Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1880-10-23
O OUNCES.

flSner AmeS entered Harvard al
the age of twelve and Edward Everett
at thirteen !; Bishop Heber translated
"Phedrus" into English at seven ;
AIDA Seward repeated from memory
the first three books of paradise
Lost" at nine; and Lord Brougham
wrote on philosophy at eighteen.
But all eminent men have not been
remarkable for early attainments.
Some of the grandest spirits that the
world has ever known-men whose
works and memory are enduring
were regarded in youth as Ounces.
They Powered late, but bore the
rarest fruit.
1t is somewhat discouraging for a
boy of moderate abilities, who aims
to do his best, to be told that others
accomplished in childhood what he
can do only by hard study in the best
years of his youth. But such a boy
should not relax his efforts. He will
succeed if he gives his heart and mind
to the work.
That distinguished teacher, DR..
Arnold Of Rugby, after speaking Of
those who z%ealously cultivate infer
Tor powers of mind, said of such a
pupil: 81 would stand to that mar
hat in hand." He ence spoke sharp
ly to a dull boy, who replied, "Why
do you speak angrily, sir? Indeed, L
am doing the best | cam"
DIR. Arnold said he never SO felt a
rebuke in his life.
Sir Isaac Newton was pronounced
a Ounce in his early school-dsys. He
stood low i'll his classes and seemed
to have no relish for study. One day
the Upright boy" of the school gave
him a kick in the stomach which
caused him severe PAIN. This insult
stung young Newton to the quick,
aad he resolved to make himself felt
and respected by improved scholar
ship. He applied himself resolutcly
to study, and + long stood in his
classes above the boy who mad kicked
him, and ultimately became the first
scholar in the school.
Newton owed his pre-eminence in
his philosophical studies more to
perseverance and application than to
any marvellous natural endowments.
Oliver Goldsmith, than whom no
boy could appear more stupid, was
the butt of ridicule. A school dame,
after wonderful patience and perse-
Verance, taught him the alphabet-a
thing which She deemed creditable to
her school, and which she lived to
mention with pride when her pupil
became famous. He made no pro-
gress i'll the exact studies, but liked
history and Latin poetry.
he was a sore trial to his ambitious
mother, who made many fruitless et-
forts to quicken his wits by her sharp
words.
His relatives, teachers aud school
mates all told him he was a fool,
which verdict he did not dispute, but
took spontaneously. Even when
hs had produced the Traveller" all
critic said TO a friend, '.SIr,
L do believe hat Goldsmith wrote
that poem ; and that, let me tell you,
ID believing q good deal"
Sir Walter Scott was a dull boy,
and when attending the university at
he vent by the name of
"the great b~lockhead." But he vast
ed no time on t%rifles; and in pursu-
ing a study that he loved-as, for ex-
ample, history or the classIcs-he was
perseverlng and methodlcal. He was
enc OF those whose knowledge on a
subject that interested him increased
until 1t lay like a great volume on his
mind. When Walter Scott began to
make use OF that knowledge society
gave him another name, somewhat
different from the Edinburg appella-
tion-it was 1.-THE great Magician"
Hutton, the antiquarian, whese
knowledge of books was deemed re-
markable, was slow to learn when a
boy. lie was sent TO school to a GER
tain Mr.. Meat. He thus tells his ex-
perience: "My master took occasion
beat my head against the wall,
holding 1t by the hair, but he could
never beat any learning into it,"
Sheridan found it hard to acquire
the elements of learning. His moth
sr deemed it her duty to.,lnform his
teacher that he was not bright 10
like other boys. Adam Clarke
Was pronounced by bis father to be a
Ounce" and DR.. Chalmers
was pronounced. by his teacher as all
''incorrigible" one. Chatterton was
dismissed from school by his master.
who, fnding himself unable to teach
him anything in a satisfactory man
ner, settled it that the boy was q
Teachers are apt to become inn
u SClOlSlS, dnu pIC-
dict of them that they will never
come to anything. Such uncalled-for
ought to discourage no
who tries to do well. A GER
tain Edinburgh professor once pro-
nounced upon a student this severe
opinion: "Dunce you are and Ounce
you will ever remain" That student
was Sir Walter Scott.
If a dull boy .cels an inspiration
within to know something
worthy i'll literature. science or art,
let him set his face as a flint owarG
his object ; let him be patient, hope
full and self-reliant, unmoved by
laughter, undiscouraged by evil
prophecies.
The man who digs a hundred feet into
ground for water gets q long we'll.