Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1872-01-25
Established December BHlf1 1860.

nothing beyond the extent and
metiss of his efforts, and thas With
aspiration there should be cor.
responding energy. But how
pleasant and easy it is in imagi.
nation to- mount the swift and
spirited Pegasus Of ambitiop, and
scar upward tethe, pinnacle, of, the
mountain of fame, where one Joins
/ the company Of the illustrious liv.
ing, and wanders amid the gtombs
of the great dead, and where he
| pauses for a moment and7t takes
view OF all creation! He sees with,
admiration the beautiful and fer
tile plains stretching from the At
lantie to- the p acifc, the great and
busy metropolis fof / the West
hemmed in blythe ocean and a
range Of snow capped mountains,
extending from British America
10 the Mexican borders, and the
grand ana ffourishihg metropolis
% the east, than which none Is
more prosperous; surrounded by a
thousand smaller cities, among,
whichsshe stands as the z':ey press,
among shrubs. ornets being cons
tented with this view, he can
cross the Atlantic, and, scan the.
vast empires from the Arctic,
ocean to ? The Mediterranean sea,
beyond it the sunny coasts of Lib
va, and lastly the immense Asiat,
ic world; aud, how happily, he
may imagine all these powers, do,.
minions and States trophies at his
feet. Imagination ia a bird 2 of
rapid and easy flight. but how
slow and heavy the stern realiss
ties that lie il Our path. Do not
paint your destiny in Imagination,
or disappointment will attend you
at every point-in your pathway in
life. The old traveller, when a..
bont-to start upon q long Journey, !
prepares himself for every cemer-
geney /; be fastens his sandalsupon,
his feet, ."'sirds. up his loins,%
marks out his course, fills his mind
with patience, hope and determi-
nation, and carries within him
'heart for every fate.' The end
of this man is prosperity and
greatness. Life is a theatre in
which each of us must play q part,
and in entering upon its stage we
should be. prepared to play that
part well. r-@' go ~,
All this reminds US of many
shining and iHustrious examples
in modern and ancient history
that bespeak fully our subject. A
mong them You see every charac-
ter of greatness that of the war
rior, statesman, orator, poet his.
torian and philosopher laa Alexan:
der the Great, when buta youth,
and being told by his precspter
that there were, innumerable
worlds, exclaimed o;bow bunfortrs
nate and miserable he was that
he did not possess one Of them.
This exclamation feretold the destt
ny Of this man, who in after.years
became the conqueror OF the
world. Init he showed his un-
bounded ambition, his invincible
will and determination, to make
for himself5a a famous destiny as q
warrior, conquerer and ruler. AS
there are various means of rem.
dering ones self great, be chose
the sword as the most. available
means of accomplishing his pur-
pose. He founed nothing in hp-
man possibility be wohldihot) uh-
dertake, nothing too difficult to
be accomplish He Succeeded.
But we must hurry on, and we
have only time to glance at The
examples of history, As war
riofs, we refer you to Hannibal,
Scipio, Caesar Napoleon Wash
ington, lRobGsE. Lee and Joseph
E. johnson as statesmen, to- aLy''
curgus, -Solon, Cato the Censor,
Peterthe Great, Pitt, Fox, Adams,
Jefferson, Madison, Clay and hum
dred of others; as orators, Ito
Pericles, Demosthepess Cicero. Ca-
ssF,i Phillips, Webster and Ever
EFT, as poets,, to Homer, Virgil,
Milton, Shakspeare and number
less others; as historians, TO Hero.
dotus, Xenophon, Livy, Rollin,
Hume, Gibbon, Prescott and Ban
croft; as philosophers, to- Plato,
Aristotle, Spinoza, l Leibnitz,
Locke, Newton and Franklin.
But there are thousands Of brill
liant landmarks both in ancient
and modern times by which you
can be guided in the performance
of your destiny. Z. They shed their
radiance upon the world, and
show mankind what great and
miraculous things can be done in
this lite. They demonstrate that
disappointment and dependency
are ruthless oompanions--such as