The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1849-03-14

Volume 4 j I'LL |: Il.

gSss
Misretlanps
's, 5sS fon s,t,,day y s,es. ,;.
HON. JOHN Z. LACY,
1xsJUDaE5oF oFTHH surRRMs COURT OF
sglss Il, 81 ARKANsAs. EfE5 ss Z;
,aDied;fast wesk St Ills tssiiercs III Now Or.
aslsana, Judge Lady, forn,crly of sths sSuprs mo
GSfSsatt OF q IS sksnaas. .s....h horutng paper s
The eyes Of how few readers even
30 much as glanced over this brief obit-
dsfy, which appeared in q morning pa
psrs The other dayl It was . falling
spark unseen in the universal sunshine
ia feeble whisper, inaudibls amidst
t6s tdmnlt Of Iifa' s loud Tempest. And
,.Mill still this lone echo be indeed the
last ofasonce mighty voice? Shall the
hours and the ages come md 60, sslike
sainboRs,n and tho world hear no more
ofthas flpst unit forever? Perhapsl
Spch ls the common adycrbs which
$4unlif the nil be Of all earthly fame.
And Yet b stfriend who knew him we'll,
and loved him better, would repeat the
etarytof his moral pilgrimage, not as a
eulogy to the dead, bnt as % lesson for
tha liEing for he was both q great and
good Jet neither . happy nor a success
ful mar. Such q moral mystery and
seeming contradiction, correctly ex-
plained, may shed . strong light on the
true philoso ophy Of education. ,,i
@sJehn IIacy was q scion Of the most
5opulent aristocracy Of Kentucky. His
childhood was Graded in the tenderest
ease, and even his youth rocked in the
silken lap Of luxury. In the course Of
hiswhole lifeihe never dealt one hearty,
hard blow Of manual labor. A pale,
fairfased boy, with d delicate constitu-
ton and bright loving eyes, the mistaken
tonaness of parents could not brook
the5tlsoaght of his exposure to the rude
tonch OF the elements. The health.
beariIig sunbeam was not suffered to
steal hot kisses from his cheek. The
y genial rain must not saturate the pores
4 of his snowy skin. Tho cold bracing
north wind was not free, in passing, to
4 turn his painting breath to frost. What
could be hoped from such effeminate
pkysical5 culture? We record what
h6ppened. The aickly human plant
gssW sup beautiful indeed, but slight,
fgaiI md corporeally weak Us a wo,
college at tho fitting age, he
went through the usual fashionable
course, and was thus banned the privil.
sssegs of fresh air and s'dry light for
years longer. The aln,e mat,es
Sof America had not then lcarned-have
not yet learned to recognise the exis
tenee of body as we'll as soul. They
4 could find no place in their exercises for
.4&ae development Of material organs.
Hhey might derive the true system of
nature, if not from common sense then
csrtainly from those same old ,Greok
and Latin tones which they cram away
he.momories of their pupils with as
much pains as profit, to employ no
stronger terms. s. In the worlds palrny
period, when the model men flourished
inlife as heroes, and after death as gods,
che Gymnasium stood in the shade of
the Acad deny, sharing the burdens of
education and dividing its honors. That
WasSnature's method. Man is d duol;.
ty-half clay and half spirit: hence his
culture should be dual also.
.sfIn Young Lacy's case,a the vicious
hokhouse plan Of training displayed its
aSsurdityi in tho most glaring forms,
owing TO the peculiar character of his
intsAecs and passions. From his ear
liest byyhood he appears to have com
Btied immense activity of thought with
Gb5undless desire for genuine SUPERIOR
ty--ambition in its higher and purel
sonse.t Hence, notwithstanding his con
ssitutional debility, so great was his ap
pliance to study, that he carried away
abd nohlest prizes and graduated with
distinguished eciat, He retired from
theuniyersity o ripe scholar, thoroughly
frnbued with the principles of profound
andYaried learning and burning will
eager impatience to enter the lists O
some great arena, where giant minds
should dbe his competitors. In the south
and west, the legal profession has eve,
Boon the, chief II had almost said the
ohyyroyal road to fame and fortune
The assertion needs no proof while thu
words jackson, Calhoun, Clay, and
Bonton, are lisped before the alphabe
byevery child from Carolina to Arkan
cas-. The courthouse is the ante room
tothe chambers of politics. .