The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1908-04-17
STUDENTS HEAR
REV. DR.. SNYDER
BOYS MINISTER TALKS TO Low
Err GRADES.
SPEAKS ON ATTITUDES
Tells the Children That They Should
Develop Their lncIlnations to Ascer-
tain What They Are Best Fitted 70
Follow in Life.

tain What They Are Best Fitted 70
Follow in Life.
From Thursdays Daily.
DR.. Leonard Snyder, known through
out the west as '*The boys minister"
addressed the students in the seventh
and eighth grades Of the local schools
yesterday afternoon the theme, "our
Aptitudes."
DR.. Snyder said in part as follows:
"Our aptitudes are Gods call OF the
basis of His endowments, and is as 10
cred as a call to the ministry or any
thing else. They are the index finger
of the Almighty pointing out the
path, He would have u tread, and
when we go in Gods way we have
Gods aid. Now 1 do not mean that
we should never do anything contrary
to inclination, we must do this often
to keep ourselves well balanced, but
on the whole aptitude shows the path
OF least resisting. But this aptitude
may be slow in showing itself, you
may have to experiment to find It.
Beethoven's father had to whip him to
make him play, but Handel's father
could not keep him from playing by
whipping him, but yet Beethoven
proved to be a greater musician than.
Handel. Don't be discouraged II you
have not yet found your forte.
Add to Personal Power.
Keep on adding to your personal
power and you will easily find the
best way to use 1t. Natural bent will
find natural vent. / have SO far spok-
en- of the duty Of accommodating power.
Of the way to do 1t, and how to spend
1t in a somewhat general way. Let
me now particularize a little On this
basis.
"The maiden has before her a cloth
ground work fastened upon a circle,
and she is working a pattern. The
pattern is the creation of another
mind. She Is simply putting the
threads through the cloth where the
outlines call for them and when the
work is done it is the product jointly
of the designer and the %executant.
God Makes Pattern.
God has made the pattern Of our
life, and we only put the threads
through where the pattern calls for
them. The famous lire at Luzerne,
the memorial of the Swiss soldiers
who fell defending the Tuilleries in
Paris was really worked out by the
artisans from the plaster Of paris cast
down by Thorwaldsen, who vas the
artist. The genius Of the sculpto.
would have remained alone had not
the lesser genius OF the artisans rea'
liked It in the stone. In this we see
how the work Of God and man comes
together.
we have no responsibility for oul
endowments, only for the growth o.
these. "A school or a teacher can not
impart growth. The students mus
do all the growing. Culture can only
aid that growth. Every man who il
made at all is self-made. 1mpartine
knowledge is not the business OF the
teacher. A student does not lie al
the wharves of learning like a steam
ship taking on a cargo. An educated
man is not loaded with literature ant
science and history but is a menta
athlete instead.
His Knowledge Not a Burden.
His knowledge is not a burden t.
carry, but is iron in his blood and
fire in his bones. The teacher doe
not stun anything into the student
nor. draw anything out Of him, blu
helps him digest and grow strong i
his own sight and after his wi type
OF course, students cultivate the men
DRY and garner facts, but neither men
DRY nor facts make a character.
Robert Hall tells Of a man VIII
laded SO many books in his head tina
1t crowded all his brains out. Und
gested stun on the brain is like
stone in the stomach. God is befor
the man and man is before culture.
"The greatest schools and the grea
est teachers in our day are maxim
not scholars, but men and womel
not bearing their own pedagogi
brand, but glowing with the imag
and superscription of the Almight.
We ardently deprecate the mechanics
process. It loads down the individual
strips him Of originality and make
his mental gait resemble the walk
a man who has a barrel of -four Q
his shoulders. This makes the ST.
dent the slave Of the schoolroom Il
stead of the schoolroom the bene1
ciary of the student, - 1t ought to b
Let US put away scholarship.
y Man Of Action.
= president Roosevelt's shoulder
don't stoop A ~favorite picture Of hi
t. ..o,,%nd = cp1ondJS o%ood 4