THE BATTALION.
3
A colleague of Van Bureh'and Benton,
contemporary with Calhoun and Web
ster, opponent of the schollarly Adams
and eloquent Clay. He was pre-emi
nently the man of the epoch. Strike
out his military success, and he is re
nowned ; banish his civil honors and he
is famous; combine the two and he is
great.
On the 8th of June 1840 this great
man died. A sorrowing nation gathered
at his bier, and amid the tears of a grate
ful people he was laid to sleep with his
fathers.
If an American youth wishes to find a
character worthy of emulation, let him
not choose the hero of fiction, nor the
great of other lands, but let him study
the history of his own country and
copy the virtues of such men as Andrew
Jackson. G. Baylor.
ConVePsation as a JVIeans of Im
provement.
In our great and enlightened 19th
century ways and means for advance
ment in everything, more especially the
intellect, are eagerly sought for and
adopted. Our physique is gradually ap
proaching nearer and nearer to that of
the ancient Greeks and Romans. How
ever, we do not consider physical prow
ess as essential, hut endeavor to make
the mental capacity balance with our
physical powers. Would not the beauty
of Hebe or the strength of a Hercules
without a mind, be a pitiable sight
rather than a joy? Then how essential
it is that we cultivate this, the greatest
endowment bestowed upon man by the
creator. What is the gift of mind with
out conversation? Mrs. Hemans says:
“ It is like unto the pearl which hides
within the oyster shell uncouth;” “A
flower which wastes its fragrance in the
desert air.” As a means of attaining this
result nothing gives such satisfactory re
sults as conversation. The brain may
be a vast storehouse of knowledge, but
without the ingress and egress of. new
ideas, which are added to its store by
conversation’s powerful aid, the natural
fertility would from disease fall into de
cay and soon grow into an arid waste.
A man’s worth to the world should not
be judged by what he knows, for “knowl
edge is power only when put into prac
tical use.” A man who knows a little,
but knows that little well, and knows
how to use it, is worth more to the world
than a dozen brains crammed full of
wisdom but locked up and the key
thrown away. There is nothing in nature
but what is susceptible to improvement
by proper cultivation and means. In
the vegetaole kingdom rare plants are
developed from the commonest varieties.
The same is true in the animal kingdom,
and especially so in the intellect of man.
Conversation is the means of stimulating
the intellectual capacities of man and
producing a more active and conserva
tive modes of thinking. In conclusion,
my school mates and friends, let us cul
tivate our minds, as we are so often ad
monished to do throughout the wonder
ful book of proverbs, and to do this the
surest means is to cultivate the art of
conversation. H. T. C.
The first record we have of tennis is
found in the Bible, in the following
words: “Joseph served in Pharioh’s
court and Israel returned put of Egypt.
—Exchange.