Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-07-20

Ol au uOuI III lucm W Comc up, ana IN
those fifteen minutes X cuted manpuvre
that saved the day. The reason, he said.
why he heat the Austrials, was thai they
did not know the value 0f FIVE minutes.
At the celebrated battle Of Rivoli, the day
seemed on the point of being decided
against him. He saw the critical state
of affairs, and instantly formed his
resolution. He dispatched a flag to
the Austrian headquarters, with pro,
posals for an armistice. Napoleon
seized the precious moments, and
while amusing the enemy with mock ne
gotiations. rearranged' his line of battle,
changed his front, and, in few moments,
was ready to renounce the farce of discus
sion for the stern arbitrament Of arms.
The splendid victory of Rivoli was the re.
suit. Waterloo was lost by Napoleon
mainly because the swlftness of decision
and promptness of action which had char
acterized his previous career, were want
ing-because he wasted precious hours
before, on, and after the day of Ligny, and
on the morning of Waterloo, when he
should have fallen on the enemy like
thunderbolt.
Of course, there are occasions when eau
ton and delay are necessary-when to act
without long and anxious deliberation
would be madness. All wisdom is u system
of balances. 1t is well enough to be care
full and wary up to certain point; but,
beyond that, a hesitating policy is as ruin
Gus as downright rashness. Thousands of
men owe their failures in life simply to
procrastination. Brobdignag in words,
and Lilliput in acts, they scrupulously fol-
low Fox's advice, Never to do to-day
what, by any possibility. can be put off
till tomorrow" They never know their
own minds, but, like Coleridge, debate
with themselves the whole journey which
side of the road they will take, and mean
while keep winding from one to the other.
MANY business man has made his fortune
by promptly deciding at some nice juno
ture to expose himself to a considerable
risk. "There is nobody" said Roman
Cardinal, "whom Fortune does not visit
once in his life but when she finds that
he is not ready to receive her, she goes in
at the door, and out through the window"
Opportunity is coy. There are two mo-
ments, says Browning, in Oversize land
the same applies to every mans career:
One when, beggar, he prepares to plunge;
One when, Prince, he rises with his pearl.
There are crises in almost every man 8
life, when the RubicOn must be passed
when the Wellington of the mart or forum
must not wait for Butcher to come up but
must himself arise and charge The bat
tie of life is constantly presenting new
phases, and he only can expect to be veto
rious who is ready to show a new front as
often as the situation shows new peril.
A sword that breaks in the very crisis OF a
duel-a horse killed by a flash of lightning
in the moment of collision with the enc
my-a bridge carried away by freshet at
the instant Of a commencing retreat-are
events which are paralleled in every man s
business career, and call for instant decis-
ion. They confound and paralyze the fee
bic mind, but rouse terrific reaction OF
naughty self assertion in that order OF spir-
its which matches and measures itself
against difficulty and danger. 1t is told of
Pellissier, the hero of the Crimea that,
getting angry one morning with sub OIL
Ger of cavalry regiment, he cut him
across the face with whip. The man
drew pistol and attempted to explode il
in the face of his chief, but it missed fire.
Uttering fearful OATH but otherwise calm
-" Fellow ~ said the grim chief of the
Zouaves, order you three days arrest
for not having your arms in better order y
It Is the lack of this prOmptness sc
characteristic of the gladiatorial intellect
of this readiness 10 meet every attack OF
ill-fortune with counter resources OF eva
sion-which causes 80 many defeats IN
life There is a race of narrow wits that
never get rich for want of courage. Their
understanding is of that hating, balancing
kind. which gives man just enough hight
to see difficulties and start doubts, but not
enough to surmount the one or remove the
other. They do not know what force Oh
character means. They come and 60 IKE
shadows; speak like women; sandwich
their sentences with apologies; are over.
taken by events while still irresolute; and
let the tide ebb before they freely push
off. Always brooding over their plans,
but never executing them, they remind
one Of Voltaire's sarcasm upon La Harpe,
whom he called an oven that was always
heating up, but which never cooked any
thing. They never get ahead an inch, be-
cause they are always bugging some COW,
ardly maxim, which they can only interpret
literally. Never change certainty for
an uncertainty" "a bird in the hand is
worth two in the bush," are their favorite
saws; and very good ones they are, too,
but not to be followed too lavishly. Oi
what use is it "to be saving about set OF
maxims to which there is complete set
of antagonistic maximss" Proverbs, it has
been well said, should be sold in pairs, a
single one being but half truth.
Not only is decision necessary, but
promptness also, without which decision
loses half its value "Is Philip at Paris p
asked Charles ", after his son, the King
of Spain, had gained the decisive victory
over the French at Quentin. He estimated
Philips temper by his own. When Led.
yard was asked by the African Associa'
ton when he would be ready TO start for
Africa, he replied, Tomorrow morning"
A similar answer was made by Sir Colin
Campbell, when asked when he would set
out to lead the British army to India. 1t
was the promptness of Butcher that won
for him the cognomen of Marshal For
ward" throughout the Prussian army.
Again, besides promptness, tenacity OF de.
cision is indispensable to him who would
made his mark in the world, or achieve
any rare success. All the men whose
names have been blazoned on the scroll OF
fame have been distinguished by their
firm adherence TO their purpose-by the
7assca pon maissa reuerti-which has made
their spoken word like an oath. When