A Fleece of Gold | Page 3

inspired, and he is delighted, all because
again that chord in his nature has been struck--the love of adventure.
Perhaps no other single painting in the art galleries at the World's Fair
of 1893 attracted the attention of a greater number of people, nor
awakened in so many human breasts a feeling of such intense pathos as
Thomas Hovenden's painting on "Breaking Home Ties." Here we have
it once more, adventure--Jason setting off on his journey in search for
the golden fleece of fame and fortune. The narrow path that so long has
led him out into the silent acres--the fields that so many years have
responded to his toil--he has forsaken. The dull routine has ceased to
inspire, the home circle has become too narrow for his expanding soul.
He has caught a glimpse of the glories of a new kingdom, and now he
is going out to realize them.
The young man has always been the ruling element in every new
departure. He has been the rock upon which the ages have been
founded. In the words of another: "When the roll-call which men have
written is read, it will be found that the young men have ruled the
world. The oldest literatures have this record. The patriarchs unfolded
the careers of boys into the conquest of old age. Kingdom and empire
rode upon the shoulders of young men, and their voices of enthusiasm
and hope have sounded through many a black-breasted midnight and
trumpeted the dawn through skies of thickest darkness. To causes that
drooped they have come and added the raptures of hope; to enterprises
that were sickening and faint they have brought the bounding power of
new enthusiasm. To the dead they have brought life. Everything from
the foundation of the world has been crying for 'young blood,' and the
armies of the advance have gained the day at the arrival of 'recruits,'
whose hope and earnestness have never been defeated. Age and
experience put themselves upon dying pillows made by young hands;

into young palms and upon young ears falls the meaning of all the past;
and thus God has written the natural dignity of the young man's life in
the eternal statute book of the universe." [Footnote: From "Young Men
of History," by Dr. F.W. Gunsaulus.]
We have but to turn our gaze back over the centuries to find that it has
always been the young man who has embarked in the world's great
enterprises. If we turn the pages of religious history we shall find that
he has been potent there. For when the stream of Hebrew destiny was
to be turned, a young man, Joseph, who had been sold as a slave into
Egypt, was selected to accomplish it. And later young Saul of Kish
while roaming through his father's fields was summoned to a throne. It
was the young shepherd boy--David--that was chosen "to keep the
banner of Israel in the sky while the shadows hung black above the
hills of Judah." When the gospel was to be borne to the Gentiles the
divine finger fell upon a young tent-maker of Tarsus. Fourteen
centuries later a miner's son, Martin Luther, won Germany for the
Reformation, and John Wesley "while yet a student in college" started
his mighty world-famous movement. At fifteen John de Medici was a
cardinal, and Bossuet was known by his eloquence; at sixteen Pascal
wrote a great work. Ignatius Loyola before he was thirty began his
pilgrimage, and soon afterward wrote his most famous books. At
twenty-two Savonarola was rousing the consciences of the Florentines,
and at twenty-five John Huss was an enthusiastic champion of truth.
But we see the young man standing before the footlights on the stage of
secular history, too. At twelve Remenyi was making his violin
tremulous with melody, and Cæsar delivered an oration at Rome; at
thirteen Henry M. Stanley was a teacher; at fourteen Demosthenes was
known as an orator; at fifteen Robert Burns was a great poet, Rossini
composed an opera, and Liszt was a wizard in music. At the age of
sixteen Victor Hugo was known throughout France; at seventeen
Mozart had made a name in Germany, and Michael Angelo was a rising
star in Italy. At eighteen Marcus Aurelius was made a consul; at
nineteen Byron was the "amazing genius" of his time; at twenty
Raphael had finished some of his most famous paintings, Faraday was
attracting the attention of his country, and two years later was admitted
to the Royal Institution of Great Britain. At twenty-one Alexander the
Great conquered the Persians, Beethoven was entrancing the world

with his music, and William Wilberforce was in Parliament. At
twenty-two William Pitt had entered Parliament, while William of
Orange had received from Charles V command of an army. At
twenty-three William