Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1895-07-11
Saint Maru's Beacon
Continued from ist Pase1


still at the command Of reason.
You must place sense in sul lection
to mind. You must exalt the spir-
itual above the material.
81 have thought too long and darkiy, an my
brain became
In It's own eddy boiling and o'erwrought.
A whiriing gulf Of fantasy and fame.
:sAnd thus untsught In youth my heart 20 tame
Ny springs Of life were poisoned"
Thus sung one whom, to adorn,
nature and fortune competed which
should most bestow. A coronet
adorned brow which sculptors de-
light to model. Wealth lavished
every luxury upon person that
captivated every beholder. And,
more than all, he possessed a soul
of most exquisite sensibility and an
intellect to see
- The distant top Of thought.
Which mon Of common stature never saw"
He tasted every pleasure; he felt
every JOY of life. The only limits
he placed TO passion were weariuess
of indulgence. But the cup of plea
sure of which he drank so deeply
was the Circean cup which bestial-
lied. The chaplet Of fame which
he placed upon his brow was the
Median crown which scorched and
frenzied the brain. Every feeling
of his heart became morbid, and
his very songs were the mutterings
Of delirium. He hated end loved
to hate the human race. He for
sock home and friends, his coun-
try, his wife, "tbe sole daughter Of
his home" aud sought beneath
brighter skies some light to illumine
his darkGned soul--among strangers
some friend to cheer his gloomy
misanthropy. His delights were to
win hearts and to ruin hopes, 70
drink, to rake, and to write all the
dark emotions Of his breast He
learned to curse himself, his Eel
lows and his God. His mind be-
came a wreck, and his heart char
mel heuse Of all uncleanliness.
Pleasures ceased to please; AID mis-
cry almost ceased to pain; Fame
ceased to lure; love could n . longer
warm; hate no longer stimulate.
Thought, like the starving reptile,
began to prey upon itself and pas
sion to consume the soul with its
own intensity. So he
- Cast ashore from pleasures boistcrous surge,
wandering, weary, worn aud wretched thing,
Scorched and dcsolate, apd blasted sosil.
A gloomy wilderness OF dying thought,
Repined and groaned, and withered from the
earth
Such the unhappy ending of Lord
George Noel Byron. His own Ma
zeppa was the unbridled steed that
dashed him to pieces, as was Edgar
Allen Poe's Raven the mutterings
OF delirium tremens;
"Only this, and nothing more"
The mind is the glory of man;
but it is only to the man of large
and noble soul, to him who blends
a cultivated mind with an upright
heart, that men yield the tribute Of
deep and geuine respect.
Who ever rose to higher influence
in the political circles of proud
England than Cromwell. Eldon,
Burke, Canning and Brougham ?
To what did they owe their influ-
ence but to intellectual power de-
veloped by slow and toilsome cul-
tiyation : Cicero and Demosthe-
nes-those unrivaled orators of an
tiquity-were diligent students.
Coming to our own country we see
at glance that her most disting-
ulshed statesmen, diplomats, jur-
it's and orators have been men of
intense application; all mounted
the throne of their fame step By
step. As the magnificent river roll
ing TO the pride of its mighty wa
tiers, owes It's greatness to the hid
den springs of the mountains, so
does the wIdesweeping influence of
distinguished men date its origin
from hours resolutely employed in
efforts after self-development.
Away then, young gentlemen,
with all dreams of eminence unless
you are determined to dig after
knowledge as men search for con-
cealed gold. II you lack this de-
termination, this manly strength
of purpose needed to bind you to
reading. reflection and study, you
may as well bid abieu to all success
You will be nothing more than
stray leaf floating down the waters
of forgetfulness, the verist play.
shing of the winds and the waves.
Then be up and doing.
Trust no future"