The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1871-05-25

just such men.
gladly embrace this opportunity of re-
commenting our University to the people
of our land.
/ am happy to say TO our young men.
that after four years association with the
faculty of this institution. l can cordially
point TO them, as men whose intellect and
influence will expand their minds. elevate
their views. purity their natures, and lead
them to a noble manhood. These remarks
on education-preparation for life's career
| will close bv insisting that the true way
to make men noble and useful Is TO prepare
them thoroughly to what they are 10 be.
The more perfect men become in their
own spheres, the more important do they
consider all truths. and the more do they
honor aud sympathiZe with men of other
professions Communion of heart and soul.
feelings of sympathy and friendship should
exist between members OF the Inherent
professions-they need each others sup
port in the wide battlefield of life; they
all labor for the same great end; let them
sometimes strike hands as brothers, as they
are toiling on. struggling on, often, per-
haps, in mental agony, longing for friend
ly grasp of the HAND, an hour for the mu-
tual interchange of congenial souls. which
is like an oasis in life's desert. Make men
thorough in their pursuits and this SYM
pathy will not be wanting. Tn Will rise
above the storm clouds of passion others
in the clear regions of light and truth ;
mountain range, that reach up TO the thin
regions of eternal snow, where clouds
never come, where the sun-beams gid, but
never warm, whose glacier crowned brOws
are never darkened by angry clouds; the
hills beneath may be wrapped In tempests
and secluded from each others view; but
the white SUBMITS smile and converse to-
gether, whether the thunder-bolt rives the
huge rock on their breasts. or the sun
beams kiss the blue-eyed violets on their
sides.
The third important consideration, young
gentlemen, for true man, IS TO entertain
proper. worthy views of life and man. A
mans views are the induces of his nature.
Wrong thoughts make wrong men; he
alone can be esteemed who values things
according to their real worth and merits.
Feelings of lofty independence are often
lacking in young men many OF them nave
a tendency to rest on their fathers achiev-
ments, to repose in the shade of their
greatness. When the acorn springs up be-
meath the giant oaks spreading branches,
the shade of the parent tree DESTROYS Its
Yigor and renders it puuy dwarf; so
Young men who rest in the shade of their
fathers fame become useless to the world.
When tie winds of heaven bear the seeds of
the oak from beneath its shade, the young
tree fiourishes in the SUMS genial rays and
is strengthened by the storms that rock it
to and fro on the bosom of mother earth !;
the world depending on their own merits
acquire a spirit of lofty Independence that
will carry them to the highest places of
honor and usefulness.
In the most thrilling strains of eloquence
have YOU been melted to cherish a noble
by the distinguished orator. who
as the representative of our beloved old
Phi Sigma last addressed you. Among the
many lofty sentiments with when he in
spired us when he made that memorable
appeal TO thine ownself be true" you
doubtless remember his sOul-stirring out
burst when recalling the words of Wolsey
to Cromwell, Il charge thee fling away am
bition." he exclaimed in burning words.
Fling not away ambition, but if it is pure,
fan its flame till it lick the stars" Aye,
and | would add not only ''tili 1t lick the
stars" but fit be holy. generous flame let
it pierce through the skies. let it ascend TO
the very heaven of heavens and mingle
with the bright scintillations from the
throne of God!
Enter life with the determination of do
ing noble deeds, and never renounce your
firm resolve however high the waves may
roll,
But lift thy head and breathe eternal air,
The only hopes forever doomed TO know
A false event, are those that aim too low"
Keep burning in your breasts the fires of
youthful enthusiasm: those men who have
been the browning glory of our race often
their youth, by drinking the nectar
of high hope, bathing themselves i'm the
sunlight of life's poetry, and warming
themselves at the glowing fires of young
are the men who truly
feel that "Earnestness alone makes life
Eternally."
There are men whose thoughts, looks, and
words wrap the sky in GOODNESS. wither the
summer glorie from thes brightest scenes,
stifle the strains that come to the soul from
weetmouthed Apollo's golden lyre-they
see nothing but clay-images where others
in rapt fancy dream OF gods, nymphs and
graces. They have contempt for poets
and enthusiasm and the Poetry of Life they
have never read.
We learn from our classics that when the
MUSES. first sang the rivers all stopped flow
ing, the stars all stood still, Mount Helicon
began to rise and kept rising toward the
sky until Pegasus stamped his foot upon its
brow and caused it to cease. This cOnsid-
er an emblem of the poets magic power
To him it is given to "open new fountains
in the human heart The gods in their tenn
pie on Olympus always had the poet pres
ent to delight them with the lute's happy
magic; he sat with them in their sublime
councils, he decks the earth like temple ;
the humblest hut
4" He can charm to a heaven and illume with
god"
Homer tells us that Vulcan pictured on the
shield of Achilles the earth. seas aud skies
the poets mind, like that shield, reflects the
beautiful realms of nature and truth; every
mind contains within itself the universe in
all its glory, but only the poet can image it
forth. The rocd-born waters high upon
Mount HelicCn came down to the wander
er on its slopes, but he knows not whence
they come; so
. From their high mysterious fouuts along
on ri ha ~
song"
Many do not know their indebtedness to
poets and artists: the philosopher owes ma
ny of his discoveries to them. The child's
spirit, the longing for the better, the love OF
the wonderful and beautiful lead men up
ward as well as the useful.
What hut the poet spirit led to the discov-
cry of those sublime laws by Newton and
Kepler that govern our world? Did time
permit, | might adduce many examples to
prove that the useful and practical are
reached through the poets enthusiasm, The
philosopher makes his grand discoveries
when he becomes the poet, and feels the
ehild's holy longing for the truth then lei
not cold, sneering Ignorance lower your
views OF hfe's poetry, and truths holy earn
estness?
Wrong views generally result from ig-
norance. We are told that artisans were a
long time employed in carving the Tyre OF
Amphion with which he Afterwards SC
charmed the stones that of their own ac-
cord they arose and arrayed themselves as
mighty wall around the city of Thebes.-
Had they known the service Amphion was
to render them with his Tyre, would they not
have taken great delight in carving it And
if men who enjoy educational advantages
would cease to be drones-if they were
true men of thought and action, our people
would see the practical Importance of liter
airy institutions, and gladly give them more
support. Then, my young countrymen, do
not view your indication as a mere orna-
ment, but dispense its blessings around you
The object of training is to learn men to
think properly, TO create within them q
love of truth for its own divine majesty,
and a longing to share with others the rapi
pleasure of learning and wisdom.
Educated men do not always have that
sympathy for mankind which they ought to
cherish.