How
much more truly might this be said of the men who have made their
mark in the world's history, and have created for us that great
inheritance of civilization of which we are the possessors!
Whatever relates to such men--to their habits, their manners,
their modes of living, their personal history, their conversation,
their maxims, their virtues, or their greatness--is always full
of interest, of instruction, of encouragement, and of example.
The great lesson of Biography is to show what man can be and do at
his best. A noble life put fairly on record acts like an
inspiration to others. It exhibits what life is capable of being
made. It refreshes our spirit, encourages our hopes, gives us new
strength and courage and faith--faith in others as well as in
ourselves. It stimulates our aspirations, rouses us to action,
and incites us to become co-partners with them in their work.
To live with such men in their biographies, and to be inspired
by their example, is to live with the best of men, and to mix
in the best of company.
At the head of all biographies stands the Great Biography, the
Book of Books. And what is the Bible, the most sacred and
impressive of all books--the educator of youth, the guide of
manhood, and the consoler of age--but a series of biographies of
great heroes and patriarchs, prophets, kings, and judges,
culminating in the greatest biography of all, the Life embodied in
the New Testament? How much have the great examples there set
forth done for mankind! How many have drawn from them their
truest strength, their highest wisdom, their best nurture and
admonition! Truly does a great Roman Catholic writer describe the
Bible as a book whose words "live in the ear like a music that can
never be forgotten--like the sound of church bells which the
convert hardly knows how he can forego.
Pages:
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356