Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1877-08-04

lows dW3hcus III Jul DOSolno ShiNeioHS
of the sweetest and purest nature. Not
alone on account of the inward satistac-
ton, which is ever attendant upon sue
cess, but because by the successful ef-
fort of mind, results have been reached
which tighten and ameliorate the condi-
tion of our fellow, who too often torgets
that all the appliances by which his la
Dor is utilized, by which its productive
power is increased an hundred fold, IS
the result of severe and constant mental
effort-that result by which nature and
the properties of natural agencies are
made subservient to the will of man,
and by which the wind and waves do
his bidding and work for his advantage.
And as the days OF youth and middle
age pass away, when, from the weight
of years, the body has grown weak and
the sight too dim to reveal the beauty
and thought which Eliminates the pa
ges of favorite authors, then the culti-
waited mind will delight-in the pleasures
of memory and of imaginations and it
will reyel among its accumulated treas
ures communing with the poets, the sa-
ges and benefactors of the past.
TO the scholar, not only are the pic
lures painted upon the canvass OF mem
ory more numerous and elevating, but
they are more lasting and vivid and
surrounded by them, though friends
may depart and the world grow cold he
may still, experience much of its rarest
pleasure. Again, it is also the privil-
eye of the scholar to enjoy all the ad-
yautages and pleasures which flow
through the avenues of classical learn
ing.
TO what ever pursuit you may devote
your time and talents, you will be bet
ter qualihed to adorn your position and
to enjoy its fruits if you carry to that
position mind enriched by classical
requirements.
In acquiring or inparting knowledge,
it is indispensable that the laws OF
language and the application of words
should be clearly comprehended and 1t
is maintained by scholars that the prin-
ciples which govern human speech can
not be understood without an acquain-
tance with languages other than our
own, it is also conceded that IN the
Greek and Latin classics we find lam
guages which give expression to human
thought in the most concise and per-
feet manner so short and direcu, that
they find lodgment in our memory
and become the maxims Of our daily
speech and the terms of science; the
formulae of the learned professions all
borrow their aptest and most familiar
terms from the idioms of the Greek and
Latin. 1t is in the study of classic
Literature that we are brought IN con-
tact with the proudest monuments OF
Grecian and Roman genius; it is here
that history and poetry and eloquence
find their noblest models, the patriot
and citizen his brightest examples, phil
osophy, her most profound teacher, virtue
and beauty their most devoted worship
ers, and our own language the original
tongue from which many OF its most
expressive and eloquent words are de-
rived; and my friends this field lies open
to you, and invites you to enter and
Gull its sweetest flowers, which in youth
will prove a never fading ornament and
in declining years will cast fragrance
around your path.
And it is not only to the fields of the
ancient classics, that the scholar is in
vited, but he may equally enjoy the rich
and inviting streams which ever flow
from the fountains of the English class
les, for here he finds his own language
the vehicle by which the thought of
many of the master minds of our race is
transmitted, here many of the most
eloquent productions that are known in
any language, much of the sweetest
poetry that has ever thrilled the human
heart, and philosophy no less profound
than that of Plato; here the masters of
composition in his own language are his
companions and preceptors; an intimate
acquaintance with whose writings in
creases his power adds lustre TO his
name and deeds and renders him more
permanently useful; he catches here the
inspiration of the eloquence of Macauley,
and the mastery power and beauty OF
Edmund Burke, he. .revels amid the tide
of fine sentiment and beauty which ever
flow from the pen of Shakespeare and
Milton, and illuminate the pages OF their
works, while by the purity of diction
and elegance Of taste and style display
ed in the works of Addison aud John
son, and the sweet verses of Goldsmith,
Scott and Young the mind is elevated
and receives its best preparation for
what ever effort it may be called upon
to make.
Consider again, the povsr welded by
the scholar and thus the fruits of schol-
arship. Go forth into the world-see
your race struggling, some for honor,
some for wealth, some for daily bread,
and few to alleviate the sufferings of
the unfortunate, and to bring the balm
in Gilead to the wounded heart, and
whatever quarter of this broad globe or
what ever scene may engage your at
tention, whether your observation be
limited to the present or you pierce to
the remotest ages OF antiquity, you will
ever find, written in living letters, the
truth that "knowledge is power-you
will also find that those who have de-
voted their energies to Agricultural and
Mechanical pursuits, and who have car
ried to those pursuits, minds diciplined
to thought and stored with useful
knowledge, going forth with the axe