Barringer High School - Athenaeum Yearbook (Newark, NJ)

Page 24 text:

i6 THE POWER OF MIND. The German poet Schiller, Wordsworth and Coleridge, Franklin and Hugh Miller, and Sir Walter Scott, all live because they have left behind them a noble record of mind. All men honor Wilber force and our own Whittier—the one so instrumental in freeing the slaves of Africa—the other in breaking the chains that bound the slaves of America. Notice now a few of the great minds which have expressed themselves in deeds and spoken words. Savonarola lived in an age when unblushing wickedness and degrading vice prevailed throughout Italy, an age of social corruption. Against these evils he raised his voice, sounding a warn- ing cry in tones that were heard from one end of that fair land to the other. Savon- arola has long since passed away, but the influence he exerted can never be lost. At about the same time the German monk, Luther, appeared. This genius did not come like a meteor, whose glare is soon to be extinguished; but like the light of the morning, struggling at first through opposing mists, but at length shining in the unclouded splendor of the noon-day sun. Following Luther’s guiding influence, men once more began to think and feel; to understand their rights, and appreciate the blessings of freedom. The spirit of liberty once aroused, went from nation to nation, preparing the way for the English revolution, and, were it necessary, there would be little difficulty in tracing dis- tinctly the settlements and revolution in America to the same fruitful source. And who can question the influence of that revolution and consequent independence? Hut our country has produced men of mind whose record we may point to with pride, and whose influence we still feel. Such a man was Alexander Hamilton; one of the great leaders of our revolution; to him we are in a great measure indebted for our Constitution. Another such man was Daniel Webster; the greatest of our American statesmen and orators. His early advantages were limited; but by diligent application to study he rose step by step, until he be- came the representative man of America. Webster’s dying words were, “I still live.” And how true! He does still live in the hearts of men, and in the words of counsel and advice which he bequeathed to the world. As we realize the influence exerted by the powerful and fully developed intellect, what is it that makes our own hearts beat so rapidly? Is it not a feeling that we, t x . have within us a spark of that flame which bums a central heat in the moral world? that long after we have passed away, we, too, may exert an influence to ennoble and refine? Let us then cultivate our intellects and attain such a greatness of mind its becomes wise and virtuous men. Where the love of knowledge has found a resting place in man, such love will stir into active energy every element of his being. He will learn to blend his honest efforts for the good of others with his own highest improvement. Let us not do as we see many doing,—let us not chase that gilded bauble,—wealth, as if thereon depended our eternal happiness. When this passion has taken full possession of a man, it eradi- cates alike every sentiment of honor, and every desire for intellectual culture. May we be brave enough to sacrifice worldly gain, if need be, in order that “ Wc may to our own selves be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, We cannot, then, be false to any man. Near the ancient city of Thebes, stands the colossal “Statue of Memmon.” During the night, this statue stands cold and silent, but when the morning sun covers

Page 23 text:

THE POWER OF MIND. 5 The guardian of this lighthouse tells us I that it takes him more than half the day I to keep the prisms and classes clear. lie I also says that the electric light in the I tower can be seen for a radius of eighty 4 miles. We must descend in the lift to the second platform, though we would linger to take a last walk around the square, see the printing press, buy a paper and write a postal. We look down through the centre of the tower at the labyrinth of iron bars and try to believe we are still four hundred feet above the earth. The descent is made in less than a minute. As I again find myself on the smooth, graveled walk under the immense stone arches that support this admirably con- structed lighthouse, I take a seat and watch the surging crowd walking beneath ; anon I gaze at the dizzy altitude, trying to grasp the height, the depth of this iron lion. Although so small that it was con- tained in the convolutions of one man’s brain, now that the conception has taken stable form, to be seen by millions, the mind through the eye fails, and it is impossible to realize the generous scale on which this Modern Babel is built. Prize Oration 1889. THE POWER OF MIND. EDMUND K. HOPPER, ’89. A 1IND is always young: profound I IVI thought, always original. It is a wrong belief which some have enter- , tained that, as the world grows old, mind t becomes aged and enfeebled, exchanging t its ancient originality for present weakness 1 and debility. Man has the same power to- [ day that he possessed in the days of Pericles i and Augustus; the same glory of intel- lect shed upon the empires of the old t world, may brighten this republic of the ? new. Every mind exerts an influence. As I the sun, setting beyond the western hills. t leaves a trail of light behind it, so wher- jever man moves he leaves behind him influences either good or evil; energies potent for blessing or for future ill. The world still feels the evil effects of Nero’s cruelty. A thousand years is not long . enough to stay the tide of social pollution (created by men of genius like Byron and (Voltaire. But let us look rather at the good influences of mind. About three hundred years ago there were born in England two men whose names have become immortal. Shakes- peare was a child of nature. His mind was not fashioned by rule, but seemed to expand under the guidance of its own instincts. When we reflect upon his early circumstances, the age in which he lived, the state of learning and public sentiment at that period, we are inclined to regard him as the most remarkable man that any age or any country ever produced. His works are a living source of moral and literary instruction for the whole world. Milton was a child of culture. How many there are whose minds have been enlightened by his acute reflections and profound views, whose piety has been warmed by his religious devotion, and whose cravings for greatness and sub- limity have been satisfied by “Paradise Lost.” Shakespeare and Milton—their works bear not the impress of common minds; they are not the puny and perish- ing efforts of ordinary men, but the durable monuments of strong and gifted intellect.

Page 25 text:

ZEITVERGE UDUNG. '7 it with light, it gives forth the sweetest ideal of a perfect manhood inspires him, music; and so, man, standing alone in he looks above and cries in tones of joy,— nature, is cold and silent, but when the “ Thou Infinite and All-powerful Mind.” Z EI TV ERG EU DUNG. EDWIN J. STEWART, ’89, COM. DEPT. German Commencement Essay. T AS ist Zeitvergeudung? Im eigent- Y Y lichen Sinne des Wortes giebt es nichts derartiges wie eine Vergeu- dung dcr Zeit. So zum Beispiel scheint dcr Schlaf Zeit vergeudung; allein, wenn wir schlafen, mht dcr Koerper und das Gehirn. so dass wir dann wieder besser befaehigt sind, zu arl eiten. Aber wenn wir zu lange schlafen,—das heisst, schla- fen, wenn wir wachen sollten,—dann ist die Zeit vergeudet und wir werden da- durch traege. Ferner, wenn wir lesen, erweitern wir unsern Verstand; wir gewinnen mehr Kenntniss ueber das, was vergangen ist und das, was um uns her geschieht. Wenn wir jedoch dicse billigen oder fuenf Cents Novellcn lesen, dann waere es vielleicht besser fuer uns, wenn wir nichts laesen. So koennten viele Beispiele angegeben werden. Wir muessen eben immer etwas thun; entweder wir essen, oder lesen, oder schrciben, oder denken, oder thuen irgend etwas anderes; und so lange wir unscrc Zeit verstaendig gebrauchen, so verwuesten wir dieselbe nicht. Dagegen vergeuden wir alle Zeit, welche wir nicht fuer unser eigenes Wohl oder das Wohl unserer Nebenmenschen an wen- den. “ Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund” sagt ein altes deutsches Sprichwort, und es ist wahr. Sicherlich ist kein Mensch in der Welt zu grossem Ansehen gckom- men, der seine fruehen ind besten Stunden des Tages verschlafen hat. Ungluecklicherwei.se giebt es vielleicht Niemanden, der so viel Zeit verwuestet als die Schueler in den Schulen. Sie ver- gessen die Wahrheit des Wortes, dass Zeit nicht mit Gold zu bezahlen ist. Zu spaet lemt der Schueler, wie unschaetzbar die Zeit war, welche er vergeudet hat. Dann natuerlich ist er traurig ueber die verlore- nen und vergeudeten Stunden. Manchcr wuerde mit Freuden irgend einen Preis bezahlen, wenn er die vergeudeten Stunden noch einmal zurueckmfen koennte. Allein sie kehren nicht wieder, und nur zu bald sieht er es dann ein, wenn er zum Beispiel ein Examen zu machen hat und nichts weiss. Er hat eben scin eigenes Wohl auser Acht gelassen und aueh das seiner Mitmenschen. Wahrlich dcr hat seine Zeit verwuestet. Doch giebt es natuerlich auch wieder viele Schueler und viele Personen, welche ihre Zeit nuetzlich anwenden, und welche einsehen, dass sie keine Zeit zu verwuesten haben. Wie viel besser waere es, wenn wir alle in der Zeit einsehen lernten, dass jeder Augenblick des Lebens zweckmacssig angewandt werden sollte. Und nun, meine lieben Freunde, ob ihr wieder zur Schule geht oder in ein Geschaeft, gedenket meiner Warnung, lernet durch die Erfahruhg eines Andern und vergeudet keine Zeit.