The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1881-12-17

that with little practice, il was a.
easy rs turning over: and so It is, when
you know how. He would set no rules
for composition, being impressed with
the Platonic idea that rhetoric consists
in ruling the minds of men and that
this art cannot be learned from text
books. Whenever the BOYS complained
OF the difficulty thev experienced in
evolving their ideas, he would say:
"Do not be in haste to accomplish
great deal at the outset. Study hard
and practice constantly. Be easy.
natural and wide-awake Never imi-
tate, except so far as il NAV be neces-
sarv to form your taste. Read good
books-nay, the best books-and trust
your instinct TO the end"
Most boys fail in their early projects
because their ambition ousruns their
energy. Orr youth should not forget
that they are BOYS and girls, and that
great things will not be required of
them until their powers have matured.
Study nature; be easy and unafect-
ed; never spread your wings until YOU
have learned to walk with a firm step
on the ground. One aim should be
kept steadily in view: DO the best you
can. What is failure TO mind disci-
! plined in the higher uses Of its talents?
1t is but a whip that spurs it on to re-
newed effort. Our early failures give
us hints of success
| Oftentimes. when writing a note, we
say, alphabetically: I'm great haste"
/ This is fair excuse for one who las
| few intervals of leisure. But it will not
avail rs an apology for the shortcom-
/ ings Of a work which is supposed 20 en-
/ gage our best talents, and which invites
criticism. Nothing great was ever ac-
complishcd in haste.
Agatharius, an Athenian painter,
1 valued himself upon the celebrity and
ease with which he executed his work.
/ Whereupon, XeuXis. the greater artist,
remarked to him:
"lf boast, it shall be of the slow
ness with which | finish mine"
Once get the notion out of your head
that there is an easy path to fame and
fortune, and you may soon boast of
wisdom greater than that Of the school
room.
Some BOYS with large natural endow,
ments are the envy of their favored
companions. And yet many lad
Lupus llhC IL ulu pNll W oCtbSOils anu ONOS
his bright appearance without to imper-
fections within.
| do not know whether or not to mar
vel at the genius of these people the
more. from the fact that Mozart and
Beethoven composed music in their in
fancy, Goldoni wrote u comedy before
his eighth birthday, Chatterton lisped
in numbers, and John Stuart Mill read
Greek at the age of four Inspiration
of this sort does not seize all young
people alike, and as few minds expand
under dollhouse influences, we need not
regret the fact.
Jean Paul Richter likens a melan-
choly child, with an old head on its
young shoulders, to butterfly without
wings, or Cupid in a Dutch Coffin.
There is often more push in a dull boy
than in prodigy who "shows OFF, to
admiring audiences, and is pampered
and spoiled Let no dull boy despair,
if he studies hard and yet fails to take
prize or reach the head of his class.
Labor said Tom Moore, els the
parent of all the lasting monuments of
this world. whether in verse or stone,
in poetry or in pyramids"
Many ounces in the schOol-room, Ike
Goldsmith and Scott, have won the
prizes later in life - Golden Days.