largely to his own faults reappearing in the characters
of his sons?

V.

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF AMBITION.

In the ultimate analysis it is the man's motive which determines
his character as well as his acts.

"As he thinketh within himself, so is he."--_Prov. 23:7_.

"Man looketh on the outward appearance, but Jehovah on
the heart."--_I Sam_. 16:7.

With many men the strongest motive is the desire to surpass others.
It not only leads them to perform certain acts, but in so doing
shapes their habits; and character is largely the result of man's
habitual way of acting. Jacob grew up narrow and crafty because of
the selfish, dwarfing nature of his ambition, At first his ambition
was of a low type, that of the child which desires to acquire
possessions and power simply for himself. In the child this
impulse is perfectly natural. In the normally developed
individual, during the years of early adolescence (the years of 14
to 16) the social and altruistic impulses begin to develop and to
take the place of those which are purely egoistic or selfish. When
the fully developed man fails, as did Jacob, to leave behind
childish things and retains the ambitions and impulses of the
child, his condition is pitiable.

Men of this type of ambition often achieve great things from the
economic or political point of view. Economically they are of
greater value to society than the drifter. Sometimes, however,
they bring ruin and disaster to society, as well as to themselves.
Despots like Herod the Great and Napoleon, corrupt political
bosses, who play into the hands of certain classes at the expense
of the general public, and men who employ grafting methods in
business or politics, belong to this class.

VI.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF RIGHT AMBITIONS.

The desire to spare one's energies is natural to man. To gain
wealth with the least expenditure of energy is said to be the chief
economic motive. Most men are by nature lazy. This law of inertia
applies not only in the physical world, but also in the
intellectual, moral and spiritual fields. The great majority of
men follow the line of least resistance. In politics and morals
they accept the standards of their associates. Unconsciously they
join the great army of the drifters, or followers, who preserve the
traditions of the past, but contribute little to the future
progress of the race. To deliver man from the control of his
natural inertia he must be touched