Newspaper Page Text
more and with greater care. Nev
er can we hope for the South to
be felt as she is able, till her sons
in full developed capacity, wield the
mightier pen.
Concentration of Energy.
Nothing can be satisfactorily ac
complished without the application
of well directed energy. It is the
prime motor to the attainment of
all things by which man has become
distinguished and honored. With
out it he would be little more than
an oyster. God has given to ev
ery man a certain degree of energy
and it only remains for him to right
ly develop it. Some neglects to do
this, and hence they are failures
in the battle of life. Others by
well directed efforts as successfully
meet and overcome all difficulties
as did “Great Heart,” and hence
they rank among the brightest and
most useful of their generation.
In the language of our beloved
and distinguished Prof. Sanford, no
college student will, by the bright
ness of his intellectual qualities, set
the Thames on fire without this
continual concentration of energy.
As it is with the student, so will
it be in after life. Man must direct
his energies to the accomplishment
of one single object, and not relax
the strain on his faculties until suc
cess is attained. The rays of the
sun have no burning effect when
they are shed direct from the heav
ens on an object, with nothing to
increase the intensity of their heat.
But when they are brought to a
focus on a very small part of some
inflammable substance by means of
a powerful sun-glass, they immedi
ately acquire the power of igniting
it. Gunpowder can be burnt with
no harmful effects when it is scat
tered loosly about. Collect the
same quantity and concentrate it
into a compact mass, in the shape
of a cartridge, and it obtains the
power of projecting a ball a thous
and or twelve hundred feet in the
twinkling of an eye. The concen
tration of forces produces this re
sult.
Could Galileo, or Newton, or
Hooke, or Cavendish, have made
those important discoveries by
which their names have become
immortalized, if they had not con
centrated all their energies on the
study of the science which each
loved so well. That, which led to
the wonderful discovery of America
by Columbus, was the concentra
tion of his thoughtful and energetic
mind on the reasons why there
should be a New’ World, and on
the devising of some means by
which he could induce Ferdinand
and Isabella to grant the aid of
TELE MONOCHORD.
their influence and money. Did
Zenophon, Xerxes, Hannibal, Na
poleon and Caesar, become gener
als of such great honor and renown
by no exertion of their own? No !
With forcible natures, they concen
trated their highest energies on
gaining the victory over their ad
versaries, confining their efforts to
this, alone. Cicero, Demosthenes,
and Cato, became distinguished
orators by concentrating their en
ergies on the study of oratory.
Could Homer, Virgil, Milton, and
Dante have written those grand
epic poems without the concentra
tion of their best powers of mind
on the glorious w’ork which lay
before them.
Whatever you do, do it with all
your might. Do not deem any act
so small that you need not bring
all your energy into play to accom
plish it, nor so large that you can
not perform it by striving with all
your powers. Let us remember
that in the morning of life the whole
world lies before us. We must be
the conqueror or the conquered in
life’s battle. If we concentrate our
energies on one purpose, remaining
faithful to it throughout, success
will crown our efforts. If not, we
will be tossed about on the uncer
tain sea of life, just as the mariner
who is lost, without chart or com-,
pass by which he could shape his
course tow'ard the harbor of safety.
J. W. P.
Quotations from Seneca.
Below’ I give a few select pas
sages from Seneca, of a Happy Life,
which struck me very forcibly
while reading this work. They
are, of course, familiar to many,
but perhaps new to some. But
whether new or old, they are worth
the while of reading and re-reading
and of serious contemplation :
“True joy is a serene and sober
motion;” and they are miserably
out, that take laughing for rejoicing.
He that can look death in the
face, and bid it welcome; open his
door to poverty, and bridle his
appetite, this is the man whom
Providence has established in the
. possession of inviolable delights.
Virtue does not dwell upon the
tip of the tongue, but in the tem
ple of a purified heart.
A good man is happy within
himself.
He that would live happily, must
neither trust to good fortune nor
submit to bad.
It is easier to give counsel than
to take; and a common thing for
one choleric man to condemn an
other.
A great, a good, and a right
mind, is a kind of divinity lodged
in the flesh, and may be the
blessing of a slave as well as of
a prince.
But let “wickedness escape, as it
may at the bar, it never fails of do
ing justice upon itself; for every
guilty person is his own hangman ”
There are some that live without
any design at all, and only pass in
the world like straws upon a river;
they do not go but they are car
ried.
Pleasures do but weaken our
minds, and send us for our sup
port to Fortune, w r ho gives us mon
ey only as the wages of slavery.
The purest part of our life runs
first, and leaves only the dregs at
the bottom, and “that time which
is good for nothing else we dedi
cate to virtue ;” and only propound
to begin to live at an age that few
people arrive at.
No man takes care to live well,
but long; when, yet it is in every
body’s power to do the former, and
in no man’s to do the latter.
The day is lost in expectation of
the night, and the night in the ap
prehension of the morning.
Nay; and on some occasions,
it requires more courage to live,
than to die.
Life is to be measured by ac
tion, not by time; a man may die
old at thirty, and young at four
score ; nay, the one lives after
death, and the other perished be
fore he died.
Is it right for students to enter
chapel for worship, in a giggling,
boisterous and indifferent manner,
or to sit by the side of some un
converted student, and laugh and
talk during the singing of the song,
at some slight discord, noticed by
the cultivated ear, but laughed at
by the not-cultivated ? While the
Collegiate is not a religious journal,
it is conducted by religious men
and women, in a religious institu
tion, and is hoped that not only
this paper will ever frown upon
such conduct as occasionally oc
curs, but that every student may
exert an influence by words and
acts, that will be an inspiration to
others, and a means of lifting every
other to a higher plain of Christian
culture, as well as give tone and
temper to mental culture, and thus
the pleasing act will take the place
of the rude, and the coarse and
unmanly words will be replaced by
the refinement and pleasantness of
true culture. If Christian people
are not serious in the very act of
worship, when will they be serious?
in judgment.— Collegiate.
the
PUBLISHED BY THE
Phi Delta and Ciceronian Societies.
MACON, GA., March, 1886.
.1. W. SMI IH, ) Ed,lors ( h,ef
Associate Editors :
I H. BOONE, P. D. H R. HARPER,C
1.. M. BIRRIS. P. D. 1.. KENNEDY, C.
The Monochoko is issued about the 15th of every
Collegiate Mouth, making nine issues per annum.
Terms: One Dollar.
Contributions solicited from Students and Alumni.
fUitopia! •?
Co-operation Needed.
It seems that the greater part of
the Mercer boys are without a true
conception of the end for which
college papers are established.
Many of the students look upon
the Monochord as a mere sheet
for the publication of a few stale
college jokes, and a means for giv
ing the editors a little prominence ;
and some go so far as to think
that for this small honor the edi
tors should devote their time al
most exclusively to this work, and
write the whole paper, just for the
entertainment of the college stu
dents. A more erroneous jdea
never had existence. The chief
end that a college paper is intend
ed to serve is, to afford the stu
dents as a whole, a medium for im
proving themselves in composi
tion, and showing to outsiders
our talents in this direction. While
many of the boys read the Mono
chord as the work of the editors,
simply, outsiders will look upon it
as a representation of the literary
talent, of the students of Mercer
University.
W T e do earnestly hope that all
the boys will arouse to their own
interest and to the interest of the
institution, and endeavor to make
the Monochord a creditable jour
nal and a fair representation of our
college. The editors are not in
clined to complain, but they do
think they should have the more
hearty co-operation of the college
at large. There should be enough
matter handed in for each issue to
fill at least two papers like this, so
that the editors could select the
best, and thus, send out a readable
paper. But as it is, they have to
scrape hard to get enough matter
of any kind. We thank those who
have aided us so far, and hope they
will continue to do so, and that
many others will follow their ex
ample.
Read not to contradict and con
fute, not to believe and take for
granted, but to weigh and consider.
—Bacon.
3
