Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1869-01-28
New Series-Vol. 9, No. /.


learn, but what We retain. 1t is nc
what people eat, but what they diges
| that makes them strong 1t is not tn
amount of money they handle, bu
what they sdre. that makes them rich
1t is no. what they read or study, bu
what they remember, that makes then
learned. And Memory, too, is one 4
those wondrous gifts of God to man tina
should be assiduSusly cultivated. Niue
of your mental acquisitions will form
secret fund, locked 9p even from you
own eyes till you need to bring it to use
Il MYSTERY, that no philosopher has ye
been, or ever will he, able to explain
There il lies hidden, weeks, months
years and scores OF years. till msyhap
half century afterw ara it bursts whel
needed, at Memory's command, upol
the mind like hidden spring bubblin:
up at the very hour of need in the path
way of the thirsty traveller.
While | have cOunseled Self-reliauce
and would go further and urge you t.
labor to deserve the good opinion ofyoul
fellow men, i do not counsel that long
ing for fame which is so much NOR,
largely developed under our free repub-
lie than in any other realm upon thu
globe. Lord Mansfield once uttered y
advice, what history teaches US he shoulC
have declared as an axiom, that tha
popularity is alone valuable and enduI
ing which follows you, not that whitl
you run after. 1t was Sumner AIineolg
Fairfield who wrote: 3
Fame! It's the madness of contendins thought
Tolling in tears, aspiring in despair;
Which steals like love s delirium c, er the brain
And, while il burnes chiidhood's purestjoy
Wakes manhood's dreary agonies into life"
Far be it from me to counsel longings
for such fame as this. .'Toiling il
tears, aspiring in dispair, is but poo,
preparation IOr the enjoyment of popu
lar honors or the performance of public
trust. 1t is to climb, young men, with
buoyant heart, the Hill of knowledge.
1t is to boldly scale the Alps and Ap
pennies which ever rear themselves in
your pathway. 1t is 10 feel your sinews
as they will, with every Oh
stacle you surmount. 1t Is to build yOur-
self, develseing mental strength, untir-
ing patriotism and earnest pri cipl' ,
until the public shall feel that you ar,
the man they need, and that they must
you into the public service
And If, perchance, that call should not
happen tocome, end you should be torced
to remain an American sovereign in
stead of becoming public servant, you
shall Lave your reward in the rich stores
Of knowledge you have thus collected.
and which shall ever be at your com
mand. More valuable than earthly
fleets may sink, and
consume, and the banks
may totter, riches fiee-the intellectual
investme nts you have thus made will be
permanent and enduring, unfailing a.
the constant flow of Niagara or Amazon;
4 bank who's dividends are perpetual.
whose wealth is undiminished, however
frequent the drafts upon it, which.
though moth may impare, yet which
hieves cannot break through nor steal.
Nor will you be able to fill these store
louses to their full. Pour intoa glass a
stream of water, and at last il fills to the
Jrim and will not hold another drop
But you may pour into your mind
through whole lifetime, streams of
If knowledge from every conceivable
ull, but it will constantly thirst for
nore, and welcome each fresh supply
With greater joy. Nay, more. To all
Iround you may impart of these glad
Iening streams which havo so fertiiized
our own mind and yet, like the candle,
rom which thousand otter candles
nay be lit, without diminishing its
lame, your own supply shall not be i'm
'aired. On the contrary, your knOwl-
dye, as you add to it, will itself attract
till more as it widens your realm of
hOught and thus will you realize in
our own life the parable of the Ten
'alents, for Ito him that hath shall be
iven.
l cannot pass by in silence another
so necessary for worthy
seful, honored life. 1t is that moral
ourage which. sustains those who stand
'ankly, fearlessly, infieXibly for what
heir conscience tells them is the right
'Or PopuE has ! OF always been Vor Del,
nd when 1t requires Oh you what duty to
ourself or your country Iurbids you 10
erform, it is Vor DidboH. From the
raves of the fathers OF our land come
he words both of instruction and eX-
mple-teaching us rather to imitaie, as
ley did, the fearelessness IF Paul when |!
t stood, proudly and alone. before Felix, !
lan the craven cOwardice of PLATE when |
e shruhk from what he confessed to be 1
is duty before blind and infuriated |
Ipulace. Truth may have as in the
den time, but IL single wor>hipper,
hile Baal had his thousands of priests. |
nd the man who stands fearlessly for
le l light amid the devotees of wrong;
no wars, slngle-handed if need be,
sainst tyranny or treason where Evil
I'D Injustice have their legions of min
MS; who loves the good and follows in
) ways because it is the right, and
chews error and wickedness, however
.sy and profitable may be its service;
no calmly and confidently looks to the
ture for his vindication; and who, like
hristiau in that sacred Had, the "Pil-
inns Progress, presses forward ia the
urney of life with steady and fearless
ep, regardless of Apollyon, of Vanity
air, or even the grant Despair-that
an, whether in palace or cottage, under
republican or despotic flag, the most
armed or the most illiterate ofhis land,
the true moral victor on the battle
I'D of Life. He shall have his reward;
r in that land where the streets are
Id, and the gates are pearl, and the
alls are jasper aud sapphire, his stars
victory shall shine brighter and
lighter; while the laurels of scepter
i'd of crown, of Office and offame, shall
ither into the dust and ashes out of
hich they were formed.
how IOrclDly were all IneSe uuIieS I'M
inted on my mind whilst listning,
me years since, to a lecture for young
en- from the twice-repeated proverb of
'lomon, There is way which SEEM
b right unto man, but the end there
are the ways of Death!" And as
ese ways were pointed out, was re-
inded of one of the precepts of that
linent philosopher, Pythagoras, who,
ough born In Samos nearly six hun
ed years before the Christian era, con-
rted by his teachings a wicked and
rrupt nation to sohriety, virtue and
lgality and whosequaint simile seemed ;
be based upon that very incubation
the Old Testament. 1t was, IRE
amber that the paths of virtue and of
ce resemble the letter Y" Starting :
the same point, the roads diverge to ;
e right and the left. 1t was Persius, |