is helpful4     
,complacent thoughts are rarely true1   
and hardly ever useful4  ,it is a       
prompting of nature to turn from what we
 have to what we lack1 for thus only is 
there hope of amendment and progress4   
,we are1 to quote ,emerson1    ,built of
 furtherance and pursuing1   ,not of    
spent deeds1 but of doing4   ,hence the 
wise and the strong dwell not upon their
 virtues and accomplishments1 but strive
 to learn wherein they fail1 for it is  
in correcting this they desire to labor4
  ,they wish to know the truth about    
themselves1 are willing to try to see   
themselves as others see them1 that     

self-knowledge may make self-improvement
 possible4  ,they turn from flattery1   
for they understand that flattery is    
insult4  ,now1 if this is the attitude  
of wise and strong men1 how much more   
should it not be that of a wise and     
strong people8  ,whenever persons or    
things are viewed as related in some    
special way to ourselves1 our opinions  
of them will hardly be free from bias4  
,when1 for instance1 ,i think or speak  
of my country1 my religion1 my friends1 
my enemies1 ,i find it difficult to put 
away the prejudice which my self-esteem 
and vanity create1 and which1 like a    
haze1 ever surrounds me to color or     
obscure the pure light of reason4  ,it  
cannot do us harm to have our defects   
and shortcomings pointed out to us2 but 
to be told by demagogues and declaimers 
that we are the greatest1 the most      
enlightened1 the most virtuous people   
which exists or has existed1 can surely 
do us no good4 ,if it is true1 we should
 not dwell upon it1 for this will but   

distract us from striving for the things
 in which we are deficient2 and if it is
 false1 it can only mislead us and      
nourish a foolish conceit4  ,it is the  
orator's misfortune to be compelled to  
think of his audience rather than of    
truth4  ,it is his business to please1  
persuade1 and convince2 and men are     
pleased with flattering lies1 persuaded 
and convinced by appeals to passion and 
interest4  ,happier is the writer1 who  
need not think of a reader1 but finds   
his reward in the truth he expresses4   
,it is not possible for an enlightened  
mind not to take profound interest in   
our great system of public education4   
,to do this he need not think it the    
best system4  ,he may deem it defective 
in important requisites4  ,he may hold1 
as ,i hold1 that the system is of minor 
importance1 the kind of teacher being   
all important4  ,but if he loves his    
country1 if he loves human excellence1  
if he has faith in man's capacity for   
growth1 he cannot but turn his thoughts1

 with abiding attention and sympathy1 to
 the generous and determined efforts of 
a powerful and vigorous people to       
educate themselves4  ,were our          
public-school system nothing more than  
the nation's profession of faith in the 
transforming power of education1 it     
would be an omen of good and a ground   
for hope2 and one cannot do more useful 
work than to help to form a public      
opinion which will accept with          
thankfulness the free play of all       
sincere minds about this great question1
 and which will cause the genuine lovers
 of our country to turn in contempt from
 the clamors politicians and bigots are 
apt to raise when an honest man utters  
honest thought on this all-important    
subject4  ,i am willing to assume and to
 accept as a fact that our theological  
differences make it impossible to       
introduce the teaching of any religious 
creed into the public school4  ,i take  
the system as it is1--that is1 as a     
system of secular education1--and ,i    

address myself more directly to the     
question proposed3 ,what is or should be
 its scope8  ,the fact that religious   
instruction is excluded makes it all the
 more necessary that humanizing and     
ethical aims should be kept constantly  
in view4  ,whoever teaches in a public  
school should be profoundly convinced   
that man is more than an animal which   
may be taught cunning and quickness4  ,a
 weed in blossom may have a certain     
beauty1 but it will bear no fruit2 and  
so the boy or youth one often meets1    
with his irreverent smartness1 his      
precocious pseudo-knowledge of a hundred
 things1 may excite a kind of interest1 
but he gives little promise of a noble  
future4  ,the flower of his life is the 
blossom of the weed1 which in its decay 
will poison the air1 or1 at the best1   
serve but to fertilize the soil4  ,if we
 are to work to good purpose we must    
take our stand1 with the great thinkers 
and educators1 on the broad field of    
man's nature1 and act in the light of   

the only true ideal of education1--that 
its end is wisdom1 virtue1 knowledge1   
power1 reverence1 faith1 health1        
behavior1 hope1 and love2 in a word1    
whatever powers and capacities make for 
intelligence1 for conduct1 for          
character1 for completeness of life4    
,not for a moment should we permit      
ourselves to be deluded by the thought  
that because the teaching of religious  
creeds is excluded1 therefore we may    
make no appeal to the fountain-heads    
which sleep within every breast1 the    
welling of whose waters alone has power 
to make us human4  ,if we are forbidden 
to turn the current into this or that   
channel1 we are not forbidden to        
recognize the universal truth that man  
lives by faith1 hope1 and love1 by      
imagination and desire1 and that it is  
precisely for this reason that he is    
educable4  ,we move irresistibly in the 
lines of our real faith and desire1 and 
the educator's great purpose is to help 
us to believe in what is high and to    

desire what is good4  ,since for the    
irreverent and vulgar spirit nothing is 
high or good1 reverence1 and the        
refinement which is the fruit of true   
intelligence1 urge ceaselessly their    
claims on the teacher's attention4      
,goethe1 ,i suppose1 was little enough  
of a ,christian to satisfy the demands  
of an agnostic cripple even1 and yet he 
held that the best thing in man is the  
thrill of awe2 and that the chief       
business of education is to cultivate   
reverence for whatever is above1        
beneath1 around1 and within us4  ,this  
he believed to be the only philosophical
 and healthful attitude of mind and     
heart towards the universe1 seen and    
unseen4  ,may not the meanest flower    
that blows bring thoughts that lie too  
deep for tears8  ,is not reverence a    
part of all the sweetest and purest     
feelings which bind us to father and    
mother1 to friends and home and country8
 ,is it not the very bloom and          
fragrance1 not only of the highest      

religious faith1 but also of the best   
culture8  ,let the thrill of awe cease  
to vibrate1 and you will have a world in
 which money is more than man1 office   
better than honesty1 and books like     
,innocents ,abroad or ,peck's ,bad ,boy 
more indicative of the kind of man we   
form than are the noblest works of      
genius4  ,what is the great aim of the  
primary school1 if it is not the        
nutrition of feeling8  ,the child is    
weak in mind1 weak in will1 but he is   
most impressionable4  ,feeble in        
thought1 he is strong in capacity to    
feel the emotions which are the sap of  
the tree of moral life4  ,he responds   
quickly to the appeals of love1         
tenderness1 and sympathy4  ,he is alive 
to whatever is noble1 heroic1 and       
venerable4  ,he desires the approbation 
of others1 especially of those whom he  
believes to be true and high and pure1  
he has unquestioning faith1 not only in 
,god but in great men1 who1 for him1    
indeed1 are earthly gods4  ,is not his  

father a divine man1 whose mere word    
drives away all fear and fills him with 
confidence8  ,the touch of his mother's 
hand stills his pain2 if he is          
frightened1 her voice is enough to      
soothe him to sleep4  ,to imagine that  
we are educating this being of infinite 
sensibility and impressionability when  
we do little else than teach him to     
read1 write1 and cipher1 is to cherish a
 delusion4  ,it is not his destiny to   
become a reading1 writing1 and ciphering
 machine1 but to become a man who       
believes1 hopes1 and loves2 who holds to
 sovereign truth1 and is swayed by      
sympathy2 who looks up with reverence   
and awe to the heavens1 and hearkens    
with cheerful obedience to the call of  
duty2 who has habits of right thinking  
and well doing which have become a law  
unto him1 a second nature4  ,and if it  
be said that we all recognize this to be
 so1 but that it is not the business of 
the school to help to form such a man2  
that it does its work when it sharpens  

the wits1 ,i will answer with the words 
of ,william von ,humboldt3 ,whatever we 
wish to see introduced into the life of 
a nation must first be introduced into  
its schools4  ,now1 what we wish to see 
introduced into the life of the nation  
is not the power of shrewd men1 wholly  
absorbed in the striving for wealth1    
reckless of the means by which it is    
gotten1 and who1 whether they succeed or
 whether they fail1 look upon money as  
the equivalent of the best things man   
knows or has2 who therefore think that  
the highest purpose of government1 as of
 other social forces and institutions1  
is to make it easy for all to get       
abundance of gold and to live in sloven 
plenty2 but what we wish to see         
introduced into the life of the nation  
is the power of intelligence and virtue1
 of wisdom and conduct4  ,we believe1   
and in fact know1 that humanity1        
justice1 truthfulness1 honesty1 honor1  
fidelity1 courage1 integrity1 reverence1
 purity1 and self-respect are higher and

 mightier than anything mere sharpened  
wits can accomplish4  ,but if these     
virtues1 which constitute nearly the    
whole sum of man's strength and worth1  
are to be introduced into the life of   
the nation1 they must be introduced into
 the schools1 into the process of       
education4  ,we must recognize1 not in  
theory alone but in practice1 that the  
chief end of education is ethical1 since
 conduct is three-fourths of human life4
  ,the aim must be to make men true in  
thought and word1 pure in desire1       
faithful in act1 upright in deed2 men   
who understand that the highest good    
does not lie in the possession of       
anything whatsoever1 but that it lies in
 power and quality of being2 for whom   
what we are and not what we have is the 
guiding principle2 who know that the    
best work is not that for which we      
receive most pay1 but that which is most
 favorable to life1 physical1 moral1    
intellectual1 and religious2 since man  
does not exist for work or the ,sabbath1

 but work and rest exist for him1 that  
he may thrive and become more human and 
more divine4  ,we must cease to tell    
boys and girls that education will      
enable them to get hold of the good     
things of which they believe the world  
to be full2 we must make them realize   
rather that the best thing in the world 
is a noble man or woman1 and to be that 
is the only certain way to a worthy and 
contented life4  ,all talk about        
patriotism which implies that it is     
possible to be a patriot or a good      
citizen without being a true and good   
man1 is sophistical and hollow4  ,how   
shall he who cares not for his better   
self care for his country8  ,we must    
look1 as educators1 most closely to     
those sides of the national life where  
there is the greatest menace of ruin4   
,it is plain that our besetting sin1 as 
a people1 is not intemperance or        
unchastity1 but dishonesty4  ,from the  
watering and manipulating of stocks to  
the adulteration of food and drink1 from

 the booming of towns and lands to the  
selling of votes and the buying of      
office1 from the halls of ,congress to  
the policeman's beat1 from the          
capitalist who controls trusts and      
syndicates to the mechanic who does     
inferior work1 the taint of dishonesty  
is everywhere4  ,we distrust one        
another1 distrust those who manage      
public affairs1 distrust our own fixed  
will to suffer the worst that may befall
 rather than cheat or steal or lie4     
,dishonesty hangs1 like mephitic air1   
about our newspapers1 our legislative   
assemblies1 the municipal government of 
our towns and cities1 about our churches
 even1 since our religion itself seems  
to lack that highest kind of honesty1   
the downright and thorough sincerity    
which is its life-breath4  ,if the      
teacher in the public school may not    
insist that an honest man is the noblest
 work of ,god1 he may teach at least    
that he who fails in honesty fails in   
the most essential quality of manhood1  

enters into warfare with the forces     
which have made him what he is1 and     
which secure him the possession of what 
he holds dearer than himself1 since he  
barters for it his self-respect2 that   
the dishonest man is an anarchist and   
dissocialist1 one who does what in him  
lies to destroy credit1 and the sense of
 the sacredness of property1 obedience  
to law1 and belief in the rights of man4
  ,if our teachers are to work in the   
light of an ideal1 if they are to have a
 conscious end in view1 as all who      
strive intelligently must have1 if they 
are to hold a principle which will give 
unity to their methods1 they must seek  
it in the idea of morality1 of conduct1 
which is three-fourths of life4  ,i     
myself am persuaded that the real and   
philosophical basis of morality is the  
being of ,god1 a being absolute1        
infinite1 unimaginable1 inconceivable1  
of whom our highest and nearest thought 
is that he is not only almighty1 but    
all-wise and all-good as well4  ,but it 

is possible1 ,i think1 to cultivate the 
moral sense without directly and        
expressly assigning to it this          
philosophical and religious basis2 for  
goodness is largely its own evidence1 as
 virtue is its own reward4  ,it all     
depends on the teacher4  ,life produces 
life1 life develops life2 and if the    
teacher have within himself a living    
sense of the all-importance of conduct1 
if he thoroughly realize that what we   
call knowledge is but a small part of   
man's life1 his influence will nourish  
the feelings by which character is      
evolved4  ,the germ of a moral idea is  
always an emotion1 and that which impels
 to right action is the emotion rather  
than the idea4  ,the teachings of the   
heart remain forever1 and they are the  
most important2 for what we love1       
genuinely believe in1 and desire decides
 what we are and may become4  ,hence the
 true educator1 even in giving technical
 instruction1 strives not merely to make
 a workman1 but to make also a man1     

whose being shall be touched to finer   
issues by spiritual powers1 who shall be
 upheld by faith in the worth and       
sacredness of life1 and in the education
 by which it is transformed1 enriched1  
purified1 and ennobled4  ,he understands
 that an educated man1 who1 in the      
common acceptation of the phrase1 is one
 who knows something1 who knows many    
things1 is1 in truth1 simply one who has
 acquired habits of right thinking and  
right doing4  ,the culture which we wish
 to see prevail throughout our country  
is not learning and literary skill2 it  
is character and intellectual           
openness1--that higher humanity which is
 latent within us all2 which is power1  
wisdom1 truth1 goodness1 love1 sympathy1
 grace1 and beauty2 whose surpassing    
excellence the poor may know as well as 
the rich2 whose charm the multitude may 
feel as well as the chosen few4  ,he who
 speaks of the people1 says             
,guicciardini1 speaks1 in sooth1 of a   
foolish animal1 a prey to a thousand    

errors1 a thousand confusions1 without  
taste1 without affection1 without       
firmness4  ,the scope of our            
public-school education is to make      
common-places of this kind1 by which all
 literature is pervaded1 so false as to 
be absurd2 and when this end shall have 
been attained1 ,democracy will have won 
its noblest victory4  ,how shall we find
 the secret from which hope of such     
success will spring8  ,by so forming and
 directing the power of public opinion1 
of national approval1 and of money1 as  
to make the best men and women willing  
and ready to enter the teacher's        
profession4  ,the kind of man who       
educates is the test of the kind of     
education given1 and there is properly  
no other test4  ,when we ,americans     
shall have learned to believe with all  
our hearts and with all the strength of 
irresistible conviction that a true     
educator is a more important1 in every  
way a more useful1 sort of man than a   
great railway king1 or pork butcher1 or 

captain of industry1 or grain buyer1 or 
stock manipulator1 we shall have begun  
to make ourselves capable of perceiving 
the real scope of public-school         
education4     ,,chapter ,,vi4  ,,the   
,,religious ,,element ,,in ,,education4 
,the theory of development1 which is now
 widely received and applied to all     
things1 from star dust to the latest    
fashion1 is at once a sign and a cause  
of the almost unlimited confidence which
 we put in the remedial and transforming
 power of education4  ,we no longer     
think of ,god as standing aloof from    
nature and the course of history4  ,he  
it is who works in the play of atoms and
 in the throbbings of the human heart2  
and as we perceive his action in the    
evolution both of matter and of mind1 we
 know and feel that1 when with conscious
 purpose we strive to call forth and    
make living the latent powers of man's  
being1 we are working with him in the   
direction in which he impels the        
universe4 ,education1 therefore1 we look

 upon as necessary1 not merely because  
it is indispensable to any high and     
human kind of life1 but also because    
,god has made development the law both  
of conscious and unconscious nature4    
,he is in act all that the finite may   
become1 and the effort to grow in       
strength1 knowledge1 and virtue springs 
from a divine impulse4  ,although we    
know that the earth is not the centre of
 the universe1 that it is but a minor   
satellite1 a globule lost in space1 our 
deepest thought still finds that the end
 of nature is the production of rational
 beings1 of man2 for the final reason   
for which all things exist is that the  
infinite good may be communicated2 and  
since the highest good is truth and     
holiness1 it can be communicated only to
 beings who think and love4  ,hence all 
things are man's1 and he exists that he 
may make himself like ,god2 in other    
words1 that he may educate himself2 for 
the end of education is to fit him for  
completeness of life1 to train all his  

faculties1 to call all his endowments   
into play1 to make him symmetrical and  
whole in body and soul4  ,this1 of      
course1 is the ideal1 and consequently  
the unattainable2 but in the light of   
ideals alone do we see rightly and judge
 truly2 and to take a lower view of the 
aim and end of education is to take a   
partial view4  ,to hold that ,god is1   
and that man truly lives only in so far 
as he is made partaker of the divine    
life1 is1 by implication1 to hold that  
his education should be primarily and   
essentially religious4  ,our opinions   
and beliefs1 however1 are never the     
result of purely rational processes1 and
 hence a mere syllogism has small       
persuasive force1 or even no influence  
at all1 upon our way of looking at      
things1 or the motives which determine  
action4  ,as it is useless to argue     
against the nature of things1 so we     
generally plead in vain when our        
world-view is other than that of those  
whom we seek to convince2 for those who 

observe from different points either do 
not see the same objects or do not see  
them in the same light4  ,life is       
complex1 and the springs of thought and 
action are controlled in mysterious ways
 by forces and impulses which we neither
 clearly understand nor accurately      
measure4  ,what is called the spirit of 
the age1 the spirit which1 as the ,poet 
says1 sits at the roaring loom of time  
and weaves for ,god the garment whereby 
,he is made visible to us1 exercises a  
potent influence upon all our thinking  
and doing4  ,we live in an era of       
progress1 and progress means            
differentiation of structure and        
specialization of function4  ,the more  
perfect the organism1 the more are its  
separate functions assigned to separate 
parts4  ,as social aggregates develop1 a
 similar differentiation takes place4   
,offices which were in the hands of one 
are distributed among several4          
,agencies are evolved by which processes
 of production1 distribution1 and       

exchange are carried on4  ,trades and   
professions are called into existence4  
,as enlightenment and skill increase1   
men become more difficult to please4    
,they demand the best work1 and the best
 work can be done1 as a rule1 only by   
specialists4  ,specialization thus      
becomes a characteristic of             
civilization4  ,the patriarch is both   
king and priest4 ,in ,greece and ,rome1 
religion is a function of the ,state4   
,in the ,middle ,age1 the ,church and   
the ,state coalesce1 and form such an   
intimate union that the special domain  
of either is invaded by both4  ,but     
differentiation finally takes place1 and
 we all learn to distinguish between the
 things of ,caesar and the things of    
,god4  ,this separation has far-reaching
 results4  ,in asserting its            
independence1 the ,state was driven to  
use argument as well as force4  ,thus   
learning1 which in the confusion that   
succeeded the incursions of the         
,barbarians was cultivated almost       

exclusively by ecclesiastics1 grew to be
 of interest and importance to laymen4  
,they began to study1 and the subjects  
which most engaged their thoughts were  
not religious1 in the accepted sense of 
the word4  ,the ,protestant rebellion is
 but a phase of this revolution4  ,it   
began with the introduction of the      
literature of ,greece into ,western     
,europe4  ,the spirit of inquiry and    
mental curiosity was thereby awakened in
 wider circles2 enthusiasm for the truth
 and beauty to which ,greek genius has  
given the most perfect expression1 was  
aroused2 and interest in intellectual   
and artistic culture was called forth4  
,new ideals were upheld to fresh and    
wondering minds4  ,the contagion spread1
 and the thirst for knowledge was       
carried to ever-widening spheres4  ,it  
thus came to pass that the cleric and   
the scholar ceased to be identical4     
,the boundaries of knowledge were       
enlarged when the inductive method was  
applied to the study of nature1 and it  

soon became impossible for one man to   
pretend to a mastery of all science4    
,and so the principle of the division of
 labor was introduced into things of the
 intellect4  ,of old1 the prophet or the
 philosopher was supposed to possess all
 wisdom2 but now it had become plain    
that proficiency could be hoped for only
 by lifelong devotion to some special   
branch of knowledge4  ,this led to other
 developments4  ,the business of        
teaching1 which had been almost         
exclusively in the hands of             
ecclesiastics1 was now necessarily taken
 up by laymen also4  ,as feudalism fell 
to decay1 and the assertion of popular  
rights began to point to the advent of  
democracy1 the movement in opposition to
 privilege logically led to the claim   
that learning should no longer be held  
to be the appanage of special classes1  
but that the gates of the temple of     
knowledge should be thrown open to the  
whole people4  ,to make education       
universal1 the most ready and the       

simplest means was to levy a school tax2
 and as this could be done only by the  
,state1 the ,state established systems  
of education and assumed the office of  
teacher4 ,the result of all this has    
been that the school1 which throughout  
,christendom is the creation of the     
church1 has in most countries very      
largely passed into the control of the  
civil government4  ,this transference of
 control need not1 however1 involve the 
exclusion of religious influence and    
instruction2 though once the ,state has 
gained the ascendency1 the natural      
tendency is to take a partial and       
secular view of the whole question of   
education1 and to limit the functions of
 the school to the training of the      
mental faculties4  ,and1 as a matter of 
fact1 this tendency is found in men of  
widely differing and even conflicting   
opinions and convictions concerning     
religion itself4  ,it is most           
pronounced1 however1 in the educational 
theories and systems of positivists and 

agnostics4  ,as they hold that there is 
no ,god1 or that we cannot know that    
there is a ,god1 they necessarily       
conclude that it is absurd to attempt to
 teach children anything about ,god4    
,this view is forcibly expressed by     
,issaurat1 a ,french writer on          
education1 in a recently published      
volume1 which he calls ,the ,evolution  
and ,history of ,pedagogy4  ,all        
religion1 he affirms1 in the concluding 
chapter of his book1 impedes1 thwarts1  
misdirects1 and troubles the natural    
education of man1 the normal and        
harmonious development of his physical1 
moral1 and intellectual faculties2 and  
since educational reform is not possible
 without reformation in the government1 
it is the duty of the ,state1 not merely
 to separate itself from the church1 but
 to suppress the church and to found the
 science of education upon biological   
philosophy1 upon transformism--let us   
say the word1 upon materialism4  ,this  
view is manifestly the inevitable result

 of ,issaurat's general system of       
thought and belief4  ,in his opinion1   
matter alone really exists1 and what is 
called spirit is but a phase of its     
evolution4  ,the world of spirit1       
therefore1 is illusory2 and to bring up 
the young to believe that it is the     
infinite1 essential reality1 is to teach
 them what is false1 and to give a wrong
 direction to the whole course of life4 
,for practical purposes this is the view
 not only of materialists and           
positivists1 but of agnostics as well1  
who1 though they do not deny the        
existence of spirit1 assert that only   
the phenomenal can be known1 or become  
the subject-matter of teaching4  ,they  
all agree in holding that the           
theological world-view was the primitive
 one1 which1 yielding to the            
metaphysical1 has been finally          
superseded by the scientific1 the sole  
basis of a rational philosophy4  ,the   
ideas of ,god1 substance1 cause1 and    
end1 are metaphysical ideas1 which1 if  

we wish to understand nature1 must be   
ignored2 for the study of nature is the 
study simply of facts and their         
relations with one another4  ,there is1 
so they think1 no such thing as         
substance1 any more than there is such a
 thing as a principle of gravity1 heat1 
light1 electricity1 or chemical         
affinity4 ,the vital principle too1     
which has played so great a part in     
physiological inquiries1 must be given  
up2 and therefore1 while nearly all the 
philosophers1 from ,kant to our own day1
 have made psychology the foundation of 
the science of education1 there is at   
present a marked tendency to have it    
rest solely on biology4  ,whether and to
 what extent these theories are true or 
false1 is beyond the purpose of this    
argument4  ,true or false1 they fairly  
describe the views of a large number of 
thinkers in our day1 and enable us to   
form a conception of their philosophy of
 education4  ,why trouble ourselves1    
asks ,professor ,huxley1 about matters  

of which1 however important they may be1
 we do know nothing and can know        
nothing8  ,with a view to our duty in   
this life1 it is necessary to be        
possessed of only two beliefs3 ,the     
first1 that the order of nature is      
ascertainable by our faculties to an    
extent that is practically unlimited2   
the second1 that our volition counts for
 something as a condition of the course 
of events4  ,our volition counts as a   
condition1 but it is after all only a   
part of the course of events1 and1      
consequently1 the only belief it is     
necessary to hold is1 that the course of
 events is ascertainable by our         
faculties to a practically unlimited    
extent4  ,such is the brief creed of    
materialists and agnostics4  ,the order 
of nature is the only known god1 and    
man's sole end and duty is to make      
himself acquainted with it1 that through
 obedience he may attain the highest    
perfection and happiness of which he is 
capable4  ,this is the one true         

religion1 and an enlightened people     
should forbid that any other be taught  
in their schools4  ,here we have an     
intelligible and well-defined position1 
and the one which1 from the point of    
view of such men as ,issaurat and       
,huxley1 is alone tenable4  ,every one  
now1 who thinks at all1 has some theory 
of the world1 and hence the shades of   
unbelief as of belief are many2 and     
since views of education are part of a  
more general system of philosophy1 it is
 inevitable that those who disagree upon
 the fundamental questions of thought1  
disagree also in their notions as to    
what is the school's proper office4     
,materialists1 pantheists1 positivists1 
secularists1 and pessimists unite in    
denying that there is a ,god above and  
distinct from nature1 while agnostics   
and cosmists affirm that such a being1  
if he exist1 must necessarily lie       
outside the domain of knowledge4        
,positive religious doctrines1          
therefore1 are superstition4  ,as these 

views are reflected in a more or less   
vague way in the writings of the        
multitude of those who make the current 
literature1 public opinion becomes      
averse to religious dogmas4  ,a large   
number of cultivated minds turn from all
 definite systems1 whether of thought or
 belief4  ,everything may be tolerated1 
if only the spirit of dogmatism is away4
  ,they recognize how great a thing     
religion is1 how profoundly it touches  
life1 how powerfully it shapes conduct4 
,without it1 civilization is hard and   
mechanical1 art is formal and feeble1   
and man himself but a shrewd animal4    
,but1 from their points of view1        
doctrines about ,god and ,christ and the
 church have nothing to do with         
religion4  ,to think of ,god as         
substance is to convert him into nature1
 to think of him as a person is to limit
 him4  ,the only absolute is the moral  
order of the world4  ,the religion of   
,christ is not a theory or a system of  
thought2 it is a view of life1 and its  

essence is found in belief in the       
reality of moral ideas4  ,the           
supernatural may fall away1--even the   
notion of a ,providence which rules the 
world in the interest of the good may be
 given up1--and we still have the method
 and the secret of ,jesus1 all that is  
of value in his life and teaching4  ,all
 theology is an illusion1 all creeds are
 a mistake4  ,religion rests upon the   
moral power1 which is not a conclusion  
drawn from facts1 but the fact          
itself1--the primal and essential fact  
in human life4  ,religion is simply     
morality suffused by the glow and warmth
 of a devout and reverent temper1 and to
 teach doctrines about ,god and the     
church will not make men religious4  ,it
 is obvious to object that morality     
supposes belief in a ,personal ,god and 
in the soul of man1 as law implies a    
law-giver4  ,this objection is          
meaningless1 not only for the thinkers  
whom ,i have mentioned1 but for others  
who find little interest in the literary

 and religious ideas of such men as     
,matthew ,arnold4  ,morality1 they      
claim1 is independent1 not only of      
metaphysics1 but of religion as well4   
,it is a science1 as yet1 indeed1       
imperfectly developed1 but a science    
nevertheless1 just as chemistry or      
physiology is a science4  ,human acts   
are controlled1 not by a higher will or 
man's freedom of choice1 but by physical
 laws4  ,the peculiarity of this view   
does not lie in the contention that     
ethics is a science1 but in the claim   
that it is a science altogether         
independent of metaphysical and         
religious dogmas4  ,all forces1 it is   
asserted1 physical1 mental1 and moral1  
are identical2 and morality1 like bodily
 vigor1 is a product of organism4  ,it  
is1 in fact1 but an elaboration of the  
two radical instincts of nutrition and  
propagation1 from which springs the     
twofold movement of conscious life1 the 
egoistic and the altruistic4  ,this     
theory is accepted alike in the ,german 

school of materialism1 in the ,french   
school of positivism1 and in the        
,english school of utilitarianism4      
,what the influence of modern empiricism
 upon ,american opinion may be1 it is   
difficult to determine4  ,americans     
certainly are a practical people1 but   
they are not devoid of interest in      
speculative views4  ,more than any other
 people1 possibly1 they have faith in   
the marvellous things which science is  
destined to accomplish1 and they        
willingly listen to men of science1 even
 when they quit the regions of fact for 
those of opinion4  ,thus the various    
theories1 to which the progress of      
natural knowledge has given rise1 are   
received by them1 if not with implicit  
trust1 with a kind of feeling1 at least1
 that they may be true4  ,there is even 
a disposition to treat doubts of the    
truth of ,christianity as a mark of     
intellectual vigor1 and sometimes as a  
sign of religious sincerity4            
,preoccupied with material interests1   

but yet finding time to read the        
thoughts of many minds and to hear the  
discussion of antagonistic opinions and 
systems1 they find it difficult to trust
 with entire confidence to what they    
know or believe4  ,it all seems to be   
relative1 and another generation may see
 everything in a different light4       
,problems take the place of principles1 
religious convictions are feeble1 the   
grasp of ,christian truth is relaxed1   
and the result is a certain moral       
hesitancy and infirmity4  ,they are not 
hostile to the churches1 but they are   
more or less indifferent to their       
doctrines4  ,as each sect has its       
peculiar creed1 the dogmatic position of
 the church is thought to be of little  
moment4 ,the important thing is to      
promote intelligence and virtue4  ,the  
distinctively sectarian view they look  
upon as narrow and false1 and the good  
which ecclesiastical organizations do is
 done in spite of their characteristic  
doctrines4  ,the note of sectarianism is

 to them what the note of provincialism 
is to a man of culture1 or lack of      
breeding to a gentleman4  ,the moral    
fervor1 which sectarians more than      
others feel1 is1 they freely grant1 a   
power for good4  ,it has a wholesome    
influence upon character1 and is a      
support of the virtues which make free  
institutions possible1 and which alone  
can make them permanent4  ,but it has no
 necessary connection with theological  
doctrines1 since it is found in earnest 
believers1 whatever their creed4  ,it is
 the child of enthusiastic faith1 and is
 nourished and kept living by worship1  
not by dogmatic asseverations4  ,as the 
power of the churches does not lie in   
their creeds1 to make these creeds a    
school lesson cannot be desirable1      
especially when we reflect that the     
method of religion and the method of    
science are at variance4  ,such1 ,i     
imagine1 are the views of large numbers 
of ,americans1 who are not members of   
any church1 but whose influence is      

strongly felt in political and          
commercial as well as in social and     
professional life4 ,and numbers of      
zealous ,protestants are in substantial 
agreement with them1 since they hold    
that faith is an emotional rather than  
an intellectual state of mind1 and that 
religion is not so much a way of        
thinking as a way of feeling and acting4
  ,they assume1 of course1 as the       
prerequisites of religious belief1 the  
dogmas of the existence of a personal   
,god and of an immortal human soul2 but1
 for the rest1 they lay stress upon     
conduct and piety1 not upon orthodox    
faith4  ,a church must have a creed1 as 
a party must have a platform2 but       
unhesitating confidence in the truth of 
the doctrines which it thus formulates  
is not indispensable4  ,american        
churches tend to ignore creeds4  ,this  
is due1 in a measure1 to the growing    
desire to form a union among the several
 sects2 but it is none the less a sign  
of waning belief in dogmatic religion4  

,hence the increasing emphasis which    
preaching lays upon the moral1          
aesthetic1 and emotional aspects of the 
religious life4 ,hence1 too1 the        
assumption that the soul of the church  
may live1 though the body be dead4      
,but1 apart from all theories and       
systems of belief and thought1 public   
opinion in ,america sets strongly       
against the denominational school4  ,the
 question of education is considered    
from a practical rather than from a     
theoretical point of view1 and public   
sentiment on the subject may be embodied
 in the following words3 ,the civilized 
world now recognizes the necessity of   
popular education4  ,in a government of 
the people1 such as this is1            
intelligence should be universal4  ,in  
such a government1 to be ignorant is not
 merely to be weak1 it is also to be    
dangerous to the common welfare2 for the
 ignorant are not only the victims of   
circumstances1 they are the instruments 
which unscrupulous and designing men    

make use of1 to taint the source of     
political authority and to thwart the   
will of the people4  ,to protect itself1
 the ,state is forced to establish      
schools and to see that all acquire at  
least the rudiments of letters4  ,this  
is so plain a case that argument becomes
 ridiculous4  ,they who doubt the good  
of knowledge are not to be reasoned     
with1 and in ,america not to see that it
 is necessary1 is to know nothing of our
 political1 commercial1 and social life4
  ,but the ,american ,state can give    
only a secular education1 for it is     
separate from the church1 and its       
citizens profess such various and even  
conflicting beliefs1 that in            
establishing a school system1 it is     
compelled to eliminate the question of  
religion4  ,church and ,state are       
separate institutions1 and their        
functions are different and distinct4   
,the church seeks to turn men from sin1 
that they may become pleasing to ,god   
and save their souls2 the ,state takes  

no cognizance of sin1 but strives to    
prevent crime1 and to secure to all its 
citizens the enjoyment of life1 liberty1
 and property4  ,americans are a        
,christian people4  ,religious zeal     
impelled their ancestors to the ,new    
,world1 and when schools were first     
established here1 they were established 
by the churches1 and religious          
instruction formed an important part of 
the education they gave4  ,this was     
natural1 and it was desirable even1 in  
primitive times1 when each colony had   
its own creed and worship1 when society 
was simple1 and the ,state as yet       
imperfectly organized4  ,here1 as in the
 ,old ,world1 the school was the        
daughter of the church1 and she has     
doubtless rendered invaluable service to
 civilization1 by fostering a love for  
knowledge among barbarous races and in  
struggling communities4  ,but the task  
of maintaining a school system such as  
the requirements of a great and         
progressive nation demands1 is beyond   

her strength4  ,this is so1 at least1   
when the church is split into jealous   
and warring sects4  ,to introduce the   
spirit of sectarianism into the         
class-room would destroy the harmony and
 good-will among citizens1 which it is  
one of the aims of the common school to 
cherish4  ,there is1 besides1 no reason 
why this should be done1 since the      
family and the church give all the      
religious instruction which children are
 capable of receiving4  ,this1 it seems 
to me1 is a fair presentation of the    
views and ideas which go to the making  
of current ,american opinion on the     
question of religious instruction in    
,state schools2 and current opinion1    
when the subject-matter is not          
susceptible of physical demonstration1  
cannot be turned suddenly in an opposite
 direction4  ,when men have grown       
accustomed to look at things in a       
certain way1 they have acquired a mental
 habit1 which no mere argument1 however 
cogent or eloquent1 is able to overcome4

  ,to what extent this view of the      
school question prevails is readily     
perceived by whoever recalls to mind    
that not one of the ,states of the      
,union has attempted to introduce the   
denominational system of education1     
while all the political parties have    
bound themselves to uphold the present  
purely secular system4  ,the opinion    
that the prosperity of the nation       
depends upon the intelligence and       
activity of the people1 and to no       
appreciable extent upon the influence of
 ecclesiastical organizations1 has so   
far prevailed1 that the general feeling 
has come to be that the ,state has no   
direct interest in the church1 which is 
the concern merely of individuals4 ,the 
religious denominations themselves have 
helped to inspire this sentiment by     
their jealousies and rivalries4  ,the   
smaller sects feel that ,state aid for  
denominational schools would accrue to  
the benefit chiefly of the larger2 and  
the others are willing to forego favors 

which they could not receive without    
permitting the ,catholic ,church to     
participate also in the bounty of the   
government4  ,the ,catholic view of the 
school question is as clearly defined as
 it is well known4  ,it rests upon the  
general ground that man is created for a
 supernatural end1 and that the church  
is the divinely appointed agency to help
 him to attain his supreme destiny4  ,if
 education is a training for            
completeness of life1 its primary       
element is the religious1 for complete  
life is life in ,god4  ,hence we may not
 assume an attitude toward the child1   
whether in the home1 in the church1 or  
in the school1 which might imply that   
life apart from ,god could be anything  
else than broken and fragmentary4  ,a   
complete man is not one whose mind only 
is active and enlightened2 but he is a  
complete man who is alive in all his    
faculties4  ,the truly human is found   
not in knowledge alone1 but also in     
faith1 in hope1 in love1 in             

pure-mindedness1 in reverence1 in the   
sense of beauty1 in devoutness1 in the  
thrill of awe1 which ,goethe says is the
 highest thing in man4  ,if the teacher 
is forbidden to touch upon religion1 the
 source of these noble virtues and ideal
 moods is sealed4  ,his work and        
influence become mechanical1 and he will
 form but commonplace and vulgar men4   
,and if an educational system is        
established on this narrow and material 
basis1 the result will be deterioration 
of the national type1 and the loss of   
the finer qualities which make men      
many-sided and interesting1 which are   
the safeguards of personal purity and of
 unselfish conduct4  ,religion is the   
vital element in character1 and to treat
 it as though it were but an incidental 
phase of man's life is to blunder in a  
matter of the highest and most serious  
import4  ,man is born to act1 and       
thought is valuable mainly as a guide to
 action4  ,now1 the chief inspiration to
 action1 and above all to right action1 

is found in faith1 hope1 and love1 the  
virtues of religion1 and not in         
knowledge1 the virtue of the intellect4 
,knowledge1 indeed1 is effectual only   
when it is loved1 believed in1 and held 
to be a ground for hope4  ,man does not 
live on bread alone1 and if he is       
brought up to look to material things1  
as to the chief good1 his higher        
faculties will be stunted4  ,if to do   
rightly rather than to think keenly is  
man's chief business here on earth1 then
 the virtues of religion are more       
important than those of the intellect2  
for to think is to be unresolved1       
whereas to believe is to be impelled in 
the direction of one's faith4  ,in      
epochs of doubt things fall to decay2 in
 epochs of faith the powers which make  
for full and vigorous life1 hold sway4  
,the education which forms character is 
indispensable1 that which trains the    
mind is desirable4  ,the essential      
element in human life is conduct1 and   
conduct springs from what we believe1   

cling to1 love1 and yearn for1 vastly   
more than from what we know4  ,the      
decadence and ruin of individuals and of
 societies come from lack of virtue1 not
 from lack of knowledge4  ,the hard and 
valuable part of education1 says ,locke1
 is virtue2 this is the solid and       
substantial good1 which the teacher     
should never cease to inculcate till the
 young man places his strength1 his     
glory1 and his pleasure in it4  ,we may1
 of course1 distinguish between morality
 and religion1 between ethics and       
theology4  ,as a matter of fact1        
however1 moral laws have everywhere     
reposed upon the basis of religion1 and 
their sanction has been sought in the   
principles of faith4  ,as an immoral    
religion is false1 so1 if there is no   
,god1 a moral law is meaningless4       
,theorists may be able to construct a   
system of ethics upon a foundation of   
materialism2 but their mechanical and   
utilitarian doctrines have not the power
 to exalt the imagination or to confirm 

the will4  ,their educational value is  
feeble4  ,here in ,america we have      
already passed the stage of social      
development in which we might hold out  
to the young1 as an ideal1 the hope of  
becoming ,president of the ,republic1 or
 the possessor of millions of money4    
,we know what sorry men presidents and  
millionnaires may be4  ,we cannot look  
upon our country simply as a wide       
race-course with well-filled purses     
hanging at the goal for the             
prize-winners4  ,we clearly perceive    
that a man's possessions are not        
himself1 and that he is or ought to be  
more than anything which can belong to  
him4  ,ideals of excellence1 therefore1 
must be substituted for those of        
success4  ,opinion governs the world1   
but ideals draw souls and stimulate to  
noble action4  ,the more we transform   
with the aid of machinery the world of  
matter1 the more necessary does it      
become that we make plain to all that   
man's true home is the world of thought 

and love1 of hope and aspiration4  ,the 
ideals of utilitarianism and secularism 
are unsatisfactory4  ,they make no      
appeal to the infinite in man1 to that  
in him which makes pursuit better than  
possession1 and which1 could he believe 
there is no absolute truth1 love1 and   
beauty1 would lead him to despair4      
,to-day1 as of old1 the soul is born of 
,god and for ,god1 and finds no peace   
unless it rest in him4  ,theology1      
assuredly1 is not religion2 but religion
 implies theology1 and a church without 
a creed is a body without articulation4 
,the virtues of religion are            
indispensable4  ,without them1 it is not
 well either with individuals or with   
nations2 but these virtues cannot be    
inculcated by those who1 standing aloof 
from ecclesiastical organizations1 are  
thereby cut off from the thought and    
work of all who in every age have most  
loved ,god1 and whose faith in the soul 
has been most living4 ,religious men    
have wrought for ,god in the church1 as 

patriots have wrought for liberty and   
justice in the nation2 and to exclude   
the representatives of the churches from
 the school is practically to exclude   
religion1--the power which more than all
 others makes for righteousness1 which  
inspires hope and confidence1 which     
makes possible faith in the whole human 
brotherhood1 in the face even of the    
political and social wrongs which are   
still everywhere tolerated4  ,to exclude
 religion is to exclude the spirit of   
reverence1 of gentleness and obedience1 
of modesty and purity2 it is to exclude 
the spirit by which the barbarians have 
been civilized1 by which woman has been 
uplifted and ennobled and the child made
 sacred4  ,from many sides the demand is
 made that the ,state schools exercise a
 greater moral influence1 that they be  
made efficient in forming character as  
well as in training the mind4  ,it is   
recognized that knowing how to read and 
write does not insure good behavior4    
,since the ,state assumes the office of 

teacher1 there is a disposition among   
parents to make the school responsible  
for their children's morals as well as  
for their minds1 and thus the influence 
of the home is weakened4  ,whatever the 
causes may be1 there seems to be a      
tendency1 both in private and in public 
life1 to lower ethical standards4  ,the 
moral influence of the secular school is
 necessarily feeble1 since our ideas of 
right and wrong are so interfused with  
the principles of ,christianity that to 
ignore our religious convictions is     
practically to put aside the question of
 conscience4  ,if the ,state may take no
 cognizance of sin1 neither may its     
school do so4  ,but in morals sin is the
 vital matter2 crime is but its legal   
aspect4  ,men begin as sinners before   
they end as criminals4  ,the atmosphere 
of religion is the natural medium for   
the development of character4  ,if we   
appeal to the sense of duty1 we assume  
belief in ,god and in the freedom of the
 will2 if we strive to awaken enthusiasm

 for the human brotherhood1 we imply a  
divine fatherhood4  ,accordingly1 as we 
accept or reject the doctrines of       
religion1 the sphere of moral action1   
the nature of the distinction between   
right and wrong1 and the motives of     
conduct all change4  ,in the purely     
secular school only secular morality may
 be taught2 and whatever our opinion of 
this system of ethics may otherwise be1 
it is manifestly deficient in the power 
which appeals to the heart and the      
conscience4  ,the child lives in a world
 which imagination creates1 where faith1
 hope1 and love beckon to realms of     
beauty and delight4  ,the spiritual and 
moral truths which are to become the    
very life-breath of his soul he         
apprehends mystically1 not logically4   
,heaven lies about him2 he lives in     
wonderland1 and feels the thrill of awe 
as naturally as he looks with wide-open 
eyes4 ,do not seek to persuade him by   
telling him that honesty is the best    
policy1 that poverty overtakes the      

drunkard1 that lechery breeds disease1  
that to act for the common welfare is   
the surest way to get what is good for  
one's self2 for such teaching will not  
only leave him unimpressed1 but it will 
seem to him profane1 and almost immoral4
  ,he wants to feel that he is the child
 of ,god1 of the infinitely good and    
all-wonderful2 that in his father1      
divine wisdom and strength are revealed2
 in his mother1 divine tenderness and   
love4  ,he so believes and trusts in    
,god that it is our fault if he knows   
that men can be base4  ,in nothing does 
the godlike character of ,christ show   
forth more beautifully than in ,his     
reverence for children4  ,shall we      
profess to believe in ,him1 and yet     
forbid ,his name to be spoken in the    
houses where we seek to train the little
 ones whom ,he loved8  ,shall we shut   
out ,him whose example has done more to 
humanize1 ennoble1 and uplift the race  
of man than all the teachings of the    
philosophers and all the disquisitions  

of the moralists8  ,if the thinkers1    
from ,plato and ,aristotle to ,kant and 
,pestalozzi1 who have dealt with the    
problems of education1 have held that   
virtue is its chief aim and end1 shall  
we thrust from the school the one ideal 
character who1 for nearly nineteen      
hundred years1 has been the chief       
inspiration to righteousness and        
heroism2 to whose words patriots and    
reformers have appealed in their        
struggles for liberty and right2 to     
whose example philanthropists have      
looked in their labors to alleviate     
suffering2 to whose teaching the modern 
age owes its faith in the brotherhood of
 men2 by whose courage and sympathy the 
world has been made conscious that the  
distinction between man and woman is    
meant for the propagation of the race1  
but that as individuals they have equal 
rights and should have equal            
opportunities8  ,we all1 and especially 
the young1 are influenced by example    
more than by precepts and maxims1 and it

 is unjust and unreasonable to exclude  
from the schoolroom the living presence 
of the noblest and best men and women1  
of those whose words and deeds have     
created our ,christian civilization4    
,in the example of their lives we have  
truth and justice1 goodness and         
greatness1 in concrete form2 and the    
young who are brought into contact with 
these centres of influence will be      
filled with admiration and enthusiasm2  
they will be made gentle and reverent2  
and they will learn to realize the      
ever-fresh charm and force of personal  
purity4  ,teachers who have no moral    
criteria1 no ideals1 no counsels of     
perfection1 no devotion to ,god and     
godlike men1 cannot educate1 if the     
proper meaning of education is the      
complete unfolding of all man's powers4 
,the school1 of course1 is but one of   
the many agencies by which education is 
given4  ,we are under the influence of  
our whole environment1--physical1 moral1
 and intellectual2 political1 social1   

and religious2 and if1 in all this1     
aught were different1 we ourselves      
should be other4  ,the family is a      
school and the church is a school2 and  
current ,american opinion assigns to    
them the business of moral and religious
 education4  ,but this implies that     
conduct and character are of secondary  
importance2 it supposes that the child  
may be made subject to opposite         
influences at home and in the school1   
and not thereby have his finer sense of 
reverence1 truth1 and goodness deadened4
  ,the subduing of the lower nature1 of 
the outward to the inner man1 is a thing
 so arduous that reason1 religion1 and  
law combined often fail to accomplish   
it4  ,if one should propose to do away  
with schools altogether1 and to leave   
education to the family and the ,church1
 he would be justly considered          
ridiculous2 because the carelessness of 
parents and the inability of the        
ministry of the ,church would involve   
the prevalence of illiteracy4  ,now1 to 

leave moral and religious education to  
the family and the churches involves1   
for similar reasons1 the prevalence of  
indifference1 sin1 and crime4  ,if      
illiteracy is a menace to free          
institutions1 vice and irreligion are a 
greater menace4 ,the corrupt are always 
bad citizens2 the ignorant are not      
necessarily so4  ,parents who would not 
have their children taught to read and  
write1 were there no free schools1 will 
as a rule neglect their religious and   
moral education4  ,in giving religious  
instruction to the young1 the churches  
are plainly at a disadvantage2 for they 
have the child but an hour or two in    
seven days1 and they get into their     
,sunday classes only the children of the
 more devout4  ,if the chief end of     
education is virtue2 if conduct is      
three-fourths of life2 if character is  
indispensable1 while knowledge is only  
useful1--then it follows that           
religion--which1 more than any other    
vital influence1 has power to create    

virtue1 to inspire conduct1 and to mould
 character--should enter into all the   
processes of education4  ,our school    
system1 then1 does not rest upon a      
philosophic view of life and education4 
,we have done what it was easiest to do1
 not what it was best to do2 and in     
this1 as in other instances1 churchmen  
have been willing to sacrifice the      
interests of the nation to the whims of 
a narrow and jealous temper4  ,the      
denominational system of popular        
education is the right system4  ,the    
secular system is a wrong system4 ,the  
practical difficulties to be overcome   
that religious instruction may be given 
in the schools are relatively           
unimportant1 and would be set aside if  
the people were thoroughly persuaded of 
its necessity4  ,an objection which ,dr4
 ,harris1 among others1 insists upon1   
that the method of science and the      
method of religion are dissimilar1 and  
that therefore secular knowledge and    
religious knowledge should not be taught

 in the same school1 seems to me to have
 no weight4  ,the method of mathematics 
is not the method of biology2 the method
 of logic is not the method of poetry2  
but they are all taught in the same     
school4  ,a good teacher1 in fact1      
employs many methods4  ,in teaching the 
child grammatical analysis1 he has no   
fear of doing harm to his imagination or
 his talent for composition4  ,no       
system1 however1 can give assurance that
 the school is good4  ,to determine this
 we must know the spirit which lives in 
it4  ,the intellectual1 moral1 and      
religious atmosphere which the child    
breathes there is of far more           
importance1 from an educational point of
 view1 than any doctrines he may learn  
by rote1 than any acts of worship he may
 perform4  ,the teacher makes the       
school2 and when high1 pure1 devout1 and
 enlightened men and women educate1 the 
conditions favorable to mental and moral
 growth will be found1 provided a false 
system does not compel them to assume a 

part and play a role1 while the true    
self--the faith1 hope1 and love whereby 
they live--is condemned to inaction4    
,the deeper tendency of the present age 
is not1 ,i think1 to exclude religion   
from any vital process1 but rather to   
widen the content of the idea of        
religion until it embrace the whole life
 of man4  ,the worship of ,god is not   
now the worship of infinite wisdom1     
holiness1 and justice alone1 but is also
 the worship of the humane1 the         
beautiful1 and the industriously active4
  ,whether we work for knowledge or     
freedom1 or purity or strength1 or      
beauty or health1 or aught else that is 
friendly to completeness of life1 we    
work with ,god and for ,god4  ,in the   
school1 as in whatever other place in   
the boundless universe a man may find   
himself1 he finds himself with ,god1 in 
,him moves1 lives1 and has his being4   
,,chapter ,,vii4  ,,the ,,higher        
,,education4#a  #a ,a discourse         
pronounced at the ,third ,plenary       

,council of ,baltimore1 which1 being    
enforced by the offer of three hundred  
thousand dollars by ,miss ,caldwell1 led
 to the founding of the ,university at  
,washington4   ,the subject which ,i    
have been asked to treat is the higher  
education of priests2 which1 ,i suppose1
 is the highest education of man1 since 
the ideal of the ,christian priest is   
the most exalted1 his vocation the most 
sublime1 his office the most holy1 his  
duties the most spiritual1 and his      
mission--whether we consider its        
relation to morality1 which is the basis
 of individual and social welfare1 or to
 religion1 which is the promise and the 
secret of immortal and godlike life--is 
the most important and the most sacred  
which can be assigned to a human being4 
,religion and education--like religion  
and morality--are nearly related4 ,pure 
religion1 indeed1 is more than right    
education2 and yet it may be said with  
truth that it is but a part of the best 
education1 for it co-operates with other

 forces--with climate1 custom1 social   
conditions1 and political               
institutions--to develop and fashion the
 complete man2 and the special          
instruction of teachers--which is the   
narrow meaning of the word--is modified1
 and to a great extent controlled1 by   
these powers which work unseen1 and are 
the vital agents that make possible all 
conscious educational efforts4  ,the    
faith we hold1 the laws we obey1 the    
domestic and social customs to which our
 thoughts and loves are harmonized1 the 
climate we live in1 mould our characters
 and give to our souls a deeper and more
 lasting tinge than any school1 though  
it were the best4  ,my subject1 however1
 does not demand that ,i consider these 
general and silent agencies by which    
life is influenced1 but leads me to the 
discussion of the methods by which man1 
with conscious purpose1 seeks to form   
and instruct his fellow-man2 to the     
discussion of the special education     
which brings art to the aid of nature1  

and becomes the auxiliary and guide of  
the other forces which contribute to the
 development of our being4  ,in this    
age1 when all who think at all turn     
their thoughts to questions of          
education1 it is needless to call       
attention to the interest of the        
subject1 which1 like hope1 is immortal1 
and fresh as the innocent face of       
laughing childhood4  ,is not the school 
for all men a shrine to which their     
pilgrim thoughts return to catch again  
the glow and gladness of a world wherein
 they lived by faith and hope and love  
when round the morning sun of life the  
golden purple clouds were hanging1 and  
earth lay hidden in mist1 beneath which 
the soul created a new paradise8  ,to   
the opening mind all things are young   
and fair2 and to remember the delight   
that accompanied the gradual dawn of    
knowledge upon our mental vision1 sweet 
and beautiful as the upglowing of day   
from the bosom of night1 is to be       
forever thankful for the gracious power 

of education4  ,and is there not in all 
hearts a deep and abiding yearning for  
great and noble men1 and therefore an   
imperishable interest in the power by   
which they are moulded8  ,when fathers  
and mothers look upon the fair          
blossoming children that cling to them  
as the vine wraps its tendrils round the
 spreading bough1 and when their great  
love fills them with ineffable longing  
to shield these tender souls from the   
blighting blasts of a cold and stormy   
world1 and little by little to prepare  
them to stand alone and breast the gales
 of fortune1 do they not instinctively  
put their trust in the power of         
education8  ,when1 at the beginning of  
the present century1 ,germany lay       
prostrate at the feet of ,napoleon1 the 
wise and the patriotic among her        
children yielded not to despondency1 but
 turned with confidence to truer methods
 and systems of education1 and assiduous
 teaching and patient waiting finally   
brought them to ,sedan4  ,when1 in the  

sixteenth century1 heresy and schism    
seemed near to final victory over the   
,church1 ,pope ,julius ,,iii4 declared  
that the evils and abuses of the times  
were the outgrowth of the shameful      
ignorance of the clergy1 and that the   
chief hope of the dawning of a brighter 
day lay in general and thorough         
ecclesiastical education4  ,and the     
,catholic leaders who finally turned    
back the advancing power of             
,protestantism1 re-established the      
,church in half the countries in which  
it had been overthrown1 and converted   
more souls in ,america and ,asia than   
had been lost in ,europe1 belonged to   
the greatest educational body the world 
has ever seen4  ,what is history but    
examples of success through knowledge   
and righteousness1 and of failure       
through lack of understanding and of    
virtue8  ,wherein lies the superiority  
of civilized races over barbarians if   
not in their greater knowledge and      
superior strength of character8  ,and   

what but education has placed in the    
hands of man the thousand natural forces
 which he holds as a charioteer his     
well-reined steeds1 bidding the winds   
carry him to distant lands1 making steam
 his tireless1 ever-ready slave1 and    
commanding the lightning to speak his   
words to the ends of the earth8  ,what  
else than this has taught him to map the
 boundless heavens1 to read the         
footprints of ,god in the crust of the  
earth ages before human beings lived1 to
 measure the speed of light1 to weigh   
the imperceptible atom1 to split up all 
natural compounds1 to create innumerable
 artificial products with which he      
transforms the world and with a grain of
 powder marches like a conquering god   
around the globe8  ,what converts the   
meaningless babbling of the child into  
the stately march of oratoric phrase or 
the rhythmic flow of poetic language8   
,what has developed the rude stone and  
bronze implements of savage and         
barbarous hordes into the miraculous    

machinery which we use8  ,by what power 
has man been taught to carve the        
shapeless rock into an image of ideal   
beauty1 or with it to build his thought 
into a temple of ,god1 where the soul   
instinctively prostrates itself in      
adoration8  ,is not all this1 together  
with whatever else is excellent in human
 works1 the result of education1 which  
gives to man a second nature with more  
admirable endowments8  ,and is not      
religion itself a kind of celestial     
education1 which trains the soul to     
godlike life8  ,no progress in things   
divine or human is made by man except   
through effort1 and effort is the power 
and the law of education4  ,the maxim of
 the spiritual writers that not to      
struggle upward and onward is to be     
drawn downward1 applies to every phase  
of our life4  ,whence do we derive      
strength of soul but from the uplifting 
of the mind and heart to ,god which we  
call prayer8  ,to pray is to think1 to  
attend1 to hold the mind lovingly to its

 object2 and this is what we do when we 
study4 ,hence prayer1 which is the voice
 of religion1 is a part of              
education1--nay1 its very soul1         
breathing on all the chords of life1    
till their thousand dissonances meet in 
rhythmic harmony4  ,what is the pulpit  
but the holiest teacher's chair that has
 been placed upon the earth8  ,and as   
the presence of a noble character is a  
more potent influence than words1 so    
sacramental communion with ,christ is   
man's chief school of faith1 of hope1   
and love4  ,there are worthy persons who
 turn1 as from an unholy thought1 from  
the emphatic announcement of the need of
 the best human qualities for the proper
 defence of the cause of ,god in the    
world4  ,such speech seems to them to be
 vain and unreal2 for ,god is all in    
all1 and man is nothing4  ,but in our   
day it is easier to go astray in the    
direction of self-annihilation than in  
that of self-assertion2 since the common
 tendency now of all false philosophies 

is pantheistic1 and issues in           
unconscious contempt of individual life4
 ,if man is but a bubble1 merging forth 
and re-absorbed1 without past or future1
 then indeed both he1 and what he seems 
to do1 sink into the eternal flow of    
matter1 and are undeserving of a        
thought4  ,this certainly is not the    
,christian view1 to which man is        
revealed as a lesser god1 and co-worker 
with the ,eternal1 whose thought can    
reach the infinite1 and whose will can  
oppose that of the ,omnipotent4  ,in    
,christ1 ,god co-operates with man for  
the salvation of the world2 and in the  
,church1 man co-operates with ,god to   
this same end4  ,the more complete the  
man1 the more fit is he to work with    
,god4  ,even bodily disfigurement is    
looked upon as an obstacle2 how much    
more1 then1 shall lack of intelligence  
and want of heart render us unworthy of 
the divine office8  ,i certainly shall  
never deny that love1 which the ,apostle
 exalts above faith and hope1 is higher 

also than knowledge4  ,the light of the 
mind is as that of the moon--fair and   
soft and soothing1 without heat1 without
 the power to call forth and nourish    
life2 but the light of the soul1 which  
is love1 is the sunlight1 whose kiss1   
like a word of ,god1 makes the dead to  
live1 and clothes the world in strength 
and beauty4  ,character is more than    
intellect1 love is more than knowledge1 
religion is more than morality2 and a   
great heart brings us closer to ,god1   
nearer to all goodness1 than a bright   
mind4  ,education is essentially moral1 
and the intellectual qualities          
themselves1 which we seek to develop1   
derive their chief efficacy from        
underlying ethical qualities upon which 
they rest and from which they receive   
their energy and the power of           
self-control4  ,inequality of will is   
the great cause of inequality of mind2  
and the will is strengthened by the     
practice of virtue1 as the body by food 
and exercise4  ,if this is a general    

truth1 with what special force must it  
not apply to the ministers of a religion
 the paramount and ceaseless aim of     
which is to make men holy1 so that at   
times it has almost seemed as though the
 ,church were indifferent as to whether 
they are learned or beautiful or strong8
  ,she pronounces no man a doctor unless
 he be also a saint2 and when ,i insist 
that the priest shall possess the best  
mental culture of his age1--that without
 this he fights with broken weapons1    
speaks with harsh voice a language men  
will neither hear nor understand1       
teaches truths which1 having not the    
freshness and the glow of truth1 neither
 kindle the heart nor fire the          
imagination1--,i do not forget that1    
without the moral earnestness which is  
born of faith and purity of life1 mere  
cultivation of mind will not give him   
power to unseal the fountains of living 
waters which refresh the garden of ,god4
  ,the universal harmony is felt by a   
pure heart better than it can be        

perceived by a keen intellect4  ,to a   
sinless soul the darker side even of    
life and nature is not wholly dark1 and 
the mental difficulties which the       
existence of evil involves in no way    
weaken the consciousness of the         
essential goodness that lies at the     
heart of all things4  ,in the religious1
 as in the moral world1 men trust to    
what we are rather than to what we say1 
and the teacher of spiritual truth is   
never strong1 unless his life and       
character inspire a confidence which    
arguments alone do not create2 for in   
questions that reach beyond the sphere  
of sensation1 we feel that insight is   
better than reasons1 and hence we       
instinctively prefer the testimony of a 
god-like soul to the conclusions of a   
cultivated mind3 and indeed our ,blessed
 ,lord ever assumes that the obstacle to
 the perception of divine truth is moral
 and not intellectual4  ,the pure of    
heart see ,god2 the evil-doer loves     
darkness and shuns the light4  ,st4     

,paul goes even farther1 and associates 
mental cultivation with a tendency      
directly opposed to religious faith1    
which is humble4 ,knowledge puffeth up4 
,but the words of the ,apostle should   
not be stretched beyond his purpose1    
which is to point to pride as a special 
danger of the intellectual as sensuality
 is a danger of the ignorant4 ,for man  
to have aught is to run a risk1 and     
hence to do as little as possible is in 
the thought of the timid a mark of      
prudence4  ,and indeed1 if fear be      
nearer to wisdom than courage1 then     
should we fear everything1 for danger is
 everywhere4  ,a breath may sow the seed
 of death2 a look may slay the soul4    
,in knowledge1 in ignorance1 in         
strength1 in weakness1 in wealth1 in    
poverty1 in genius1 in stupidity1 in    
company1 in solitude1 in innocence      
itself1 danger lurks4  ,but ,god does   
not abolish life that danger may cease  
to be2 and they who put their trust in  
,him will not seek to darken the mind   

lest knowledge lead man astray1 but will
 rather in a righteous cause make the   
venture of all things1 as ,st4 ,ignatius
 preferred the hope of saving others to 
the certainty of his own salvation4     
,and may we not maintain1 since we hold 
that there is no inappeasable conflict  
between ,god and ,nature1 between the   
soul and matter1 between revelation and 
science1 that the apparent antagonism   
lies in our apprehension1 and not in    
things themselves1 and consequently that
 reconcilement is to be sought for      
through the help of thoroughly trained  
minds8  ,the poet speaks the truth1 ,a  
little knowledge is a dangerous thing4  
,they who know but little and           
imperfectly1 see but their knowledge1 if
 so it may be called1 and walk in       
innocent unconsciousness of their       
infinite nescience4  ,the narrower the  
range of our mental vision1 the greater 
the obstinacy with which we cling to our
 opinions2 and the half-educated1 like  
the weak and the incompetent1 are often 

contentious1 but whosoever is able to do
 his work does it1 and finds no time for
 dispute4  ,he who possesses a          
disciplined mind1 and is familiar with  
the best thoughts that live in the great
 literatures1 will be the last to attach
 undue importance to his own thinking4  
,a sense of decency and a kind of holy  
shame will keep him far from angry and  
unprofitable controversy2 nor will he   
mistake a crotchet for a panacea1 nor   
imagine that irritation is              
enlightenment4  ,the blessings of a     
cultivated mind are akin to those of    
religion4  ,they are larger liberty1    
wider life1 purer delights1 and a juster
 sense of the relative values of the    
means and ends which lie within our     
reach4  ,knowledge1 like religion1 leads
 us away from what appears to what is1  
from what passes to what remains1 from  
what flatters the senses to that which  
speaks to the soul4  ,wisdom and        
religion converge1 as love and knowledge
 meet in ,god2 and to the wise as to the

 religious man1 no great evil can       
happen4  ,into prison they both carry   
the sweet company of their thoughts1    
their faith and hope1 and are freer in  
chains than the great in palaces4  ,in  
death they are in the midst of life1 for
 they see that what they know and love  
is imperishable1 nor subject even to    
atomic disintegration4  ,he who lives in
 the presence of truth yearns not for   
the company of men1 but loves retirement
 as a saint loves solitude2 and in times
 like ours1 when men no longer choose   
the desert for a dwelling-place1 the    
passionate desire of intellectual       
excellence co-operates with religious   
faith to guard them against dissipation 
and to lift them above the spirit of the
 age4 ,the thinker is never lonely1 as  
he who lives with ,god is never unhappy4
 ,is not the love of excellence1 which  
is the scholar's love1 a part of the    
love of goodness which makes the saint8 
,and are not intellectual delights akin 
to those religion brings8  ,they are    

pure1 they elevate1 they refine2 time   
only increases their charm1 and in the  
winter of age1 when the body is but the 
agent of pain1 contemplation still      
remains like the light of a higher      
world1 to tinge with beauty the clouds  
that gather around life's setting4  ,how
 narrow and monotonous is sensation6 how
 wide and various is thought6  ,they who
 live in the senses are fettered and ill
 at ease2 they who live in the soul are 
free and joyful4  ,and since the priest1
 unless he be a saint1 must have1 like  
other men1 some human joy1 and since he 
dwells not in the sacred circle of the  
love of wife and children1 in which the 
multitudes find repose and contentment1 
what solace1 what refreshment1 in the   
midst of cares and labors1 shall we     
offer him8  ,if there be aught for him  
that is not unworthy or dangerous1      
except the pleasures of the mind1 to me 
it is unknown2 and though a well-trained
 intellect should do no more than to    
enable us to take delight in pure and   

noble objects1 it would be a chief help 
to worthy life4  ,and when the whole    
tendency of our social existence is to  
draw men out of themselves and to make  
them seek the good of life in what is   
external1 as money1 display1 position1  
renown1 is it not a gain1 if1 while we  
open their minds to the charm of        
intellectual beauty1 we make them see   
that this eager striving for wealth and 
place is a vulgar chase8  ,and does not 
the spirit of refinement in thought1 in 
speech1 in manner1 add worth and        
fairness to him whom it inspires1 though
 the motive which preserves him from    
what is low or gross be no higher than a
 fastidious delicacy and self-respect8  
,to deny the moral influence of         
intellectual culture is as great an     
error as to affirm that it alone is a   
sufficient safeguard of morality4 ,its  
tendency unquestionably is to make men  
gentle1 amiable1 fair-minded1 truthful1 
benevolent1 modest1 sober4  ,it curbs   
ambition and teaches resignation2       

chastens the imagination and mitigates  
ferocity2 dissuades from duelling       
because it is barbarous1 and from war   
because it is cruel1 and from           
persecution because it trusts in the    
prevalence of reason4  ,it seeks to fit 
the mind and the character to the world1
 to all possible circumstances1 so that 
whatever happens we remain              
ourselves1--calm1 clear-seeing1 able to 
do and to suffer4  ,at great heights1 or
 in the presence of irresistible force1 
as of a mighty waterfall1 we grow dizzy2
 and in the same way1 in the midst of   
multitudes1 in the eagerness of strife1 
in the whirlwind of passion1 equipoise  
is lost1 and we cease to be ourselves1  
to become part of an aggregate of forces
 that hurry us on1 whither we know not4 
,to be able to stand in the presence of 
such power1 and to feel its influence1  
and yet not to lose self-possession1 is 
to be strong2 is1 on proper occasion1 to
 be great4  ,and the aim of the best    
education is to teach us the secret and 

the method of this complete             
self-control2 and in so far it is not   
only moral1 but also religious1 though  
religion walks in a more royal road1 and
 bids us love ,god and trust so         
absolutely in ,him that life and death  
become equal1 and all the ways and      
workings of men as the storm to one who 
on lofty mountain peak1 amid the blue   
heavens1 with the sunlight around him   
and the quiet breathing of the winds1   
sees far below1 as in another world1 the
 black clouds and lurid lightning flash 
and hears the roll of distant thunder4  
,it is far from my thought1 it is       
needless to say1 that mental cultivation
 can be made to take the place or do the
 work of religion1 even in the case of  
the very few for whom the best          
discipline of mind is possible4  ,my aim
 is simply to show that the type of     
character which it tends to create is   
not necessarily at variance with        
religious principle and life1 as is1 for
 instance1 that of the mere worldling2  

but that it conspires with ,christian   
faith to produce1 if not the same1 at   
least similar virtues1 though its       
ethical influence is comparatively      
superficial1 and the moral qualities    
which it produces lack consistency and  
the power to withstand the fire of the  
passions4  ,it is enough for my purpose 
to point out that if intellectualism is 
often the foe of religious truth1 there 
is no good reason why it should not also
 be its ally4  ,no excellence1 as ,i    
conceive1 of whatever kind1 is rejected 
by ,catholic teaching1 and the          
perfection of the mind is not less      
divine than the perfection of the heart4
  ,it is good to know1 as it is good to 
hope1 to believe1 to love4  ,a          
cultivated intellect1 an open mind1 a   
rich imagination1 with correctness of   
thought1 flexibility of view1 and       
eloquent expression1 are among the      
noblest endowments of man2 and though   
they should serve no other purpose than 
to embellish life1 to make it fairer and

 freer1 they would nevertheless be      
possessions without price1 for the most 
nobly useful things are those which make
 life good and beautiful4  ,like virtue 
they are their own reward1 and like     
mercy they bear a double blessing4  ,it 
is the fashion with many to affect      
contempt for men of superior culture1   
because they look upon education as     
simply a means to tangible ends1 and    
think knowledge valuable only when it   
can be made to serve practical purposes4
  ,this is a narrow and a false view2   
for all men need the noble and the      
beautiful1 and he who lives without an  
ideal is hardly a man4  ,our material   
wants are not the most real for being   
the most sensible and pressing1 and they
 who create or preserve for us models of
 spiritual and intellectual excellence  
are our greatest benefactors4  ,which   
were the greater loss for ,england1 to  
be without ,wellington and ,nelson1 or  
to be without ,shakspeare and ,milton8  
,whatever the answer be1 in the one case

 ,england would suffer1 in the other the
 whole world would feel the loss4       
,though a thoroughly trained intellect  
is less worthy of admiration than a     
noble character1 its power is           
immeasurably greater2 for1 example can  
influence but a few and for a short     
time1 but when a truth or a sentiment   
has once found its best expression1 it  
becomes a part of literature1 and like a
 proverb is current forevermore2 and so 
the kings of thought become immortal    
rulers1 and without their help the      
godlike deeds of saints and heroes would
 be buried in oblivion4  ,words pass1   
said ,napoleon1 but deeds remain4  ,the 
man of action exaggerates the worth of  
action1 but the philosopher knows that  
to act is easy1 to think1 difficult2 and
 that great deeds spring from great     
thoughts4  ,there are words that never  
grow silent1 there are words that have  
changed the face of the earth1 and the  
warrior's wreath of victory is entwined 
by the ,muse's hand4  ,the power of     

,athens is gone1 her temples are in     
ruins1 the ,acropolis is discrowned1 and
 from ,mars' ,hill no voice thunders    
now2 but the words of ,socrates1 the    
great deliverer of the mind1 and the    
father of intellectual culture1 still   
breathe in the thoughts of every        
cultivated man on earth4  ,the glory of 
,jerusalem has departed1 the broken     
stones of ,solomon's ,temple lie hard by
 the graves that line the brook of      
,kedron1 and from the minaret of ,mount 
,sion the misbeliever's melancholy call 
sounds like a wail over a lost world2   
but the songs of ,david still rise from 
the whole earth in heavenly concert1    
upbearing to the throne of ,god the     
faith and hope and love of countless    
millions4  ,and is not the ,blessed     
,saviour the ,eternal ,word8  ,and is   
not the ,bible ,god's word8  ,and is not
 the ,gospel the ,word1 which1 like an  
electric thrill1 runs to the ends of the
 world8 ,currit verbum1 says ,st4 ,paul4
  ,man lives not on bread alone1 but on 

every word that cometh forth from the   
mouth of ,god4  ,nay1 there is life in  
all the true and noble thoughts that    
have blossomed in the mind of genius and
 filled the earth with fragrance and    
with fruit4  ,shall ,i be told that the 
intellectual cultivation and discipline1
 which gives to man control of his      
knowledge1 the perfect use of his       
faculties1 justness of perception with  
ease and grace of expression1 cannot    
bring serviceable advocacy or defence to
 the cause of divine truth8  ,what does 
truth need but to be known8  ,and since 
to reach the mind and heart of man it   
must be clothed in words1 what is so    
necessary to it as the garb and vesture1
 the form and color1 the warmth and     
life1 which shall so mark it that to be 
loved it needs but be seen8  ,and who   
shall so clothe it1 if not he who has   
the freest1 the most flexible1 the      
clearest1 the best disciplined mind8    
,in the apostolic age1 when the         
manifestations of miraculous power      

accompanied the announcement of         
,christian doctrine1 the lack of the    
persuasive words of human eloquence was 
not felt4  ,let him who can drink poison
 and touch scorpions1 and not suffer    
harm1 despise the aid of learning2 but  
for us1 who are not so assisted1 no     
cultivation of mind or preparation of   
heart can be too great2 and to appear in
 the garb of a savage were less unseemly
 than to speak the holiest and the      
highest truths in the barbarous tongue  
of ignorance4  ,our way here cannot be  
doubtful4  ,either we must hold with    
certain peculiar heretics that learning 
is a hindrance to the efficacious       
teaching of religious truth1 or1 denying
 this1 we must hold1 since mental       
culture is serviceable1 that the best is
 most serviceable4  ,may we not take    
this for a principle1--to believe that  
,god does everything1 and then to act as
 though ,he left everything for us to   
do8 ,or this3 ,since grace supposes     
nature1 the growth and strength of the  

,church is not wholly independent of the
 natural endowments of her ministers8   
,as a matter of fact we ,catholics are  
constantly speaking and acting upon     
principles of this kind4  ,we maintain  
that without a proper education our     
children must lose the faith2 and that  
without careful moral and mental        
training no man is likely to become a   
good priest2 and all that ,i further    
insist upon is that if he is to do the  
best work1 he must have the best        
intellectual discipline4  ,in an        
intellectual age1 at least1 he cannot be
 the worthy minister of worship1 unless 
he is also the accomplished teacher of  
truth4  ,in vain shall we clothe him in 
rich symbolic vestments1 place him in   
majestic temples1 before marble altars1 
in the midst of solemn music1 in the dim
 sober-tinted light1 with the great and 
noble looking out upon him1 as from a   
spirit world1--in vain shall all this   
be1 if when he himself speaks1 his words
 are felt to be but the echo of a coarse

 and empty mind4  ,and hence our enemies
 would gladly leave us the poetry of our
 worship1 would even enter our churches 
to be comforted1 to be soothed1 to seek 
the elevation and enlargement of thought
 and sentiment which comes upon us in   
the presence of what is vast1           
mysterious1 and sublime1 if we would but
 confess that it is only poetry1 good   
and beautiful only as art is good and   
beautiful4  ,the spirit of the time1 in 
fact1 it seems to me1 is more and more  
disposed to grant us everything except  
the possession of intellectual truth4   
,that the ,catholic ,church is a        
marvellous power2 that her triumphs have
 been so enduring and so unexpected that
 only the foolish or the ignorant will  
predict her downfall2 that she overcame 
paganism2 that she saved ,christianity  
when ,rome fell2 that she restrained the
 ferocity of the barbarians1 protected  
the weak1 encouraged labor1 preserved   
the classics1 maintained the unity and  
sanctity of marriage1 defended the      

purity and dignity of woman1 espoused   
the cause of the oppressed1 and in a    
lawless and ignorant age proclaimed the 
supremacy of right and the worth of     
learning2 that to these signal services 
must be added her power to give ease and
 pleasantness to the social relations of
 men1 keeping them equally remote from  
,puritan severity and pagan license2 her
 eye for beauty and grace1 which has    
made her the foster-mother of all the   
arts2 her love of the excellent and the 
noble1 which has enabled her to create  
types of character that are immortal2   
her practical wisdom1 giving her the    
secret of dealing with every phase of   
life1 so that her saints are doctors1   
apostles1 mystics1 philanthropists1     
artists1 poets1 kings1 beggars1         
warriors1 peasants1 barbarians1         
philosophers1--all this1 if ,i mistake  
not1 unbelievers even are more and more 
willing to concede4 ,nor are they slow  
to express their admiration of the      
strength and majesty of this single     

power amid the ,christian nations1 which
 reaches back to the great civilizations
 that have perished1 which has preserved
 its organic unity intact amid the      
social revolutions of two thousand      
years1 and which is acknowledged still  
to be the greatest moral force in the   
world4  ,but1 underlying all they say   
and think1 is the assumption that the   
foundations of this noble structure are 
crumbling2 that the world of faith and  
thought in which it was upbuilt is      
become a desert where no flower blooms1 
no living soul is found2 that the temple
 is beautiful only as a ruin is         
beautiful1 where owls hoot and bats flit
 to and fro4  ,there is not a creed1 we 
are told1 which is not shaken1 nor an   
accredited dogma which is not shown to  
be questionable2 not a received         
tradition which does not threaten to    
dissolve4  ,the conquests of the human  
mind in the realms of nature have       
produced a world-wide ferment of        
thought1 an intellectual activity which 

is without a parallel4  ,they have      
increased the power of man to an almost 
incredible degree1 have given him       
control of the earth and the seas1 have 
placed within his grasp undreamed-of    
forces1 have opened to his view         
unsuspected mysteries2 they have placed 
him on a new earth and under new        
heavens1 and thrown a light never seen  
before upon the history of his race4    
,as a part of this vast development new 
questions have risen1 new theories have 
been broached1 new doubts have suggested
 themselves2 and because we have        
changed1 all else seems to have changed 
also4  ,and since1 underlying all       
questions1 there is found a question of 
religion1 the discussion of religious   
and philosophic problems has1 in our    
day1 become a social necessity1 and the 
science of criticism1 together with the 
physical sciences1 has driven the       
disputants upon new and difficult       
ground1 where the battle must be fought1
 and where retreat is not possible4  ,as

 well imagine that society will again   
take on the form of feudalism1 as that  
the human mind will return to the point 
of view from which our ancestors looked 
on nature4  ,and this world-view shapes 
and colors all our thinking1 in theology
 as in other sciences1 so that truths   
which were latent have come to light1   
and principles which have long been held
 find new and wider application4  ,never
 has the defence of religion required so
 many and such excellent qualities of   
intellect as in the present day4  ,the  
early apologists who contrasted the     
sublimity and purity of ,christian faith
 with a corrupt paganism had not a      
difficult task4  ,in the ,middle ,age   
the intellect of the world was on the   
side of ,christ4  ,the controversy which
 sprang up with the advent of           
,protestantism was biblical and         
historical1 and its criticism was       
superficial4  ,the anti-,christian      
schools of thought of the eighteenth    
century were literary rather than       

philosophical1 and the objections they  
urged were founded chiefly upon         
political and social considerations4    
,in all these discussions the territory 
in dispute was well defined and         
relatively small4  ,but into what a     
different world are not we thrown6      
,these earlier explorers sailed upon    
rivers whose banks were lined by        
firm-set rocky cliffs1 by the           
overshadowing boughs of primeval        
forests1 with here and there pleasant   
slopes of green where they might lie at 
rest amid the fragrance of wild flowers2
 but from our ,peter's bark we look out 
upon the dark unfathomed seas towards an
 unknown world whose margin ever fades  
and recedes as we seem to draw near the 
haven of our desire4  ,as in the        
beginning of the twelfth century the    
cry1 ,god wills it6 rang through        
,europe1 and from all her lands armies  
of mailed knights sprang into           
battle-array and turned their faces     
towards the ,holy ,city1 resolved to    

wrench from infidel hands the ,sacred   
,tomb of ,christ1 so now1 from her      
thousand watch-towers1 science sounds   
her clarion note with quite other       
intent1 urging on to the attack of the  
citadel of ,god in the heart of man1    
renewing upon lower fields the war in   
which immortal spirits contended with   
the ,almighty in dubious battle on the  
plains of heaven1 and shook his throne4 
,as he jests at scars that never felt a 
wound1 so here the lesser knowledge     
makes the bolder man4 ,not that         
difficulties should create doubts1 or   
that objections may not be answered1 or 
that it is necessary to refute each     
hypothesis that appears and fades like a
 dissolving view1 or to notice each     
unwarrantable inference from            
unquestioned facts1 or that it is worth 
while to address ourselves to minds     
whose nebulous and shifting opinions    
make it impossible that they should     
receive correct impressions2 but the    
field upon which attacks upon religion  

are now made is so vast1 the confusion  
of thought into which new discoveries   
and speculations have thrown the minds  
of even educated men is so bewildering1 
the methods for the ascertainment of    
truth are so tangled and misapplied1 the
 rushing on of multitudes to discuss    
problems which have hitherto been left  
to philosophers1 and which they alone   
can rightly enunciate1 is so stupefying1
 that those who have the clearest       
perception of the mental state of the   
modern world1 and who are able to take  
the finest and most comprehensive view  
of the religious1 philosophic1 and      
scientific controversies of the day1    
seem loath to enter into a struggle     
where the ground continually changes1   
and where victory at the best is only   
partial1 and but leads to further       
contest4 ,it is well to remember1 also1 
that in the intellectual arena to attack
 is easier than to defend1 and any      
shallow1 incoherent talker or writer can
 propose difficulties which the keenest 

thinker will find great trouble to      
explain4  ,since we and our works fall  
to ruin and pass away1 we seem          
instinctively to take the side of those 
who seek to undermine and overthrow     
systems of thought and belief which     
claim to be indestructible1 and the     
human heart is half a traitor to the    
,church which declares that she is      
indefectible and infallible4  ,is there 
not indeed1 however we account for it1  
in all nature a kind of dread and horror
 of the supernatural1 such as one who   
hides within his bosom a secret of dark 
guilt feels in the presence of the      
conscience of mankind8  ,and does not   
this make the world lean to the side of 
those who would eliminate ,god from     
nature8  ,and yet1 since man's heart is 
the home of contradictions1 is it not   
also true to say that he is naturally   
religious8  ,his faith in ,god is as    
deep and unwavering as his faith in the 
testimony of the senses2 and if there   
are atheists there are also men who hold

 that all things are unreal and only    
appear to be2 that the world is but a   
myriad-formed1 a myriad-tinted idea1 the
 dream of a substanceless dreamer4  ,not
 only do we believe in ,god and in the  
soul1 but all that we love1 all that we 
hope for1 all that gives to life charm1 
dignity1 and sacredness1 is             
interpenetrated1 perfumed1 and illumined
 by this faith4  ,if men could be       
persuaded that the unconscious is the   
beginning and the end of all things1    
what good would have been gained8  ,the 
light of heaven would fade away1 and the
 soul's high faith be made a lie2 the   
poor would have no friend1 and the rich 
no heart2 the wicked would be without   
fear1 and the good without hope2 success
 would be consecrated1 and death alone  
would remain as the refuge of the       
unfortunate4  ,even animal indulgence1  
in sinking out of the moral order1 would
 lose its human charm4  ,if then in our 
day there is wide-spread scepticism1 a  
sort of vague feeling that science is   

undermining religion and that the most  
sacred beliefs are dissolving1 the cause
 of this lies not so much in the natural
 tendencies of the mind and heart1 as in
 social conditions1 in passing phases of
 thought1 in the shifting of the point  
of view from which men have hitherto    
been accustomed to look on nature2 and  
the continuance and the progress of     
doubt1 and consequently of indifference1
 is1 to some extent at least1 to be     
ascribed also to the fact that the most 
earnest believers in ,god and in        
,christianity have1 for now more than a 
century1 been less eager to acquire the 
best philosophic and literary           
cultivation of mind than others who1    
having lost faith in the supernatural1  
seek for compensation in a wider and    
deeper knowledge of nature1 and in the  
mental culture which enables them to    
enjoy more keenly the high thoughts and 
fair images which live in literature and
 art4  ,as a well-trained intellect1 in 
argument with the unskilful1 easily     

makes the worse appear the better cause1
 so in an age or a country where the    
best discipline of mind is found chiefly
 among those who are not ,christians1 or
 at least not ,catholics1 public opinion
 will drift away from the ,church1 until
 the view finally becomes general that1 
whatever she may have been in other     
times1 her day is past4  ,nor will aught
 external1 however fair or glorious1    
secure her against this danger4  ,how   
often in the history of nations and of  
religions is not outward splendor the   
mark of inward decay8  ,when ,rome was  
free1 a simple life sufficed2 but when  
liberty fled1 marble palaces arose4     
,the monarch who built ,versailles made 
the scaffold on which ,french royalty   
perished2 and so a dying faith1 like the
 setting sun1 may drape itself in glory4
  ,the ,kingdom of ,god is within2 there
 is the source of life and strength1    
without which nor numbers nor wealth1   
nor stately edifices nor solemn rites1  
avail4  ,nor can we be certain of men's 

love when we cease to have influence    
over their thoughts4  ,the proper appeal
 is to the heart through the mind2 and  
even a mother loses half her power when 
she ceases to be the intellectual       
superior of her children4 ,how then     
shall the heavenly ,mother of the soul  
keep her place in the world1 if those   
who speak in her name mar by imperfect  
and ignorant utterance the celestial    
harmony of her doctrines8  ,ah6 let us  
learn to see things as they are4  ,in   
face of the modern world1 that which the
 ,catholic priest most needs1 after     
virtue1 is the best cultivation of mind1
 which issues in comprehensiveness of   
view1 in exactness of perception1 in the
 clear discernment of the relations of  
truths and of the limitations of        
scientific knowledge1 in fairness and   
flexibility of thought1 in ease and     
grace of expression1 in candor1 in      
reasonableness2 the intellectual culture
 which brings the mind into form gives  
it the control of its faculties1 creates

 the habit of attention1 and develops   
firmness of grasp4  ,the education of   
which ,i speak is expansion and         
discipline of mind rather than learning2
 and its tendency is not so much to form
 profound dogmatists1 or erudite        
canonists1 or acute casuists1 as to     
cultivate a habit of mind1 which1 for   
want of a better word1 may be called    
philosophical2 to enlarge the intellect1
 to strengthen and supple its faculties1
 to enable it to take connected views of
 things and their relations1 and to see 
clear amid the mazes of human error and 
through the mists of human passion4  ,i 
speak of that perfection of the         
intellect1 which1 to use the words of   
,cardinal ,newman1 is the clear1 calm1  
accurate vision and comprehension of all
 things as far as the finite mind can   
embrace them1 each in its place and with
 its own characteristics upon it4  ,it  
is almost prophetic from its knowledge  
of history2 it is almost heart-searching
 from its knowledge of human nature2 it 

has almost supernatural charity from its
 freedom from littleness and prejudice2 
it has almost the repose of faith       
because nothing can startle it2 it has  
almost the beauty and harmony of        
heavenly contemplation1 so intimate is  
it with the eternal order of things and 
the music of the spheres4  ,this is1    
indeed1 ideal2 but they who believe not 
in ideals were not born to know the real
 worth of things3          ,spite of    
proudest boast   ,reason1 best reason is
 to imperfect man   ,an effort only and 
a noble aim1--   ,a crown1 an attribute 
of sovereign power1   ,still to be      
courted1 never to be won4   ,it is plain
 that education of this kind aims at    
something quite different from the mere 
imparting of useful knowledge4  ,it     
takes the view that it is good to know1 
even though knowledge should not be a   
means to wealth or power or any other   
common aim of life4  ,it regards the    
mind as the organ of truth1 and trains  
it for its own sake1 without reference  

to the exercise of a profession4  ,hence
 its distinguishing characteristic is   
that it is liberal and not professional4
  ,it holds cultivated faculties in     
higher esteem than learning1 and it     
makes use of knowledge to improve the   
intellect1 rather than of the intellect 
to acquire knowledge4  ,hence1 one may  
be a skilful physician1 a judicious     
lawyer1 a learned theologian1 and yet be
 greatly lacking in mental culture4  ,it
 is a common experience to find that    
professional men are apt to be narrow   
and one-sided4  ,their mind1 like the   
dyer's hand1 is subdued to what it works
 in4  ,they want comprehensiveness of   
view1 flexibility of thought1 openness  
to light1 and freedom of mental play4   
,they think in grooves1 make the rules  
of their art the measure of truth1 and  
their own methods of inquiry the only   
valid laws of reasoning4  ,these same   
defects may be observed in those who are
 given exclusively to the study of      
physical science4  ,when they sweep the 

heavens with the telescope and do not   
find ,god1 they conclude that there is  
no ,god4  ,when the soul does not reveal
 itself under the microscope1 they argue
 it does not exist2 and since there is  
no thought without nervous movement1    
they claim that the brain thinks4  ,now1
 if it is desirable that those who are  
charged with the teaching and defence of
 divine truth should be free from this  
narrowness and one-sidedness1 this lack 
of openness to light and freedom of     
mental play1 the education of the priest
 must be more than a professional       
education2 and he must be sent to a     
school higher and broader than the      
ecclesiastical seminary1 which is simply
 a training college for the practical   
work of the ministry4  ,the purpose for 
which it was instituted is to prepare   
young men for the worthy exercise of the
 general functions of the priestly      
office1 and the good it has done is too 
great and too manifest to need          
commendation4  ,but the ecclesiastical  

seminary is not a school of intellectual
 culture1 either here in ,america or    
elsewhere1 and to imagine that it can   
become the instrument of intellectual   
culture is to cherish a delusion4  ,it  
must impart a certain amount of         
professional knowledge1 fit its students
 to become more or less expert          
catechists1 rubricists1 and casuists1   
and its aim is to do this2 and whatever 
mental improvement1 if any1 thence      
results1 is accidental4  ,hence its     
methods are not such as one would choose
 who desires to open the mind1 to give  
it breadth1 flexibility1 strength1      
refinement1 and grace4  ,its text-books 
are written often in a barbarous style1 
the subjects are discussed in a dry and 
mechanical way1 and the professor1      
wholly intent upon giving instruction1  
is frequently indifferent as to the     
manner in which it is imparted2 or else 
not possessing himself a really         
cultivated intellect1 he holds in slight
 esteem expansion and refinement of     

mind1 looking upon it as at the best a  
mere ornament4  ,i am not offering a    
criticism upon the ecclesiastical       
seminary1 but am simply pointing to the 
plain fact that it is not a school of   
intellectual culture1 and consequently1 
if its course were lengthened to five1  
to six1 to eight1 to ten years1 its     
students would go forth to their work   
with a more thorough professional       
training1 but not with more really      
cultivated minds4  ,the test of         
intellect is not so much what we know as
 the manner in which it is known2 just  
as in the moral world1 the important    
consideration is not what virtues we    
possess1 but the completeness with which
 they are ours4 ,he who really believes 
in ,god1 serves ,him1 loves ,him1 is a  
hero1 a saint2 whereas he who half      
believes may have a thousand good       
qualities1 but not a great character4   
,knowledge is not education any more    
than food is nutrition2 and as one may  
eat voraciously1 and yet remain without 

bodily health or strength1 so one may   
have great learning1 and yet be almost  
wholly lacking in intellectual          
cultivation4  ,his learning may only    
oppress and confuse him1 be felt as a   
load1 and not as a vital principle1     
which upraises1 illumines1 and          
beautifies the mind2 mentally he may    
still be a boy1 in whom memory          
predominates1 and whose intellect is    
only a receptacle of facts4  ,memory is 
the least noble of the intellectual     
faculties1 and the nearest to animal    
intelligence2 and to know well is1 in   
the eyes of a true educator1 of quite   
other importance than to know much4     
,but a memory1 more or less well-stored1
 is nearly all a youth carries with him 
from the college to the seminary1 and   
here he enters1 as ,i have already      
pointed out1 upon a course not of       
intellectual discipline1 but of         
professional studies1 whose object is   
not to open the mind1 to correct it1 to 
refine it1 to enable it to know1 and to 

digest1 master1 rule1 and use its       
knowledge1 to give it power over its own
 faculties1 application1 flexibility1   
method1 critical exactness1 sagacity1   
resource1 eloquent expression1 but      
simply to impart the requisite skill for
 the ordinary exercise of the holy      
ministry4  ,hence it is not surprising  
that priests who are zealous1 earnest1  
self-sacrificing1 who to piety join     
discretion and good sense1 rarely       
possess the intellectual culture of     
which ,i am speaking1 for the simple    
reason that a university and not a      
seminary is the school in which this    
kind of education is received4  ,that   
the absence of such trained intellects  
is a most serious obstacle to the       
progress of the ,catholic faith1 no     
thoughtful man will doubt or deny4      
,since the mind is a power1 in religion1
 as in every sphere of thought and life1
 the discipline which best develops and 
perfects its faculties will fit it to do
 its work1 whatever it may be1 in the   

most effective manner4  ,hence1 though  
the education of which ,i speak does not
 directly aim at being useful1 it is in 
fact the most useful1 and prepares      
better than any other for the business  
of life4  ,it enables a man to master a 
subject with ease1 to fill an office    
with honor2 and whatever he does1 the   
mark of completeness and finish will be 
found upon his work4  ,he sees more     
clearly1 judges more calmly1 reasons    
more pertinently1 speaks more seasonably
 than other men4  ,the free and full    
possession of his faculties gives him   
power to turn himself to whatever may be
 demanded of him1 whether it be to      
govern wisely1 or to counsel            
judiciously1 or to write gracefully1 or 
to plead eloquently4  ,whatever course  
in life he may take1 whatever line of   
thought or investigation he may pursue1 
his intellectual culture will give him  
superiority over men who1 with equal or 
greater talents1 lack his education2 and
 he possesses withal resources within   

himself1 which in a measure make him    
independent of fortune1 and which1 when 
failure comes and the world abandons    
him1 remain1 like faith1 or hope1 or a  
friend1 to make him forget his          
misfortunes4  ,of the ,english          
universities1 with all their            
shortcomings1 ,cardinal ,newman says3   
,at least they can boast of a succession
 of heroes and statesmen1 of literary   
men and philosophers1 of men conspicuous
 for great natural virtues1 for habits  
of business1 for knowledge of life1 for 
practical judgment1 for cultivated      
tastes1 for accomplishments1 who have   
made ,england what it is1--able to      
subdue the earth1 able to domineer over 
,catholics4  ,it is only in a university
 that all the sciences are brought      
together1 their relations adjusted1     
their provinces assigned4  ,there       
natural science is limited by           
metaphysics2 morality is studied in the 
light of history2 language and          
literature are viewed from the          

standpoint of ethnology2 the criticism  
which seeks beauty and not deformity1   
which in the gardens of the mind takes  
the honey and leaves the poison1 is     
applied to the study of eloquence and   
poetry2 and over all religion throws the
 warmth and life of faith and hope1 like
 a ray from heaven4  ,the mind thus     
lives in an atmosphere in which the     
comparison of ideas and truths with one 
an other is inevitable2 and so it grows1
 is strengthened1 enlarged1 refined1    
made pliant1 candid1 open1 equitable4   
,when numbers of priests will be able to
 bring this cultivation of intellect to 
the treatment of religious subjects1    
then will ,catholic theology again come 
forth from its isolation in the modern  
world2 then will ,catholic truth again  
irradiate and perfume the thoughts and  
opinions of men2 then will ,catholic    
doctrines again sink into their hearts1 
and not remain loose in the mind to be  
thrown aside1 as one casts away the     
outworn vesture of the body2 then will  

it be felt that the fascination of      
,christian faith is still fresh1        
supreme1 as far above the charm of      
science as the joy of a poet's soul is  
above the pleasures of sense4  ,the     
religious view of life must forever     
remain the true view1 since no other    
explains our longings and aspirations1  
or justifies hope and enthusiasm2 and   
the worship of ,god in spirit and in    
truth1 which ,christ has revealed to the
 world1 the religion not of an age or a 
people1 but of all time and of the human
 race1 must eternally prevail when      
brought home to us in a language which  
we understand2 for we place the         
testimony of reason above that of the   
senses4  ,to the eye the sun rises and  
sets1 to the mind it is stationary2 and 
we accept1 not what is seen1 but what is
 known4  ,is there need of stronger     
evidence that the power within1 which is
 our real self1 is spiritual8 ,and is it
 not enough to see clearly1 to perceive 
that in the struggle of mind with       

matter1 which is the essential form of  
the conflict of spiritualism with       
materialism1 of religion with science1  
the soul1 in the end1 will be           
victorious1 and rest in the real world  
of faith and intuition1 and not in the  
pictured world of the senses8           
,religion1 indeed1 like morality1 is in 
the nature of things1 and ,catholic     
faith is ,una's ,red ,cross ,knight1 on 
whose shield are old dints of deep      
wounds and cruel marks of many a bloody 
field1 who is assailed by all the powers
 of earth and of the nether world1 armed
 with whatever weapons may hurt the mind
 or corrupt the heart1 but whom heavenly
 ,providence rescues from the jaws of   
monsters and leads on to victory4  ,but 
what true believer thinks himself       
excused from effort1 because ,christ has
 declared that the gates of hell shall  
not prevail against ,his ,church8  ,does
 he not know that though1 when we       
consider her whole course through the   
world1 she has triumphed1 so as to have 

become the miracle of history1 yet has  
she at many points suffered disastrous  
defeat8  ,hence1 those who love her must
 be vigilant1 and stand prepared for    
battle4  ,and in an age when persecution
 has either died away or lost its       
harshness1 when crying abuses have      
disappeared1 when heresy has run its    
course1 and the struggle of the world   
with the ,church has become almost      
wholly intellectual1 it is not possible1
 assuredly1 that her ministers should   
have too great power of intellect4  ,and
 consequently it is not possible that   
the bishops1 in whose hands the         
education of priests is placed1 should  
have too great a care that they receive 
the best mental culture4  ,and if this  
is a general truth1 with what pertinency
 does it not come home to us here in    
,america1 who are the descendants of men
 who1 on account of their faith1 have   
for centuries been oppressed and thrust 
back from opportunities of education1   
and who1 when persecution and robbery   

had reduced them to ignorance and       
poverty1 were forced to hear their      
religion reproached with the crimes of  
her foes8  ,and now1 when at length a   
fairer day has dawned for us in this new
 world1 what can be more natural than   
our eager desire to move out from the   
valleys of darkness towards the hills   
and mountain tops that are bathed in    
sunlight8  ,what more praiseworthy than 
the fixed resolve to prove that not our 
faith1 but our misfortunes made and kept
 us inferior4  ,and1 since we live in   
the midst of millions who have indeed   
good will towards us1 but who still bear
 the yoke of inherited prejudices1 and  
who1 because for three hundred years    
real cultivation of mind was denied to  
,catholics who spoke ,english1 conclude 
that ,protestantism is the source of    
enlightenment1 and the ,church the      
mother of ignorance1 do not all generous
 impulses urge us to make this reproach 
henceforth meaningless8  ,and in what   
way shall we best accomplish this task8 

,surely not by writing or speaking about
 what the influence of the ,church is1  
or by pointing to what she has done in  
other ages1 but by becoming what we     
claim her spirit tends to make us4      
,here1 if anywhere1 the proverb is      
applicable--verba movent1 exempla       
trahunt4  ,as the devotion of ,american 
,catholics to this country and its free 
institutions1 as shown not on           
battle-fields alone1 but in our whole   
bearing and conduct1 convinces all but  
the unreasonable of the depth and       
sincerity of our patriotism1 so when our
 zeal for intellectual excellence shall 
have raised up men who will take place  
among the first writers and thinkers of 
their day their very presence will      
become the most persuasive of arguments 
to teach the world that no best gift is 
at war with the spirit of ,catholic     
faith1 and that1 while the humblest mind
 may feel its force1 the lofty genius of
 ,augustine1 of ,dante1 and of ,bossuet 
is upborne and strengthened by the      

splendor of its truth4  ,but if we are  
to be intellectually the equals of      
others1 we must have with them equal    
advantages of education2 and so long as 
we look rather to the multiplying of    
schools and seminaries than to the      
creation of a real university1 our      
progress will be slow and uncertain1    
because a university is the great       
ordinary means to the best cultivation  
of mind4  ,the fact that the growth of  
the ,church here1 like that of the      
country itself1 is chiefly external1 a  
growth in wealth and in numbers1 makes  
it the more necessary that we bring the 
most strenuous efforts to improve the   
gifts of the soul4  ,the whole tendency 
of our social life insures the increase 
of churches1 convents1 schools1         
hospitals1 and asylums2 our advance in  
population and in wealth will be counted
 from decade to decade by millions1 and 
our worship will approach more and more 
to the pomp and splendor of the full    
ritual2 but this very growth makes such 

demands upon our energies1 that we are  
in danger of forgetting higher things1  
or at least of thinking them less       
urgent4  ,few men are at once thoughtful
 and active4  ,the man of deeds dwells  
in the world around him2 the thinker    
lives within his mind4 ,contemplation1  
in widening the view1 makes us feel that
 what even the strongest can do is lost 
in the limitless expanse of space and   
time2 and the soul is tempted to fall   
back upon itself and to gaze passively  
upon the course of the world1 as though 
the general stream of human events were 
as little subject to man's control as   
the procession of the seasons4  ,busy   
workers1 on the other hand1 having      
little taste or time for reflection1 see
 but the present and what lies close to 
them1 and the energy of their doing     
circumscribes their thinking4  ,but the 
,church needs both the men who act and  
the men who think2 and since with us    
everything pushes to action1 wisdom     
demands that we cultivate rather the    

powers of reflection4  ,and this is the 
duty alike of true patriots and of      
faithful ,catholics4  ,all are working  
to develop our boundless material       
resources2 let a few at least labor to  
develop man4  ,the millions are building
 cities1 reclaiming wildernesses1 and   
bringing forth from the earth its buried
 treasures2 let at least a remnant      
cherish the ideal1 cultivate the        
beautiful1 and seek to inspire the love 
of moral and intellectual excellence4   
,and since we believe that the ,church  
which points to heaven is able also to  
lead the nations in the way of          
civilization and of progress1 why should
 we not desire to see her become a      
beneficent and ennobling influence in   
the public life of our country8  ,she   
can have no higher temporal mission than
 to be the friend of this great         
republic1 which is ,god's best earthly  
gift to ,his children4  ,if1 as ,english
 critics complain1 our style is         
inflated1 it is because we feel the     

promise of a destiny which transcends   
our powers of expression4  ,whatever    
fault men may find with us1 let them not
 doubt the world-wide significance of   
our life4  ,if we keep ourselves strong 
and pure1 all the peoples of the earth  
shall yet be free2 if we fulfil our     
providential mission1 national hatred   
shall give place to the spirit of       
generous rivalry1 the people shall      
become wiser and stronger1 society shall
 grow more merciful and just1 and the   
cry of distress shall be felt1 like the 
throb of a brother's heart1 to the ends 
of the world4  ,where is the man who    
does not feel a kind of religious       
gratitude as he looks upon the rise and 
progress of this nation8  ,above all1   
where is the ,catholic whose heart is   
not enlarged by such contemplation8     
,here1 almost for the first time in her 
history1 the ,church is really free4    
,her worldly position does not          
overshadow her spiritual office1 and the
 ,state recognizes her autonomy4  ,the  

monuments of her past glory1 wrenched   
from her control1 stand not here to     
point1 like mocking fingers1 to what she
 has lost4  ,she renews her youth1 and  
lifts her brow1 as one who1 not         
unmindful of the solemn mighty past1 yet
 looks with undimmed eye and unfaltering
 heart to a still more glorious future4 
,who in such a presence1 can abate hope1
 or give heed to despondent counsel1 or 
send regretful thoughts to other days   
and lands8  ,whoever at any time1 in any
 place1 might have been sage1 saint1 or 
hero1 may be so here and now2 and though
 he had the heart of ,francis1 and the  
mind of ,augustine1 and the courage of  
,hildebrand1 here is work for him to do4
  ,in whatsoever direction we turn our  
thoughts1 arguments rush in to show the 
pressing need for us of a centre of life
 and light such as a ,catholic          
university would be4  ,without this we  
can have no hope of entering as a       
determining force into the living       
controversies of the age2 without this  

it must be an accident if we are        
represented at all in the literature of 
our country2 without this we shall lack 
a point of union to gather up1          
harmonize1 and intensify our scattered  
forces2 without this our bishops must   
remain separated1 and continue to work  
in random ways2 without this the noblest
 souls will look in vain for something  
larger and broader than a local charity 
to make appeal to their generous hearts2
 without this we shall be able to offer 
but feeble resistance to the false      
theories and systems of education which 
deny to the ,church a place in the      
school2 without this the sons of wealthy
 ,catholics will1 in ever increasing    
numbers1 be sent to institutions where  
their faith is undermined2 without this 
we shall vainly hope for such treatment 
of religious questions and their        
relations to the issues and needs of the
 day1 as shall arrest public attention  
and induce ,catholics themselves to take
 at least some little notice of the     

writings of ,catholics2 without this in 
struggles for reform and contests for   
rights we shall lack the wisdom of best 
counsel and the courage which skilful   
leaders inspire4  ,we are a small       
minority in the presence of a vast      
majority2 we still bear the             
disfigurements and weaknesses of        
centuries of persecution and suffering2 
we cling to an ancient faith in an age  
when new sciences1 discoveries1 and     
theories fascinate the minds of men1 and
 turn their thoughts away from the past 
to the future2 we preach a spiritual    
religion to a people whose prodigious   
wealth and rapid triumphs over nature   
have caused them to exaggerate the value
 of material progress2 we teach the duty
 of self-denial to a refined and        
intellectual generation1 who regard     
whatever is painful as evil1 whatever is
 difficult as omissible2 we insist upon 
religious obedience to the ,church in   
face of a society where children are    
ceasing to reverence and obey even their

 parents2--if in spite of all this we   
are to hold our own1 not to speak of    
larger hopes1 it is plain that we may   
neglect nothing which will help us to   
put forth our full strength4  ,i do not1
 of course1 pretend that this higher    
education is all that we need1 or that1 
of itself1 it is sufficient2 but what ,i
 claim is that it would be a source of  
strength for us who are in want of help4
  ,god works in many ways1 through many 
agencies1 and ,i bow in homage to the   
humblest effort in a righteous cause of 
the lowliest human being4 ,there are    
diversities of graces1 but the same     
spirit2 diversities of ministries1 but  
the same ,lord4  ,numquid omnes         
doctores8 asks ,st4 ,paul4  ,but since  
he places teachers by the side of       
apostles and prophets1 surely they will 
teach to best purpose who to the        
humility of faith add the luminousness  
of knowledge4  ,to those who reject the 
idea of human co-operation in things    
divine ,i speak not2 but we who believe 

that we are co-operators with ,christ   
cannot think that it is possible to     
bring to this godlike work either too   
great preparation of heart or too great 
cultivation of mind4  ,nor must we think
 lightly even of refinement of thought  
and speech and behavior1 for we know    
that manners come of morals1 and that   
morals in turn are born of manners1 as  
the ocean breathes forth the clouds and 
the clouds fill the ocean4  ,let there  
be then an ,american ,catholic          
university1 where our young men1 in the 
atmosphere of faith and purity1 of high 
thinking and plain living1 shall become 
more intimately conscious of the truth  
of their religion and of the genius of  
their country2 where they shall learn   
the repose and dignity which belong to  
their ancient ,catholic descent1 and yet
 not lose the fire which glows in the   
blood of a new people2 to which from    
every part of the land our eyes may turn
 for guidance and encouragement1 seeking
 light and self-confidence from men in  

whom intellectual power is not separate 
from moral purpose1 who look to ,god and
 ,his universe from bending knees of    
prayer1 who uphold--    ,the cause of   
,christ and civil liberty   ,as one1 and
 moving to one glorious end4   ,should  
such an intellectual centre serve no    
other purpose than to bring together a  
number of eager-hearted1 truth-loving   
youths1 what light and heat would not   
leap forth from the shock of mind with  
mind2 what generous rivalries would not 
spring up2 what intellectual sympathies1
 resting on the breast of faith1 would  
not become manifest1 grouping souls like
 atoms1 to form the substance and beauty
 of a world8  ,o solemn groves that lie 
close to ,louvain and to ,freiburg1     
whose air is balm and whose murmuring   
winds sound like the voices of saints   
and sages whispering down the galleries 
of time1 what words have ye not heard   
bursting forth from the strong hearts of
 keen-witted youths1 who1 ,titan-like1  
believed they might storm the citadel of

 ,god's truth6  ,how many a one1 heavy  
and despondent1 in the narrow1 lonesome 
path of duty1 has remembered you1 and   
moved again in unseen worlds1 upheld by 
faith and hope6  ,who has listened to   
the words of your teachers and not felt 
the truth of the saying of ,pope ,pius  
,,ii41--that the world holds nothing    
more precious or more beautiful than a  
cultivated intellect8  ,the presence of 
such men invigorates like mountain air1 
and their speech is as refreshing as    
clear-flowing fountains4  ,to know them 
is to be forever their debtor4  ,the    
company of a saint is the school of     
saints2 a strong character develops     
strength in others1 and a noble mind    
makes all around him luminous4  ,why may
 not eight million ,catholics upbuild a 
home for great teachers1 for men who1 to
 real learning and cultivation of mind1 
shall add the persuasiveness of easy and
 eloquent diction2 whose manifest and   
indisputable superiority shall put to   
shame the self-conceit of ,american     

young men1 our most familiar            
intellectual bane1 and an insuperable   
obstacle to all                         
improvement1--self-conceit1 which is the
 beatitude of vulgar characters and     
shallow minds8  ,if our students should 
find in such an institution but one man1
 who1 like ,socrates1 with ironic       
questioning might make for them the     
discovery of the new world of their own 
ignorance1 the gain would be great      
enough4  ,why may we not have a centre  
of light and truth which will raise up  
before us standards of intellectual     
excellence2 which will enable us to see 
that our so-called educated men are as  
far from being scholars as the makers of
 our horrible show-bills are from being 
artists2 which will teach us that it is 
not only false but vulgar to call things
 by pretentious names1--as1 for         
instance1 to call a politician a        
statesman1 a declaimer an orator1 or a  
,latin school a university4  ,ah6 surely
 as to whether an ,american ,catholic   

university is desirable there cannot be 
two opinions among enlightened men4     
,but is it feasible8  ,a true university
 is one of the noblest foundations of   
the great ,catholic ages1 when faith    
rose almost to the height of creative   
power1 and it were folly in me to       
maintain that such an undertaking is not
 surrounded by many and great           
difficulties4  ,to begin with the       
material for foundation1 money is       
necessary1 and this1 ,i am persuaded1 we
 may have4  ,a noble cause will find or 
make generous hearts4  ,men above all we
 need1 for every kind of existence      
propagates itself only by itself4  ,but 
let us bear in mind that the best       
teacher is not necessarily or often he  
who knows the most1 but he who has most 
power to determine the student to       
self-activity2 for in the end the mind  
educates itself4  ,as distrust is the   
mark of a narrow intellect or a bad     
heart1 so a readiness to believe in the 
ability of others is not only a         

characteristic of able men1 but it is   
also the secret charm which calls around
 them helpers and followers4  ,hence1 a 
strong man who loves his work is a      
better educator than a half-hearted     
professor who carries whole libraries in
 his head4  ,to bring together in       
familiar and daily life a number of     
young men1 chosen for the brightness of 
their minds and an eager yearning for   
knowledge1 is to create an atmosphere of
 intellectual warmth and light1 which   
invigorates and inspires the master1    
while it stimulates his disciples4  ,in 
such company it will not be difficult to
 form teachers4 ,but will it be possible
 to find young men who will consent1    
when after years of study they have     
finally reached the priesthood1 to      
continue in a higher institution the    
arduous and confining labors to the end 
of which they have looked as to the     
beginning of a new life8  ,in other     
lands such students are found1 and if   
with us there is a tendency to rush with

 precipitancy and insufficient          
preparation to whatever work we may have
 chosen1 this is but a proof of the need
 of special efforts to restrain an ardor
 which springs from weakness and not    
from strength4 ,haste is a mark of      
immaturity4  ,he who is certain of      
himself and master of his tools1 knows  
that he is able1 and neither hurries nor
 worries1 but works and waits4  ,the    
rank weed shoots up in a day and as     
quickly dies2 but the long-growing      
olive-tree stands from century to       
century1 and drops from its gently      
waving boughs ripe fruit through the    
quiet autumn air4  ,the ,church endures 
forever2 and we ,american ,catholics1 in
 the midst of our rapidly-moving and    
ever-changing society1 should be the    
first to learn to temper energy with the
 patient strength which gives the       
courage to toil and wait through a long 
life1 if so we make ourselves worthy to 
speak some fit word or do some needful  
deed4  ,and to whom shall this lesson   

first be taught if not to the clerics1  
whose natural endowments single them out
 as future leaders of ,catholic thought 
and enterprise2 and where can this      
lesson so well be learned as in a school
 whose standard of intellectual         
excellence shall be the highest8  ,while
 we look1 therefore1 to the founding of 
a true university1 we will begin1 as the
 university of ,paris began in the      
twelfth century1 and as the present     
university of ,louvain began fifty years
 ago1 with a national school of         
philosophy and theology1 which will form
 the central faculty of a complete      
educational organism4  ,around this1 the
 other faculties will take their places1
 in due course of time2 and so the      
beginning which we make will grow1 until
 like the seed planted in the earth1 it 
shall wear the bloomy crown of its own  
development4  ,and though the event be  
less than our hope1 though even failure 
be the outcome1 is it not better to fail
 than not to attempt a worthy work which

 might be ours8  ,only they who do      
nothing derive comfort from the mistakes
 of others2 and the saying that a       
blunder is worse than a crime is        
doubtless true for those who have no    
other measure of worth and success than 
the conventional standards of a         
superficial public opinion4  ,we at     
least know--        ,there lives a      
,judge   ,to whose all-pondering mind a 
noble aim   ,faithfully kept is as a    
noble deed2   ,in whose pure sight all  
virtue doth succeed4     ,,the ,,end4