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the advantages of schools and colleges, and to the after education of
those who have.

We hear much in this age about a "finished education at college." There
is, alas! too much truth in the expression. Generally, the more
superficial our collegiate education, the more completely is it
"finished" on the day of graduation. How few young ladies and gentlemen
meet the expectations raised by their educational advantages! How few
years sadden loving hearts with disappointed hopes! How many stars
shine brilliantly within college walls, then go out to be seen no more!
And all this the result of a "finished education!"

Most of these failures are the result of wrong views of education. Our
school days are but a beginning of our earthly education, as this is
but the beginning of that which is to come. It is not what we learn in
school, but what we learn after leaving it, that determines our success
or failure. These advantages are but for the purpose of laying the
foundation; the building is the work of after years. And he who does
not build, does not even preserve the foundation. Alas! how many
well-laid foundations have moldered into ruin! No sooner does the plant
cease to grow than it begins to decay. Therefore, he who would live
must grow, and he who would grow must be active. There is no success to
him who stands with his hands in his pockets. This is an age of intense
activity. Competition in every calling is sharp; the professions are
crowded, and there is room only at the top. Therefore, the path to
success is not strewed with flowers and tinted with the rainbow's hue.
As Carlyle truly says: "The race of life has become intense; the
runners are treading upon each other's heels, woe be to him who stops
to tie his shoestrings."

Many a young man fails because he thinks himself a genius, and
therefore does not need to study. The sooner you get rid of the idea
that you are a genius the better. The old idea of a genius that never
has to study is the pet of laziness and the ruin of manliness. Sidney
Smith truly says: "There is but one method of attaining to excellence,
and that is hard labor; and a man who will not pay that price for
distinction had better at once dedicate himself to the pursuit of the
fox, or sport with the tangles of Neaera's hair, or talk of bullocks and
glory in the goad! There are many modes of being frivolous, and not a
few of being useful; there is but one mode of being intellectually
great."

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