Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-06-19


Aganippe, sacred to Apollo and the
MUSES.. He who would be famous as a
warrior must invoke Athena, the god
dess of pure air, of pure and vigorous
thought and activity, he too must be an
enthusiast. No deyotee went to the
oracle empty handed. The presiding
deity must be appeased by votive offer.
ing. by costly and appropriate sacrifices
or favor must be gained through a rep
utation already acquired. No Greek
poet or warrior expected inspiration or
victory without labor, sacrifice and de-
votion. With Byron we may raise our
lementation-'' It's Greece but living
Greece no more" and with him too we
can most truthfully say:
While Kings in dusty darkness hid.
Have left nameless pyramid
my heroes, through the general doom
Hath swept the colamn from their tomb
mightler monument command
The mountains of their nature land.
There points thy muse to strangers eve.
The graves of those that cannot die -
Greek thought, Greek words, and
Greek mythology, incorpated into our
literature, from a monument beautiful
as. the grand language itself as lasting as
our own tongue. The myths of the
olden times have lost their literal signi.
ticance but they have been clothed with
import far more instructive than thew
originally possessed. The student Of
to-day, with the wealth of the world 5
mental acquisition challenging him to its
conquest, needs the inspiration of a poet
and the strength and endurance of a
warrior. AS the Greek youths were
taken in charge by the state, toughened
in body and trained in mind and spiri,
to,be of the best service in their country
defence, and in the upbuilding of its
fame in the forum or in the fight. SC
the youth of to-day and more espically
in this our land of free schools, is
rendered by the state every facility fol-
obtaining an education, which if proper
ly acquired and used in the right spirit
will fit him to be a valiant defender OF
the right and to be in sympathy with
every good cause. But to be thus pre-
pared for the work of life he must be
enthusiastic in his preparation. He
must drink deep draughts from the pur.
est stream breath deep breaths of purify
ing and strengthing air. The draft may
at first be tasteless or unpalatable but
he must drink deeper that is study more
faithfully; breathe deeper that is think
more closely and with well defined
knowledge enthusiasm will come.
The neurological poet who climbed the
rugged face Of Pamassus to drink OF
the sacred stream, is now embodied in
the student who diligently drinks from
the inexhaustable fountion of Know
ledge. The modern devotee of Athens
is not arrayed in the panoply of war
but goes forth to make conquests OF
peace, literally supplied with know
ledge thoroughly digested by close
thought. The divinities we invoke lend
ever willing ears to our cntreaties for
our genii have been given no name;
yet L doubt not that in your own minds
you have dubbed them in Anglo Saxon,
work and thought, and by these names
let us speak of them. There is no gen.
Jus ancient or modern that can compare
in power with the genius of hard thought
full work. 1t is you will observe a sort
of Castor and Pollux genius, each
being so necessary to the other that we
are likely to consider them as one rather
than two. Together they give character
to the true enthusiast one adaptedr to
these later times. The active or work
element of enthusiasm is an attribute
of youth; the thought element strength
ems and increases with years. The
enthusiast indeed is ever young; the ell
ement peculiar and inIpartlally grant
meried success. They are the presid-
ing deities of every successful enterprise
and if enlisted on our side in youth are
likely to remain with us through life.
They are somewhat prosaic; to many
they are far from attractive; some who
would be considered students have CO.
quetted with these dishes, iand have met
the fate of the coquette. that is failed
to win the heart and hand they had not
honestly loved. Others trusting to some
other genius,it may be to that of chance
or family name, or assumed independ-
ence of such aid, sometimes called
have flattered themselves
that success would come at their in
vitation without being solicited through
the proper channel, but the result has
served only to show their folly. But
thus to youth is constant through life,
the more subdued element alone is
valuable. Head and hand are enlisted
into the service; planning and perform
ing constitute the existence of the one
who is in earnest in any cause. Our
estimate of value will be shown by the
amount of brain and Drawn, mind and
muscle we are willing to give in the
exchange. The enthusiast is ready to
give for the success of his project, what
ever is necessary to secure it. Granted
that often an extravagant price is paid
for the acquisition, that only shows that
one of the elements in enthusiasm has
not kept pace with the other, that the
work element is in excess of the thought;
that the performing lover balances the
planning We plead for that enthus-
iasm in which thought and work keep
even pace.
We take it as granted that it is the
duty of every person to make the most
possible of himself. If this is not the
case he failed to read the Parable of the
talents Alright. Now, | think, it NAV
be safely stated. and that your own ex-
perience and observation will sustain
the statement, that no student does him
self justice who is not enthusiastic in
his school and its work And further
that the lines of thought that gave you
most delight and that yielded the most
profit were those in the following out
of which you were most enthusiastic
Your success has been in direct
proportion to your enthusiasm. Had
you lived in Ancient Athens or in Sparta
your successes would have been attribut-
ed to the favor of some genii whom
you had invoked and to whom YOU had
offered fitting sacrifice; your failures TO
the maignity of deites whom YOU had
sighted, or whose displeasure YOU had
unfortunately incurred. Stripped of its
NEUROLOGICAL dress, the studies to which
we honestly give our thought, those
to which we are devoted yield us the
comfortable feeling that we have come
into possession by the legitimate pro-
cesses of thought and work. We have
earned what we have and take Just
pride in the possession. What we sow
that shall we reap, Have youever tried
to account for prejudices against or
preferences for certain studies? While
the natural bent of the mind, probably
in some cases hereditary even may to
some extent account for likes and dis
likes in mental labor, it seems to me
that our own attitude in reference to the
study gives TO the mind its bias. In
short that we create our preiudices and
preferences. Where we withhold work
and thought a prejudice grows, where
we put honest work and thought pref
erence arises. An opposite opinion