Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-07-29

100 unsettled, nIIul, variable, Wnlle
to attain i'll the bright and ex-
pressiye sense in which that word is TO be
taken demands an earnestness which
counts on no REIMBURSEMENT, a persist
! ence which grasps the end from the be-
ginning, and RENTS no eXertiOn and con-
siders no cost of pains or effort too great
to bestOw that it may reach the JOY of
achievement and shun the blighting
curse of failure.
In my opinion there is far too much of
mere wishing instead of earnest striving,
too much of Idle dreaming instead of
noble, straightforward labOring and
patient, enduring, conquering toll.
Why is it that results are so vastly
different OF seemingly such small differ
ences of causes? 1t is because in every
thing that concerns the mind and soul,
the elements are vitalized and reproduce
tive, and necessarily there is
either an Unreasonable growth
or an incessant deterioration.
This condition seems TO me fitly
and Impressively illustrated as geomet-
rical progression. We can see the won
derful growth as exhibited III figures by
the instance of the inventor of the
game of chess. On the invention
being presented to the sovereign he waaa
could offer the inventor. The latter
modestly replied that he would only ask
grain of wheat for the
first square of the chess
board and that it be doubled
at each successive square of the sixty
four. This does not seem much. 1t be-
gins small and increases slowly; yet you
may raise the ratio, two, to the sixty
fourth power and you have number
that, multiplied by a single grain of
wheat, will give a quantity sufficient to
load 80 900 vessels of the tonnage of the
Great Eastern, and exceeding, prob
ably the combined harvests of
the world. 1t is hard for you to
realize these figures. You can make the
calculation and see. Well, just in like
manner, | conceive is the surprising and
marvellous growth of mind, and the up
building of good results in any way that
are to satisfy and reward the natural
hopes and just desires of life. eur natural
capabilities are susceptible of this almost
infinite growth and expansion but they do
not thus develop spontaneously. There is
one, and but one, possible way to reach
this result. The irrevOcable decree of
Almighty God fixes the matter. These
innate powers of ours, these inherent
human soul, can be brought out
and strengthened and made effects
ivesolely by judiciOus exercise, by
dilligent use, by earnest application.
And that means work, it means the
''sweat of thy face. This is the
only way. By this means and
by no other our powers can be made to
grow and develop, like the increasing
geOmetrical series, till our capabilities
for achieving grand and useful results
may astonish our fellows. and lead them
to class rs as a natural born genius, but
we, if we ever attain that condition, will
know that it all grows out of talent for
work. And | desire to remark here that
any one may reverse this pro-
cess, may by inactivity or
abuse of his gifts convert his
successive mental status into a decreas-
ing geOmetTicaI series, which will ap-
proach zero as its natural and inevita-
bic limit, aud the raplditY of the de-
crease, as well as the final result, may
astonish him and his fellows; but it need
not. The process is easy. All in the
world one has to do is to quit work Then
it becomes practical per-
sonal matter with us to decide
which series, the increasing or the de-
creasing, our lives our powers, shall re-
semble The price of the one is work
patient, earnest, faithful, persistent
work. The other is free, costs no outlay
of effort. Teachers, make your choice,
and blame no one for results if you choose
unwisely. Now, l do not wish you TO
take this to be true simply in a vague and
general way. This is not said either,
to consume time, or as sort of
speculative dissertation on glittering
generalities. 1t is meant pointedly and
specifically for you teachers who have
assembled here to attend the Arlington
summer normal. If you will excuse
some hOmely illustrations, the pig that
eats the corn is the one that grows fat,
not the one that looks through the
cracks and sQueaIs; it is the horse
that goes often round the track
under the trainers whip that develops
the speed and endurance to win the
stakes, not the horse that frolics on the
green and sleeps in the shade. So the
teacher who takes in the mental pubulum
and digests and assimilates it is the one
whose powers will be fed and made to
grow. The teacher who takes part in
the work, who engages his faculties
in the different exercises, who uses
his powers, who works, is the teacher
who will realize the greatest amount Of
development and general improvem ent.
If you ever expect TO become good
teachers. if you desire to become impor-
tant factors i'll our great work, if you
wish to accomplish great good in your
chosen profession you must expect
to work. Begin now and keep
on adding and multiplying
not destroying or losing pre-
vious labors, but intelligently contihu- |
ing, clearly considering what TO dq.and /
how to do, honestly proposing and firmly
executing. D
Now, but one thought further end |
that by way of sort of advice 70 the |
younger teachers. 1t is this: Doznot bed
superficial in anything. Do not be so
anxious for the outward show and gain |
as for the inner Developments and ad- |
vancement of the real self. 1t is |
natural and usual to wish 1O.+
appear rather than to be, but the oppo- |
site Is the right thing. There must be |
growth, and growth is based on vital or |
ganizatiOn which must take up and as |
simulate material. Accration, the add
ing of something to the surface, is not |
growth. The great thing is to be some
thing; study and recognize that living |
is the aim of life. 1t is Il remark of an |