網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版
[ocr errors]

the sympathy which is not a mere passive condition of feeling or organic susceptibility, but a living, active participation in the emotions evinced by our fellow creatures; leading us to rejoice in the happiness of others, to compassionate them in conditions of want and distress, to commiserate sorrow and suffering, in every form-ignorance, error, degradation, vice, and every pressure of evil which afflicts or depresses humanity; to cherish the catholic spirit of universal charity, tolerance for the sentiments which differ from our own, uniform tenderness toward woman and childhood, calmness under irritating treatment, meekness under a sense of wrong, quietness and mildness with the violent, patience and forbearance with waywardness and opposition and injury, pity for the erring, mercy for the evil-doer. All these godlike traits of disposition are the features which characterize the peculiar spirit of true Christian culture; none of them the mere fortuitous products of a happy constitution of body or of mind, but all earned by ceaseless watchfulness, and diligent endeavor, and, sometimes, by arduous struggles, and none of them perfected without aid from on high.

13. PERSONAL QUALITIES, in their Moral Influence: The Self-asserting and Self-sustaining Virtues of the Individual Man.-(1.) Selfrespect. As a being created in the high sphere of intelligent and moral existence, and possessed of an immortal nature, man enjoys, in a just self-respect, a security against degradation by any influence which he feels to be unworthy of the rank assigned him in the universe. Consciously noble in origin and destination, he tends, if not perverted or degraded by habit, to noble action; and if, in the plenitude of Divine favor, he is consciously recovered from a fallen condition, he feels it his immunity, as "a new creature," to have been liberated from a state of bondage-set free for the enjoyment of a "glorious liberty," and impelled to run a new and noble career. Respect for his own nature and personal condition-when kept pure from the senseless interminglings of pride, or haughtiness, or arrogance, of overweening self-esteem, or exclusive self-regard-insures to man the proper dignity of his being, and tends to elevate all his aims and actions. It is an element of high moral power; and the judicious cultivation of its influence is a prominent duty of all whose office, as educators, constitutes them the guardians of humanity.

(2.) Ambition.-Feeling the nobility of his nature, man, when not hopelessly degraded, instinctively seeks to act in harmony with his conscious position, and, under the influence of ambition, to aspire after advancement, in every stage and relation of his life. This desire may, it is true, be suffered to center on merely selfish purposes-on the personal aggrandizement of an individual, to the exclusion or depression

of others, and to the violation of their rights. In such cases, it sinks to the level of that brutal greed which prompts one of the inferior animals to usurp the better place at the trough, and monopolize its advantages, to the exclusion of the weaker members of the herd.

But the desire of advancement, as that of progress and attainment, is utterly free from all considerations of relative superiority or advantage. It is obedience to an ennobling instinct, pure in its character, and beneficial in its results, not merely to the individual whom it elevates, but to all whom it enables him to aid from the higher sphere of ability to which he has been raised. To the student it is a most powerful incitement to application and exertion; and in the relations of moral attainment, its influence is a salutary inspiration of the highest order. It is not incompatible with the purest spirit of benevolence, in the largeness of the plans on which it delights to work, and the inestimable value of the benefits which it delights to bestow. It urges the Christian aspirant to "press toward the mark," "for the prize of his high calling," and incites him by the promise of a "crown of life."

(3.) Magnanimity.-Ambition naturally tends to generate another personal quality of noble character and influence-that magnanimity which lifts man above the littleness that would limit the scope of life, and fritter away its purposes in paltry pursuits, in trivial employments, or low gratifications, in snatching at mean advantages, or mingling in petty strifes. This ennobling virtue incites its possessor to high aims in all his plans and purposes, and to an utter disregard of meanness in motive or action, as manifested by others toward himself. It overlooks malice and injury, or forgives their results. It disdains revenge. It is a sure preventive of that sordid narrowness of soul which induces man to drudge, throughout life, for the mere purpose of accumulating wealth, or to practice the degrading shifts of a niggardly parsimony in expenditure, through fear of diminishing his hoards. A magnanimous spirit scorns the selfish littleness which thus wraps the individual in himself, and shuts the door of his heart against the natural claims of human brotherhood. It gives a generous breadth to measures of usefulness and benevolence, and raises human activity to a higher sphere and ampler scope in all directions.

(4.) Resolution.-This attribute, so important in all the practical relations of life, implies the clearness of perception and readiness of judgment in consequence of which the will is empowered instantaneously to decide the course of action. Hence the certainty and the swiftness with which execution follows purpose, the invaluable habit of promptness and dispatch in business, and of punctuality and efficiency in performance, as contrasted with the lagging irresolution, and

halting, unavailing endeavor, which invariably issue in failure and disappointment

The power of energetic and decisive resolve determines, at once, the practical value of an individual, and the reliance which may be placed on him by others. It determines, in fact, the mental health and moral life of the man, the efficacy of his action, and the estima. tion of his character.

Many constitutions are so formed that even this trait of mental freshness and vigor, so natural to early life, in general, needs diligent cultivation to secure its due development in particular cases. The dreamy indolence, the languid inactivity, the tendency to aimless reverie and absence of mind, which proceed from organic feebleness, wear the same aspect with the profound abstraction of deep and earnest thought, and thus excite, perhaps, in the mind of the parent or the teacher, the expectation of the fruits of close thinking and severe application-an expectation sure to be disappointed. The irresolute youth is prone to sink into habitual vacancy of mind, indecision of purpose, vacillation and feebleness of judgment, sluggishness and utter inefficiency of will.

(5.) Courage. A kindred quality of soul to power and promptness of resolution, is that genuine courage which man, as a self-reliant and independent agent, is naturally called to exert; and which, as a being of conscious energy and power, by his very constitution, is one of the primary instincts of his nature. It enables him to assert his place in the creation, as an agent intrusted with dominion, to a vast extent, over nature and circumstance, and destined to a high position by the exercise of his peculiar endowments. It protects him, at the same time, from any undue ascendency usurped over him by a fellow-man. It prompts him to oppose and resist every encroachment on his rights, and to imperil life itself in defense of his natural liberty of action. It nerves him to encounter danger, to triumph over obstacles, and to master difficulties. It lightens toil, and facilitates attainment.It gives to the energies of individual mind and will the comparative. force of numbers. It enables man to achieve miracles of physical strength and moral power, not merely on the field of conflict, or under the gaze of admiration, but in the solitary grapple with physical obstacles, and the daring, unassisted encounter with the fury of the elements, when the lone adventurer hazards life on some far errand of scientific or humane exploration. In its higher relations, as a moral attribute, it inspires the individual to attack usurping or even approaching evil, in its most formidable shapes, and to encounter fearlessly opposition and opprobrium, and death itself, in the cause of truth and duty.

Courage may, it is true, degenerate into inconsiderate rashness or fool-hardy temerity, and prove itself but a blind animal impulse. It is the office of education to enlighten and elevate it, and render it a ministering spirit of good to humanity, inspiring it with intelligence, and hallowing it with the sanctity of benevolence; so that it may become worthy to fulfill its highest offices, and lead the van in noble endeavor for the advancement of human well being. Its moral power and value then become incalculable; and to cherish it is a peculiar duty of the educator.

(6.) Fortitude.-A virtue yet higher than even the noblest form of courage, is that Firmness to sustain, to bear, to withstand, to endure, or to resist every pressure of pain and of suffering which inevitable evil may call him to meet and to undergo. Along with this upholding power usually comes the equanimity which preserves from extremes of elation or depression, and maintains the moral identity of the individual, the patience which soothes and tranquilizes, and coöperating with the enduring firmness of its kindred virtue, contributes to that calm self-possession which leaves man master of himself, and equal, in his native greatness and acquired abilities, to resist the assaults of evil, and bear the double pressure of toil and pain with unshaken firmness.

These arduous virtues are, in no sense, innate, or constitutional merely they are the fruits of diligent and persevering culture-the attainments of the trained and practiced spirit. They owe their power to that self-education which, although it may be wisely anticipated, must ever, in substance, be purchased at the peculiar price of personal experience and strenuous endeavor.

(7.) Perseverance.-Another quality of high rank as a moral power, and closely allied to the preceding group, is the persistent firmness of purpose which follows so worthily in the track of dauntless courage, and enables man, with the aid of time, to accomplish, in life-long battles with external nature, those wonders of triumphant human energy which inspire successive generations of the human race with mingled admiration and awe. It is the same trait of persistent resolution that has enabled communities to struggle, for successive years, for a foothold among the family of nations, and to endure, to the verge of extinction, for independence. The same element sustains the explorer of nature, in his years of solitary exposure and unmitigated hardship, through toil, and sickness, and peril. The same sustaining power cheers the secluded student onward through his labyrinths of exhausting investigation, pursued year after year, without aid or sympathy, yet never abandoned till some glorious discovery, duly verified, crowns his devoted loyalty to science. Indefatigable perseverance, in the

face of opposition and accumulated difficulty, has been the condition of success in many a noble effort of philanthropy, in its devoted endeavors to alleviate the miseries of suffering humanity, by meliorating its outward conditions, enlightening its mental darkness, or inspiring it with the elements of a new moral and spiritual life.

Without the sustaining power of this attribute, no undertaking of moment has ever succeeded, in the experience of individuals or of communities. Yet it is a quality in which the young mind, in its eager desire of novelty, and its need of alternations of activity, is more deficient than it is in that which prompts to the most arduous attempts or heroic efforts. The vigor which manifests itself in firm adherence to plan or purpose, is usually acquired by degrees, under skillful training. But, when attained, it stamps the seal of certainty on whatever human endeavor is competent to effect.

(8.) Self-government.-This invaluable trait of cultivated character implies, in the individual who possesses it, the skill and the mastery acquired in the training schools of conscience, magnanimity, resolution, courage, patience, fortitude, and perseverance. It implies all these qualities turned inward for the control of self. Destitute of self-command, man, when brought to the test, is but as the infant, or the lower animal-the mere victim of passion and impulse. The main moral element of character, is, in such cases, wanting; and the individual sinks in the scale of being, not only in its moral, but its mental relations. The exigencies of life which try men's souls, and demand the perfect action of all their faculties, exhibit the inexpressible value of this trait of mental and moral power, by which man is enabled to call into activity the nobler elements of his being, and, by their authoritative mandate, control and restrain every lower tendency of his nature. He thus reigns in moral sovereignty over himself, and reveals the true majesty of manhood; while, in loyal subordination to Divine law, he manifests, not less impressively, the moral beauty of the spirit of filial obedience.

The power of self-direction and self-guidance, which that of selfgovernment implies, enables man, as an intellectual agent, to concentrate the activity of his whole mental being, on whatever solicits his thoughtful attention, or tends to promote or enlarge his intelligence. In the moral relations of his being, it secures him against the allurements of evil, the eruptions of passion, the wreck of his peace of mind, or the moral ruin of degrading habits.

Education, in its common forms, it is true, can do little by mere external precautions, admonitions, or promptings, to confer the personal happiness which it is the peculiar office of self-government to bestow. Self-intelligence, self-experience, and self-culture, and the sanctity of

« 上一頁繼續 »