Jlcsrvtc Poirer.
n
fc
1
'
m
ji,
i
i)
no system of training so wi'll calculated
to bring out this n.cril and develop it to
consummate excellence as the regular
daily work of a well-ordered school ; where
the standard of execution is no external
factitious display lull intrinsic excellence;
whore the reward of success is the eon.
sciousnoss of well doing, nut the. ignix -turn
of rank or the gross incentive of priz.
os. And probably nothing is so destruc
tive of thu spirit of faithfulness wi our
colleges as the custom of assigning marks
to the exercises of the students as a basis
of class rank. Intellectual honesty if "n
ditioned upon moial honesty. Thorough
ncss of work is impossiblu without up
rightness of motive.
" Faithfulness, is essential to all real suc
cess." Hence it follows that moral education,
which is "life and influence," cannot fail
to follow as the direct result of a thorough
and living system of inlcllcctunl training,
oven (hough we leave out of the count al
together the great iriHh that, as of our
bodies so of our minds, Ihey become as
similalcd to llial on wliicli lliey IVed.
Every judicious air,rr'il-ad.inini.storcd
.system of intellectual training must ol
necessity read up n the moral nature,
quickening and enlightening it. ThcW
quo mm of thoroughness in study and per
formance is faith I illness. The j nun
mm of faithfulness is a standard of jnire
excellence, unalloyed by any thought ol
.soltlsli advantage. This alone will bring
out that ".s'tlid work that will last for gen.
craliorts or that solid reasoning that will
last forever." And so, it appears that
from our slate educational institutions is
or is soon to bo excluded that theological
instruction which is at best but an intel
lectual matter, as well as theinere formali
ties of worship. We shall really lose
nothing; nay on the contrary, we shall
gain much. In place of an empty formal
ity of mere exhibition, we shall secure
life, strength and inlluoncc. True nobili
ty of character will be secured by the
only method aailable. It will corneas
the intnral consequence of the distinct
recognition of thu momentous truth that
the temper of the performance is of vastly
greater consequence even than the per
formance itself, that the spirit in which
wo study is of vastly greater moment than
the study itself. Long ago Plato said that
virtue vwnhoml) is not communicable;
to-day we see that ncverlholess it is educa
hie. It is the splendid fruit of hoi.ust,
earnest, faithful eirorl,and so is possible to
everyone. c.
Ko.-icrvo Power.
In the great international boat race,
which occurrred some years ago on the
Thames, between the Harvard and Oxford
clubs, the boat manned by the former took
the lead, almost from the start. Rowing
forty-six stiokes to the minute while their
opponents rowed only forty-two, they wore
some balf a length of the boat, then a
whole length, and soon still farther in tin:
lead. And to the superficial observer they
seemed likely to win the race. Hut pres
ently their strokes diminished in number
to forty per minute, then to thirty-nine.
Inch by inch, foot by foot the men in
blue colors, with their slow, ponderous
swing ol the oars, creep up on their advei
saries, who strain every sinew to its ten
sion contending every inch of the way.
Suddenly the stroke ol the Harvard men,
previously so bold and impetuous, begins
to. slacken and look distressed, but, the
Oxford men press steadily forward, meas
uring each minute by the infallible forty
two A few minutes more and Oxford is
ahead and despite the last desperate
strokes of Harvard, victoriously maintains
her superiority and wins the race.
Many reasons have been assigned for
the failure of the Harvard crew, but it is
evident Hint the defect arose from a lack
of the vital element, in all such eon
tests and struggles, which Americans are
so apt to nejMcct and despise, namely Re
serve Power. Not alone in boat races, but
in a'. pb)sii-al, menial and moral COn-
CIIKS
WKmsmmmal
