council, according to the established usages of the Congregationalist church.

Rev. Augusta J. Chapin, now of Omaha, Neb., who was associated with Rev. Dr. Barrows in the management of the "Parliament of Religions," which was held in Chicago during the World's Fair, is the only woman minister of America who has received the degree of D.D. It was worthily bestowed. A graduate of a Michigan college, she was ordained to the ministry of the Universalist church more than thirty years ago, has been a settled minister ever since, receiving meanwhile, for work done, the degrees of A.M., Ph.D., and now of D.D. About fifty women have been ordained in the Universalist church, and twenty more or less in the Unitarian church.

Women have an especial fitness for the work of the ministry and the call for their service is most pressing. They constitute three-fifths of the membership of the Christian church to-day, and occupy many pulpits as lay preachers, or evangelists, where they are welcomed by resident pastors. The world has already lost much by the enforced exclusion of women from the work of the church, and it is beginning to comprehend this and to demand that they shall, in the clerical profession, as in others, be given an equal chance with men.

True Value of Character.

PROF. FRANK SMALLEY, PH.D., Syracuse University, New York.

F we were required to name four men who should represent both ancient and modern times and different nationalities, men whose lives and character are now a part of the history and heritage of the race, whom could we name that would better fulfill these conditions, and at the same time illustrate the theme of this chapter, than Lincoln and Gladstone, Seneca, the Roman philosopher, and Solon, the Athenian legislator? Mr. Gladstone's ability as a wise statesman may be passed over, and he may stand here as a type of intellectual brilliancy. No person who is acquainted with the writings of the great premier, and has read his speeches, will question the estimate that classes him among the greatest intellects of his generation. This will indeed contribute to his fame, but can anyone doubt that it is an insignificant factor in comparison with the spotless character that will be a potent inspiration to young men to the end of time?

Seneca, philosopher, also tutor and counselor of Nero in the early and only honorable part of the reign of that prince, was one of the wealthiest men of his day. He, too, was a man of large intellect, and, being imbued with the elevated sentiments of the Stoic morality, he has embodied many of these in permanent literary form. Seneca, however, is not remembered for his wealth, but for the high ideal of character manifest in his literary productions, and exemplified in his life. The former was an incident, and so considered by him; the latter has immortalized him. Abraham Lincoln is a type of the noblest

manhood in the highest station attainable to man. In him is conspicuously apparent the compatibility of political supremacy with the most unimpeachable integrity. Lincoln accomplished a great work. He was a man of wonderfully clear vision, of the highest qualities of statesmanship, of great wisdom in plan and action. But is it chiefly because of that work and of these qualities that he will always be held in affectionate remembrance by this nation? No. It is because he was "honest old Abe," and was always actuated by motives of the highest honor, that his memory will be a blessing, and a benediction to posterity.

The Roman poet may lament in his plaint that men thrive by crime while integrity shivers with cold and goes hungry, but, if his philosophy would but penetrate a little more deeply, he might find a solution of his difficulty like that found by the Hebrew poet when, in similar strain, he avers and deprecates the prosperity of the ungodly. Nor need we go so far as he, to consider the end of man; for a true estimate of the popular respect for honor and truth will convince one that it is not yet time to despair of the human race. Down in his heart every man admires honesty and candor and condemns guile and insincerity. The popular notion of the sterling honesty of a certain man prominent to-day in public life is a more effective cause of his advancement than all the arts of the politicians, and has once and again baffled the efforts of wily opponents in his own party to keep him in obscurity. It pays even to have a reputation for honor, but it pays far better to have the article itself, for in the end men generally find their true level. "Honesty is the best policy."

Six hundred years before the Christian era, lived and labored Solon, the wise and popular lawgiver of Greece. His popularity was not that of a temporizing demagogue. It rested on the considerate judgment of the better classes which silenced selfish dissatisfaction, and it became so great that his fellow citizens willingly took an oath to abide by his laws; so much did they confide in his wisdom and motives. But his real greatness did

not appear so clearly when he was basking in the sun of popular favor, as when, in old age, he staked his life on his character in opposing the arts of a tyrant, then incipient, later fully developed. His constancy, courage, and patriotism neither favor could enhance, nor tyranny abate.

Four men have now passed in review, men noted respectively for great talent, large wealth, high position, and public favor. It is clear that it was not this distinction that was the cause of their renown, but something beneath it all without which all these would have been of trifling value. It was in fact the talent of character, the wealth, elevation, and stability of character, whose natural effect has been to render these names illustrious and enshrine them in the hearts of men.

An idea of the proper estimate of character is thus obtained. It may be said to be measured by candor and honor, integrity and conscientious devotion to duty, and it may be defined as the one thing about us that abides; as personal identity; who we are, as well as what we are; the moral status, and of much greater importance than the social status, a talented mind, or a gifted person.

Character is a coin that passes current and at par value in all countries. It is like a gold monetary standard whose value is universally recognized. Posterity estimates men not so much by what they did as by what they were. It honors and reveres those who, under severe strain, have maintained their integrity, whose devotion to principle is their legacy to man, and their highest claim to perpetuity of fame. It holds in lasting contempt those who have betrayed their country, have taken the bribe, or have resorted to unscrupulous methods for party or personal advantage; in a word, men devoid of principle.

It must not be inferred from what has been said, that wealth, talent, and popular regard are not desirable. They are indeed desirable, and are often of great service, but they are of secondary importance. The ancient Stoics made a distinction of relative values that is worthy of a modern philosophy. Their conception of virtue quite coincides with the estimate of char

acter herein presented. As its elements they named justice, temperance, courage, and prudence, whose union in the same individual constitutes the sage-the type of perfect character. Wealth and power, beauty and health, popularity and fame, can neither add to manhood nor detract from it, and were therefore esteemed as matters of indifference. This is a philosophic distinction that accords with a common sense distinction, although one need not go the whole length with the Stoics and claim absolute perfection for the man of honor and of character.

But let the mind return from these reflections to a further brief study of the men whose names have been mentioned. Was it easy and natural for them to be what they were? Were they subject to no temptations? Did it cost no struggle to incorporate into their lives that which shall abide, and which constitutes them models of integrity and true manhood? We are very prone to idealize our heroes and to forget that they were human like ourselves, and subject to like passions. The world is full of men of the grandest endowments who fail because they lack the needful character. Were it not for this, many of them in due time would take their places in our list of heroes.

To answer the questions proposed above, it must be affirmed that temptations are peculiarly severe to those who in some respects excel their fellows. It is a shrewd saying of one of the seven wise men of Greece that "the possession of power will bring out the man"; and power here may have a broad application. For a brief illustration, take first its most obvious application. Nero was a wise ruler for five years; Domitian was a model emperor for a brief period after his accession; Caligula gave promise of bringing great relief to a people oppressed by the morose tyranny of his predecessor. But in each case the consciousness of almost unrestricted power and of full opportunity, without the conserving grace of high motive and patriotic purpose, resulted in a rapid downward career and ultimate ruin. High station demands peculiar stability of character.