Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1855-07-24
FIRST AMBITION.
BY TX MARVEL,

| BELIEVE that, sooner or later, there
come TO every man dreams Of ambition.
They may bo covered with the sloth Of
habit, or come with pretence Of humil.
ity they may come only in dim, shad.
owy visions, that feed the eye like the
glorles Of an ocean sunrise, bu. you may
be sure that they will come even before
one is aware, the bold, adventurous god.
dess, whose name is Ambition, and
whose dover is Fame, will be toying with
bold hand she makes timijity strong,
and weakness valiant.
The way Of man s heart will be fore.
shadowed by what Of goodness is in him
coming from above and from around
but way foresh allowed, is not made
way. And the making Of a mans way
comes only from that quickening Of re.
solve which we call Ambition. 1t is the
spur which makes men struggle with des.
tiny; it is Heauen's oDm incentiue to
make purpose great, and achievement
greater.
1t would BE- strange il you, in tha,
cloister.li(e Of college. did no, some.
times feel the dawning Of new resolves.
They grapple you oftener, indeed, than
you dare to speak Of. Here you dream
first of the very sweet but very shadowy
SUCCESS, called reputation.
You think Of the delight and astonish.
ment it would give your father and mo.
ther, and, most Of all, little Nelly, if you
were winning such honors as now es.
cape you. You measure your capacities
by those about you, and watch their ha.
bits Of study (; you gaze for half an hour
together upon some successful man, who
has won his prizes, and wonder by what
secre, action he has done it, And when
in time you come 10 be competitor
yourself, your anxiety is immense. .
! You spend hours upon hours at your
theme. You write, and re.write, and
when it is at length complete, and out o
your hands, you are hsrassed by thou.
sand doubts. At times, you recall your
hours Of toll, you question if so much
has been spent upon any other; you
, feel almost certain Of success. You re
peat to yourself some passages Of special
eloqu enceat night. You fancy the ad
v miration Of the professors at meetn,
8 with such wonderful performance. Yo'
Z, have a slight fear that its superior good
: ness may awaken the suspicion tn a
r some one out Of the college-some su
D perior man-may have written il. Blu
!. this fear dies away.
). The eventlul day is great one in you
g calendar. You hardly sleep the nigh
!. previous. You tremble as the chapel
q bell rings; you profess to be very ir
!. different as the reading and the prayt
IS close you even stop TO take up 20,
Vt hat-as if you had entirely overlooke
the fact that the old President is in II
T. chair for the express purpose Of decla
d ing the successful names. You liste
is dreamily to his tremulors yet fearful
70 distinct enuncia,ion. Your head swim
r. strangely.
le They all pass out with harsh mu
gs mur along the aisles, and through Il
'e door.ways. 1t would be we'll If the
G. were no disappointlnents in life mo
: terrible than this. 1t lis consoling to 9
IT, press very deprecating opinions Of I
ne Faculty in general; and very conten
p tuous one Of that particular officer "
ny decided upon the merits Of the pri
themes. An evening OF two at Daltol
room 20 still further toward healing ,
nd disappointment /; and--if itmust he So
on towards moderating the heat Of yc
h. ambition. sslrt
IT. You grow up, however, unfortunate
Ut. as college years fly by, into very ex'
If. gerated sense Of your own capacities.
nd Even tho good, old, white.haired squi
an for whom you had SO much respe
ar. seems TO- your crazy fancy u very hu
ill drum sort Of parsonage. Frank, thou
is as noble fellow as ever sat a horse
TO yet-you cannot help thinking
. i, ignorant Of Euripides even the Engl
as master at Dr.. Bidlow's school, you
are sure, would bslk at dozen proble
We you could give him.
al. You got an exalted idea Of that
IAN certain quality which turns the head
ste a vast many Of your fellows, calle'
ing genius. An odd notion seems to bs
e herent in the atmosphere Of those {
! lsge chambers, that there 10 cert
/. he faculty Of mind-6rst developed, q
len. would ssein, in colleges-which acc
isia plishes whatever il chooses without