the
clouds give in rain what they get in mist, which is the poet's way of
saying that what he gave in inspiration he got by way of
perspiration. Some years ago a young man asked a distinguished scholar
and writer what he thought of the higher education. "If I were twenty,
and had but ten years to live," answered the publicist, "I would spend
the first nine years accumulating knowledge and getting ready for the
tenth." Indeed, the measure of influence in any man is the measure of
his reserves. The youth who will rule to-morrow is the youth who
to-day is storing up resources of knowledge and wisdom, of
self-reliance and courage.

All history does but repeat the principle. Surveying the past, we note
that the nations that have made great contributions to civilization
have been isolated. Our historians tell us that the Hebrew gave
conscience and morals, the Greek reason and culture, the Roman law and
government, the Teuton liberty and the rise of woman. But, singularly
enough, not one of these nations lived in an open, extended country.
Each forceful race has dwelt upon some island or peninsula. The Hebrew
was shut in between the desert and the sea, and there restrained until
he accumulated his moral treasure. He was compelled to fall back upon
his own resources. By practice he found out that it was not best to
steal; that society lived more happily and peacefully when the
property of each individual was respected. Similarly, God gave him the
work of formulating each of the ten commandments. Slowly the moral
treasure grew. The jurist gave law, the poet sang songs, the prophet
poured out his rhapsody, the patriot and martyr died for principle,
and the roll of the heroes lengthened. At last the pages of Jewish
history were filled with names glowing and glorious as the nights with
stars.

Then came Jesus Christ, filling all the land with spiritual energies.
Soon the pressure of moral forces was so strong as to break through
all restraints. Then these moral treasures poured forth over all the
earth. Having given the two thousand years before Christ to
accumulating its moral energies, the Hebrew race acquired momentum
enough to continue the civilizing tide through the two thousand years
after Christ. Similarly Greece, the mother of the arts and sciences,
was shut in between the mountains and the sea until the intellectual
tides grew deep and strong.

But not alone does history urge us to make the most of ourselves. All
our