I had completed it that the title of the story was, "What shall it
profit?" The great Russian graphically presented the very thought that
I have been trying to impress upon your minds. He told of a Russian who
had land hunger--who added farm to farm and land to land, but could
never get enough. After a while he heard of a place where land was
cheaper and he sold his land and went and bought more land. But he had
no more than settled there until he heard of another place among a
half-civilized people where land was cheaper still. He took a servant
and went into this distant country and hunted up the head man of the
tribe, who offered him all the land he could walk around in a day for a
thousand rubles--told him he could put the money down on any spot and
walk in any direction as far and as fast as he would, and that, if he
was back by sunset, he could have all the land he had encompassed during
the day. He put the money down upon the ground and started at sunrise to
get, at last, enough land. He started leisurely, but as he looked upon
the land it looked so good that he hurried a little--and then he hurried
more, and then he went faster still. Before he turned he had gone
further in that direction than he had intended, but he spurred himself
on and started on the second side. Before he turned again the sun had
crossed the meridian and he had two sides yet to cover. As the sun was
slowly sinking in the west he constantly accelerated his pace, alarmed
at last for fear he had undertaken too much and might lose it all. He
reached the starting point, however, just as the sun went down, but he
had overtaxed his strength and fell dead upon the spot. His servant dug
a grave for him; he only needed six-feet of ground then, the same that
others needed--the rest of the land was of no use to him. Thus Tolstoy
told the story of many a life--not the life of the very rich only, but
the story of every life in which the love of money is the controlling
force and in which the desire for gain shrivels the soul and leaves the
life a failure at last.
I desire to show you how practical this subject is. If time permitted I
could take up every occupation, every avocation, every profession and
every calling, and show you that no matter which way we turn--no matter
what we do--we are always and everywhere weighing the Soul.
In the brief time that it is proper for me to occupy, I shall apply the
thought to those departments of human activity in which the sale of a
soul affects others largely as well as the individual who makes the
bargain.
Take the occupation in which I am engaged, journalism. It presents a
great field--a growing field; in fact, there are few fields so large.
The journalist is both a news gatherer and a moulder of thought. He
informs his readers as to what is going on, and he points out the
relation between cause and effect--interprets current history. Public
opinion is the controlling force in a republic, and the newspaper gives
to the journalist, beyond every one else, the opportunity to affect
public opinion. Others reach the readers through the courtesy of the
newspaper, but the owner of the paper has full access to his own
columns, and does not fear the blue pencil.
The journalist occupies the position of a watchman upon a tower. He is
often able to see dangers which are not observed by the general public,
and, because he can see these dangers, he is in a position of greater
responsibility. Is he discharging the duty which superior opportunity
imposes upon him? Year by year the disclosures are bringing to light the
fact that the predatory interests are using many newspapers and even
some magazines for the defense of commercial iniquity and for the
purpose of attacking those who lift their voices against favouritism and
privilege. A financial magnate interested in the exploitation of the
public secures control of a paper; he employs business managers,
editors, and a reportorial staff. He does not act openly or in the
daylight but through a group of employees who are the visible but not
the real directors. The reporters are instructed to bring in the kind of
news that will advance the enterprises owned by the man who stands back
of the paper, and if the news brought in is not entirely satisfactory,
it is doctored in the office. The columns of the paper are filled with
matter, written not for the purpose of presenting facts as they exist,
but for the purpose of distorting facts and misleading the public. The
editorial writers, whose names are generally unknown to the public, are
told what to say and what subjects to avoid. They are instructed
to extol the merits of those who are subservient to the interests
represented by the paper, and to misrepresent and traduce those who dare
to criticize or oppose the plans of those who hide behind the paper.
Such journalists are members of a kind of "Black Hand Society"; they are
assassins, hiding in ambush and striking in the dark; and the worst of
it is that the readers have no sure way of knowing when a real change
takes place in the ownership of such a paper notwithstanding the fact
that a recent law requires publication of ownership.
There are degrees of culpability and some are disposed to hold an
editorial writer guiltless even when they visit condemnation upon the
secret director of the paper's policy. I present to you a different--and
I believe higher--ideal of journalism. If we are going to make any
progress in morals we must abandon the idea that morals are defined by
the statutes; we must recognize that there is a wide margin between that
which the law prohibits and that which an enlightened conscience can
approve. We do not legislate against the man who uses the printed page
for the purpose of deception but, viewed from the standpoint of morals,
the man who, whether voluntarily or under instructions, writes what he
knows to be untrue or purposely misleads his readers as to the
character of a proposition upon which they have to act, is as guilty of
wrong-doing as the man who assists in any other swindling transaction.
Another method employed to mislead the public is the publication of
editorial matter supplied by those who have an interest to serve. This
evil is even more common than secrecy as to the ownership of the paper.
In the case of the weekly papers and the smaller dailies, the proprietor
is generally known, and it is understood that the editorial pages
represent his views. His standing and character give weight to that
which appears with his endorsement. A few years ago, when a railroad
rate bill was before Congress, a number of railroads joined in an effort
to create public sentiment against the bill. Bureaus were established
for the dissemination of literature, and a number of newspapers entered
into contract to publish as editorial matter the material furnished by
these bureaus. This cannot be defended in ethics. The secret purchase of
the editorial columns is a crime against the public and a disgrace to
journalism, and yet we have frequent occasion to note this degradation
of the newspaper. A few years ago Senator Carter, of Montana, speaking
in the United States Senate, read several printed slips which were sent
out by a bankers' association to local bankers with the request that
they be inserted in the local papers as editorials, suggestion being
made that the instructions to the local bankers be removed before they
were handed to the papers. The purpose of the bankers' association was
to stimulate opposition to the postal savings bank, a policy endorsed
affirmatively by the Republican party and, conditionally, by the
Democratic party, the two platforms being supported at the polls by more
than ninety per cent, of the voters. The bankers' associations were
opposing the policy, and, in sending out its literature, they were
endeavouring to conceal the source of that literature and to make it
appear that the printed matter represented the opinion of some one in
the community.
The journalist who would fully perform his duty must be not only
incorruptible, but ever alert, for those who are trying to misuse the
newspapers are able to deceive "the very elect." Whenever any movement
is on foot for the securing of legislation desired by the predatory
interests, or when restraining legislation is threatened, news bureaus
are established at Washington, and these news bureaus furnish to such
papers as will use them free reports, daily or weekly as the case may
be, from the national capitol--reports which purport to give general
news, but which in fact contain arguments in support of the schemes
which the bureaus are organized to advance. This ingenious method
of misleading the public is only a part of the general plan which
favour-holding and favour-seeking corporations pursue.
Demosthenes declared that the man who refuses a bribe conquers the man
who offers it. According to this, the journalist who resists the
many temptations which come to him to surrender his ideals has the
consciousness of winning a moral victory as well as the satisfaction of
knowing that he is rendering a real service to his fellows.
The profession for which I was trained--the law--presents another line
of temptations. The court-room is a soul's market where many barter away
their ideals in the hope of winning wealth or fame. Lawyers sometimes
boast of the number of men whose acquittal they have secured when they
knew them to be guilty, and of advantages won which they knew their
clients did not deserve. I do not understand how a lawyer can so boast,
for he is an officer of the court and, as such, is sworn to assist in
the administration of justice. When a lawyer has helped his client to
obtain all that his client is entitled to, he has done his full duty as
a lawyer, and, if he goes beyond this, he goes at his own peril. Show
me a lawyer who has spent a lifetime trying to obscure the line between
right and wrong--trying to prove that to be just which he knew to be
unjust, and I will show you a man who has grown weaker in character year
by year, and whose advice, at last, will be of no value to his clients,
for he will have lost the power to discern between right and wrong. Show
me, on the other hand, a lawyer who has spent a lifetime in the search
for truth, determined to follow where it leads, and I will show you a
man who has grown stronger in character day by day and whose advice
constantly becomes more valuably to his client, because the power to
discern the truth increases with the honest search for it.
Not only in the court-room, but in the consultation chamber also the
lawyer sometimes yields to the temptation to turn his talents to a
sordid use. The schemes of spoliation that defy the officers of the law
are, for the most part, inaugurated and directed by legal minds. I was
speaking on this very subject in one of the great cities of the country
and at the close of the address, a prominent judge commended my
criticism and declared that most of the lawyers practicing in his court
were constantly selling their souls.
The lawyer's position is scarcely less responsible than the position of
the journalist; if the journalists and lawyers of the country could be
brought to abstain from the practices by which the general public
is overreached, it would be an easy matter to secure the remedial
legislation necessary to protect the producing masses from the constant
spoliation to which they are now subjected by the privileged classes.
If a man who is planning a train-robbery takes another along to hold a
horse at a convenient distance, we say that the man who holds the horse
is equally guilty with the man who robs the train; and the time will
come when public opinion will hold as equally guilty with the plunderers
of society the lawyers and journalists who assist the plunderers to
escape.
I would not be forgiven if I failed to apply my theme to the work of the
instructor. The purpose of education is not merely to develop the mind;
it is to prepare men and women for society's work and for citizenship.
The ideals of the teacher, therefore, are of the first importance. The
pupil is apt to be as much influenced by what his teacher _is_ as by
what the teacher _says_ or _does_. The measure of a school cannot be
gathered from an inspection of the examination papers; the conception of
life which the graduate carries away must be counted in estimating the
benefits conferred. The pecuniary rewards of the teacher are usually
small when compared with the rewards of business. This may be due in
part to our failure to properly appreciate the work which the teacher
does, but it may be partially accounted for by the fact that the teacher
derives from his work a satisfaction greater than that obtained from
most other employments.
The teacher comes into contact with the life of the student and, as
our greatest joy is derived from the consciousness of having benefited
others, the teacher rightly counts as a part of his compensation the
continuing pleasure to be found in the knowledge that he is projecting
his influence through future generations. The heart plays as large
a part as the head in the teacher's work, because the heart is an
important factor in every life and in the shaping of the destiny of the
race. I fear the plutocracy of wealth; I respect the aristocracy of
learning; but I thank God for the democracy of the heart. It is upon the
heart level that we meet; it is by the characteristics of the heart
that we best know and best remember each other. Astronomers tell us the
distance of each star from the earth, but no mathematician can calculate
the influence which a noble teacher may exert upon posterity. And yet,
even the teacher may fall from his high estate, and, forgetting his
immeasurable responsibility, yield to the temptation to estimate his
work by its pecuniary reward. Just now some of the teachers are--let
us hope, unconsciously--undermining the religious faith of students by
substituting the guesses of Darwin for the Word of God.
Let me turn for a moment from the profession and the occupation to the
calling. I am sure I shall not be accused of departing from the truth
when I say that even those who minister to our spiritual wants and, as
our religious leaders, help to fix our standards of morality, sometimes
prove unfaithful to their trust. They are human, and the frailities of
man obscure the light which shines from within, even when that light is
a reflection from the throne of God.
We need more Elijahs in the pulpit to-day--more men who will dare to
upbraid an Ahab and defy a Jezebel. It is possible, aye, probable, that
even now, as of old, persecutions would follow such boldness of speech,
but he who consecrates himself to religion must smite evil wherever he
finds it, although in smiting it he may risk his salary and his social
position. It is easy enough to denounce the petty thief and the
back-alley gambler; it is easy enough to condemn the friendless rogue
and the penniless wrong-doer, but what about the rich tax-dodger, the
big lawbreaker, and the corrupter of government? The soul that is warmed
by divine fire will be satisfied with nothing less than the complete
performance of duty; it must cry aloud and spare not, to the end that
the creed of the Christ may be exemplified in the life of the nation.
We need Elijahs now to face the higher critics. Instead of allowing the
materialists to cut the supernatural out of the Bible the ministers
should demand that the unsupported guesses be cut out of school-books
dealing with science.
Not only does the soul question present itself to individuals, but it
presents itself to groups of individuals as well.
Let us consider the party. A political party cannot be better than its
ideal; in fact, it is good in proportion as its ideal is worthy, and its
place in history is determined by its adherence to a high purpose. The
party is made for its members, not the members for the party; and a
party is useful, therefore, only as it is a means through which one may
protect his rights, guard his interests and promote the public welfare.
The best service that a man can render his party is to raise its ideals.
He basely betrays his party's hopes and is recreant to his duty to his
party associates who seeks to barter away a noble party purpose for
temporary advantages or for the spoils of office. It would be a
reflection upon the intelligence and patriotism of the people to assert,
or even to assume, that lasting benefit could be secured for a party
by the lowering of its standards. He serves his party most loyally who
serves his country most faithfully; it is a fatal error to suppose that
a party can be permanently benefited by a betrayal of the people's
interests.
In every act of party life and party strife we weigh the soul. That
the people have a right to have what they want in government is a
fundamental principle in free government. Corruption in government comes
from the attempt to substitute the will of a minority for the will of
the majority. Every important measure that comes up for consideration
involves justice and injustice--right and wrong--and is, therefore, a
question of conscience. As justice is the basis of a nation's strength
and gives it hope of perpetuity, and, as the seeds of decay are sown
whenever injustice enters into government, patriotism as well as
conscience leads us to analyze every public question, ascertain the
moral principle involved and then cast our influence, whether it be
great or small, on the side of justice.
The patriot must desire the triumph of that which _is_ right above the
triumph of that which he may _think_ to be right if he is, in fact,
mistaken; and so the partizan, if he be an intelligent partizan, must be
prepared to rejoice in his party's defeat if by that defeat his country
is the gainer. One can afford to be in a minority, but he cannot afford
to be wrong; if he is in a minority and right, he will some day be in
the majority.
The activities of politics center about the election of candidates to
office, and the official, under our system, represents both the party
to which he belongs and the whole body of his constituency. He has two
temptations to withstand; first, the temptation to substitute his
own judgment for the judgment of his constituents, and second, the
temptation to put his pecuniary interests above the interests of those
for whom he acts. According to the aristocratic idea, the representative
thinks _for_ his constituents; according to the Democratic idea, the
representative thinks _with_ his constituents. A representative has no
right to defeat the wishes of those who elect him, if he knows their
wishes.
But a representative is not liable to knowingly misrepresent his
constituents unless he has pecuniary interests adverse to theirs. This
is the temptation to be resisted--this is the sin to be avoided. The
official who uses his position to secure a pecuniary advantage over the
public is an embezzler of power--and an embezzler of power is as guilty
of moral turpitude as the embezzler of money. There is no better motto
for the public official than that given by Solomon: "A good name is
rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than
silver and gold." There is no better rule for the public official to
follow than this--to do nothing that he would not be willing to have
printed in the newspaper next day.
One who exercises authority conferred upon him by the suffrages of his
fellows ought to be fortified in his integrity by the consciousness of
the fact that a betrayal of his trust is hurtful to the party which
honours him and unjust to the people whom he serves, as well as
injurious to himself. Nothing that he can gain, not even the whole
world, can compensate him for the loss that he suffers in the surrender
of a high ideal of public duty.
In conclusion, let me say that the nation, as well as the individual,
and the party, must be measured by its purpose, its ideals and its
service. "Let him who would be chiefest among you, be the servant of
all," was intended for nations as well as for citizens. Our nation is
the greatest in the world and the greatest of all time, because it is
rendering a larger service than any other nation is rendering or has
rendered. It is giving the world ideals in education, in social life,
in government, and in religion. It is the teacher of nations; it is the
world's torch-bearer. Here the people are more free than elsewhere to
"try all things and hold fast that which is good"; "to know the truth"
and to find freedom in that knowledge. No material considerations
should blind us to our nation's mission, or turn us aside from the
accomplishment of the great work which has been reserved for us. Our
fields bring forth abundantly and the products of our farms furnish food
for many in the Old World. Our mills and looms supply an increasing
export, but these are not our greatest asset. Our most fertile soil
is to be found in the minds and the hearts of our people; our most
important manufacturing plants are not our factories, with their smoking
chimneys, but our schools, our colleges and our churches, which take in
a priceless raw material and turn out the most valuable finished product
that the world has known.
We enjoy by inheritance, or by choice, the blessings of American
citizenship; let us not be unmindful of the obligations which these
blessings impose. Let us not become so occupied in the struggle for
wealth or in the contest for honours as to repudiate the debt that we
owe to those who have gone before us and to those who bear with us the
responsibilities that rest upon the present generation. Society has
claims upon us; our country makes demands upon our time, our thought and
our purpose. We cannot shirk these duties without disgrace to ourselves
and injury to those who come after us. If one is tempted to complain of
the burdens borne by American citizens, let him compare them with the
much larger burdens imposed by despots upon their subjects.
I challenge the doctrine, now being taught, that we must enter into
a mad rivalry with the Old World in the building of battleships--the
doctrine that the only way to preserve peace is to get ready for wars
that ought never to come! It is a barbarous, brutal, un-Christian
doctrine--the doctrine of the darkness, not the doctrine of the dawn.
Nation after nation, when at the zenith of its power, has proclaimed
itself invincible because its army could shake the earth with its tread
and its ships could fill the seas, but these nations are dead, and we
must build upon a different foundation if we would avoid their fate.
Carlyle, in the closing chapters of his "French Revolution," says that
thought is stronger than artillery parks and at last moulds the world
like soft clay, and then he adds that back of thought is love. Carlyle
is right. Love is the greatest power in the world. The nations that are
dead boasted that people bowed before their flag; let us not be content
until our flag represents sentiments so high and holy that the oppressed
of every land will turn their faces toward that flag and thank God that
it stands for self-government and for the rights of man.
The enlightened conscience of our nation should proclaim as the
country's creed that "righteousness exalteth a nation" and that justice
is a nation's surest defense. If there ever was a nation it is ours--if
there ever was a time it is now--to put God's truth to a test. With an
ocean rolling on either side and a mountain range along either coast
that all the armies of the world could never climb we ought not to be
afraid to trust in "the wisdom of doing right."
Our government, conceived in liberty and purchased with blood, can be
preserved only by constant vigilance. May we guard it as our children's
richest legacy, for what shall it profit our nation if it shall gain the
whole world and lose "the spirit that prizes liberty as the heritage of
all men in all lands everywhere"?
VII
THREE PRICELESS GIFTS
The Bible differs from all other books in that it never wears out. Other
books are read and laid aside, but the Bible is a constant companion. No
matter how often we read it or how familiar we become with it, some new
truth is likely to spring out at us from its pages whenever we open
it, or some old truth will impress us as it never did before. Every
Christian can give illustrations of this. Permit me to refer briefly
to four. My first religious address, "The Prince of Peace," was the
outgrowth of a chance rereading of a passage in Isaiah. This I have
referred to in my lecture entitled "His Government and Peace."