The Elon College Weekly
VOL. 1. New Series
BURLINGTON, N. C. TUESDAY, MAY 3, 1910.
NO. 12
And Elon College, N. C.
He Made the Stars Also.
On the morning of the third day, after
God had created the world and clothed
it in verdant garments, He turned His
eyes toward heaven and said "Let there
be two great lights." The sun, to rule
the day, and the moon to rule the night;
and then immediately "He made the
stars also."
Astronomy teaches us that the snn is
the largest of the heavenly bodies, being
about 12,000 times the size of the earth.
No wonder that it is the greatest light
giving planet that swings in the great
firmament of the heavens, sending foith
its golden rays into the darkest corners of
the earth, and illuminatmg the very soul
of humanity. Think of a world of dark
ness, and your very being is overshadowed
with gloom. Think of a world of light,
and all is beautiful and glorious to the
human soul.
We also learn that the silvery light of
the moon, which illuminates the darkness
of the night, is merely light reflected from
the golden sun. But He made the
twinkling stars also. Many a soul is glad
that He did not forget the little stars,
which are so numerous that they cannot
be counted; but they are as much of
God's creation as the golden sun or the
silvery moon, sendmg forth their twinkling
rays of light, when the sun and moon
have disappeared.
W hen ttie ^un in ail oi ms splendor
.seems to cross over ll ■ sky, sending forth
his golden rays and illuminating the world,
and when the moon sends forth her sil
very beams, dtspelling the darkness of the
night, it IS easy tor us to believe that these
are wonderful creations of God; but
when we view the countless stats and
watch their little sparkling rays, it is a
solace for us to know that "He made the
stars also."
For our world there is but one sun
and one moon, but there are numberless
stars. And this is as true of the earth as
of the heavens. Our very brilliant men
are few in number, and if we come in
contact with their transcendent powers,
we must not be discouraged, because our
light does not shine as brilliantly as theirs;
but we must be content and remember
t'lat "He made the stars also." It is no
disgrace to the star that it does not shine
as the noonday sun. It must be content
to shine as a star. Every man is not
called to enlighten the world. Then, if
we cannot be the most brilliant men, we
can be ourselves, and live for the best
that in our beings, serving our fellow-
men, honoring our country and loving our
God, and remembe:ing that just eis God
created the man that shines as a golden
sun, just so He created the man whose
light shines as the little star. Then we
will give forth our little light gladly, r_*al-
izing that its beams are not unnoticed or
useless, but do their part in giving light to
the world about us.
Sometimes we think the stars are small
because they are so far away, and we
consider them insgnificant because they
do not give much light to the world. But
if we could traverse the millions of miles
that separate us from them, and see them
as they are, we could then see what a
vast part they play in the economy of the I
universe. And may it not be so too
with the seemingly feeble lights of hu
manity ? May these not be even the
most brilliant lights when seen in the
burning light of God ? Every man has
in him a light of some kind, for we are '
told that the true light lighteth every man
that cometh into the world. But the j
most of us are possessed with starlight;
but that is no disgrace, because the little
star shines the brightest in the darkness
of the night. Then can we not be lights ‘
that tend to illuminate a darkened world
as the little star ? Men do not differ as ;
much as we think.
The trouble with many of us is that we
do not even possess the little starlight, and
we are worse than the star, because we
seem so far away that we are not in '
touch with our feliowmcn.
If we are not the most brilliant men
let us thank God we are what we are,
and not be discouraged because we do
nat shine as the noonday sun.
Each, like a star, may send his beam
That helps to swell the golden stream.
The stream of life with eddying tide.
That flows to Heaven with Christ as
guide. W. F. W.
Character of Brutus—in Shakes
peare and in H story.
It
have won immortal names through most
wicked crimes. There was nothing great
about Judas Iscaiiot, yet his name will
ever live in sacred history, because he
was the betrayer of his Master. Such
was the character of Biutus. There was
nothing great about him, and yet, so long
as history lives, his name will live, simply
because he was the murderer of a great
man.
In Shakespeare’s "Julius Caesar" Brutus
is portrayed as a man of amiable feelings
and purity of mind—a man who seemed
to love justice with a conscientious heart,
—and a man, finally, with no will of his
own. By some critics Brutus has even
been thought the true hero of this tragedy.
Some readers, no doubt, would take him
as a model of citizenship—as the highest
type of the gentleman and the patriot.
But, it seems to me that he is not the
hero of this tragedy, nor a gentleman to
be emulated.
We cannot believe that Brutus was
sincere —that he loved Caesar, but his
country more, for had he loved Caesar,
Cassius could not have so easily influenced
him against Caesar. We believe that
Brutus could not brook Cassar’s su
premacy. We find him a tool of mad
jealousy. When Brutus’ crime is laid to
Cassius, injustice is done. For Brutus
was already a fire, and only needed to be
stirred by one who would be an accom
plice to burn. Cassius, in glowing terms,
m^akes Caesar’s triumph anarchy, and then
he turns to Brutus and says, "The trouble
lies in yoj that you are not in Caesaf i
place today." Then Brutus, Caesar’s
dear friend, says, "How I have thought
of this, and these times, 1 shall recount
hereafter. What you have said I will
consider."
The conspiracy is perfected at night,
and in the day, Brutus, in feigning friend
ship, and in the name of patriotism, slays
his benefactor. The dying man realized
the treachery of his trusted Brutus and
he cried out from the anguish of his soul,
not from the anguish of his body,
"et tu Brute." And can we after all
believe that Brutus had tears for Caesar’s
love, or any joy in his fortunes, or any
honor for his valor! We will not be
lieve that he slew Cassar because of
Caesar's ambition ; but we beiieve that
he revealed that which prompted him to
be a murderer when he said, "Who is
here so base that would be a bond
man ?" Brutus was ambitious. Brutus
was jealous.
In history we find Brutus a man of
moderate abilities, sober and temperate,
but nothing above the average Roman of
his day. He was no general, had no
high political views, and has never been
accused of being a statesman.
As Shakespeare reveals him a man
Ignorant of men and ambitious, so does
history. When the civil war broke out
we find him allied with Pompeius, al
lhough Pompeius murdered his father.
In murdering Caesar in freedom's name
he was treacherously murdering the one
who had given him all the rank and
honor he possessed. To kill Caesar
would’t mean freedom, for he was only
one the p.irty, yet B.utu: aim-d r.ly
at Caraar. In the name of justice he
plots without planning; he dreams of
success without thinking of the means to
that success. His conduct after the as
sassination was feeble and uncertain, like
that of a traitor; and it was as unwar
ranted and illegal as the usurpation of
Caesar. "He left Rome as Praeter
without the permission of the Senate; he
took possession of a province, which,
even according to Cicero’s testimony, had
been assigned to another; he arbitrarily
passed beyond the boundaries of his
province, and set his effigy on the coins."
(Drummond.) He plundered Asia;
’robbed without measure and without
mercy; and in the name of liberty exer
cised over the helpless people a tyranny
never surpassed by any Roman.
For his country he had nothing to pro-
pose.^even though for his love of her he
slew Caesar. He made virtue a hand
maid of jealousy and mistook himself for
justice. Caesar was monarch and Brutus
could not endure that, for he himself was
ambitious.
When we read Shakespeare and
when we read history we find the same
Brutus—the same ascetic, passive and
ambitious Brutus. He was "a man of
unknown family, the son of a woman
whom Caesar had debauched, pardoned
after fighting against his mother’s love,
raised by him to the praetorship, and
honored with Caesar’s friendship—he has
owed his distinction to nothing else than
murdering the man whose genius he
could not appreciate, but whose favors
he had enjoyed." (G. Long.)
A. C. H.
A Heart to Heart Talk.
A young thing had a heart that ached,
her honey-boy having taken his affection
elsewhere, and her father recently shu
himself up with her to reason with her.
"That honey-boy averaged spending
fifty cents a week on you," he said;
"here’s a dollar a week to take his place.
Every time he called he cleaned out the
refrigerator; your mother will see to il
that your brothers do this in the future.
He kept you up late at night; your baby
sister is cross, and hereafter you will let
her do this for you. He took possession
of the most comfortable rocker on the
porch; when you look at that rocker in
the future it will not be empty, bringing
the pang to your heart that your silly
novels talk about—it will be occupied by
the man that paid for it, and that’s me.
Your mother and 1 stayed by you
through colic and teething, and we’re
going to get you through this if we have
to take turns spanking you. Now take
your eyes off the moon and look at the
dust around you."
The Value of Good Manners.
The value of good manners can not be
overestimated. We realize their value
only when in the society of those who
possess them. We are to a large extent
judged by our manners, and although we
may possess many good qualities, if our
manners are not pleasing we shall not
-.tind very high in the .-3tima!lt..i of .t
fined and cultured persons. We often
hear it said of some one whose manners
are coarse, but who has many redeeming
qualities, that he is a diamond in the
rough. This may be a very appropriate
name, but if he possessed the polish of
good manners he certainly would be
esteemed more highly, just as the cut and
polished diamond is valued far more than
the rough and unpolished one.
It is one of the facts of science that a
magnet increases in strength by drawing
objects to it, and a person who possesses
good manners may be compared to a mag
net in that he gathers strength and in
spiration from those with whom he comes
in contact, making his life a pleasant one;
while one whose manners are coarse en
deavors to jostle his way through the
world, looking on most persons as his
natural enemies and seeing only the dark
side of affairs.
Our success in life depends a great deal
upon our manners, since others form their
opinion of us from our speech and man
ners ; and since our career depends so
much upon others, if we wish to secure
their aid and approbation we should en
deavor to be worthy of it. By culti
vating good manners we are fitting our
selves for the higher duties of life, and
making ourselves more worthy of the aid
and respect of others.
The British View Too.
"And now," said the teacher, "we
come to Germany, that important country
governed by a kaiser. Tommy, what is
a kaiser ? "
"Please ma’am, a kaiser is a stream of
hot water springin’ up and disturbin’ the
earth."