--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Gowans, E. G. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 19 number: 4 published: 1916-02 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "E. G. Gowans, \"Lincoln's Hour of Vision: Your Opportunity,\" *Improvement Era* 19, no. 4 (February 1916): 322–326." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1904unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera1904unse start_page: 322 end_page: 326 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1916-02) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1904unse publication_year: 1916 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1916, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Lincoln's Hour of Vision: Your Opportunity Lincoln's Hour of VisionYour Opportunity* BY LR. E. G. GOWANS, STATE SUPT. PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, UTAH One day in August, 1837, a group, consisting of two doctorsand seven lawyers, jogged along on horseback from Springfield,Illinois, to a little town called Salem, to attend a camp meeting.Dr. Peter Akers, a wonderful Methodist preacher, was thespeaker for the day. Dr. Akers spoke on the subject, "TheDominion of Jesus Christ," and he set forth in impassioned ut-terance the utter impossibility of Christ's kingdom coming toAmerica until human slavery was abolished. It is said thatwith marvelous power he spoke for three hours, portrayingwith consummate oratorical skill the iniquity of slavery and theway in which it had fastened itself, with almost vital hold, uponour nation. With prophetic foresight he described the great warthat would be, the bloodshed, the devastation, the horror of itall. Near the close of the sermon he said: "Who can tell us butthat the man who shall lead us through this strife may be standing"in this presence?" One of the men who had ridden that day from Springfieldstood in the aisle not thirty feet away, and his name was Abra-ham Lincoln. That night after returning home, Lincoln wasasked what he thought of the sermon. He replied: "I neverthought such power could be given to a mortal man. Thosewords were from beyond the lips of the speaker. The doctorhas persuaded me that American slavery will go down with thecrush of a civil war." He then added, "Gentlemen, you may besurprised, and think it strange, but when the doctor was describ-ing the civil war I distinctly saw myself, as in second sight, bear-ing an important part in that strife." Lincoln had had his hourof vision. Do you wonder that he could make the Gettysburgspeech ? Do you wonder that he could give utterance to thesecond Inaugural? Do you wonder at the Emancipation Proc-lamation ? No man has ever risen to the heights of great leader-ship without vision. To everyone there comes an hour of vision.Those only who have the qualities and powers to make real thevision become great. One of the functions of education is to bring to the individualhis intellectual and moral awakening, to open up before him thefuture, to show him a vision, and then help him to develop the *A talk to the graduating class of 1915, Latt' r-day Saints Univer-sity, Salt Lake City. YOUR OPPORTUNITY 323 powers to make his vision real. No one knows now, no one knowswhen you young people will get your vision, or if perchancesome-of you have already seen it. It may be today, it may betomorrow, it may be far in the future, but of this we are certain,the school is your opportunity to develop those characteristicswhich will enable you to make it real. The vital question with each of you should be: Have I wastedmy opportunity, or have I used it wisely? What has school meantto you? What have you gotten out of it? You have completedcertain years of more or less definitely prescribed work. Youhave gone on year after year making new conquests, acquiringnew knowledge, enlarging your intellectual horizon. You haveno doubt enjoyed these plenteous years. It is not alone the tech-nical knowledge you have obtained in the various subjects studied ;but what changes have you observed taking place within your-selves ? That is the test of the right use of your opportunity.What are you that you were not before your opportunity came ?Of course, you are now capable of going out into the worldand making a living. Very good, but there is a vast differencebetween making a living and making a life. To make a life you must in the first place have the courageto live, you must accept the gift of life, the supreme gift of Godto man. Too many mistakenly regard the by-products of life aslife itself, and therefore in their efforts to secure these by-prod-ucts miss life itself entirely. Happiness is a by-product andcomes only to those who really live—who go out to meet life,look it squarely in the face and conquer its difficulties. So it iswith social distinction, wealth beyond what is really needed, place,popularity—things which degrade and debase the soul, if pursuedfor their own sake, but which if they come as incidentals alongthe pathway of real life are ennobling and satisfactory. Thesethings come to those who have the courage to live and not tothose who are content merely to exist. Courage is an elemental sort of virtue admired by all. Thecourage of war has been as universal as has patriotism itself.But the courage of war and battle where excitement and musicand the war-cry enable men to face death, marching side by sidewith a thousand others, is as nothing when compared with themasterful bravery of big men who have the courage to marchand to stand alone. Marriage takes courage on the part of young people, be-cause it means heavy responsibilities, it takes away certain free-dom to follow selfish desires, it compels the surrender of com-forts and pleasures, it imposes duties, but it enacts unselfishness,and, if fortunately it results in the gift of children, it taps thefoundations of the greatest and most enduring happiness. The school offers you the opportunity to develop this sort 324 IMPROVEMENT ERA of courage. It requires and develops no courage to go alongwith the crowd, to listen to the voice of the majority, and to say,"me too." It requires no courage to propose and carry out ahazing scheme, to form bad habits, to go out for a "time" withthe boys, to violate the rules of the school, to announce yourselfan agnostic in religion, and know-it-all in everything else, toexpress the ready made opinion of others, to assume an air offlippant indifference to the welfare of your fellows, and to regu-late your conduct by the opinions of the gang. But it does re-quire courage to stand alone for the right against odds, to liveup to a decent standard in school athletics, to insist upon beingclean, even at the cost of breaking with the boys, to do your ownthinking, to show in a practical way that you are sincerely inter-ested in the welfare of others, to play the man, to stand out fromthe crowd, to fight the influences which are today destroying thehome. If you have used your opportunity wisely, have demon-strated your courage wherever school life has demanded it, youhave felt your courage to live and strive in the bigger life growstronger and stronger every day until now you know that youhave one power that will help you to realize your vision. To make a life you must be in earnest. Life is real, it is aserious business, and sincere earnestness is needed to adequatelymeet its difficulties. The man who is sincerely in earnest abouthis life will make a fairly adequate preparation for its duties.I would not rob young people of the delights and joys of youth.Young men need the companionship of young women, and youngwomen need that of men, but while there is nothing more valu-able to a young man than the companionship of a good woman,there is nothing quite so sinister as that of a bad one. The friend-ship of a good man is one of the most ennobling things that cancome into the life of a young woman, but God himself can't wipeout of her life the influence of association with a bad one. No,I would not rob youth of its joys and compensations—but Iwould rob it of the causes for regret, of the experiences whichleave a bad taste in the mouth, of the selfish gratification ofyouthful desires which is followed by the staleness of whatshould be an ardent and veil-balanced middle life, and the dryrot of what should be a dignified and wholesome old age. Agenuine cheerful earnestness is a marvelous safeguard, a capablebalance wheel; indeed the poet was right when he said: "Earn-estness alone makes life eternity." Those of you who are sin-cerely in earnest have one more power that will help you to re-alize your vision. To make a life you must be able to control yourself. Thecontrol of the individual by himself is the essence of all goodgovernment. The big result of self-control is to make one sureof himself. In taking a position to be sure of his ground, in YOUR OPPORTUNITY 325 reasoning to be sure of his inferences and conclusions, in all therelations of life to be sure of his own sincerity,—that is what itmeans to have one's self under his own control. Self-controlmeans for the individual to be quiet and efficient in daily work.to be cool, steady, level-headed in the presence of great diffi-culty; in the presence of the rich, to look not up; in the presenceof the poor, to look not down; in the presence of emergency, tobe resourceful; confronted with disaster, to be full of determina-tion,—these are the things that constitute self-control. If youropportunity has been used so as to give you this important power,you have still another means of making your vision real. To make a life you must be able to work. Listen to this songof triumph by Angela Morgan: WORKWork! Thank God for the might of it.The ardor, the urge, the delight of it—Work that springs from the heart's desire,Setting the soul and the brain on fire.Oh, what is so good as the heat of it,And what is so glad as the beat of it,And what is so kind as the stern commandChallenging brain and heart and hand? Work! Thank God for the pride of it, For the beautiful, conquering tide of it, sweeping the life in its furious flood, Thrilling the arteries, cleansing the blood, Mastering stupor and dull despair, Moving the dreamer to do and dare. Oh, what is so good as the urge of it, And what is so glad as the surge of it, And what is so strong as the summons deep Rousing the torpid soul from sleep? Work! Thank God for the pace of it, For the terrible, keen, swift race of it; Fiery steeds in full control. Nostrils aquiver to greet the goal. Work, the power that drives behind. Guiding the purposes, taming the mind, Holding the runaway wishes back, Reining the will to one steady track, Speeding the energies faster, faster, Triumphing over disaster. Oh, what is so good as the pain of it, And what is so great as the gain of it, And what is so kind as the cruel goad, Forcing us on through the rugged road?1 Work! Thank God for the swing of it. For the clamoring, hammering ring of it, 326 IMPROVEMENT ERA Passion of labor daily hurled On the might}- anvils of the world. * * * Oh, what is so fierce as the flame of it, And what is so huge as the aim of it, Thundering on through dearth and doubt, Calling the plan of the Maker out; Work, the Titan; Work, the Friend, Shaping the earth to a glorious end: Draining the swamps and blasting the hills, Doing whatever the spirit wills, Rending a continent apart To answer the dream of the Master heart. Thank God for a world where none may shirk, Thank God for the splendor of work! Work, more than any other one thing, will enable you to makeyour vision real. • There is one other thing- needful, and that is that your idealsmust be right. Lincoln had his hour of vision, and he had, too,the courage, the earnestness, the self-control, the power to work,and the ideals which made possible the realization of that vision.His ideals were right when he said: "I do the best I know, thevery best I can ; and I mean to keep right on doing so until theend. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against mewon't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, thenangels swearing I was right would make no difference." Hisideals were right when he said : "Die when I may, I want it saidof me by those who knew me best that I always plucked a this-tle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow."So, too, when he said in the Cooper Institute speech: "Neitherlet us be slandered from our duty by false accusations againstus, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the gov-ernment, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith thatright makes might, and in that faith let us to the end dare to doour duty as we understand it." And who shall question the Tightness of his ideals when hesaid: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; withfirmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right—let usstrive on to finish the work we are in; * * * to do allwhich may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace amongourselves and with all nations." And most of all was his idealright (and this ideal can be the ideal of each one of us) whenhe said: "I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true.I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to whatlight I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right; standwith him while he is right, and part with him when he goeswrong." And now let me sav, with reverence, may God grant to eachof vou your hour of vision, and help you to develop the power tomake it real.