Let us then cultivate the powers that we
possess, therein we shall find our happiness,
and tho’ “life is short and joys are fleeting,”
our reward will be gracious and name never
dying. Let us seek with the clearness of un
clouded faith after the truth, with the flame
of divine love burning with unextinguished
glory on the altars of our hearts, that we may
benefit our fellow-man, encourage him to
nobler and higher aims, that our nation may
be enlightened and glorified, thus for years
our names will be renowned and our deeds
immortalized.
IMPOSSIBILITIES
IMPOSSIBLE! What an unlucky word.
-*• How often do we see persons lose heart
and fail in business attempts, simply because
they have become accustomed to using this
fatal word in minor duties, because they have
become accustomed to gazing idly over every
thing, omitting everything that is difficult in
stead of obtaining the true understanding of
it, so that when a somewhat different problem
of life stares them in the face, they, partly
through habit, partly through inability, cry
out impossible and sit down with folded hands
to await the solution by another who never
says impossible.
No good comes to those who too often have
this unlucky word on their tongues, but never
theless we hear persons everywhere crying
out and demonstrating that such and such
things are impossible; that this and that in
some great field of art is impossible, but let
them cry and demonstrate, what harm can they
do ? It is their nature and no energetic person
should pay attention to them.
It was once demonstrated and proven by
calculus that steamships could never cross the
Atlantic.
Such people also demonstrated that the
Atlantic cable would never be a success, that
the Union Pacific Railroad could never be
THE FREE LANCE.
built. But what has been done ? We now
learn of the happenings in foreign cities al
most as soon as those of our own, each hour
we can hear the shrill shriek of the steam en
gine which is carrying its precious burden from
the Atlantic to the Pacific.
As students training ourselves for after life
we should be careful not to belong to the
above class. We should learn to meet and
do everything and anything in the right time
and place.
We should not study in what might be
called a mechanical way, that is depending
wholly on the memory in getting our lessons,
simply for present recitation, but we should
get the true meaning of what we are studying.
With regard to any subject or object we
should ask ourselves such questions as : What
is it ? How is it produced ? Whence does it
come ? It is not ours as students to create,
but rather to find the true cause and effect of
what is done and created. It is ours not only
as students, but as men and women not to
look dimly at what lies in the distance but to
do what lies clearly at hand. Not to look be
fore and after but to act now.
Not to idly and vainly gaze into the obscure
distance and paint glorious triumphs and vic
tories on the cloud-curtain of the future, but
to look calmly about us on the scene where
we now stand, then and not till then will many
of our apparent perplexities disappear and
some distinctive characters more clearly re
veal themselves. If we thus learn to meet
everything in our present duties surely we
will be better prepared for those which come
in after life.
No high attainment was ever accomplished
without work and persistence which are the
first conditions of all success. The tendency
to persevere, to persist in spite of hindrances,
discouragements, and what some call impos
sibilities, is what distinguishes the strong man
from the weak, the energetic from the sloth
ful and the civilized from the savage. Of