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(Continued from page 1.) imitator of the much beloved brother above referred to. He represented the most pecu liar combination that I have ever seen of a native style, nipped in the bud, and the man ners and methods of another grafted in upon it. He was a sort of oratorical Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde. In parts of his sermon he would be himself, and there was power; but pres ently, especially during the exhortations and invitations, he would fall into the style cf the other brother. The very gestures, the incisive way of making a proposition, the pressing of soul-searching questions, the peculiarly power ful emphasizing of certain words and phrases by repetition of them with longer quantity on the vowels, the manly toss of the head, even the characteristic pronunciation of certain of the vowel sounds —every mannerism, natural and powerful in the original brother —was here imitated, until, at times, one almost imagined that the other man was there before one’s eyes. These peculiarities, through which the Holy spirit moved with persuasive power in the orig inal, were here a veritable mockery, because they were hollow and unreal. They came from without and net from within. It was apparent that the speaker was not expressing himself in his own way. He was trying to give out himself, through the modes of expression char acteristic of another, and the net result vibrat ed between the humorous and the pathetic in ame st tantalizing manner. A man can be him self and make a fairly good out at it. He can not be another man and succeed with the job. After one of those meetings the inquiry was made of a keen-witted little woman how she liked the preacher. Her reply was, that she i ‘liked the him part very well, but that she 0000000000 ago when we quoted to you face to face the Gladstonian dictum: “It is the duty of govern ment to make it as easy as possible for the citizen to do right and as hard as pcssible for the citizen to do wrong.” But your ears were dull of hearing. You said you were then “open to conviction” —but you continued to write ed itorial “smart things” against the state-wide ef fort and The Times-Herald of which you are president and editor continued to accept pay from “the liquor crowd” for advertising the devilish stuff —yea, and'for advertising the scare-head campaign canards while the prohi bition forces were trying to “take Texas out of the liquor business.” What is “the state of Texas” if it is not the wish of the people incorporated What is into law ? The State Do no£ the legislature and the Os Texas? governor working together enact laws or abolish laws? Concerning everything else but the liquor business, you recognize the fact that the way to enact desired laws you must have the right kind of legislators and the right kind of gov ernor. Did you try last time —or will you try next time to elect legislators and a governor in fa vor of “taking Texas out of partnership with the liquor business?” Os course you see the point, Begin By Friend Robinson, and if you Cleaning Up really mean business begin right At Home now by cleaning up at home. Drive liquor advertisements from your columns —for a paper that adver tises liquor for the money that’s in it is just as guilty of selling liquor as the white-apron- THE GOLDEN AGE FOR JULY 3, 1913 BE YOUR BEST SELF By JOHN ROACH STRATON. did not like the George Truett variations at all.” A short time after that I attended a stu dents’ 4 prayer meeting. Here, once more, an other young brother was an embryo Truett. The same gestures, the same style, even down to the finest shade of the tone color in “e’s” and “r’s” were imitated and dovetailed in with the natural manners of the young broth er, until, in the light of the former experi ence, it was positively laughable. His imita tion was not altogether conscious, perhaps, yet the young man had been so swept off of his feet by the power of the other soul that he had begun to surrender his individuality, to leave the pathway of his own personality and to ramble off along the way marked by God for the other. The evil effects of such imitation cannot be overestimated. Thus, consciously or uncon sciously, to copy another is subversive of our best selves, our development and our power. It is true that hero-worship has its place, but it is liable to sad abuse. The inspiration which we may gather by contact with a great per sonality is good, and will mean much to us if it works itself out through the tissue of our own sturdy individuality, but we had better never have a hero than to become his ape. To rest content with being the weak shadow of an other man is indeed a lowly ambition. To see another who is great should fire our ambition to be great ourselves. Not great by imitation —by trying to squeeze ourselves into the oth er’s mold —but great by the culture and de velopment of our own talents and powers un til they shall shine above our fellows and com mand their plaudits and esteem. To imitate another is fatal to ourselves. It means a lowering of the standards of self-re- 0000 000000 ed man who stands behind the counter and sells liquor—why? For the money that’s in it. The paper sells —the owner of the paper sells the white virtue of its space like a wom an barters the white virtue of her character —0 God! for the money that’s in it. The paper does not have to do the guilty thing. It is done deliberately like the bar room keeper takes cut his license and then proceeds to sell all he can to make all he can above the cost of the license which “the state of Texas,” by the help of The Times-Herald and other papers and militant citizens, delib erately granted to him. Just to get yourself in good run- Drive the ning order for the glorious work Barrooms o f “taking Texas out of the liquor From Waco b us i ness ,” roll up your sleeves, George Robinson, and lead a “bully” fight to take Waco and McLennan county out of partnership with the liquor business. ’ ’ President Brooks and his one thousand stu dents of Baylor University will grandly follow your leadership, and thousands of praying mothers and fathers all over Texas and the South will rise up to call you blessed. Remember, Friend Robinson, that the editor of a daily paper which is read in well-nigh every home is the natural leader in matters of moral and civic reform. Remember your last paragraph, Bro. Edi tor: “Take the state of Texas out of partner ship with the liquor business and there won’t be a liquor question to divide us into hostile armies. ’ ’ Yes! Yes! YES! But it can never be done spect by the tacit acknowledgement of our in feriority. It means an abdication of the throne of our own reason. It means the surrender to individual aspiration and growth. It means the death of self-reliance and independence, with its many attendant ills. It means the slow growth of a most insidious form of dishonesty. It means, above all, the creeping paralysis of insincerity. And for a preacher of the Gospel thus to steal the thunder of another is in deed a sad and terrible thing. Imitation tends to fasten its slimy coils upon our souls unconsciously. Few men will thus deliberately commit this sin. Slowly, in sidiously, the habit creeps upon one, and, with high resolution and firm endeavor, we must shake it off. Better a little that is true, pure and original than much that is second-hand, imitative and stale. 44 Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life’s cultivation; but of the adopted tal ent of another you have only an extemporan eous, half possession. ” These ringing words of Emerson’s are true. We must think our own thoughts. We must set up our own ideals. We must erect our own standards. We must wield our own swords and fight our own bat tles. Though natural growth may be slow, it is sure and healthy. Any hot-house plan pro duces a weakling. A pure heart, a simple faith, a resolute will, the patience to wait, the power to endure, aspirations that are high and ambitions that are noble —these are the mighty roots which bear fruit in honor, power, use fulness and success. “To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” Baylor University. 00000000 without the action of the law-making body of the state and the vote of the people at the polls. “Hostile armies!” Alas, there are two — those who march under the white banner that waves over the home, the school and the church, and those —God fergive them! —who inarch under the black flag of debauchery and death that waves over the horror and sor row of the legalized saloon. Under which flag do you march and write and vote? Come into your own, George Robinson; leave conscience to coronation, live up to the inevitable logic of your own editorial, and you will swing the Damascus blade of your editorial intellect around the glorious orbit fearless endeavor! Your heroic action will electrify the whole Lone Star Empire, and yours will be a hero’s part in helping to take Texas out of “part nership with the liquor business.” Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa. Dear Editor: I have wanted to thank you for your strong and picturesque de scription of righteousness in The Golden Age as contrasted with the putrid “news” to be found in so many sheets. I congrat ulate the home into which The Golden Age goes. It is a sure cure for pessimism. As I have just returned from nearly a year in the Arab country, I think I notice the difference between your paper and the average American newspaper more than ever. Yours sincerely, CAMDEN M. COBERN. June 14, 1913. 5