Vandalia Whig and Illinois intelligencer. [volume] (Vandalia, Ill.) 1832-183?, 1834-11-20


contents of he Southern Literary Messen-
ger. No 2, published by Mr.. T. w. White.
st Richmond, Va. copied from it the follow
ing letter from our late distinguished and
good townsmsn, Mr.. Wir,, saying
The annexed letter from Mr.. Writ, writ,
ten not great while before his lamented
death, will be eagerly read. 1t was writ
ten, as is stated, under the following cir
eumstances:
"a young gentleman who 10 about to
leave the walls Of a university, and looks
10 the law a. his profession, who is not re-
lated 10 or connected with Mr.. Wirt, nor
even acqu ainted with him, and knows him
only rs an ornament to his profession and his
country, is induced by the high estimate
he has formed Of his character, and the
great confidence that might be reposed III
anv advice that he would give, to ask a
bis hand some instruction as to the course
Of study best 10 be pursued" Mr.. Wir
replied thus:
Baltimore. Dec. 20, 1888.
Ny DEAR SIR: Your letter, dated "Uni
vsrsity of - December 49," was receiv.
ed on yesterday morning-and although il
finds mo extremely busy in preparing fo,
hs 50 q %ags fasEs S Win sRth : spr 1S st
cannot reconcile it TO myselfto lot it pass
unanswered. II were ever 90 we'll qnal.
i6ed to advise you, to which do not pre-
tend, but little good could be done By sin
gle letter, and have not time for more
knowing nothing Of the pecuiarlties oil
your mental character, can give no ad,
vice adapted 10 your peculiar case. am
persuaded that education may Re SO direct
ed by sagacious and skilful teacher, as 10
prune and repress those faculties Of the pu
pill which are too prone to luxuriance, and
to train and invigorate those which are dis
proportionately weak o, slow 50 as to Gre
ate just balance among the powers, and
enable the mind to act with the highest eff
feet Of which it 10 capable. But it requires
sprevious acquaintance with the student
y ascerssin the natural condition Of his
various powers, IN order to know which re-
quires the spur which the rein. In some
minds imagination overpowers and smoth.
ers oil the other faculties: in others, rea-
son, like a sturdy oak, throws all the rest
into sickly shade. Some men have NOR
bid passion for the study Of poetry-o!h.rs
Of mathematics, &c. &c. All this may be
corrected by discipline, so far as it may
be judicious to correct it. But the phys-
clan must understand the disease, and be-
come acquainted with all tho ldiosyncra
cies Of tho patient, before he can prescribe
have no advantage Of this kind with re-
gard to you and to prescribe by conjecture
would require me to conjecture every pos
sibis case that may be yours, and to pre-.
scribe for each, which would call for a
ponderous volume instead Of letter.
believe tina, in all sound minds the germ
ofall the faculties exist, and may by skiltu
management be wooed into expansion: bu,
they exist naturally, in different degrees OF
health and strength, and a. this matter is
generally left to the impulses Of nature in
each individual, the heai,hiest and strong
est germs get the start-give impulse and
direction to the efforts of each mind-stamp
its character and shape its destiny. As
education, therefore, now stands among US,
each man must be his own preceptor ia this
respect. and by turning bis eyes upon him
self, and describing The comparative action
Of his own powers, discover which of them
requires most tone-which, if any, less -
We must take care, however, not to make
an erroneous estimate Of the relative val.
Nc Of the faculties, and thus commit the sad
mistake Of cultivatine the snowy at the ex
pense Of the solid. With those preIimina-
~ remarks, by way of explaining why !.
Cannot he more particular in regard to your
case, permit me, instead of chalking out "a
course Of study by furnishing you with
lists Of books and the order in which ihev
should be read, land no list Of books and
course Of study would be proper for all
minds to close this letter with few gen.
eral remarks. ~
If your spirit be as stout and pure a. your
letter indicates, you need but little advice
beyond that which you will find within the
walls Of your university. A brave and
pure spirit IL worth more than "half tho bat.
tle," not only in preparing for life, but in
oil its conflicts. Take it for granted tina,
there is no excellence without great labor.
No mere aspirations for eminsnce, however
ardent. will do the business. Wishing and
signing, and imagining, and dreaming OF
greatness, will never make You great. If
you would get to the modntains top on
which the temple of fame stands, il vii!
not do 20 stand still, looking, admir,ng, and
wishing you were there. You must grid