<A large congregation gathered at 
the Congregational church, Man- 
chester, last Sunday morning, drawn 
there by the announcement that 
_ = 
Prof. Carl Webster would render 
two solos on the ’cello. Prof. Web- 
ster was in unusually fine spirit in 
the interpretation of the ‘‘Ava 
Maria’ by Shubert, and ‘‘Religi- 
oso”? by Goltermann. 
The subject of Mr. Ruge’s sermon 
was one of unique interest and was 
presented in a manner that made a 
deep impression. Mr. Ruge selected 
as his text the words found in Ephe- 
sians 4: 13. ‘‘Till We all Come 
unto the perfect man, unto the meas- 
ure of the Stature of the fulness of 
Christ.’’ 
A synopsis of the sermon follows. 
He began by saying: 
The power of christianity is the 
power of a personality, a noble, di- 
vine personality. 
Other religions have been found- 
ed in ethics, moral and spiritual 
truths. If christianity had nothing 
greater than these it would be 
elassed as simply one_ religion 
among others. That which distin- 
guishes christianity as distinct from 
other religions is the personality of 
a perfect man. 
Christ confirmed and _ enlarged 
the ethical truths of His age. What- 
ever was of value in the making of 
manhood, from whatever source it 
came He accepted. But He did 
more, He did everything, He fulfilled 
the destiny of human creation—He 
embodied the perfect man. 
Christianity is a religion, a phil- 
osophy, a culture that aims not only 
to make men better, it aims to make 
men perfect. 
It is difficult to give a satisfactory 
definition of personality and the diffi- 
culty is increased in trying to define 
the ideal of a divine personality. We 
cannot analyze our preferences and 
ideals. We might say that in such 
a man there must be justice that in- 
sures the right; reasonableness that 
grants others consideration; gener- 
osity that disdains all meanness; 
courage that shows virility; modes- 
ty that makes no boasts; tenderness 
that feels for others; loyal friend- 
ship; filial devotion and affection ; 
gentleness, cleanness, chasteness of 
thought, manner and speech; free- 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
BY REV. LOUIS H. RUGE. 
Standard of Aristocracy. 
dom from all coarseness. All these 
and more, and through it all an un- 
consciousness of nobility that, lke 
a golden thread, gives life and 
beauty to the whole psychological 
fabric. 
If we could analyze a flower’s 
beauty and fragrance, a _ nightin- 
gale’s song, a sunset, we might ana- 
lyze a noble soul, and yet it cannot 
escape recognition any more than 
the others. 
‘““The musk held hidden in the hand 
Is soon to sense revealed ; 
A man’s true nature can at no com- 
mand 
Of ours be e’er concealed. 
For whatsoe’er one is within the 
the heart 
Will he be everywhere ; 
No grace can mere environment im- 
part, 
No excellence impare. 
The diamond in the mud doth still 
retain 
Its own intrinsic worth; 
The common dust is heavenward 
all in rain, 
As dust it falls to earth.’’ 
There have ever been standards of 
nobility. I believe in every stand- 
ard that raises the average of civil- 
ization, culture and class. It would 
be strange indeed if social standards 
showed no results. Class lines mark 
certain evolutionary stages in civiliz- 
ation. History, however, shows that 
true nobility is often woefully lack- 
ing in court circles. And the stand- 
ards are not stable enough. The cen- 
ter of social gravity shifts continual- 
ly. It may revolve around the King. 
It may be among the middle class, as 
when Drake and Raleigh were the 
rage during the reign of Elizabeth. 
The army has set the standard, the 
forum, the church, and even Wall 
street. And I do not see why there 
is not a certain power in wealth to 
improve a man. 
But we need a fixed standard of 
nobility and perfection. And, after 
all, the true status of nobility is 
fixed. It is more fixed than the so- 
cial east of Roston or the Brahmin 
casts of India. 
There is a subtle atmosphere about 
‘the social elect that is unmistakable. 
But ‘‘mark the perfect man.’’ He is 
23 
The Power of a Noble Personality. 
In Which Mr. Ruge Exalts True Manhood and Womanhood as the Highest 
the most marked personality on 
earth. There is no mistaking, no 
questioning the exalted station and 
geneology of the perfect man and 
the perfect woman. Every time we 
see the hall-mark of this divine line- 
age we recognize it. 
It is not in smooth address, not in 
perennial smiles and smirks, not in 
the mastery of court rules. Man- 
hood was never made in social 
edicts. Nobility was never made in 
court deerees. It has nothing to do 
with wealth. There is no objection 
to birth culture, taste, polite man- 
ner, gracious speech, wealth. The 
lack of these things to be sincerely 
regretted, for the contrariwise are 
blemishes in personality. But ex- 
ternal blemishes are not fatal where 
nobility is innate; but external 
forms of nobility without innate no- 
bility is fatal. A flaw on the sur- 
face of a gem may by time and labor 
be polished away and the intrinsic 
value of the gem be brought forth; 
but a flaw in the heart of the stone 
is fatal, the more it is polished the 
seen there. 
more fatally apparent is the flaw 
True nobility is innate. Charac- 
ter is greater than birth, position or 
east. The world is at last beginning 
to recognize men for what they are 
inherently. The divine democracy 
of America has taught the world 
this. Men everywhere today care 
little about the arbitrary lines of so- 
ciety and divide men into two 
classes—men that are true aid men 
that are not true. In every east cir- 
cle even, this is the test, where every 
person, man or woman, is accepted 
almost unerringly for what he or she 
is. 
Character nobility was Christ’s 
standard of men. I can readily see 
how He could take such a soul and 
put it in the seale on one side and 
the world on the other side and say 
that a soul outweighed a world. 
When we meet a truly noble man 
or woman we can easily adjust our 
standards to Christ’s standard. 
When we meet them we also feel 
that the world is not insignificant, 
for the gem and the setting are pro- 
portionate. How can we say the 
world is wicked, when it produced a 
Jesus Christ? How can we say there 
(Continued to page 31) 
