Show Proportion in Life WHAT is ne worth This question has a particular interest just now when men scarcely know what they are worth a and d when men and business institutions which se seemed med to be perfectly sound totter on the brink of ruin At such a a time of panic one realizes how unstable are are material possessions To make the mistake of estimating a aman's amans amans aman's amans aman's mans man's real worth in stocks bonds and andreal andreal andreal real estate can scarcely be laid at the thedoor thedoor thedoor door of those who attend college because because because be be- cause their very presence shows that they lay the emphasis on something else than money Most sensible people in spite of the loud boasts of national civilization civilization civi civi- liz tion realize that while money is of vast importance and great utility it has no real worth in itself and that it is valuable only for the use which can be made of it As a servant of the higher ends of life it is most useful As an end in itself it is delusive and tive What then is loftier and better than money and material civilization The students in our higher institutions of learning answer by their very presence intellectual culture It may be contended contended contended con con- tended and perhaps with truth that they desire this culture for the sake of 01 J f the increased power it will give them and for the added ability in the race for foi material advancement But while it has been shown in a most interesting way that the college-bred college man has about forty times as many chances of becoming renowned as a man of no scholastic training it has not been proven that the college man seeks intellectual intellectual intellectual intel intel- training for the sake of business While a variety of reasons may be assign assigned d why young men and women go goto goto goto to the college I think it safe to assert that it is not merely for the sake of being able to earna earn a living better but because of a love for the things of the mind But whatever the motives of the students the college and the university stand for culture And what does this mean I It t has been defined as the appropriation of the best that has been said and written Obviously then it refers not to the training of the intellect alone but hut to that of the feelings and will also Since man is not merely intellect intellect in intellect in- in but has feelings and emotions and and is swayed by passion and is endowed with a will b by means of which he can control and unify all parts of his nature it follows that no culture can be he rounded and adequate which does not train the intellect to that perception accurate jf discrimination and just generalization r. r which does not keep the feelings strong f y and steady or which fails to train the theu u will to vigorous action steady application tion firm resistance in a word which t does not give that poise which is implied implied im- im im- im t plied in the word self Culture then consists not merely in the acquisition acquisition tion of stores of knowledge but in their application to the conduct of life It Itis Itis Itis is the appropriation of the best that has been said and written it means the refinement and purification of the feelings feelings feel feel- feelings ings and the discipline and strengthening strengthen strengthen- ing of the will that is the development of the whole personality Proportion in life then would mean the use of money and material things as servants of the higher life of the mind the training and care of the body that it may be the ready and reliable servant of the soul the culture of the intellect both for the joy of knowing and for the higher purpose of aiding right conduct the chastening and purification of the feelings that they may be the ministers of uplifting pleasure and the guardians of purity the training of the will that it may give unity strength and persistency to the character and above all that openness and receptivity to the ideal and the divine in nature in human life and in God which purify and sweeten the life which reveal the significance of living in harmony with the divine and which make every incident full of meaning as contributing to the power of an endless life and the character of an immortal soul Geo Ceo R. R A Mathews |