CAROLINE F. ORNE.
1. Note the ecstatic joy of the student, who has labored long over a problem or proposition, but finally comes to a logical conclusion; who has struggled with the misty darkness of his own mind, for a clear view of some difficult subject, until the clouds, one after another, have dispersed, and he beholds, with his mental vision, in bright and glorious light, the conception for which he labored. Think you he would exchange his joys for the pleasures of sense'? It is of a higher and more ennobling character, and not to be bartered for paltry wealth.
2. What dignity and self-respect invest the man of thought! His very looks bespeak of mind. He is approached with deference, as a being of higher order in the scale of intelligence,—as one who has a right to command and be obeyed. For what moves mind, but mind? A strong intellect, coming in contact with one of less energy, will as naturally move it, as superior physical strength will overcome the weaker.
X.
WHAT IS FAME?
MOTHERWELL.
What is glory`? What is fame`?
The echo of a long-lost name`;
A breath`, an idle hour's brief talk`;
The shadow of an arrant naught`;
A flower that blossoms for a day`,
Dying next morrow';
A stream that hurries on its way,
Singing of sorrow';
A fortune that to lose were gain`;
A word of praise, perchance of blame`;
The wreck of a time-bandied name`—
Ay` this is glory`! this is fame`!
XI.
CULTIVATED INTELLECT.
Ah! well do we all know the worth of intelligence, the power of knowledge, and the beauty and glory of wisdom. It is educated manhood that wakes up the sleeping soil, covers the earth with good, that gathers in the golden harvest, that clothes the naked, that feeds the hungry. It is the cultivated mind that applies the strength of the ox and the fleetness of the horse; that bridges the river, that turns to use the flying winds, that makes the lightning its swift messenger, that makes beautiful palaces of dull clay, that rouses the dead ore to active life, that covers the sea with ships, and the land with mighty engines of wealth. It is the developed intellect that flies through the upper air, that mingles with the stars, that follows the moon in her course, that overtakes the constellations in their orbits, that weighs the sun, that measures the distance to the polar star. It is the enlightened soul that worships God.