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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Letters from a Father to His Son Entering College + +Author: Charles Franklin Thwing + +Release Date: June 13, 2010 [EBook #32803] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS FROM A FATHER TO HIS SON *** + + + + +Produced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<h1>LETTERS FROM A<br /> +FATHER TO HIS SON<br /> +ENTERING COLLEGE</h1> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h2>CHARLES FRANKLIN THWING</h2> + +<h3>President of Western Reserve University</h3> + +<h4>New York<br /> +THE PLATT & PECK CO.</h4> + +<hr /> +<h5>Copyright, 1912<br /> +By THE PLATT & PECK CO.</h5> + + + +<hr /> +<h2>PREFATORY NOTE.</h2> + + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>Parts of the letters that make up this little +book were read to my own college boys at the +opening of a college year. They represent +somewhat, but of course only a bit, of what I +believe many a father would like to say to his +own son,—as I to mine,—when he is entering +the most important year of his college life—the +Freshman. Those who first heard them,—even +though obliged to hear,—seemed to suffer +them gladly. They are, therefore, brought together, +and sent out to fathers and to sons, +and with a peculiar feeling of sympathy for +both the parent and the boy at one of the +crises of the life of each.</p> + +<p style='text-align:right'>C. F. T.</p> + +<p>Western Reserve University,<br /> + Cleveland.</p> +</div> + + + +<hr /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td> </td> + <td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPI">I</a></td> + <td>Thought</td> + <td align="right">9</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPII">II</a></td> + <td>The Essential Gentleman</td> + <td align="right">22</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPIII">III</a></td> + <td>Health as an Asset</td> + <td align="right">25</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPIV">IV</a></td> + <td>Appreciation</td> + <td align="right">29</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPV">V</a></td> + <td>Scholarship</td> + <td align="right">31</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPVI">VI</a></td> + <td>The Intellectual Life</td> + <td align="right">40</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPVII">VII</a></td> + <td>The Use of Time</td> + <td align="right">43</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPVIII">VIII</a></td> + <td>Culture</td> + <td align="right">53</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPIX">IX</a></td> + <td>College Morals</td> + <td align="right">61</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPX">X</a></td> + <td>Weakness of Character</td> + <td align="right">65</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPXI">XI</a></td> + <td>The Genesis of Success</td> + <td align="right">68</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="right"><a href="#CHAPXII">XII</a></td> + <td>Religion</td> + <td align="right">91</td> +</tr> +</table> + + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 9]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPI" id="CHAPI"></a>LETTERS FROM A FATHER TO HIS SON ENTERING COLLEGE</h2> + + +<p>My Dear Boy:—I am glad you +want to go to college. Possibly +I might send you even if you +did not want to go, yet I doubt it. +One may send a boy through college +and the boy is sent through. None +of the college is sent through him. +But if you go, I am sure a good deal +of the college will somehow get +lodged in you.</p> + +<p>You will find a thousand and one +things in college which are worth +while. I wish you could have each +of them, but you can not. You have +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 10]</span> +to use the elective system, even in +the Freshman year. The trouble is +not that so few boys do not seem to +know how to distinguish the good +from the bad, but that so many boys +do not know the better from the +good and the best from the better. I +have known thousands of college +boys, and they do not seem to distinguish, +or, if they do, they do not +seem to be able to apply the gospel +of difference.</p> + +<p>You won't think me imposing on +you—will you?—if before entering +college I tell you of some things +which seem to me to be most +worthy of your having and being on +the day you get your A. B.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 11]</span> +The first thing I wish to say to +you is that I want you to come out +of the college a thinker. But how +to make yourself a thinker is both +hard to do and hard to tell. Yet, +the one great way of making yourself +a thinker is to think. Thinking +is a practical art. It cannot be +taught. It is learned by doing. +Yet there are some subjects in the +course which seem to me to be better +fitted than others to teach you +this art. I've been trying to find out +what are some of the marks or characteristics +of these subjects. They +are, I believe, subjects which require +concentration of thought; subjects +which have clearness in their +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 12]</span> +elements, yet which are comprehensive, +which are complex, which are +consecutive in their arrangements +of parts, each part being closely, +rigorously related to every other, +which represent continuity, of which +the different elements or parts may +be prolonged unto far reaching consequences. +Concentration in the +thinker, clearness, comprehensiveness, +complexedness, consecutiveness, +continuity—there are the six +big C's, which are marks of the subjects +which tend to create the thinker.</p> + +<p>To attempt to apply each of +these marks to many different subjects +of the curriculum represents a +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 13]</span> +long and unduly stupefying labor. +Apply them for yourself. Different +subjects have different worths for +the students, but there are certain +recognized values attached to each +coin of the intellectual realm.</p> + +<p>Mathematics and pure physics +eminently represent the larger part +of these six elements which I have +named. Mathematics demands concentration. +Mathematics is, in a +sense, the mind giving itself to +certain abstract truths. What is X<sup>2</sup> +but a form of the mind? Mathematics +demands clearness of thinking +and of statement. Without +clearness mathematics is naught. It +also represents comprehensiveness. +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 14]</span> +The large field of its truth is pressed +into its greater relationships. +Mathematical truth is complex. +Part is involved with part. It is +consecutive. Part follows part in +necessary order. It is also continuous. +It represents a graded progress.</p> + +<p>It is, however, to be remembered +that the reasoning of mathematics +is unlike most reasoning which we +usually employ. Mathematical +reasoning is necessary. Most reasoning +is not necessary. That two +<i>plus</i> two equal four is a truth about +which people do not differ usually. +But reasoning in economics, such as +the protective tariff; reasoning in +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 15]</span> +philosophy, such as the presence or +absence of innate ideas; reasoning +in history; is not absolute. I have +even wondered how far Cambridge, +standing for mathematics and the +physical sciences, has helped to +make men great. Oxford is said to +be the mother of great movements, +and it is. Here the Wesleyan +movement, and the Tractarian +movement and the Social movement, +as seen in Toynbee Hall, had +their origins. Cambridge is called +the mother of great men. Is there +any relation of cause and effect, at +Cambridge, between its emphasis +upon mathematics and the sciences +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 16]</span> +and the great men whom she has +helped to make?</p> + +<p>Logic is the subject of a course +which embodies the six marks I have +laid down. It demands these great +elements in almost the same ways in +which mathematics demands them. +Logic, in a sense, might be called +applied or incarnate mathematics. +The man who wishes to be a thinker +should be and is the master of logic.</p> + +<p>Language, too, represents almost +one half of the course of the modern +college, and it represented more +than one half of the course of the +older college. What merits has the +study of language for making the +thinker? The study of languages +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 17]</span> +makes no special demand on the +quality of concentration, but the +study does demand and creates comprehensiveness +and clearness. The +study represents a complex process +and requires analysis. The time-spirit +has worked and still works in +languages unto diverse and manifold +forms. Languages are developed +with a singular union of +orderliness and disorderliness. The +parts of a language are in some +cases closely related. The Greek +verb is the most highly developed +linguistic product. It is built up +with the delicacy and poise of a +child's house of blocks, yet with the +orderliness of a Greek temple. Each +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 18]</span> +letter represents a different meaning. +Augment, prefix, ending has +its own significance. I asked a +former Chinese minister to this +country what taught him to think. +His succinct answer was "Greek."</p> + +<p>In creating the thinker, the historical +and social sciences have chief +value in their complex relationships. +Select any period of history +pregnant with great results. For +instance, select the efflorescence of +the Greek people after the Persian +wars. What were the causes of this +vast advance? Take, for instance, +the political and social condition +prevalent for thirty years in America +before the Civil War. What +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 19]</span> +were the causes of this war? Or, +take economic affairs—what are +the reasons for and against a protective +tariff? What are the limitations +of such a tariff? Such conditions +require comprehensive +knowledge of complex matters. +From such mastery the thinker results,—the +thinker of consideration +and considerateness. He can perceive +a series of facts and the relation +of each to each.</p> + +<p>The law of values of these different +subjects in making the thinker, +is that the subjects which demand +hard thinking are most creative. +Easy subjects, or hard subjects easily +worked out, have little place in +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 20]</span> +the making of a thinker. One must +think hard to become a hard thinker. +Subjects and methods which are +hard create the inevitable result.</p> + +<p>Subjects which demand thinking +only, however, sometimes are rather +barren in result. One likes a certain +content or concreteness in the thinking +process. Abstract thinking +sometimes seems like a balloon +which has no connection with the +earth. If a balloon is to be guided, +it must be held down to <i>terra firma</i>. +The ricksha men in Japan can run +better if the carriage has a load. +The bullet must have weight +to go. A subject, therefore, which +has content may quicken thinking +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 21]</span> +and stimulate thoughtfulness.</p> + +<p>The thinker is not made, however, +only by the subjects he studies. +In this condition the teacher has his +place, and especially the methods +of teaching and the inspiring qualities +of teaching which he represents, +have value. The dead lift of the +discipline of the mind is liable to +be a deadening process. Every subject +needs a man to vitalize it for +the ordinary student. Every graduate +recalls teachers of such strength. +He holds them in unfading gratitude +and often in deathless affection.</p> + + + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 22]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPII" id="CHAPII"></a>II</h2> + + +<p>The second thing I want to say +to you is that I want you to be a +gentleman. How absurd it is for +me to write that to you. Of course, +you are, and, of course, you will be +one. In the creation of the gentleman +as well as of the thinker, the +personal equation counts. In fact, +it counts for more in the making of +the gentleman. For in this making +truth is less important than the personality. +In the gentleman intellectual +altruism and moral appreciativeness +are large elements. One +has to see and to understand the +personal condition with which he +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 23]</span> +deals. If he is dull, his conduct is +as apt to give unhappiness as +pleasure.</p> + +<p>In order to open the eyes of the +heart, in order to create an intellectual +conscientiousness, the study of +great literatures must be assigned a +high place. Constant and complex +needs to be such study. Literature +represents humanity. The humanities +are humanity. Literature is +style and style is the man. The +gentleman as a product represents +the homeopathic principle. The +gentleman makes the gentleman. +Certain colleges are distinguished +by the type of gentleman which +they create. It will usually be +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 24]</span> +found, on observation or analysis, +that colleges which are distinguished +for the gracious conduct of +their teachers toward their students +are distinguished by the gracious +bearing of their graduates.</p> + +<p>As a gentleman you will be a +friend and will have friends. In +this relation of friendship in its +earlier stages there is no part of life +in which it is more important for +you to exercise the virtue and grace +of reserve. Be in no haste to make +friends. Friendships are growths, +not manufactures. These growths, +too, are like the elm and the oak, +not like the willow. At this point +lies all I want to say to you about +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 25]</span> +joining a fraternity. If the men you +want to be your intimate friends +are members and ask you to join, +accept. If the men you do not wish +to be your intimate friends wish +you to go with them, decline. Do +not join for the sake of a blind pool +membership. Such a membership +is really a sort of social insincerity, +a lie.</p> + + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPIII" id="CHAPIII"></a>III</h2> + +<p>In the assessment of academic +values, give a high place to sound +health. The worth is so great that +very slight may be the paragraph I +write you. In the "Egoist," +George Meredith says, "Health, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 26]</span> +wealth and beauty are three considerations +to be sought for in a +woman, who is to become the wife +of Sir Willoughby." Wealth and +beauty are quite as much out of +ordinary results of the education of +the American college as health +should be among those results.</p> + +<p>One may be sick, and through +sickness become a saint; one may +be sick and through sickness become +a sinner. But one cannot be sick and +at the same time be as good a +worker as he would be if he were +not sick. Good workers the world +needs, and, therefore, men of first-rate +health the world needs. If one +is to be a great worker, one must +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 27]</span> +have great health. It is not for me +to write as would a physician, but +I may be allowed to say that in +caring for health, one should not +become self-conscious. Let me further +suggest:—</p> + +<p>First—That you sleep eight +hours.</p> + +<p>Second—Exercise at least a half +an hour each day in the gymnasium.</p> + +<p>Third—Eat much of simple +food; but not too much!</p> + +<p>Fourth—Don't worry.</p> + +<p>Fifth—Play ball much (base, +foot, basket); but not too much!</p> + +<p>In a word, be a good animal.</p> + +<p>One of my old teachers once said +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 28]</span> +to me after I was engaged in my +work:—</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to see you looking so +well."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because every man has to break +down three times in life. I broke +down three times; Professor Hitchcock +broke down three times; every +man must break down three times, +and the earlier the breaks come, the +better."</p> + +<p>There is no need of any man's +breaking down, if he will observe +with fair respect the laws of sleep, +exercise and food.</p> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 29]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPIV" id="CHAPIV"></a>IV</h2> + +<p>I also desire that you should be +a man of scholarly sympathy and +appreciation. I can hardly hope +you will be a scholar. Yet you +may. The scholar seldom emerges. +If one out of each thousand students, +entering the American college +this year, should prove to be a +scholar, the proportion is as large +as one can hope for. For up to one +in a thousand is as big a proportion +as the world is prepared to accept. +Yet it is to be hoped that you and +that most men should have appreciation +and sympathy with scholarship. +You should know what scholarship +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 30]</span> +means: in work as toilsomeness, +in method as wisdom, in atmosphere +as thoroughness and patience, +in result as an addition to +the stock of human knowledge. If +you be a laborer in one field, you +should not seek, and I know you +will not seek, to discount the existence +of other fields, or despise the +laborers in those fields. If you become +an engineer, you will not condemn +the classicist as useless. If +you are a Grecian, you will not +despise the mechanical engineer as +crass and coarse.</p> + +<p>One finds that the best men of +any one field or calling are more inclined +to recognize the eminence of +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 31]</span> +the claims of other fields or callings. +Smallness spells provincialism, and +provincialism spells smallness. I +have heard one of the greatest teachers +of chemistry say that if he were +to make a boy a professor of chemistry, +he would, among other things, +first teach him Greek.</p> + + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPV" id="CHAPV"></a>V</h2> + + +<p>The first principle of college life +is the principle of doing one's duty. +In your appreciation of scholarship, +your first duty is to learn your lessons. +I have known many college +men who learned their lessons, who +yet failed to get from the college +all that they ought to get. But I +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 32]</span> +have never known a man who failed +to get his lessons, whatever else he +may have got, to receive the full advantage +of the course. The curriculum +of every good college is the resultant +of scores or of hundreds of +years of reflection and of trial. It +represents methods, content, purposes, +which many teachers through +many experiments of success and of +failure have learned are the best +forces for training mind and for +forming character.</p> + +<p>But for the student to receive +worthy advantage from these forces +he is obliged to relate himself to +them by hard intellectual attention +and application. Sir Leslie Stephen +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 33]</span> +says that the Cambridge teachers of +his time were not given to enthusiasms, +but preached common-sense, +and common-sense said: "Stick to +your triposes, grind at your mill, +and don't set the universe in order +till you have taken your bachelor's +degree." The duty of the American +college student is no less evident. +He is to stick to his triposes. His +triposes are his lessons. Among the +greatest of all teachers was Louis +Agassiz. A story has become classical +as told by the distinguished naturalist, +the late Dr. Samuel H. +Scudder, regarding the methods of +the great teacher with his students.</p> + +<p>In brief the story is that Mr. +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 34]</span> +Scudder on going to Agassiz was +told, "'Take this fish and look at +it. We call it a Hæmulon. By and +by I will ask you what you have +seen.' ... In ten minutes I had +seen all that could be seen in that +fish.... Half an hour passed, an +hour, another hour; the fish began +to look loathsome. I turned it over +and around; looked it in the face—ghastly!—from +behind, beneath, +above, sideways, at three-quarters +view—just as ghastly. I was in despair. +At an early hour I concluded +that lunch was necessary; so, with +infinite relief, the fish was carefully +replaced in the jar, and for an hour +I was free.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 35]</span> +"On my return I learned that +Professor Agassiz had been at the +Museum, but had gone, and would +not return for several hours.... +Slowly I drew forth that hideous +fish, and, with a feeling of desperation, +again looked at it. I might +not use a magnifying glass; instruments +of all kinds were interdicted. +My two hands, my two eyes, and +the fish; it seemed a most limited +field.... At last a happy thought +struck me—I would draw the fish; +and now with surprise I began to +discover new features in the +creature....</p> + +<p>"He listened attentively to my +brief rehearsal of the structure of +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 36]</span> +parts whose names were still unknown +to me.... When I had +finished he waited, as if expecting +more, and then, with an air of disappointment, +'You have not +looked very carefully; why,' he continued +most earnestly, 'you haven't +even seen one of the most conspicuous +features of the animal, which is +as plainly before your eyes as the +animal itself. Look again! Look +again!' and he left me to my +misery.</p> + +<p>"I ventured to ask what I should +do next.</p> + +<p>"'Oh, look at your fish,' he said, +and left me again to my own devices. +In a little more than an hour +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 37]</span> +he returned and heard my new catalogue.</p> + +<p>"'That is good, that is good,' he +repeated: 'but that is not all; go +on.' And so for three long days he +placed that fish before my eyes, forbidding +me to look at anything else +or use any artificial aid. 'Look, +look, look,' was his repeated injunction."</p> + +<p>Doctor Scudder says that this was +the best entomological lesson he +ever had, and a lesson of which the +influence extended to the details of +every subsequent study.</p> + +<p>It is the duty of the college student +to look at his fish, to thumb his +lexicon, to read his textbook, to +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 38]</span> +study his notes, to think, and think +hard, upon the truth therein presented. +Of all the students in the +world the Scotch represent this +simple duty the best. The men at +Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Andrews +and Aberdeen toil mightily.</p> + +<p>The duty of learning one's lessons +is, in these times, opposed by +at least two elements of college life. +One is self-indulgence and the other +is athletics. Self-indulgence is a +general cause and constant. Athletics +have in the last thirty years +come to be a force more or less +dominant. Athletics represent a +mighty force for collegiate and human +betterment. Football, which +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 39]</span> +is <i>par excellence</i> the college game, +is an admirable method of training +the man physical, the man intellectual +and the man ethical. But football +is not a college purpose; it is a +college means. It is a means for the +promotion of scholarship, for the +formation of manhood. When football +or other forms of college sport +are turned from being a method and +a means into being ends in themselves +the misfortune is lamentable.</p> + +<p>At a recent Harvard commencement, +Professor Shaler, than whom +no man in Harvard was more vitally +in touch with all undergraduate interests, +spoke of the harm wrought +upon many students through their +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 40]</span> +absorption in athletics. It cannot +be denied for an instant that many +men are hurt by giving undue attention +to sports. Of course many men +are benefited, and, are benefited +vastly, by athletics, but men who +are harmed should at once be obliged +to learn the lesson of learning +their lessons. That is the chief lesson +which they ought to learn.</p> + + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPVI" id="CHAPVI"></a>VI</h2> + + +<p>In the appreciation of scholarship +is found the strain of intellectual +humility. The scholar is more +inclined to inquire than to affirm. +He is more ready to ask "What do +you think?" than to say "I know." +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 41]</span> +He is remote from intellectual arrogance. +Humility means greatness. +Cockiness is a token of narrowness. +The Socratic spirit of modesty is as +true a manner of wisdom as it is an +effective method of increasing wisdom. +The man who has an opinion +on all things, has no right to an +opinion on any one.</p> + +<p>This intellectual sympathy and +appreciation should take on esthetic +relations. You should be a lover +of beauty as well as of wisdom. +Good books, good pictures, good +music, good architecture, should be +among your avocations. Read a +piece of good literature every day. +See a good picture or a good copy of +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 42]</span> +one every day. Hear some good +music every day. The chapel service +may give it to you. And see +a piece of good architecture every +day. Some of the college buildings +can give it. Alas! many do not. +Such visions and hearings will soak +into your manhood.</p> + +<p>All this is only saying lead the +life intellectual. You should not +only be a thinker, you should be +thoughtful. You should be a man +of large thoughtfulness. You should +be prepared to interpret life and all +phenomena in terms of the intellect. +Many of our countrymen are intelligent. +They know a great deal. +They have gathered up information +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 43]</span> +about many things. This information +is desultory, unrelated. Their +minds are a Brummagem drawer. +Here, by the way, lies the worthlessness +of President Eliot's list of +books to the untrained mind. To +the educated mind such books mean +much; to the uneducated, little. +Yet, as a college man, you may +know less than not a few uneducated +people may know. I don't +care. The life intellectual is more +and most important.</p> + + +<hr /> + +<h2><a name="CHAPVII" id="CHAPVII"></a>VII</h2> + +<p>I also want you to go from the +college a good combination of a +good worker and a good loafer. To +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 44]</span> +be able to loaf well is not a bad +purpose of an education. The loafing +that carries along with itself the +freedom from selfishness, appreciation +of others' conditions, and +gentlemanliness, is worth commending. +Loafing that follows hard work +and prepares for hard work is one of +the best equipments of a man. Loafing +that has no object, loafing as a +vocation, is to be despised. The +late Professor Jebb wrote to his +father once from Cambridge, saying:—</p> + +<p>"I <i>will</i> read but not very hard; +because I know better than you or +any one can tell me, how much reading +is good for the development of +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 45]</span> +my own powers at the present time, +and will conduce to my success next +year and afterwards; and I will <i>not</i> +identify myself with what are called +in Cambridge 'the reading set,' <i>i. e.</i>, +men who read twelve hours a day +and never do anything else; (1) because +I should lose ten per cent. of +reputation (which at the university +is no bubble but real living useful +capital); (2) because the reading +set, with a few exceptions, are utterly +uncongenial to me. My set is +a set that <i>reads</i>, but does not only +read; that accomplishes one great +end of university life by mixing in +cheerful and intellectual society, +and learning the ways of the world +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 46]</span> +which its members are so soon to +enter; and which, without the pedantry +and cant of the 'reading +man,' turns out as good Christians, +better scholars, better men of the +world, and better gentlemen, than +those mere plodders with whom a +man is inevitably associated if he +identifies himself with the reading +set."</p> + +<p>I rather like the loafing which +young Jebb indulged in, but I fear +it is a type of the life which some +college men do not follow. They +are inclined to look upon the four +college years as a respite between +the labor of the preparatory school +and the labor of business, or rather +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 47]</span> +they may look upon the four college +years as a life of professional leisure. +I am glad you cannot, even if +you wished to, and I know you do +not wish to, think of college as +either respite or leisure. Whether +the college is wise in allowing such +loafing, it is not for me now to say, +but I can trust you to be the proper +kind of loafer as well as of worker.</p> + +<p>Indeed, I want you to have good +habits of working. In such habits +the valuation of time is of special +significance. For time is not an +agent. It does nothing. As a power, +time is absolutely worthless. As a +condition, time is of infinite worth. +Mark Pattison, the rector of Lincoln +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 48]</span> +College, said: "Time seems +infinite to the freshman in his first +term." But let me add that to a +senior in his last term time is a +swiftly moving opportunity. The +need of time becomes more and more +urgent as the college years go. +When Jowett was fifty-nine years +old, he wrote: "I cannot say <i>vixi</i>, +for I feel as if I were only just beginning +and had not half completed +what I had intended. If I +live twenty-five years more I will, +<i>Dei gratia</i>, accomplish a great work +for Oxford and for philosophy in +England. Activity, temperance, no +enmities, self-denial, saving eyes, +never overwork." On his seventieth +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 49]</span> +birthday Jowett made out +what he called his Scheme of Life. +It was this:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><b>EIGHT YEARS OF WORK.</b></p> + +<p> + 1 Year—Politics, Republic, Dialogues of Plato.<br /> + 2 Years—Moral Philosophy.<br /> + 2 Years—Life of Christ.<br /> + 1 Year—Sermons.<br /> + 2 Years—Greek Philosophy; Thales to Socrates. +</p></div> + +<p>I turn over the last pages of +Jowett's "Life and Letters," and I +find a list of his works. Is there a +moral philosophy in the list? No. +A life of Christ? No. A treatise +on Greek philosophy? No. But I +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 50]</span> +do find a volume of college sermons, +published since his death, and also +a new edition of his "Plato." One +of the most pathetic things in the +volumes that cover his life is the +constant reference to <i>agenda</i>—things +he was to do. But the <i>agenda</i> +rapidly become <i>nugae</i>—impossibilities—and +the reason was simply, as +it ever is, the lack of time.</p> + +<p>To save time, take time in large +pieces. Do not cut time up into +bits. Adopt the principle of continuous +work. The mind is like a +locomotive. It requires time for +getting under headway. Under +headway it makes its own steam. +Progress gives force as force makes +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 51]</span> +progress. Do not slow down as long +as you run well and without undue +waste. Take advantage of momentum. +Prolonged thinking leads to +profound thinking. Steamers which +have the longest routes seek deepest +waters. Let me also counsel you +to do what must be done sometime +as soon as possible. Thus you avoid +worry. You save yourself needless +trouble and waste. You also have +the satisfaction of having the thing +done which is a very blessed satisfaction. +I would have you spring +to your work in the mood and the +way in which J. C. Shairp, in his +poem on the "Balliol Scholars," +spoke of Temple:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 52]</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p> + "With strength for labor, 'as the strength of ten'<br /> + To ceaseless toil he girt him night and day:<br /> + A native King and ruler among men,<br /> + Ploughman or Premier, born to bear true sway:<br /> + Small or great duty never known to shirk,<br /> + He bounded joyously to sternest work—<br /> + Lest buoyant others turn to sport and play."<br /> +</p></div> + +<p>Therefore, do not be a slave. Go +at your job with enthusiasm. To +get enthusiasm in work, work. +Work creates enthusiasm for work +in a healthy mind. The dyer's hand +is not subdued to its materials; it is +strengthened through materials for +service.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 53]</span></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPVIII" id="CHAPVIII"></a>VIII</h2> + +<p>You will soon learn, my son, that +college men are, as a rule, sound in +body, sane in mind, in heart pure, +in will vigorous, keen in conscience, +and filled with noble aspirations. +Such men usually interpret life, +both academic and general, in +sanity and in justice.</p> + +<p>Yet, despite these happy conditions, +there does prevail a danger +of college men making certain misconceptions +of college life.</p> + +<p>A misconception which is more or +less common among students you +will soon have occasion to see relates +to the failure to distinguish, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 54]</span> +on the one side, knowledge from +efficiency, and on the other, knowledge +from cultivation. In the +former time, the worth of knowledge, +as knowledge, was emphasized +in the college. The man who knew +was regarded as the great man. To +make each student an encyclopedia +of information was a not uncommon +aim. It is certainly well to know. +Scholarship is seldom in peril of receiving +too high encomium. Yet, +knowledge is not power. Sometimes +knowledge prevents the creation, +or retention, or use, of power. +The intellect may be so clogged with +knowledge that the will becomes +sluggish or irregular in its action.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 55]</span> +Knowledge, however, is always +to be so gathered that it shall create +power and minister to efficiency. +The accumulation of information is +to be made with such orderliness, +accuracy, thoroughness and comprehensiveness, +that these qualities +shall represent the chief and lasting +result of knowledge. Facts may be +forgotten, but the orderliness, accuracy, +thoroughness and comprehensiveness +in which these facts +have been gathered are more important +than the facts themselves, +and these qualities should, and may, +become a permanent intellectual +treasure. These qualities are elements +of efficiency. They are +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 56]</span> +forces for making attainments, for +securing results. The student, +however, while he is securing the +facts which lead to these qualities +is in peril of forgetting the primary +value of the qualities themselves.</p> + +<p>On the other side, the student is +also in peril of failing to distinguish +between knowledge as knowledge, +and knowledge which leads to personal +cultivation. What is cultivation, +and who is the cultivated person? +Some would say that the cultivated +person is the person of beautiful +manners, of the best knowledge +of life's best things, who is at +home in any society or association. +Such a definition is not to be +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 57]</span> +spurned. For, is it not said that +"Manners make the man"? Manners +make the man! That is, Do +manners create the man? that is, +Do manners give reputation to the +man? that is, Do manners express +the character of the man? Which +of the three interpretations is +sound? Or does each interpretation +intimate a side of the polygon?</p> + +<p>I know of a man put in nomination +for a place in an historic college. +The trustees were in doubt +respecting his bearing in certain +social relations. As a test, I may +say, he was asked to be a guest at +an afternoon tea. Rather silly way, +in some respects, wasn't it? I +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 58]</span> +doubt if he to this day is aware of +the trial to which he was subjected. +The way one accepts or declines a +note of invitation, the way one uses +his voice, the way one enters or +retires from a room may, or may not, +be little in itself, but the simple act +is evidence of conditions. For is +not manner the comparative of +man? I would not say it is the +superlative.</p> + +<p>Others would affirm that the cultivated +person is the person who +appreciates the best which life offers. +Appreciation is intellectual, +emotional, volitional. It is discrimination +<i>plus</i> sympathy. It contains +a dash of admiration. It +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 59]</span> +recognizes and adopts the best in +every achievement, in the arts of +literature, poetry, sculpture, painting, +architecture. The cultivated +person seeks out the least unworthy +in the unworthy, and the most +worthy in that which is at all +worthy. The person of cultivation +knows, compares, relates, judges. +He has standards and he applies +them to things, measures methods. +He is able to discriminate +and to feel the difference between +the Parthenon and the Madeleine, +between a poem of Tennyson and +one of Longfellow. His moral +nature is fine, as his intellectual is +honest. He is filled with reverence +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 60]</span> +for truth, duty, righteousness. He +is humble, for he knows how great +is truth, how imperative, duty. He +is modest, for he respects others. He +is patient with others and with himself, +for he knows how unattainable +is the right. He can be silent when +in doubt. He can speak alone when +truth is unpopular. He is willing +to lose his voice in the "choir invisible" +when it chants either the +Miserere or the Gloria in Excelsis. +He is a man of proportion, of reality, +sincerity, honesty, justice, temperance—intellectual +and ethical.</p> + +<p>The college man is in peril of forgetting +the worth of cultivation. +Knowledge should lead to cultivation, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 61]</span> +but, as in the case of securing +efficiency, the mind of the student +may be so fixed upon processes as to +fail to recognize the importance of +the result as manifest in the cultivation +of his whole being.</p> + +<p>In the case of both efficiency and +cultivation, the student is to remember +there is no substitute. Intellectual +power cannot be counterfeited. +Any attempt, also, to +secure a sham cultivation is foreordained +to failure.</p> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPIX" id="CHAPIX"></a>IX</h2> + + +<p>The student is also too prone to +distinguish between academic +morals and human morals. As a student, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 62]</span> +he may crib in examination +without compunction. As a student, +he too often feels it is right +to deceive his teacher. Students +who are gentlemen and who would +as soon cut their own throats as steal +your purse, will yet steal your office +sign or the pole of your barber. In +such college outlawry he loses no +sense of self-respect, and in no degree +the respect of his fellow students. +Let us confess at once that +in what may be called academic +immorals there is usually no sense +of malice. This condition does +create a distinct difference between +academic and human ethics. Let +the distinction be given full credit. +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 63]</span> +Yet, be it at once and firmly said, +a lie is a lie, and thieving is thieving. +The blameworthiness may differ in +different cases, but there is always +blameworthiness.</p> + +<p>Be it also said the public does not +usually recognize the distinction +which the student himself seeks to +make. The public becomes justly +impatient with, and more or less indignant +over, the horseplay, or immoralities +which students work outside, +and sometimes inside, college +walls. The student is to remember +that before he was a student he was +a man, that after he has ceased to be +a student he is to be a man, and +while he is a student he is also to be +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 64]</span> +a man, and also before, after, and +always he is to be a gentleman. +Such irregular conditions belong, of +course, to youth as well as to the +student. The irreverence which +characterizes all American life is +prone to become insolence, when, in +the student, it is raised to the second +or third power. The able man and +true—student or not a student—of +course presently adjusts himself to +orderly conditions. The academic +experience proves to be a discipline, +though sometimes not a happy one, +and the discipline helps towards the +achievement of a large and rich +character.</p> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 65]</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPX" id="CHAPX"></a>X</h2> + +<p>Another misconception made by +the student is also common. It is +a misconception attaching to any +weakness of his character. The +student is inclined to believe that +there may be weaknesses which are +not structural. He may think that +there may be some weakness in one +part of his whole being which shall +not affect his whole being. He may +believe that he can skimp his intellectual +labor without making his +moral nature thin, or that he can +break the laws of his moral nature +without breaking his intellectual +integrity. He may think that he +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 66]</span> +can play fast and loose with his will +without weakening his conscience or +without impairing the truthfulness +of his intellectual processes. He +may imagine that he is composed of +several distinct potencies and that +he can lessen the force of any one +of them without depreciating the +value of the others. Lamentable +mistake, and one often irretrievable. +For man is a unit. Weakness in one +part becomes weakness in every +part. In the case of the body, the +illness of one organ damages all +organs. If the intellect be dull, or +narrow in its vision, or false in its +logic, the heart refuses to be quickened +and the conscience is disturbed. +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 67]</span> +If the heart be frigid, the intellect, +in turn, declines to do its task with +alertness or vigor. If conscience be +outraged, the intellect loses force +and the heart becomes clothed with +shame. Man is one. Strength in +one part is strength in, and for, every +part, and weakness in one part results +in weakness in, and for, every +part.</p> + +<p>For avoiding these three misconceptions, +the simple will of the college +man is of primary worth. If +he will to distinguish knowledge +from efficiency, and knowledge +from cultivation, if he will to know +that the distinction between academic +morals and human morals is +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 68]</span> +not so deep as some believe, and if +he will to believe in the unity of +character, the student has the primary +help for securing a sound idea +and a right practice.</p> + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPXI" id="CHAPXI"></a>XI</h2> + + +<p>I write to you, my boy, out of the +experience and observation of thirty +years in which I have followed as +best I could the careers of graduates +of many of our colleges. The other +afternoon I set down the names of +some of these graduates of the two +colleges which I know best. Among +them were men who, fifteen or +thirty years after their graduation, +are doing first-rate work. They are +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 69]</span> +lawyers, editors, physicians, judges, +clergymen, teachers, merchants, +manufacturers, architects and writers. +As I have looked at the list +with a mind somewhat inquisitive I +have asked myself what are the +qualities or conditions which have +contributed to the winning of the +great results which these men have +won.</p> + +<p>The answers which I have given +myself are manifold. For it is always +difficult in personal matters to +differentiate and to determine +causes. In mechanical concerns it +is not difficult. But in the calculation +of causes which constitute the +value of a person as a working +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 70]</span> +force one often finds oneself baffled. +The result frequently seems either +more or less than an equivalent of +the co-operating forces. The personal +factor, the personal equation +counts immensely. These values +we cannot measure in scales or figure +out by the four processes of +arithmetic.</p> + +<p>Be it said that the causes of the +success of these men do not lie in +their conditions. No happy combination +of circumstances, no windfall +of chance, gave them what they +have achieved. If those who graduated +in the eighth decade had graduated +in the ninth, or if those who +graduated in the ninth had graduated +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 71]</span> +in the earlier time, it probably +would have made no difference. +Neither does the name, with possibly +a single exception, nor wealth prove +to be a special aid. Nor have +friends boosted or pushed them. +Friends may have opened doors for +them; but friends have not urged +them either to see or to embrace opportunities.</p> + +<p>These men seem to me to have +for their primary and comprehensive +characteristic a large sanity. +They have the broad vision and the +long look. They possess usually a +kind of sobriety which may almost +be called Washingtonian. The insane +man reasons correctly from false +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 72]</span> +premises. The fool has no premises +from which to reason. These men +are neither insane nor foolish. They +have suppositions, presuppositions, +which are true. They also follow +logical principles which are sound. +They are in every way well-ordered. +They keep their brains where their +brains ought to be—inside their +skulls. They keep their hearts +where their hearts ought to be—inside +their chests. They keep their +appetites where their appetites +ought to be. Too many men keep +their brains inside their chests: the +emotions absorb the intellect. Too +many men put their hearts inside +their skull: the emotions are dried +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 73]</span> +up in the clear air of thought. Too +many put both brains and heart +where the appetites are: both judgment +and action are swallowed up +in the animal.</p> + +<p>But these men are whole, wholesome, +healthy, healthful. They +seem to represent those qualities +which, James Bryce says, Archbishop +Tait embodied: "He had +not merely moderation, but what, +though often confounded with +moderation, is something rarer and +better, a steady balance of mind. +He was carried about by no winds +of doctrine. He seldom yielded to +impulses, and was never so seduced +by any one theory as to lose sight of +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 74]</span> +other views and conditions which +had to be regarded. He knew how +to be dignified without assumption, +firm without vehemence, prudent +without timidity, judicious without +coldness." They are remote from +crankiness, eccentricity. They may +or may not have fads; but they are +not faddists. Not one of them is a +genius in either the good or the evil +side of conspicuous native power. +They see and weigh evidence. They +are a happy union of wit and wisdom, +of jest and precept, of work +and play, of companionship and +solitude, of thinking and resting, of +receptivity and creativeness, of the +ideal and the practical, of individualism +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 75]</span> +and of sympathy. They are +living in the day, but they are not +living for the day. They embody +the doctrine of the golden mean.</p> + +<p>Each of these men has also in +his career usually more than filled +the place he occupied. He has +overflowed into the next higher +place. The overflow has raised him +into the higher lock. The career +has been an ascending spiral. Each +higher curve has sprung out of the +preceding and lower. From the +attorneyship of the county to service +as attorney of the State, and +to a place on the Supreme Bench of +the United States:—From a pastorate +in a small Maine city to a +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 76]</span> +pastorate suburban, and from the pastorate +suburban to a pastorate on +Fifth Avenue:—From a professorship +in an humble place to a professorship +in largest relations:—From +the building of cottages to the +building of great libraries and +museums. This is the order of progression. +I will not say that any of +these men did the best he could do +at every step of the way. Some did; +some did not, probably. But what +is to the point, each did better than +the place demanded. He more than +earned his wages, his salary, his pay. +He had a surplus; he was a creditor. +His employers owed him more than +they paid him. They found the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 77]</span> +best way of paying him and keeping +him was to advance him.</p> + +<p>Such is the natural evolution of +skill and power. The only legitimate +method of advancement is to +make advancement necessary, inevitable, +by the simple law of +achievement. The simple law of +achievement depends upon the law +of increasing force, which is the law +that personal force grows through +the use of personal force.</p> + +<p>Hiram Stevens Maxim in the +sketch of his life tells of his working +in Flynt's carriage factory at Abbot, +Maine, when a boy of about fifteen. +From Flynt's at Abbot he went to +Dexter, a large town, where he +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 78]</span> +became a foreman. He presently +went to a threshing machine factory +in northern New York; thence to +Fitchburg, Mass., where he obtained +a place in the engineering +works of his uncle. In this factory +he says he could do more work than +any other man save one. Thence +he went to a place in Boston; from +Boston to New York, where he received +high pay as a draughtsman. +While he was working in New +York he conceived the idea of +making a gun which would load and +fire itself by the energy derived +from the burning powder. From +work in a little place in Maine, +Maxim, by doing each work the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 79]</span> +best possible, has made himself a +larger power.</p> + +<p>Furthermore, these men represent +goodfellowship. They embody +friendliness. The late Robert Lowe +(Viscount Sherbrooke) was at one +time esteemed to be the equal of +John Bright and of Gladstone in +oratory, and their superior in intellect. +He died in 1892 unknown +and unlamented. He failed by +reason of a lack of friendliness. +Lowe was once an examiner at Oxford. +Into an oral examination +which he was conducting a friend +came and asked how he was getting +on. "Excellently," replied Lowe, +"five men flunked already and the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 80]</span> +sixth is shaky." Ability without +goodfellowship is usually ineffective; +good ability <i>plus</i> good fellowship +makes for great results.</p> + +<p>In this atmosphere of friendliness, +these men are practising the +Golden Rule. They are not advertising +the fact. They do much +in this atmosphere of friendliness +for large bodies of people. They +follow the sentiment which Pasteur +expressed near the close of his great +career: "Say to yourselves first: +'What have I done for my instruction?' +and, as you gradually advance, +'What have I done for my +country?' until the time comes +when you may have the immense +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 81]</span> +happiness of thinking that you have +contributed in some way to the progress +and to the good of humanity. +But whether our efforts are or are +not favored by life, let us be able +to say when we come near the great +goal: 'I have done what I could.'" +They have done much for the individual, +for the local neighborhood. +They have given themselves in numberless +services, boards, committees, +commissions—works which count +much in time and strength. These +services constitute no small share of +the worth of a commonwealth, of a +community.</p> + +<p>To one relation of these men I +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 82]</span> +wish especially to refer. This is +their relation to wealth. Some of +these men are business men. Wealth +is one of the normal results of business. +Some of these men are professional +men. Wealth is not the +normal result of professional service. +But the seeking of wealth has +not in the life and endeavor of +these men played a conspicuous +part. If wealth is the primary purpose, +they keep the purpose to +themselves. They do not talk much +about it. But most of them do not +hold wealth as a primary purpose. +Rather their primary and atmospheric +aim is to serve the community +through their business. The +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 83]</span> +same purpose moves them which +also moves the lawyer, the minister, +the doctor. Life, not living, is their +principle.</p> + +<p>To one further element I must +refer. It comprehends, perhaps, +much that I have been trying to say +to you, my son. These men kept, +and are keeping themselves to their +work. They do not waste themselves. +They are economical of +time and strength. The late Provost +Pepper of the University of +Pennsylvania said (in a manuscript +not formally published): "Many +can do with less than eight or even +seven hours of sleep while working +hard, provided they recognize the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 84]</span> +increased risk; that while running +their engine they take more scrupulous +care with every part of the machinery. +Machine must be perfect, +fuel ditto; everything must be sacrificed +to the one point of keeping +the machinery running thus: Subjection +of carnal, emotional excesses; +certainty that no weak spots +exist; diet, especially too much eating, +too fast eating; stimulants, tobacco, +open-air exercise; cool-headed, +almost callous, critical +analysis of oneself, one's sensations +and effect of work on the system; +clear knowledge of danger lines; result, +avoidance of transgressing, and +immediate summons at right time."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 85]</span> +These men are men of self-restraint. +They are like rivers having +dams, keeping their waters back in +order that the water may be used +more effectively. They are free +from entangling alliances. They +are not men of one thing; they +are often men of two, three, a +dozen things. But one thing is primary, +the others secondary. They +may have avocations; but they have +only one vocation. "This one thing +I do." I have already quoted from +Pasteur. Of him it is said by his +biographer: "In the evening, after +dinner, he usually perambulated +the hall and corridor of his rooms at +the École Normale, cogitating over +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 86]</span> +various details of his work. At ten +o'clock he went to bed, and at eight +the next morning, whether he had +had a good night or a bad one, he +resumed his work in the laboratory." +His wife wrote to their +children: "Your father is absorbed +in his thoughts, talks little, sleeps +little, rises at dawn, and in one +word, continues the life I began +with him this day thirty-five years +ago." Learn from the Frenchman, +my boy!</p> + +<p>Keeping themselves at their one +work these men embody a sense of +duty. I find they have a conscience. +Their conscience is not worn outside, +but inside, their bosom. They +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 87]</span> +make no show of doing what they +ought. They simply do what they +are called upon to do—and that is +all there is to it. It was said of a +first scholar in an historic college +that he was never caught working. +These same men may, or may not +be caught working, but they do +work, and their work is a normal +and moral part of their being.</p> + +<p>But your face, my son, is rather +toward your own future than toward +the past of other men. But +your own future is as nothing save +as it touches other men. Therefore, +do have an enthusiasm for man +as man. Enthusiasm for humanity +has its basis in love for man as man, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 88]</span> +in a belief in the indefinite progress +of man and in a determination to +promote that progress. In a posthumous +romance of Hawthorne the +heroine points out to her lover the +service which they will give to mankind +in successive endless generations. +In one age, poverty shall be +wiped out; in another, passion and +hatred and jealousy shall cease; in +a third, beauty shall take the place +of ugliness, happiness of pain, and +generosity of niggardliness. In +reality, not in romance, every student +is to feel a passion for human +service. These toiling and tired +brothers and sisters are to be loved, +not with a mere emotional affection, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 89]</span> +but with a mighty will. One is to +adopt the principle of Gladstone +and not of the Marquis of Salisbury +in relation to humanity.</p> + +<p>The student also is to believe +that the human brotherhood is capable +of indefinite progress. The law +of evolution makes the belief in +human perfectibility easy; the principles +of religion make the belief +glorious. Slow is the progress. One +generation turns the jack-screw of +uplifting one thread; but it is a +thread. Humanity does rise. Linked +with this love for man and the assurance +of his progress the college +man is to determine himself to advance +this progress. Whatever his +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 90]</span> +condition, whatever his ability, he +is to do his part. As is said in that +noble epitaph to Wordsworth, +placed in the little church at Grasmere, +each is to be "a minister of +high and sacred truth."</p> + +<p>I want you to come out from the +college with a determination to do +something worth while. It is rather +singular how political ambitions +have ceased among graduates. +Some say all ambition has ceased +among college men. I do not believe +it. The softer times may not +nurse the sturdier virtues; but men +are still men. The words which +Stevenson wanted put on his tombstone: +"He clung to his paddle," +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 91]</span> +and the words of George Eliot: +"Don't take opium," and the +words of Carlyle: "Burn your own +smoke," are still characteristic of +college men. Men are still moved +by the great things, and by such inspiration +they are inspired great +things to do.</p> + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPXII" id="CHAPXII"></a>XII</h2> + +<p>I am not, I think, going too far +if I refer to one very personal matter, +my son. I mean your relation +to the Supreme Being. That Being +may be conceived under many +forms, as Love, as Omnipotent +Force, as Omniscient Knowledge, +as Perfect Beauty, as Absolute +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 92]</span> +Right. The college man interprets +the Supreme Being under at least +one of these forms; and he may be +able to interpret him under all of +these forms. To this Being he +should relate himself. Let the college +man learn, and learn all; but +he should not neglect to learn of +the Divine Being. The college +man should love, and love every +object as it is worthy of loving; but +he should not decline to love the +Supreme Being. For He is Supreme.</p> + +<p>The college man is to follow the +wisest leadership, to obey the highest +principles, to give himself to the +contemplation of the sublimest; but +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 93]</span> +his following, his obedience, his +self-surrender are to bring him to +and keep him with the Being Supreme. +Religion thus broadly interpreted +makes a keen and mighty +appeal to the college man. Let the +college man be religious; let not the +college man have a religion. Let +religion be a fundamental element +of his character, and not a quality +of his changing self. His religion, +like that of every other man, should +first be human, not scholastic; first +essential and natural, not arbitrary.</p> + +<p>Be religious. It sounds almost +goodish, but I know you do not +think it such. Be religious. Relate +yourself to something. Relate yourself +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 94]</span> +to some What. Or relate yourself +to some Who: beyond whatever +your eye sees or your hand touches. +I do not care how you put it. If I +were a Buddhist, I would say, worship +Buddha. Be what the great +image at Kamakura represents. If +I were a Mohammedan, I would say, +follow the teachings of the Koran, +and pray. I am, and you are, a +Christian. Therefore I say: Love +your God. Follow the example of +the Christ. Be one of that company +who accept his guidance and are +seeking to do his will in the bettering +of the world.</p> + +<p>Good-bye, dear boy, I have +written too long, but it has done me +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 95]</span> +good to write. If it does you a +quarter of the good to read, I shall +be grateful.</p> + +<p>Good-bye.</p> + +<p style='text-align:right'><span class="smcap">Your Father.</span></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Letters from a Father to His Son +Entering College, by Charles Franklin Thwing + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS FROM A FATHER TO HIS SON *** + +***** This file should be named 32803-h.htm or 32803-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/8/0/32803/ + +Produced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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