Presbyterian College - Pac Sac Yearbook (Clinton, SC)

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THE COLLEGIAN. 21 translating the Bible into English. Late in life he was struck with palsy and his enemies considered him below their resent- ment. He died 3 his life, as far as he knew, a failure. Martin Luther died from sickness before realizing the full and glorious results of his heroic struggle for purity of doctrine and liberty of thought. John Calvin, a man of eminent tal-- ents, clear understanding, solid judgment, and happy mem- ory, was a true friend to civil liberty. He, however, was a man misunderstood and hated. This idea is brought out in the little extract But as the poisons of the deadliest kind Are to their own unhappy coasts confined, So Presbyt'ry and pestilential zeal Can only flourish in a commonwealf' These are only the names of a very few of the many men who have spent their lives for others and for, religion's sake and have passed away unrewarded in this life. Let us now turn and hurriedly call to mind the names of some of our great masters of literatureiwho seemed not to be appreciated in their age, but now are praised by the whole world. Chaucer, who gave to us that splendid production, Canter- bury Tales, near the end of his life had not enough money fox mere living expenses, had to ask the king for a pension, and was not appreciated by his countrymen. No poetry is loftier, purer, or more serious than Milton's. His greatness as a poet is seen in Paradise Lost. But the last great work of this man, Samson Agonistes, gives us in Sampson, a portrait of himself, poor and blind. He, too, was lonely and dishonored amid the triumph of his foes. All the sweetness and music had disap- peared, but majesty and sublimity still remained. John Bun- yan's life may be interpreted from his greatest work-Pil- grim's Progress. Christian fleeing from the city of destruc- tion may seem a type of Bunyan fleeing from the follies of his age. Tennyson had success for a while, but his later poems are rather gloomy in tone, impressing us with a sense of fail- ure and disillusion concerning great movements of the age.

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20 THE COLLEGIAN. valuable aid is given to a suffering world by the gentle and un- tiring touch of this hand, brave and courageous as it is. But there is another example nearer and dearer to us than any, and probably the .one most unnoticed, it is that of the mother who toils day after day, performing the domestic duties with a song, kissing the bruises of the little ones, encouraging the older ones, and urging others on to take advantage of op- portunities she missed, and making, in fact, what we call Home. She prepares the foundation on which the world must stand, her hand indirectly rules the World. The lives of our great men are only the result of her training. Certainly she has every characteristic of a hero. Some win medals and praises of men. Others toil day after day seemingly unrewarded and unappreciated, but their in- fluence starts a ripple on the lake of time that grows and grows and stops only with eternity's shore. The home influ- ence is the most impressive and lasting. These are only a few of the general places in which we may look to find unrewarded heroes. Truly Many a hero is born to live unknown, and waste his goodness in some desert plain. These are never known and never appreciated by the world at large. But there are many who during their lives were unknown, but who now are showered with praises from all lands. Heroes are often reformers leading men back to Christ and to the reality of life, and ever since there was a church there have been persecutions. John Huss, who declared Wycliff's doctrine to be true and maintained that the people should be allowed to read their Book, after being brought before the council three times saw his books burned at the gate of the city and afterwards suffered a similar fate. John Rogers, who carefully translated the Bible into English, was unappreciated and burned at the stake in the reign of Mary. John Wycliffe the morning star of the Reformation, pub- lished treatises against the friars and reproached the Romisli Church and the vileness of its monastic agents. Urged to re- tract these teachings, he refused to do so and went to work

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22 THE COLLEGIAN. However, his personal faith and courage are expressed in Crossing the Bar. Each man truly has a place to fill and no other place will suit him. You may be a hero by performing bravely your duties in this plan of yoiir life. Failure is one of the ways to success. The prodigal was nearer true success when he sat in the swine pasture, a ragged bankrupt, than when he revelefl in his costly vices. Each man is too light for some places, too heavy for others, and just right for others. Failing in a work for which he is uniitted often brings him to his true place. Judge Tourgeeis failure as a reconstruction lawyer led to his success as a great novelist and editor. Raymond Lull, the first misionary to the Moslems, grew into a saint through a school of suffering. Love, not learning, is the key to his character. He died in Africa and was really ahead of his age, but couldn't show it for his environment. Robert Moffat, the missionary hero of Kuruman, Africa, con- verted the people from savages, and now Christianity is grow- ing there. john Eliot, like the apostle to the Gentiles, the apostle to the Indians, spent his life for them, toiling in a strange land. Closer study would reveal the unselfish character of many who wore away their lives doing what not their age but ours enjoys. These are only a few examples of what we call un- rewarded heroes. Some are truly born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. But the general road to success is one of toil and care. We spend our time each day in the careful study of life's problems with little success apparently. The problems of mathematics and Latin have almost proved too great for us at times, and all our work has seemed in vain when the result of it all was a failure, but, as one climbs on his mistakes, so we have applied ourselves more diligently. And now a greater problem than any we have yet confronted lies before us for solution-the problem of choosing our plan for life. May the loving Father direct us and help us to