The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1872-04-12
Young Folks.
The King OF the World.

virtues and accomplishments which
could adorn prince. Therefore he re.
solved that his son should not be weak
ened by indulgence, nor spoiled by the
batteries of court; and to this end the
young prince was sent into q distant
province of the realm, where he might
breathe the fresh air from the noun.
tains, and draw from the soil the strong
and vigorous life of the peasant, while
he learned by daily contact the nature
OF the people whom he was to rule. For
the wise King knew that no boy can
become learned of mere instruction, nor
strong by the services of others,-that
he can have, in fact, ne real power but
what he acquires for himself; and he de.
sired that his son should be King not in
name only but in fact, by being stronger
and wiser than his subjects. AS King.
ship, therefore, was the trade to which
the boy was to be brought up, his good
father wished him to serve an appren.
ticeship at governing; and the province
which had been assigned him asa school
was also given him for Kingdom.
The royal charter was made out nearly
In these words: "IIave thou dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of the air, and over every living
thing that moveth upon the earth" Be-
sides these three classes of subjects were
thousands of well-trained servants, who
were also fitted to perform the office of
teachers but these were not mentioned
in the charter; indeed, they were to
remain out ofsight for the present, and
to serve the prince only so fast as he
learned the spell by which they could
be summoned, and complied with the
conditions which they were instructed
to impose. None of the comforts of a
royal palace were provided: the price
was to enjoy these whenever he should
learn to procure them for himself; mean
while, he slept on the ground and shar-
ed the common kindly gifts of Nature
with the poorest of his subject.
Three faithful servants, Eyes, Ears,
and Hands, stood very near him all the
time, and he probably knew the USE
fulness of these from the first; but the
rest he began to learn only after severe
course of instruction. And this is the
way his education began:
81 am hungry" said the prince.
"Will your Royal Highness be pleas
ed to gather some acorns?"
"But 1 shall be hungry tomorrow,
and the next day, and after the acorns
are gone."
perhaps your Royal Highness will
have the condescension to dig and plant
and reap" was the reply.
Certainly; but must dig with my
fingers ?n
until you can find something bet
ter; there is iron underground which
you may some time be able to COM
mand." But the last was spoken aside,
SO that the prince did not quite under
stand it.
Under the teaching of Necessity he
began to dig,aud ere long the bounteous
earth, which is as kind to princes as to
beggars' sons, rewarded him with a
golden harvest. He found, indeed, that
just beneath the surface of the soil were
millions oflittle Forcesall ready to sup
ply his wants; and the dropping of the
seed, followed by an occasional vista
tion of the hoe, by way of reminder,
was the only hint they needed of his
sovereign will.
The same stern tutor soon hipted to
his pupil that better dwelling might
be found than the dismal cave or hollow
trunk Of tree which had affo rded him
shelter. But what to build of?
"There is wood in the forest" said
Eyes; and the prince found that houses
for millions of men were all around him,
if only the shaping and planning tools
were applied.
BY this time he was growing WISER
perhaps prouder.
''This wigwam is no bode for king"
said he.
"There is stone in the quarries, ,"said
Eyes again.
True enough, there it was, glittering
granite, smooth sandstone, and white
marble; but how to take it out ? Hands
tried, but stronger hands were holding
ltdOWn to the earth and here the prince
made acquaintance with the great Giant
Gravitation, who appeared in those ear.
ly days somewhat like an enemy, but
proved, when better known, his firmest
friend and ally. To conquer this friend |
~ resistance of Gravation, another USE
ful servant was tound,-a simple crea-
ture called "Lever," but who had a
power of using and combining his forces
IN so great variety of ways that he did
almost all the work that the young
sovereign needed of mechanical kind.
Provided thus with food and a palace,
you might think our young monarch in |
a lair way to possess his kingdom; but |
this was hardly beginning. At first, |
ne knew not even enough to keep him. |
sell from becoming sick and though he |
Is considered much wiser to-day, it must |
be confessed that in this respect he is al. |
most as Ignorant as ever he was. Even |
sickness, however, proved teacher
Tor 1t forced him to search for the gifts
OF healing through all the borders of 3 |
realm. He found at length that under |
every leaf in the forest, in every fibre |
OF its bark, and at every. root, lurked |
some good spirit, that, if he could only |
learn its Charm, would heal some one of |
his pains.
It's true that these humble little ser. |
wants did infinite harm when they re. |
ceived the wrong direction but that |
surely was no fault of theirs. 1t was
only as heprince, their master, learned |
their spell, that he could command them
at all and so stupid scholar has he
been, that to this day he often reads the
spell backwards, and is served in a way
uSt ODDOSita IN that yUbfnh bo ,lo,i,.s |