No. a.
Scaffolding.
310
yet it is as ccasless as it is silent. We are
the builders of our own lives, anil the
work is doing either properly or improp
crly. If the former, the structure will be
eternal in its existence; if the latter, it
is built on the sands of time, and the
waves and floods will dash upon it, and
destroy it.
Wc must have help. We cannot build
n high and stately edifice standing upon
the r;round. Let us throw up a scaffold,
and build as wc climb and climb as we
build. But what is a scatlbld, and what
is it for? What we mean by scaUblding
is help in building. And what wc want
with them is to help us build ourselves up.
When workmen erect a building they
make u scaffold upon which to stand, and
this makes the work comparatively easy
and convenient. Indeed a building of
any importance cannot be built without
the aid of a scaffold of some kind. Yet it
is no part of the building, but simply a
help, and when the work is completed
the scaUblding is torn down.
But in the structure we arc building,
they remain, and add beauty and finish
to it; they will fail with time, it is truc
while the building itself will be eternal,
and may be "Fit for the heavens." Here
are some tough, old timbers, true princi
ples, for the uprights of our scatlbld.
Fasten them down deep lest the scaffold
give way and we fall. Ah! there they
stand, strongly and firmly; time cannot
destroy them, nor wind nor hurricane
move them. Work steadily, slowly, but
surely, be cautious in the selection of
your timbers, use no unsound plunks to
stand upon and the labor will be safe and
easy. Anything that draws man's thoughts
away from himself is a help to him. Hu
manity has no greater elevator than edu
cation. What is it? " Education," says
Webster, " comprehends all that series of
instruction and discipline that is calcula
ted to improve the temper, and form the
hubits and m miners of youth." It is a
good and valuable thing, then; it takes
away unruly tempers and gives instead
proper manners and habits; verily, ix is
good iimber, sounder than we thought. It
opens up rich stores to us, and study
strengthens the mental faculties and the
will power, making us see more clcarl'
into life, its demands and requirements,
and stonger to resist wrong.
Wc can see what education has done
for us. We have seen it change the coarse
und ignorant youth into a refined and cul
tivated gentleman. Not one student has
entered our University and applied him-
self diligently for any lcimth of time with
out bettering his motives and enlarging
his views of life There is so much more
in it and of it than wc dreamed of before
our eyes were opened even this little. Let
us open them wider, "For it is better far
thcr on." Education is worth and "Worth
makes the man, the want of it the fellow".
A complete education is an education of
morals as well as mind, hence it includes
Christian training, making it what, we
have called it, humanity's greatest eleva
tor. But there are other planks to put into
our scaffold. The various accomplish
ments arc refining and elevating in their
influence. Painting and music bring one
into direct contact with all that is truest
and purest, and appeal to all that is true
and pure in our natures. True, we may
never become very proficient in any of
these arts; but the scaffold is useful. One
cannot engage in any refining, elevating
pursuit without being made better and
more refined
A knowledge of one's self is an indis
pensable help in our work. There are
two ways of self-investigation; one tends
to the covering up of defects and to flat
tery; the other, to an honest understand
ing of our faults, that they may be cor
rected, and of our virtues, that they may be
extended and enlarged. We should study
our motives to be sure that they are right,
and our acts, that they correspond to our
motives. Above all, be thoroughly hon
est with ourselves, be as reudy to see our
own faults as we are to sec the faults of
others. Avoid all selfishness, for a selfish
HW