The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-09-03

and soon outdistsnced all competitors.
He never stopped climbing until he
stood solitary IN the eminenee OF his
" greatness. looking down on a.
world that admired his genius ana
learning.
/ A DUH boy. william Shakespeare,
bequeathed the rich est legacy TO Eng
lish literature. II is claimed hat In
his boyhood the great bard was SO
stupid that he did not know enough
to come In out OF the rain. Perhaps
through this stupidity he got SO wet
tina the became the great intellectual
ocean whose waves touch all the
shores of all thought.
Around the shoulders of art Michael
Angelo dropped the fairest draperies.
yet at first he was SO deficient as not
TO know how TO mix his colors.
Sir Walter SCOTS mother called him
"a biockhead.' He had not a spark
OF romance in him as a box yet he
became the greatest romance writer
Of his age.
The mother Of Richard Rrinsley
Sheridan despaired of teaching him
the simplest elements, Her death
aroused him to activity and he turned
out a scholar, philosopher, poet, Wit.
statesman n orator.
Harvard, the founder of the great
university. vas dull, ~listless and care
less as a boy.
Seldom has the pulpit echoed the
e~ioquence of youthful promise or re-
f1ected the glory Of early %precocity.
The great divine OF the time of
Charles /. was Isaac Barrows, of
whom the monarch said: He II an
unfair preacher. for he leaves aoth-
ing for others TO say" AS a boy at
Ch~arterhouse school he was ehiefy
knAyxeN FAA Mt tnt N2r~
eious habits and ~proverhial idleness.
Indeed, he was SO indolent and gave
90 little indication OF turning out any
thing good or useful that his father
n said, If It la Gods will to take
any OF my children by death, / hope
II may be Isaac"
Adam v. Clarke, the celebrated BIZ
bile commentator, was denounced a
Ounce. HIS teacher would stand him
apar. from his class. for he could
not, or would not, learn. A visitor
inauiring h reason for the lads
standing alone, the teacher replied:
He's good for nothing. There's MOTH
ing In him, He is the most stupid
boy in school" Stirred to pity, the
gentleman. placing his hand on the
boys head. said: zone OF these days
you may be a fine scholar. Don't give
up, try. my boy, try" The boys soul
was Aroused. A new p was
formed. and clinching his teeth, he
said. II will"
Dean Swift, greatest satirist and
keenest wit OF his age. was 'plucked"
at Dublin University.
Why do you take the pains 10 tell
that blockhead the same thing so
many times" John Wesley's father
asked his wife when she was trying
to teach her seemingly hopeless son.
Because" returned the mother. III
/ had told him nineteen times all my
labor would have been lost, while now
he will understand and remember"
Chalmers. Scotland's greatest
preacher, was expelled from st. An
drew's for stupidity.
In our own time by far the most
famous and most eloquent pulpit ora
tor was Henry Ward Beecher. but It
is we'll known hat he was the last
boy In his ciass from whom anything
great was expected. The college au-
thorities gave him his diploma with
regret.
Instances might be multiplied in
definitely In every field of human en-
deavor to show that a bad beginning
10 not to be taken a. IN indication
OF a bad end.
The greatest men often evolve
themselves from boys who have been
accounted biockheads.
Be patient with that dull boy OF
yours. Give him another chance.
ALH.