Meat does not make the mind. Nor does the love of physical sports, which is so characteristic of boyhood, and particularly of the boyhood of many who have become great. The zest and zeal of play is given by the active mind, which stirs the body to its intense sports and strains. There is greatness in play as well as work. There is greatness in pleasure as well as thought. The boy that can jump the farthest gets the spring as much from his mind as from his muscle. It must not be forgotten that there are muscular fools and stout simpletons and any quantity of health and bone and muscle mediocrity. There are men enough weighing two hundred pounds, well-proportioned, healthy, and handsome, who show no signs of any other than bodily greatness or excellence. We must accept Dr. Watts' statement after all we say for health and body, that "the mind is the measure of man." And Dr. Watts was himself an illustration of it. He was a man of small stature and inferior physical bearing, so insignificant that he was often humiliated by his inferiority in the presence of men of full stature. His stature scarcely exceeded five feet, and his health was not firm. He was a close and industrious student; for many years a minister to a congregation in London, England, and an extensive writer of prose and poetry. His "Logic, or the Right Use of Reason," and his "Improvement of the Mind," are among his strongest prose writings. The latter though published in 1727, continued to be a study in schools and colleges in England and America till within a generation of this time. The writer of this remembers to have studied it with great interest and profit with a large class of his school-fellows, and some of the inspiration for writing this was got, no doubt, from the noble mind of Dr. Watts. But he is best known by his Christian hymns, which are still sung in all Christian churches and will be for ages to come. They are strong in thought, rarely poetical, elegant in the use of choice English, and exquisite in religious sentiment. They evince a rare mind of great strength and delicacy and power of expression. Yes, "the mind is the measure of the man."

So it is, whether with strong health or without, whether with robust bodies or with slight, whether with a great love of boyhood sports, or with meditative and retiring dispositions in early life, it is clear that a mind controlled by Christ is the source of greatness, that only as the mind is developed through Scripture, education, and activity do men do great things and become honorably distinguished among their fellows.

This selection has been edited by T2M.