The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1918-09-13

the eight hymns of Synesius from
the Greek into English before his fif.
teenth year. John Fiske was reading
Ceasar at the age Of seven, and in 9
letter written to his mother on his
eighth birthday said: am now
eight years old and have read about
two hundred volumes of books on all
subjects, particularly on natural
history grammar, mathematics, and
miscellaneous things. l have al
so read Spanish little" At eleven
he had written an original Greek ora
ton.
w. M. Payne, in a biographical
sketch of Ralph Waldo Emerson, says
eve get our first glimpse of Emer-
son as a clergyman when his baby
sister died in 1914, and Ralph aged
eleven conducted the family wor-
ship the next morning."At eleven he
was translating from Virgil into
tolerable verse, and had worked upon
an epic poem called 'Furtus" that he
was composing. Macaulay, who was
perhaps the most wonderfully pre-
coclous child that ever lived, is de-
scribed as reading necessarily at the
age of three. When he was seven
he began a compendium of univer-
sal history. At eight he wrote a
treatise intended to convert the ma
tives of Malabar to Christianity, and
after learning Scott's "Lay Of the
Last Minstrel and "Marmion" by
heart, he took to composing hymns
and wrote poem on CLANS Magnu~
OF Norway. the supposed ancestor Of
the Macaulay family
Lord Kelvin, the great electrician
to whom the world of today is so
largely indebted, was the son of a
Scot, Professor Thomson, of whom
it is said that he believed that a
child should be educated as soon as it
showed an intelligent interest in the
world, and that this education should
be along lines indicated by the childs
tendencies" With this idea. he be-
gan to teach his two boys in the era
die. His friends protested that he
would strain the children's minds and
break down their intellects, but he
replied "stuff and nonsense 1t is
precisely because the education of
children begins too late that they
find it hard to learn and strain their
minds in the attainment of knowl-
using its mind in early childhood and
edge. Let child get accustomed to
study will never tax it, but will be a
perpetual joy, and at any rate this
is the way / intend to bring up my
boys" He did. and possibly as
result of this both boys became fa-
mc6S men and lived to a ripe old age
The ~ son entered GLASGOW Uni
versiky1 It the age of twelve and led
his class there. He lived until he was
over eighty, leaving reputation as
a great teacher and an authority on
engineering. Lord Kelvin, the young
er son, did even better. BY the time
he was eighteen he was recognized as
a scientific authority. and by any he
is now ranked with Newton and Fara-
day. He lived until he was eight
three, showing that his early ednca-
tion had not harmed him physically
i have been ut some pains TO COM
pile this list Of rnose men who are
now regarded as p"OJigles because /
have felt that in the years tha. are to
come. when you boys are men, the
world will need those who have in
themselves, and | hope that whether
you are leaving Fay's to go to a
preparatory school or expect to spend
a year or two more here that you will
make up your minds that for the fu-
ture you will try to euip yourselves
as thoroughly as possible, and as
soon as possible for the battle of life
that is ahead of you. Especially dc
urge that you shall cultivate your
memory.
When | was small boy | was
made to memOriZe great long pass
ages of Scripture, the shorter cate
chism, a lot of hymns, and great
deal of poetry. Much of it l have
FORGOTTEN. but some of it | still re-
and what / recollect plus the
member, gives me unending pleasure |
and satisfaction in my old age.
And finally, boys want to urge up
on you the cultivation of will to win
which is absolutely necessary if we
are ever to accomplish anything worth
while in life or rise above mediocrity.
| happened TO run across a little
poem the other day that seemed to me
to enforce this truth very happily. 1t
is as follows:
If you think you are beaten, you are
If you think you dare not, you don't
II you like to win but you think you
can't,
It's almost cinch yo won't
If yo think you'll lose, you're lost
For out in the world we find,
Success begins with fellows will,
It's all in the state of mind.
If you think you're outclassed, you
are;
You've got to think high to rise,
you've got to be sure of yourself be-
fore
You can ever win prize.
Life's battles don't always 60
To the stronger or faster man;
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can. |,
wish you could all memorize
hese lines, for / am a great believer
n the stimulating power Of words.
General Foch, thegreat strategist,
Vim iS now IN covovv, q nd of oil <ho Al 4