1705038558 If faith is thus based upon imagination, its fruition requires a steadfastness of purpose that is not weakened by discouragements or turned aside by obstacles that shut out the view and cast dark shadows across the path. The doubter, who asks himself at every stage whether the immediate effort is really worth while, is lost. Prophesy confidently of him that he will never reach his goal.

1705038559

1705038560 President Pritchett in a walking tour in Switzerland asked a mountaineer about the road to the place whither he was bound. The man replied that he had never been there, but he knew that was the path which led to it. Such is the pathway to the ventures of life. None of us has ever been over the road we intend to travel in the world. If we believe that the way we take leads to our destination we must follow it, not stopping or turning back because a curve in the mountain trail obscures the distant scene, or does not at the moment seem to lead in the right direction. We must go on in faith that every step along the road brings us nearer, and that the faster we walk the farther we shall go before night falls upon us. The man who does not feel any reason for effort because he cannot see the direct utility of the things he learns has no faith in a college education; and if he has no faith in it he had better not waste time on it, but take up something else that he has faith in, or that is better suited to men of little faith.

1705038561

1705038562 Every form of civilization is, not only at its inception and in critical times, but always and forever, on trial. If it proves less effective than others it will be eliminated, peacefully or forcibly, by a gradual process of change or by a catastrophe. Now the test of a civilization based on liberty is the use men make of the liberty they enjoy, and it is a failure not only if men use it to do wrong, but also if they use it to do nothing, on as little as is possible to maintain themselves in personal comfort. This is true of our institutions as a whole and of the American college in particular. A student who has no sustaining faith in the education he can get there; who will not practice the self-discipline needed to obtain it; who uses his liberty to put forth not his utmost, but the least possible, effort; who uses it not to acquire, but to evade, a thorough education, fails to that extent in his duty to himself, to his college, to his country, and to the civilization he inherits. The man who uses his liberty to put forth his utmost effort in college and throughout his life, not only does his duty, but is helping to make freedom itself successful. He is working for a great principle of human progress. He is fighting the battle of liberty and securing its victory in the civilization of mankind.

1705038563

1705038564 Never have I been able to understand—and even less than ever in these terrible days, when young men, on whom the future shone bright with hope, sacrifice from a sense of duty their lives, the welfare of those dearest to them, and everything they care for—less than ever can I understand how any man can stand in safety on a hillside and watch the struggle of life in the plain below without longing to take part therein; how he can see the world pass by without a craving to make his mark, however small, on his day and generation. Many a man who would be eager to join a deadly charge if his country were at war, lacks the insight or imagination to perceive that the warfare of civilization is waged not more upon the battlefield than in the workshop, at the desk, in the laboratory, and the library. We have learned in this stress of nations that men cannot fight without ammunition well made in abundance; but we do not see that the crucial matter in civilization is the preparedness of young men for the work of the world; not only an ample supply of the best material, but a product molded on the best pattern, tempered and finished to the highest point of perfection. Is this the ideal of a dreamer that cannot be realized; or is it a vision which young men will see and turn to a virile faith?

1705038565

1705038566 Notes

1705038567

1705038568 a terrific war, the Great World War 1914-1918.

1705038569

1705038570 our own people, the people of the United States of America.

1705038571

1705038572 fruitfulness, bearing fruit or success; becoming productive of results.

1705038573

1705038574 employee, person who is employed by another.

1705038575

1705038576 coördination of effort, bringing all of our effort into proper relation.

1705038577

1705038578 team play, playing together as a team; coördination of effort.

1705038579

1705038580 working at cross purposes . A cross purpose is a counter or opposing purpose. Working at cross purposes suggests disagreement among the workers.

1705038581

1705038582 Artemus Ward （1727-1800）, a general in the American revolutionary army.

1705038583

1705038584 regiment, unit in the army composing of many battalions;corresponding to our Chinese 团．

1705038585

1705038586 Brigadier Generals, officers in the army commanding a brigade，旅；rank corresponding to the 少将 of our army.

1705038587

1705038588 charity, an institution founded by a gift for some beneficial public use, as a hospital, a school.

1705038589

1705038590 conduces, leads, contributes.

1705038591

1705038592 comprised, included; contained.

1705038593

1705038594 Pasteur, Louis （1822-1895）, French chemist who first suggested Pasteurism, the treatment, to prevent certain diseases as hydrophobia by inoculations with virus of gradually increasing strength, and likewise devised the process of Pasteurization for preventing or checking fermentation in fluids, as wine, milk, by exposure to a temperature of 55-70 degrees centigrade.

1705038595

1705038596 the Revolution, the French Revolution of 1789-1799.

1705038597

1705038598 Napoleon Bonaparte （1769-1821）, emperor of France, 1804-1814, and March-June, 1815, when he met final defeat at Waterloo.

1705038599

1705038600 careers, opportunities in any calling or undertaking.

1705038601

1705038602 talent, persons of ability or skill.

1705038603

1705038604 talents, superior intelligence and ability.

1705038605

1705038606 stakes, bets, wagers, ventures, gambles.

1705038607

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