oves about and has all
the sensations of physical pleasure of which man is capable; but it is
without thought, without sense of right and wrong, without imagination,
without hope and faith. It is plain then that human life, in its highest
sense, is life of the soul,--a life of thought and love, of faith and
hope, of imagination and desire; and men are high or low as they partake
more or less of this true life. By this standard, and by no other,
reason requires that we form an estimate of human worth. To be a king,
to have money, to live in splendor, to meet with approval from few or
many,--is accidental, is something which may happen to an ignorant, a
heartless, a depraved, a vulgar man. The most vicious and brutal of men
have, again and again, held the most exalted positions, and as a rule
cringing and lying, trickery and robbery, or speculation and gambling,
have been and are the means by which great fortunes are acquired.
Position, then, and money are distinguishable from worth; and they may
be and often are found where the life of thought and love, of faith and
hope, of imagination and desire, is almost wholly wanting. Now, it is
this life--the only true human life--which education should bring forth
and strengthen; and the failure to lead this life, of those who pass
through our institutions of learning, is a subject of deep concern for
all who observe and reflect; for among them we look for the leaders who
shall cause wisdom and goodness to prevail over ignorance and appetite.
If those who receive the best nurture and care remain on the low plains
of a hardly more than animal existence, what hope is there that the
multitude shall rise to nobler ways of living?

There is question here of the most vital interests; and if we discover
the causes of the evil, a remedy may be found. These causes of failure
lie partly in our environment and partly within ourselves. In the home,
in which we receive the first and the most enduring impressions, true
views and noble aims are frequently wanting; and thus false and low
estimates of life are formed at a time when what we learn sinks into the
very substance of the mind, and colors and shapes all our future seeing
and loving. This primal experience accompanies us, and hangs about us
like a mist to shut out the view of fairer worlds. Enthusiasm for
intellectual and moral excellence is never roused, because our young
souls were not made magnetic by the words and deeds of those whom