Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-01-18
0blo Statesln1IloIaanlt, ma Il
THE STUDENTS COMPOSITION.

my heaG to prepare myself for a school
teacher, and with this aim repaired to
1.-THE small retired village of o., in the
State of Vermont, where there was an
academy for that purpose.
The preceptor was a kind hearted old
man, graduate from old Harvard, and
one who spared no pains in bestowing
knowledgea upon those who sought it at
his hands. s-igs-e ~ v-s.asi. .qgClzha :,
There were about forty young men in
the academy when 1 entered. most OF
whom were anxious to become peda-
gogues. s.ss .ss.s-f r,,ty-yqta
The room in which I was qnartered
contained two beds, and two sleepers
were appointed to each bed. zof =
/ Jack B., good-hearted and intelli-
nts,fsllow from Burlington, was my
mate, and Sam j. and Jerry p. occupied
the other bed. Jerry is our hero. % He
was simple minded genius, from. the
western part of Coos county, New
Hampshire, and the end and aim of his
ambition was to become a. "schoolmas-
ter" but the aspiring youth had sadly
mistaken his mental abilities. He
could pace off an acre of land much
more correctly than he could measure an
angle, and he could distinguish the differ
ence between bow and yoke more
readily than he could tell an arc, from, a
sine. He managed the noun proper, and
by dint of considerable exertion he man
aged to- distinguish the verb from the
participle.s ait ,y.anos pa.-7a .ZoT3Elz,al 81
One Saturday afternoon our preceptor
gave out the subject for a composition to-
be written by each of his scholars and
read on the next Saturday. 1t was to
be in the form of an address to Modern
Greece .siiqs 5stids El--tigA g-EGSHA9
Bright and early on the following
week we commenced scratching together
ideas for the composition. and by Mon
day evening some of US had sketched
down the proposed heads. Tuesday
morning, as soon as he had done break
fast, Jack went up to our room, and
there found Jerry in the act of ransack 4
ing Sans portfolio. What are you up
to Jerry 2" asked Jack 81 sso.tS iss
f"1'll tell ye," returned Jerry, with
admirable self composure. II was Jest
going Lto0 look Sat Sans composition,
cause was afeard at might git mine
jes like his'n, an don't want to do that,
yer know. aini , "a .ai4s' ESQ ii 3as7
"Of course not" said Jack .s. 2i
When Jack came down he informed
us of what Jerry was up to. We knew
that he would steal our thoughts and
apply item as his own. if he could get
at them, and we determined to punish
him for his plagiaristic curiosity. A
plan was concoeted among us, and We
had no doubt he would fall into the
trap. ~, ,,e,.,..,8 ~,
a" Jack" said, Sam, as we were all in
ouraroom on the nextevening, "havs you
begun your composition yet 2''' 5.;, Z ., : ia
:" Yes" q! ,-5'i ~ ;ossi5ss ~ -
Let's hear part Of it."'' & ..l = q;
i9' You'll steal it." rs .9 91sias92 . e,assI
s" No we WON'T" returned Sam and
myself + 5.7 z',5 =; n + ,'..sa'a5 ys Ss ~ 90
"a" Won't you, Jerry q" s5aaa s,s
s" No, / swar / won't" uttered Jerry,
with an uncommon degree of earnest
ness. 4 50N I0As03
"Well, boys" said Jack, as he took
a piece Of paper from his pocket, "I
haven 7 got it finished yet, and I may
alter this some when I copy it off; but
I think it is good, what there is Of it."
And thus speaking, the wag spread
himself, and in q serio-comic tone, pre-
tending-to read from the paper he held,
he commenced: :TLg s5rt . -
"My Grecians! : You have country
vast and unhounded territory unsee-
able. Why should you rest like huge
cod upon your knives, while the ancient
Patagonians are ravaging your country
like the mosquitoes of the Dismal
SWamp.sE@ E2DEEH EzTlEG@ eR .sBFl
And thus Jack went on for about five
minutes, Sam and myself. holding our
sides. and Jerry gaping in absorbed
wonder at the grandiloquent language
he heard ura .rrz z-vETl
"There, now, what do you think of
that :" cried Jack, as he closed.
! 'sCapitalp - uttered Sam. sSge y %gl
." Gocd!" echoed I. - u @2l
"Pooty good; but nothing e1traordi-
nary" responded Jerry, with self
gratulatory chuckle.
st1t's,better than you can write, at anyI
rate," retorted Jack, pretending to be
highly indignant at the slur that was
thus cast upon the result of his literary
labors. ...-.s,,s - - 80 .,'...e
Il don't know about, that" replied
Jerrya0I09 elL& .aZ1TFiAa I4aaoH
Well, we'll see" "ssla'Ts mLH0l1
Next morning Jerry was busy with
his pen, and we could see that his coun-
tenance was lighted up with an immense
enthusiasm. On the following evening
we each, with the exception, of j Terry,
pretended to recite such parts of our
composition as we had prepared, and we
could not fail to see that the ambitious
student received all we said to be the
genuine gospel.
"Mr. Grecians !" exclaimed Sam,
why should you let the polluting foot
Of Ethiopia s tyrannical exiles crush
your vast State-houses into the dust p
First rate ''.1yelled Jack. "Egad,
that's a point worth making 'Ethiopia's
tyrannical exiles' is good ~ -, : ~ -
Like sentences were eloquently pro-
nounced, and like remarks were made,
and when we retired to rest that night,
we felt assured that Jerry had got his
cue. oi .s7 sd' sb9 = .sss. 5tlep 4; ai ri
/ Saturday at length came, and quite a
number Of visitors were present to hear
the exercises. Fortunately it happened
that Jerry was called upon to read his
production before either of us three.
Several of the younger scholars had read
theirs to good acceptance, and in turn.
our hero was called up. 9 05A .oH 4
"WellsJerry, have you prepared any
thing2" asked the teacher who rather 1
doubted Jerry's ability so to do. -
Eyes, SIR" answered Jerry. as he start