The banner-enterprise., 1883-05-31
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come to know what each requires for
the furtherance of his individual in
terests-so does long experience in
any mental branch teach us what is
best for us and ours. AS no man can
live altogether for himself, neither
can he live for all men. The happy
mean is our grand object and aim.
10 he most useful in our day and
generation should be our ambition,
and the means of accomplishing this
end should be our constant study and
desire. Perfection belongs not to
human nature, but to excel our fell
lows in some one commendable pur-
suit is laudable ambition. This
saunot be done by desultory rambles
amidst the fields of science, Or art or
literature, nor in any of the learned
walks of lite-as man, to accom-
plish a journey gains the goal by
adding step to step, so must the
scholar be content with gradual ac-
cretions Of knowledge. "Ihere is no
royal road to learning" A lifetime
of study is necessary to place him
upon that pinnacle, whence, looking
down upon the toilers beneath, he
may be able to lend helping hand
to their ascent where
"Fame's proud temple shines afar."
In all recorded time the greatest
and most enduring achievements are
those which have been the almost
lifelong efforts of their authors.
Some men have written tons of books,
vet hardly one Of their volumiuous
works is read or known to-day
others have electrified the world with
gems Of thought destined to live
alway. Why this difference In
one case a fertile Imagination has
been INDUCED, in every wanton hight;
III the other, concentration on some
particular theme--careful pruning of
thought and word and sentence has
at last almost achieved perfection.
1t is said that Gray spent eleven years
in tie productson Of his "Elegy "a
poem that Gen. Wolfe chose rather
to have written than to capture. Que-
bee, lin whose fall he lost his life y
mopoIy, which fnds a sympathetic
echo il every human heart.
In the darkest hour of the Revo-
luton, when the Angel of Hope APP
peared ready to take her everlasting
light from our unhappy land, did
Washington despair? Nay, with un-
faltering devotion to the cause in
which he had embarked his life, he
wrestled with and conquered adverse
fate. Singlehess of purpose, indomi-
table perseverance, accomplished un-
der tod, as they always will, the
object to which all his euer sies and
ms life we're devoted,
The first Napoleon, at whose
dreaded name Europe paled and
whose cannon shook the Pyraulids,
died in exile at St. Helena. To-day
he seems almost a myth, and will be
remembered in history as a failure
his only object, self aggrandizement.
He had in view no plans for the
benefit of his age, his country or his
race; his ends were selfish and his
reward inevitable. 1t is one Of the
chief blessings Of singleness of pur
pose, devoted to good ends, that it
always brings its own reward
whether or not we tail in our honest
endeavor. 1t may not come amid the
plaudits of admirlng crowds, blush
ing honors may not fall thick upon
our brow, but still the reward is
sure in the knowledge that we have
striven to advance the welfare of our
race, and to be useful in our day and
generation. The souls of martyrs,
ascending in fire to heaven, have
been wrapped in purer, brighter
flame than that which consumed shelr
perishing bodies, and amid its radi-
ance they have beheld the unspeak-
able glories which rewarded tholr de.
yotion to truth and to God.
One of our wlsest poets has said
that "art is long and time is deet-
ing and it behooves US to waste
none of that precious gift in diIatory
schemes-it is our duty to choose nOlo
what we will do, and resolve to ad :
dress ourselves to its performance.
We cannot stand stIll--we must
either advance with the age In which
We live, or we must retrograde. To
every man is allotted something to
do, some part to perform on the
worlds great stage, and he cannot
shirk the inexorable decree. His in
luence for good or for evil is not cir
cumscribed by his individual lie, but
reaches far out into the lives of
others. The shade of one worthless
tree may blight many love ly flower;
the influence of one bad exanll 10 de-
stroy many precious souls lone good
man bless and redeem u lost cGmmu-
nifty. 1t is not given to every one to
be great, but let us thank God that
He has shown us how to be good ;
that while we may not be abe to
tlectrify audiences with eloquent dis
courses, nor to charm the reader with
graceful diction, nor bless the world
with geeat humanitarian schemes, we
can yet, in our humber callings, use
our influence for good to such as
come within the sphere of our use
fulness. Oar usefulness. This, my
friends, should be our aim--esch in
his own special way, and according
to his ability, striving to be useful
member of society: So living, that