Pushing to the Front

o a thing superbly well. At the door of every vocation is a sign out, "Wanted-a man." No matter how many millions are out of employment, the whole w

an whose natural ability has been enlarged, enhanced

abilities, but who are only half educated. A one-talent man, superbly trained, often gets the place when a man w

into practical life were never before so great and so numerous as to-day, so also the dan

ad of a blessing. A liberal education only renders a rascal more dishonest, more dangero

nd hope, full of expectancy, go out from the schools, the colleges, and the un

ore than the money madness which has seized the American people, for nothing else

ny dollars it will bring. "How much can I get for my picture?" "How much royalty for my book?" "How much can I get out of my specialty, my profession, my business?"

ith gold. The commercial spirit tends to drag everything down to its dead, sordid level. It is the subtle menace which threatens to poison the graduate's ambition. W

his education, as to-day. The commercial prizes held up to him are so dazzling, so astounding, that it takes a strong, vigorous charac

lming that it often drowns the still small voice which bids one follow the cal

h promise, but many of them will very quickly catch the money contagion; the fatal germ will spread through their whole natures, inoculating their ambition with its vicious v

im and his high standards begin to drop; that day on which is born in him the selfish, money

u graduate and go out into the world, powerful influences will be operative in your life

ntact with those of lower ideals, who are actuated only by sordid, selfish aim

presents to that which many owners of the diploma stand for a quarter of a cent

n tribes when they return home, very quickly begin to change under the deteriorating influences operating upon them when they leave college. They soon begin to shed their polish, their fine

use the young Indian to revert to barbarism. The shock you will receive in dropping from the atmosphere of high ideals and beautiful promise in

ion counts for anything ought to be able to r

-making can not compare with man-making. There is something infinitely better than to be a millionaire of money, and th

inction you may acquire in your career, no title will ever mean

t result of college life." The graduate who has not acquired this keen and sure sense of honor,

omething in the block for you, and it lives in your ideal. Shall it be angel or devil? What are your ideals, as you stand tiptoe on the threshold of active life? Will you smite the block a

ithout paying the penalty in a shriveled soul, a stunted mentality, a warped conscience, and a narrow field of usefulness. It is more of a disgrace for a college graduate to grovel, to stoop to mean,

not had glimpses of higher things, who has not had similar advantages, because where much is given, much is expected. The world has a right to

s of life, will be an artist and not an artisan; that he will not stop growing. Society has a right to look to the collegian to be a refining, uplifting force in his community, an inspiration to those who have not had his priceless chance; it is justified in expecting that he will raise the standard of intelligence in his community; that he will

it simply means that you have a great commission to do something o

our hand, its significance is that you sho

o suppress it. Your education means an increased obligation to live your life up to the level of your gift, your super

rance and drudgery; what shall we think of this man, so divinely endowed, so superbly equipped, who, instead of using his education to lift his fellow men, uses it to demoralize, to drag them down; who employs his talents in the book

what shall we do with the educated rascal who uses his trained mind a

you can do is to be

u a glimpse of the higher life. Never lose sight of your college vision. Do not permit yourself to be influenced by the maxims of a low, sordid prudence, which will be dinned into your ears wherever you go. R

ing in me will not bring success, s

an is to show the world a hi

of himself. "Pretty good," "Fairly good," applied either to character or to work are bad mottoes for an educated man. You should be able to demonstrate that the man with a diploma has learned to use the tools of life skilfull

work, demoralize his ideals, discredit his teachers, dishonor the

t we do not keep our eyes on the model; we lose our earlier vision. A liberal education ought to broaden a man's mind so that he will be able to keep his eye always on the model, the perfect

that he can use all his brain power and energy and fling t

s, but a financial failure." While an education should develop all that is highest and best in a man, it should also make hi

, will only make you more conspicuous as a failure, if you cannot

ly when it can be mad

f your education will b

not make an educated man. The knowledge that can be utilized, that can be translated into power, constitutes the only education worthy of the name. There are thousands of college-bred men in this country, who are loaded down with knowledge t

leaf into satin, so you should transmu

he beneficent influence of a well-assimi

elf-confidence immeasurably, and self-confidence is the lever that moves the world. On every hand we see men of good ability who feel crippled all their lives and are often mortified, by having to confess, by the poverty of their language, their sordid ideals, their narrow outlook on life, that they are not educated. The super

faith in himself, because he has discovered himself. There is also great satisfaction in the knowledge that one has not

e sacred, of greater value than all these, and that is your aroused ambition, your discovery of yourself, of your powers, of your possibilities; your resolution to be a little mor

ou have absorbed from your teachers, from your associations; this is the embodiment of the college spirit, the spirit of your alma ma

t for the betterment of all mankind. As a matter of fact, things are so arranged in this world that no one can use his divine gift for himself alone and get the best ou

self to the world, does it at his peril

If the rosebud should try to retain all of its sweetness and beauty locked within its petals and refuse to give it out, it would be lost. It is only by flinging them out to the world that their fullest develo

sell ourselves for selfish ends or for the most dollars

hing that bribery cannot touch, that influence cannot buy. You should so conduct yourself that every one will see that there is something in yo

ves a shiftless, selfish life, and does not lift up his head and show that he has mad

ur vocation, do not allow all that is finest within you, your high ideals and noble purposes to be suffocated, strangled, in the everlasting scramble for the dollar. Put beauty into your life, do not let your esth

ame, for a mess of pottage. Whatever you do, be larger than your vocation; neve

the unveiling of his great statue of George Peabody, in London

world the story of a noble career. However much money you may accumulate, carry your greatest wealth with you, in a cle

at service to mankind confront the educated youth