A YOUNG MAN’S MESSAGE TO BOYS.
December 7, 1884.
When I came here in April last I brought with me some friends, among whom was my son. And I said to him that some day I should wish him to speak to you. He had so recently been a college boy himself, graduating at the University of Pennsylvania, and he was so fond of the games and plays of boys, and withal was so deeply interested in boys and young men, that I thought he might be able to say something that would interest you, and perhaps do you good.
At a recent meeting of the proper committee his name was added to the list of persons who may be invited to speak to you. The last time I was at the college President Fetterolf asked me when my son could come to address you, and I replied that he was sick.
That sickness was far more serious than any of us supposed; there was no favorable change, and at the end of twelve days he passed away.
My suggestion that he might be invited to speak here led him to prepare a short address, which was found among his papers, and has, within a few days, been handed to me. It was written with lead pencil, apparently hastily; and certainly lacking the final revision, which in copying for delivery he would have given it.
I have thought it would be well for me to read to you this address; but I did not feel that I had any right to revise it, or to make any change in it whatever; so I give it precisely as he wrote it, adding only a word here and there which was omitted in the hurried writing.
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city.—Proverbs xvi. 32.
I want you to look with me at the latter part of each of these sentences, and see if we can’t understand a little better what Solomon meant by such words “the mighty” and “he that taketh a city.”
Do you remember the wonderful dream that came to Solomon just after he had been made king over Israel? How God came to him while he was sleeping and said to him, “Ask what I shall give thee,” and how Solomon, without any hesitation, asked for wisdom. And God gave him wisdom, so that he became famous far and wide, and people from nations far off came to see him and learn of him.
If I were to ask you now who was the wisest man that ever lived, you would say “Solomon.” Often you have heard one person say of another, “he is as wise as Solomon.” I cannot stop here to tell you of the way in which Solomon showed this wonderful gift. But his knowledge was not that of books, because there were not a great many books then for him to read. It was the knowledge which showed him how to do right, and how to be a good ruler over his people. And because he chose such wisdom, the very best gift of God, God gave him besides, riches and everything that he could possibly desire. His horses and chariots were the most beautiful and the strongest; his armies were famous everywhere for their splendid arms and armor. He had vast numbers of servants to wait upon him, and to do his slightest wish. Presents, most magnificent, were sent to him by the kings of all the nations round about him. No king of Israel before or after him was so great and so powerful. And, greatest honor of all, God permitted him to build a temple for him—what his father David had so longed to do and was not allowed, God directed Solomon to do. David’s greatest desire before he died was to build a house for God. The ark of God had never had a house to rest in, and David was not satisfied to have a splendid palace to live in himself, and to have nothing but a tent in which to keep God’s ark. But God would not suffer him to do that, although he was the king whom he loved so much. No, that must be kept for his son Solomon to do. David had been too great a fighter all his life; he had been at war; he had driven back his enemies on all sides, and had made God’s people a nation to be feared by all their foes. So David was a “mighty man,” and while Solomon was growing up he must have heard every one talking of the wonderful things his father had done from his youth up—the adventures he had had when he was only a poor shepherd lad keeping his flocks on the hills about Bethlehem. And how often must he have been told that splendid story, which we never grow tired of hearing, of his fight with the giant Goliath; and when he was shown the huge pieces of armor, and the great sword and spear, he surely knew what it was for a man to be “mighty” and “great.” And when his old father withdrew from the throne and made him king, he found himself surrounded on all sides with the results of his father’s wars and conquests, and soon knew that he also was “a mighty man.”
There is not a boy here who does not want to be “great.” Every one of you wants to make a name for himself, or have something, or do something, that will be remembered long after he is dead.
If I should ask you what that something is, I suppose almost all of you would say, “I want to be rich, so rich that I can do whatever I like; that I need not do any work; that I can go where I please.” Some of you would say, “I would travel all over the world and write about what I see, so that long after I am dead people will read my books and say, ‘what a great man he was!’” Some of you would say, “I would build great houses, and fill them with all the richest and most beautiful goods. I would have whole fleets of ships, sailing to all parts of the world, bringing back wonderful things from strange countries; and when I would meet people in the street they would stand aside to let me pass, saying to one another, ‘there goes a great man; he is our richest merchant; how I should like to be as great as he.’”
And still another would say: “I don’t care anything about books or beautiful merchandise. No, I’ll go into foreign countries and become a great fighter, and I shall conquer whole nations, so that my enemies shall be afraid of me, and I shall ride at the head of great armies, and when I come home again the people will give me a grand reception; will make arches across the street, and cover their houses with flags, and as I ride along the street the air will be filled with cheers for the great general.”
And so each one of you would tell me of some way in which he would like to be great. I should think very little of the boy who had no ambition, one who would be entirely content to just get along somehow, and never care for any great success so long as he had enough to eat and drink and to clothe himself with, and who would never look ahead to set his mind on obtaining some great object. It is perfectly right and proper to be ambitious, to try and make as much as possible of every opportunity that is presented. No one can read that parable of the master who called his servants to account for the talents he had given them, and not see that God gives us all the blessings and advantages that we have, in order that we may have an opportunity to put them to such good use, that He may say to us as the master in the parable said to his servants, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
So it is right for you to want to be great, and I want to try and tell you how to accomplish it. If you were sure that I could tell you the real secret of success you would listen very carefully to what I had to say, wouldn’t you? Some of you would even write down what I said. Then write this down in your hearts; for, following this, you will be greater than “the mighty:” “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city.” Are some of you disappointed? do you say, “Is that all? I thought he was about to tell us how we could make lots of money.” Ah, if you would only believe it, and follow such advice, such a plan were to be far richer than the man who can count his wealth by millions. But look at it in another way. What sort of a boy do you choose for the captain of a base-ball nine or a foot-ball team? What sort of a man is chosen for a high position? Is he one who loses all control over himself when something happens to vex him, and flies into a terrible passion when some one happens to oppose him? No; the one you would select for any place of great responsibility is he who can keep his head clear, who will not permit himself to get angry at any little vexation, who rules his own spirit—and can there be anything harder to do? I tell you “no.”
So, I have told you how to be successful, and at the same time I tell you, there is nothing harder to do; and now I go on still further, and say you can’t follow such advice by yourself, you must have some help. Is it hard to get? No, it is offered to you freely; you are urged to ask for it, and you are assured that it is certain to come to all who want it. Will such help be sufficient? Much more than sufficient, for He who shall help you is abundantly able to give you more than you ask or think. It is God who tells you to come to him, and he shall make you more than “the mighty,” greater than he which taketh the city; yes, for the greatness he shall bestow upon those who come to him is far above all earthly greatness. He shall be with you when you are ready to fly into a furious temper, when you lift your hand to strike, when you would kill if you were not afraid; but when the wish is in your heart, yes, then, even then, He is beside you. He looks upon you in divine mercy, and if you will only let him, will rebuke the foul spirit and command him to come out of you, and your whole soul shall be filled with peace. Why won’t you listen to his pleading voice, and let him quiet the dreadful storm of anger? And when the hot words fly to your lips, remember his soft answer that turns away wrath. Then will you have won a greater battle than any ever fought; for you will have conquered your own wicked spirit, and by God’s grace you are a conqueror. And the reward for a life of such self-conquest shall be a crown of life that fadeth not away. Won’t you accept such greatness?
Such are the words he would have spoken to you had his life been spared; and he would have spoken them with the great advantage of a young man speaking to young men. Now they seem like a message from the heavenly world. It is more than probable that in copying for delivery he would have expanded some of the thoughts and have made the little address more complete. Perhaps it would be better for me to stop here; ... but there are a few words which I would like to say, and it may be that they can be better said now than at any other time.
I want to say again, what I have so often said, that a boy may be fond of all innocent games and plays and yet be a Christian. Some of you may doubt this. You may believe and say, that religion interferes with amusements and makes life gloomy. Here is an example of the contrary; for I do not see how there could be a happier life than my son’s (there never was a shadow upon it), and no one could be more fond of base-ball and foot-ball and cricket and tennis than he was; and yet he was a simple-hearted Christian boy and young man. And with all this love of innocent pleasure and fun he neglected no business obligations, nor did he fail in any of the duties of social or family life. In short, I can wish no better thing for you boys than that your lives may be as happy and as beautiful as his was.