Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth in the longrun speaketh and if you have received the gift of utterance, more or less, you will utter most profitably that which is your own by birthright or which has been made your own by effort and reflection. That which you are in yourself that you will be to others. It is assuredly the one that is the most easily communicated.Īlthough by him urged with immediate reference to considerations of moral or religious effect, these sentences have in my apprehension their application to influence of every kind. Is not that the case in private life? Is not that the case in your relationship with those with whom you come in contact? Do you not feel increasingly that the one thing you can give your brother is a knowledge of the principles upon which your own life rests? It is assuredly the most precious possession that you have. There is only one thing we can give to another, and that is the principles which animate our own life. One of the most distinguished of our recent predecessors in the walks of history, the late Bishop of London, Mandell Creighton, has said with much force: One can only hope that by searching into his personal experience, by a process of self-examination, seeking to know and to formulate that which has perhaps been undergone rather than achieved, passively received rather than actively accomplished, there may emerge from consciousness something which has become one’s own that there may be recognized, as never before, precisely what has been the guidance, the leading tendency, which has characterized intentions framed and shaped conclusions reached. As time passes, and occasion succeeds occasion in multiple series, the difficulty of contributing anything new to the thought of our fellow-workers becomes increasingly apparent.
Members of the American Historical Association, ladies and gentlemen: The distinguished office with which you have honored me, of being your president for a civil year, involves the duty of making an address upon the occasion of our annual meeting. Published in Annual Report of the American Historical Association, 1902, 49–63. Presidential address delivered before the American Historical Association meeting in Philadelphia, December 26, 1902. President of the American Historical Association, 1902
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