The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-11-01
Strong Bows.

What boy has not felt bis heart grow
big with a nobler ambition, while read
ing the exploits of some youthful hero ?
How we long to be in his place, to
rescue the weak, to punish the wicked,
and to do and to dare. When at the end
of the story our hero overcomes all
obstacles, and stands forth crowned with
honor and success, our admiration knows
no bounds. In our mind's-eye we see a
tall, broad-shouldered, deep-chested lad
for so the author has painted him
with head erect, modest air, and calm
expression of conscious power. From that
moment we strive to be like him we feel
that we have grown an inch in height
our feet take frmer hold of the ground
our shoulders are thrown back, and our
lungs are more fully inflated.
Who, [ say, has not felt the influence
of Hughes, Elijah Kellogg's and Feni-
more Cooper's boy heroes? But did you
ever hear or read of one that was pale
and sickly, whose body was weak and
puny, and in whose limbs was no strength
and vigor? Wouldn't such hero have
made you blush for his pretensions ?
Yes, my lads, the heroes that you and
have read about, can run faster, Jump
further, and strike harder than any OF
their companions. Indeed, it is the
ability to surpass others in every effort
at we'll doing that makes hero. We
care not how trivial the boys goal may
be, compared with that for which men
strive. If in order to win we must first
learn to know and master ourselves to
restrain our appetites and govern our
passions, if we are required to put forth
our strength in oft-repeated, well-sus-
tanned endeavors, the power gained from
practice is ours, and in later years we
can apply it to nobler and grander pur-
poses.
But some of you may say the youthful
heroes we read about are not real they
are made up in the minds of the authors,
and only live in fiction. Tell us of some
strong boys that we know about, some
that really lived on earth and grew to be
men Of note. Well, my lads, history is
filled with them, and not few great
athletic feats and physical exploits are
credited to boys who afterward became
famous men.
To begin with the ancients: "Chry-
sippus and Cleanthes, the famous phil
osophers, were victorious athletes. " "The
profound and eloquent Plato appeared
among the wrestlers in the Isthmian and
Pythian games. The meditative Pyth-
agoras and his pupil Eurymones gained
athletic prizes at Ellis. Goethe took a
wild delight in all sorts of physical ex-
ercises. He was great swimmer, an
expert skater, and good rider. Walter
Scott though lame was a strong and
healthy boy che could spear salmon
with the best fisher on the Tweed, and
ride wild horse with any hunter in
Yarrow." He was sturdy as a plough
man, long winded as pedestrian, and
brave and daring as the heroes he has
immortalized in his novels and poems.
Who shall say that the wonderful endur-
ance lie displayed in his literary pur-
suits was not the outcome of his physical
training in boyhood2 Wordsworth, too,
was great pedestrian even in his youth.
He rambled through woods, climbed
mountains, and waded streams unaccom-
panied In latter years he accustomed
himself to think and write while walking
in his garden. His vivid descriptions Of
nature may be largely attributed to the
the secrets be learned from her during
his long tramps and summer rambles.
Byron, though lame like Scott, was a
good boxer and great swimmer. His
feat Of swimming the Hellespont Ia dis
J lance of two thousand one hundred and