366
THE WEST SHORE.
very round people, but somehow they fit into every
square holo that happens along. They are illustrated
by Hen. Butler, who, whilo kiHHing one campaign baby
is looking at another. They exemplify that phenome
na! !nw, whM), j'it fit the edge of town, beooraes so
strong among the strawberries or lynches, that all the
large ones crystalixe at tho top of the basket There is
just enough strawberry truth to cover up the deception
at the bottom of the banket Nono of the principles
and passions implanted in tho constitution of our na
tures are moro deeply rooted, jxrhnps, than the love of
distinction; tho wish of occupying some place on the
tablet of human rembrance. But if I had to say which
of the two men I most reoctod, him, who is wholly in
sensible to the awakening stimulus of ambition, or re
mains a parasite, awaiting with sullen satisfaction the
death of annihilation, or him, who, for distinction or no
toriety only, plays a part in life, I would choose the
first I would rather have his dead, dry muscle, than
the Mttty meanness of the man who never accepts any
moral or social obligations, unless they promise him
dividends. Deliver me from the man who, in the du
ties or pleasures of life, is faithful or cordial only in
corresondence with tho manner in which theso bring
him into the public eye. In view of the strict law of la
bor and eoinMMiMation, such a man is an etube,ler and
defaulter. A man who has only egotism as his law, who
is seeking to subjugate everything to his interest, who
trades ujMin either tho ignorance or credulity of his fel
lows in order to advance himself, who is too weak or too
cowardly to make any asHcrtioii of his personality, who
shirks all social responsibility and shifts it upon others,
while he, unburdened, thrives apace, is a social sneak.
It is this character in the community who shirks lulxir
in the church, in the literary or reform club, or move
ments and methods to upbuild humanity, and when the
thing is on the crest of tho wave of popularity, manages
to slide in from some sidetrack, and reap a large per
centage of the benefits. You find this character at the
church sociable, or at tho cleau-out-the-minister party,
and in tho early caudle light stages of it, selecting
choice pieces of the weightiest pound cake, for a " sick
friend " who could not come. In the ordinary souse,
the man may Iw a good sort of citizen, that is, with pen
dulum regularity, he goes to and from his daily labor.
To the cent he pays his debts, and to the cent he do
manda of his debtors. Beyond that ho has nothing in
common with his fellow men. That is his daily, weekly,
monthly, yearly life, until he wears out Only the news
paper man is sorry over Hint last event at twenty cents
a line. A life may have tho length and breadth of in.
tense humanity and still be thin. It must have height
as well as length and breadth in order to bo symmetric
ally complete. We all understand that when tho busi
ness career of a man, as a means of conveying to society
evidence of personal integrity, oiuta just that one way
in every hour of it, we have in view a magnificent ob
ject lesson of how spherical a man will be who has the
three dimensions, length, breadth and height He may
live neighbor to the long, narrow man just described,
but he lives in the community. He doesn't merely stay,
or reside, or count one more numerically. He is a fac
tor; he is a reliable factor; always ready to do his share
in every honest, manly effort That is the man whom
you can take literally. His living has a purpooo; Lis
muscles are tense; his head is erect, and his eyes are al
ways uplifted.
A common trouble, especially among young people,
is, they got the idea that the exaltation of manhood and
honor and honesty of action, is conditioned or circum
scribed by geography or arithmetic. They must be
brilliant or not shine at all The Creator has planted
some of us in bare, desolate places, and we are apt to
think that our sphere is very narrow; so narrow, indeed,
that it does not make much difference what we da This
is false logic. Man has but one thing to do, that is, to
grow, broaden, deepen and beautify in the precise cor
nor of the field of human life where he belongs. Nat
urally enough, many think they could be more useful
and load a noblor life if their environment were en
larged. Possibly; but they should not lose sight of the
fact, that for the present, they are in one particular
Bxt and in no other; working at this particular calling
and no other; possessed of just this particular amount
of education and knowledge, and no more. In these cir
cumstances it is duty to endeavor to brighten life; to
make a worthy human life. A life devoted to mere
pleasure has no heroism, and a life that never rises
higher than duty has no sweetness. The one is weak,
the other is harsh. Disgust and disappointment are the
outcomo of one; there is nothing of the other, save the
opening of the door through which death lets life out
Every man may, with perfect manliness, pride and hope,
work every day upon the principle thnt he is doing what
the law of his individual life has made his duty.
A good many people are prevented from doing all
they should, by what we call the virtue of the head. It
keeps them from making real and practical the bless
ings and good will of the Man of Nazareth. Such peo
ple become saturated with the idea that if they pay a
fair proportion of taxes, if they support the schools, if
by their silence they give their consent to reform clubs
and associations for the upbuilding of humanity, if they
place no obstructions in the way of churches and Sun
day schools, and especially if now and then they lend
thoir presence at some of these places, they have re
deemed themselves from the charge of moral lassitude
and indifference. This character, having only the virtue
of the head, is one of moral idleness. The man lacking
in virtue of the heart is counted in the community. Be
tween him and the man who possesses the virtue of the
heart and affections, it is the difference of being weighed
and being counted. Plato illustrated this thought when
he said " I have the better half of Athens for audience
when I lecture to Aristotle alona" A man who lives in
a modest daily round of routine duty, whose way is
bodged in by the shifting necessity of common drudgery,
can eecai from it if ho will, long enough to add the