HUMBUG AND HOMILIES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1188, 25 July 1911, Page 9

HUMBUG AND HOMILIES.

(BY» SIR J. G. I'INDLAY.) Sir,—l suggest to tho learned author that with the view of further popularising his great work ho should publish a second edition incorporating a chapter upon "Success in the World" on the lines of an address delivered by him to the pupils of the Wanganui Collegiate School on December 13 last. In the meantime I hasten to ask you to reproduce that address in tho columns of your paper for the benefit of these who may not have heard the address or seen the publication of it in the school journal. Before giving you tho text X desiro to say that the present time appears opportune to record flic lofty ideals of its author ami to show the prophetic ideas of the speaker, as far as he is concerned at all events, liavecome to pass, but whether any of us choose

II to pursue the same path, for the same ends, must be left to the individual conscience of each of us. Here is the address :—

.Some of you who have achieved success in this school are (joins into that larger place for which schools and colleges are a preparation. You and 1 are seeking success in one or other of the myriad eln.-ses of work in which we are engaged. I want to impress on you that there are two kinds of success. 'There is (he success which comes as the reward of labour, of work, of discipline, of honour. I mean genuino work, sincere, painstaking, patient, general labour and diligence. 1 mean that succc.-s which stirs up admiration, which makes us applaud the successful one, and which even stirs our imitation. That is the golden kind. J nere is a baser kind, which stirs our indignation. Thero is that success won sometimes both by base and " mean methods, which is achieved bv false coin, by methods which are not genuine, which are not honest. I want to impress on vou tho distinction between these two kinds. In a school a lad may secure prizes without cheating, but by some mean, unfair advantage, some makeshift, some short cut in work or sport, which, while it wins, does not deserve (he reputation of genuine success. 1 know that the extent to which this kind of success prevails in any school depends largely on the tone and character of the school itself. And here in this Wanganui Collegiate School of yours, where you have an atmosphere of manliness which freezes into shame the lad who will not plav the gome in an honourable fashion, we do not emphasise this meaner kind of success to which I mean to refer. It is the highest glory of the Manganni Collegiate School to keen the honour of the school ever bright and shining. (Applause.) Now, that demands that in even- branch of work, whether mencal or physical, a lad shall win bv certain method?, and certain methods only—by manliness, bv plaving the game, by anything that is fair and above lioard. I want to impress on you as emphatically as I can that it is far better that von snoiild honourably fail, no matter how completely, than that you should win bv means that will not bring to vour conscience complete satisfaction. This lesson is impressed upon you by even- tradition of your school, by every rule and standard and by every influence that surrounds you. l'oii must earn- this lesson into that larger life that lies before you. Here it pervades your atmosphere from the hour you rise till the hour you reach your bed. In the great world that is not so. There you must rely moro and more upon your own righteousness, your own manliness, your own concept ion of how the game must be played. Ton will be in a bigger school, but cue with a laxer code, and then it will bo for you to recall the lessons you learned here in your earliest years. Tho world is not as the Wanganui Collegiate School; it has a laxer code. Worldly success too often permits a msn.to jylopt methods which, while allowed by the police, are not sanctioned by honour or honesty, and it will be for you to recall in the years to come that a man who goes through life achieving worldly success by that means dees not really win a prize at all, but, on tho other hand, if one may use tho phrase, wins dishonour. When (he time comes that you are placed hi ihe position in which you are tempted by a short cut to worldly success—and these days will come, believe me. to every one of you—when a prize is offered to you if you will but leave the highway of rectitude and steal by shady, paths; remembpr, I beg you. remember. I know you will, tho reputation of a school some of you are leaving behind; remember your self-resDeet, and keep your honour bright and shining. That is due to tho reputation of the school flint has done so much for you. If you will then remember the spirit of your school, you will turn your back noon' the wrong and do tho right, even if it bring vou worldly misfortune rather than worldly gain. It is due to your school. It has impressed on your characters many a feature that will be a lifelong solace. In this world, when we give a benefit some recognition is expected in return. And y>u can do it. Yon can make it be said, 'He is an honoimblo man: he was once a Wanganui Collegiate School boy.' If you do that vou will in some measure give a return for what the school lias given yo"." —Yours, etc., X-RAYS.