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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