The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1894-06-20

prison, and by his unaided efforts, a
quires 8 mastery of the English lal
guase, in order that he may tell
that tongue the melancholy story
his unhappy country.
The man who awoke one mornin
to find himself famous, is the mar
you may depend upon it, who We
doing something on the preceding day
The man who moves onward to assure
success, is he who holds mis- course wit
a sure foot, and steady hand, and clea
eye. The man who revolutlonizes
thought or system OF thinking, is tn
man who finds a work to be done, an
does it; who hears a voice calling an
answers it; who sees a hand beckon
ing, and follows it. Charles Lamb b says
rather extFavagantly, that tColeridg
commanded thirty Thousand treatise
! but never finished one. The hun
ter who sets out. to stalk dee
must not stop by the wayside to shoe
sparrows, or even to gather flowers
A distinguished artist exhibited l
painting of the Last Supper An en-
thusiastic beholder exclaimed, "Wha
q beautiful cupw The indignant artis
dashed his paint brush across the cup
In that picture, beautiful cups mus
not divert the mind or the eye frou
the great central figure. -
But we need not pause longer t.
discuss this thought. 1t is one Of tht
truisms that the world has put. aside
as needing no further discussion.:, HI
who would accomplish any great aim
must have the quality that enable:
men to stick. You may call it grit, ol
pluck, or tenaclty, or perseverance,, ol
steadfastness; it is all one. And We
have the essence Of the truth in the
vulgar maxim: "Brag is good dog
but Hoidfast is a better"
The important thought, to which
have been leading you. the question
that wish to press home upon your
consciences, and I trust that [ have
your atteD Dtion, is,
WHAT is THE MAIN PURPOSE OF LIFE:
Is it the acquisition of knowledge?
Not one Of you thinks so, though you
are here in pursuit of knowledge. On
the contrary, every one of you feels
that q college education, Is important
not as an end, but as a means. You
realize that knowledge is desirable be-
cause it is a power for the accomplish
ment of ends that are unastainable
without it. 80
Is the chief aim, as the insidious Iago
expresses it, te ''put money in thy
purse?" ~
knowledge is often sought because it
contributes to the accumulation of
money. But money, like knowledge,
is merely q power. It gives one the
power to accomplish great good, or to
work great ruin. Money, like, know
ledge, is utterly without conscience.
The dollar that was on the dicers' table
last night, may be in the coutribu-
ton box to-day. It is terribly incon-
venient to get on without money.
But when you speak Of knowledge or
money or anything else as a poaoer, you
necessarily say that it is not the end of
life, but that it is important because it
contributes to the attainment of some
thing more desirable. And there are
things .more to be desired than much
fine gold"
Are you in pursuit Of literary or in
tellectual distinction2
This, too, whi' it has delights Of its
own, is of real and lasting Importance
only in so far as it contributes to the
good of humanity. It may breathe the
perfume of the violet, or; shed the
poison of the deadly upas. Think of
Shelley and Byron and our own mis-
guided Poe. Voltaire's intellectual
genius moved the people Of France as
the moon moves the sea. Macaulay
SAYS that "of all the intellectual wea-
pons that were ever welded By man,
the most terrible was the mockery of
Vo.taire." But he exhausted the armo-
ry of his intellect against the rock of
that Truth. The Truth lives. Voltaire
sleeps. -.....
Or is it your crowning purpose to
listen to the wooings of ambition,-to
seek Office, place and power?
Those who attain to high Office for
the sake of Office, and not because it
enables them to minister to the good of
their fellowmen, come to realize at
last, that the delights that seemed to be
apples of paradise are apples Of Sodom,
Dead Sea fruit that shrivels to ashes on
the lips. Cromwell, I charge thee,
fling away ambition; by that sin fell
the angels.n "Let all the ends thou
aim'st at be thy country's, thy Gods,
and truths"
knowledge and money and intellec-
tuaI skill and wisely directed ambition
are important, net because any or all
of them can answer the true purpose OF
life, but because they give the leverage
by. which we can lift ourselves to noble
ends. After whom do men call their
children? The beautiful Absalom, or
David? Samuel, or. the prircely Saul?
When you were christened your moth
er called you the name of some man in
whom she saw, or thought she saw,
finer qualities than those Of gold, and
higher attributes than those Of mere
power.
What then Is the main purpose of a
wisely directed life? Let me answer with
an illustration and contrast. Consider
two of the three great Thomases that
shed lustre upon the times of Henry
VIII. .;......... --........
Thomas Wolsey, sprung from an OBJ
scure parentage, rose by sheer force of
overmastering genius and ambition
to the highest position in the state, next
king himself, and to the highest
dignity in the church, after the Pope.
He dictated policies of State. His indu-
ence was courted by royalty on the
continent. he surrounded himself with
princely wealth and magnifcence. He
narrowly fell short of the great goal of
his ambition, the papacy itself. But he
sacrificed principle to crafty ambition
and the unholy desires of prodigate
monarch. And his ripe xperience finds
its adequate expression in the language
of the great poet: ..
"This is the state Of man: to-day he puts forth
The tender leaves Of hope, tomorrow blossoms,
And bears his 5lushing honors thick upon him;
The third day comes frost, killing fEcst;
Aud-when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
HIS greatness is a ripening,-nips his root,
And then he falls, as do. I have ventured
Like little wanton boys that swim on blsdders,
This many summers in sea Of glory;
But far beyond my depth; my high-blown pride
At le1gth broke under me; and now has left me,
Weary, and old with service, to the mercy
Of rude stream, that must forever hide me-"
He ''sounded all the depths and shoals
of honor" And then-what? Sitting
amidst the ashes of his departed glory,