The L'Anse sentinel., 1923-11-02
WITH THE
HIGH SCHOOL
CLASSICS
By MARGARET BOYD
20 by Margaret Boyd.)

And I shall see tho jousts,"
-idylls Of the King.
When Gareth wished to go to AT
! thurs court his mother forbade his
! going unless he would there serve as
scullery lad. without telling his name
| or rank to any one, for year and
day. She thought the young prince
much too proud to accept such terms
and hoped to keep him home with her
for another year or two; but he ac-
cepted her terms, because by so doing
he could see the jousts.
Those with like spirit get any
thing they want from life. Whether
the desire Is to see the jousts, to gain
wealth, to gain power, or what not. IL
a man desires that one thing so much
! that he is willing to do anything what
/ ever to gain his desire, he will gain it.
Most people go through life wishing
/ for dozen things instead of one. AS
result they often get nothing at all.
II Gareth had insisted upon retaining
his princely rank and his servitors, he
could not have seen the jousts. He
got the one thing he wanted by giving
up everything else for 1t.
Wealth and power and learning and
beauty and health and the many other
things for which men long may all be
had IL one Is willing to pay the price.
Often the price Is much more than the
thing is worth. but If one Is willing to
pay II, the thing becomes his. The
price for wealth may be unending
toll; denial Of comfort and all self
independence, and sacrificing Of
friends, relatives and principles. The
price for power may be murder as 1t
was in the case of Macbeth, and as II
has been in the case of many another
ruler. The price for learning is much
study and self-deprivation. The price
for beauty and the price for health are
much the same-eternal vigilance,
proper exercise, temperate diet. hy-
glenic habits and a calm mind.
Gareth was able to reconcile himself
to menial servitude by the reflection
that the thrall In person may be free
in soul. That his reflection was cor
rect is abundantly attested by history
Two names stand out prominently from
been free in mind, although bound IL
body-Aesop and Epictetus. Both were
slaves-the latter of master who one,
tortured him by breaking his leg, bu
no one could have been freer In soul
The first by his fables, and the latte
by his dlscourses, have done more I,
mold the thought and manner Of man
kind than any Of the freemen who wer'
their contemporaries.
HThere Is a tide In the affairs Of mon
Which, taken at the flood, leads on L
fortune:
Omitted, all the voyage Of their life
ls bound in shadows and In miseries.'
Julius Caesar.
Modern writer's speak Of this "tid,
In the affairs of men, as the psyche
logical moment. Anything attempted
Is sure to succeed; that which is at
tempted at any other moment Is likely
r to fail.
Solomon spoke of the slide" as 9
time or season-"To everything ther,
pose under the heaven" No maj
would plant potatoes In frozen grount
and expect them to grow. for winte
Is not the season for planting pota
toes. II Is Just as hopeless to star
venture at the wrong season as I,
plant potatoes at the wrong time.
Our inventions show the importanc,
Of the "tide in the affairs of men,
whether we call It that or the psyche
logical moment or the right time.
has often been pointed out that tn,
people Of antiquity knew the principle
of the printing press, because the.
stamped coins with die. There wa
no need Of printing press during tn
time when the only material men ha,
for writing on was parchment or vel
lum or papyrus. When the discover.
of way of making paper afforded tn,
psychological moment, the printing
press was invented.
Similarly with aircraft. Leonardo 4
said to have known the principles o
the airplane four centuries ago; bu
he did not bother building aircraft be
cause there was no development o
commerce and Industry sufficient I,
make his century the psychological
time for such an invention.
The martyrs to science and to re
llgion were those who attempted Il
popularize beliefs for which the psy
Geological moment had not yet ar
rived. How much their deaths had t
do with creating the psychological mo
ment we have no means Of knowing.
Usually, a man fails to achieve for
tune not so much because he canno
recognize the "tide In the affairs O.
men" as because he is not ready e
take advantage OF 1t.
Every twenty gears or less we hsv'
financial depression In our country
During this depression stocks ant
bonLs and property usually, sell for {
fraction OF their real value, and TIT
man who has savings has his oppor