TEXAS STdTE LIBRARY
44
No. 88. ADDRESS AT A PUBLIC EXAMINATION OF A BOYS' SCHOOL. LAMAR [182-] . . . [mutilated] to participate in your examination; I cannot refrain from expressing the gratification that I have experienced in witnessing your several performances. I am pleased to see such a gen- eral spirit of emulation pervade the school, and the easy facility with which you have answered the most of the questions propounded to you prove assiduity & diligence with which you have ptosecute~ your studies- I have seldom ever witnessed an examination where all the students have acquitted themselves so well- Tis true that some have advanced with a celerity beyond others but I do not mean to say that any have done badly because others have done better- indeed your general merits appear to be so equal- blending so like the colors of the prism, that I do not know that it is fair to make any distinction between you- you have all acquitted yourselves in a manner, cred- itable to yourselves & honorable to your family- and there is not a father or a mother who ha\'e [sic] whose feelings can be mortified with their children but rather have they reason to rejoice at your flattering examination- I tender you my warmest approbation and beg you to accept of it individually as well as collectively- and I tender the same to your teachers, for if honor be due to any, surely it is to those who devote their time & tallents to that arduous & responsible task to rear the tender thought & teach the young idea how to shoot But young gentlemen, the compliment which is justly paid to your diligence & progress- let it not excite your vanity, but let stimulate your exertions- you have before you a world of intellectual labor, and I can assure that the best of you have not yet turned the first leafe of science, and when you shall have advanced a little further you will be able to see the truth of what I tell you- It has not been my good fortune, to wander far in the labyrinth of letters- my life has been spent in the cool . . . [mutilated] with acadimic laurels unbe- stowed- but I have just gone far enough to convince myself that I know not even the alphabet of science- Science gentlemen is as broad as, the firmament & deep as the dark bosom of the ocean- who can measure its dimention ! who can fathom its profundity!- None but the mighty intellect of a Newton can hope to compass the seeming im- mensity- but let not this discourage the young learner, for those who cannot di\'e to the depths of the sea, may gather pearls near the strand, end those who cannot dive to the bottom of Science, may find many a gem of puregt ray serene, along its flowery margin You are therefore invited to prosecute your studies- after the first step is taken, every other will become pleasing and delightful- the beginner at first sees not to cheer him in journy- but when the fair prospect before you begins to dawn upon your view, then will you rejoice that you had the courage to surmount your early & first difficulty- The seeds which you are now ~owing will ultimately ripen into a harvest of intellectual pleasure fare more cheering to the heart than what the ignorant can erer enjoy in the gratifiC'ation of their sordid views- The purest hap- .piness the mo~t sinlcs~ pleasures of this !ife springs from a re~ned an_d culth·ate<l un<lcrstanclmg- but let me impress upon your mrnds tlns imporiant truth- that the adrnntages of a good education depends
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