Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1873-04-08
ENTHUSIASM NECESSARY TO SUCCESS.

thO MOlu . uiStOiJ WucH uiSu SuCSSsS III
any profession demanded harder or more
incessant labor than now. Men can no
longer go at one leap into eminent posi-.
ton. The world, rs Emerson says, is no
longer clay, but rather iron in the hands
Of its workers, and men have got TO ham
mer out place Tor themselves by steady
aud rugged blows. Above all deep
and burning enthusiasm is wanted in ev.
cry one who would achieve great ends.
No great thing is, or can be done without
it. 1t is quality that is seen wherever
there are earnest and determined workers
In the silence of the study, and amid
the roar OF cannon; in the painting Of
picture, aud the carving Of a statue
Ability, learning, accomplishment, OPP
porunity, are all well; but they do not,
of themselves, insure success. Thous-
ands have all these, and live and die
without benefting themselves or others.
Men, on the other hand, OF mediocre
talents, often scale the dizzy sleeps Of
excellence and fame because they have
firm faith and high resolve. 1t is solid
faith in ones mission, tho rooted belief
that it is the one thing to which he has
been called,-this enthusiasm, attracting
an Agassiz to the Alps or The Amazon,
impelling Pliny TO explore the volcano
in which he is to lose his lie, and nerv.
ing Vernet, when tossing in n fierce
tempest. to sketch the waste of waters.
and even the wave that is leaping up to
deyour him,-tha marks the heroic spirit
and wherever il is found, success, sooner
or later is almost inevitable.n
PROMISING" Men.
There are some men who, instead OF
making the best use of the facilities they
have for achievement, are always telling
" hat they might do "under happier cir
cumsIances." Under happier circum-
stances AS If the very seal and sign of
greatness were not precisely the regal
superiority to circumstances which make
them aids aud ministers to success, in
stead of becoming their slave; as il it
were not the mastcrlul will which SUBJ
jugatcs the forces OF nature to be the
genii Of the lamp that concentrates
twenty years Of tireless but unapprecat-
cd labor on great invention that forces
II ie.thonght into a pregnant word or
| phrase, and sends ii ringing through the
ages The truth is, the circumstance"
upon which so many faint. hearted men
dwell with lugubrious eloquence should
b. regarded rs the very tools with which
one is 10 work,-tho stepping.stones he
is to mount by. As Lewes says in his
Life of Goethe instead OF saying that
man is the creature OF circumstances, it
would be nearer the mark to say that
man is the architect Of circumstances.
"Our strength is measured by our plastic
power. From the same materials one
man builds palaces, another novels; one
warehouses, another villas; bricks and
mortar are mortar and bricks until the
architect makes them something else.
Thus il is that in the same family, in the
same circumstances, one man rears
stately edifce, while his brother, vacillat-
ing and incompetent, lives forever amid
ruins: the block of granite. which was
an obstacle in the pathway of the weak.
becomes n stepping. stone in the pathway
OF The resOlute." The difficulties which
heartily dishearten one man may stiflcn
the sinews OF another, who looks on them
as simply things to bc vanquishcd, or
rather as sort of mental springing
board by which to vault across the gulf
of failure on TO the sure, solid ground ol
full success.
The VALUE OF PLUCK.
ut is this pluck, this bulldog tenacity
OF purpose and stubbornness of perse.
yerance, that wins the battles of life,
whether fought in the field, in the mart,
OF in the forum. at is the halt.a.neck
nearer that shows the blood and wins the
race; the one march more that wins the
campaign the five minutes more of un-
yielding courage that wins the fight
History abOunds with instances of doubt
ful battles or unexpected reverseS trans.
formed by one mans stubbornness into
eleventh hour triumps. 1t is opinion, rs
Dc Maistre truly says, that wins battles.
and it is opinion that loses them. Tho
battle of Marengo went against The
French during the first half OF the day,
ard they were expecting an order to re-
treat. when Dessaix, consulted by Napo-
leon, looked at his watch, and said, "rhc
battle is completely lost; but it is only
two o'clock, and we shall have time to
gain another" lie then made his Ia.
nous cavalry charge, and won the field.
Butcher, the famous Prussian general.
was ty no means a lucky leader. He
was beaten nine battles out of ten; but
in marvellously brief time he had raj
lied his routed army, and was rs formid
able as ever. lie had his disappoint-
ments, but turned them as the oyster
does the sand which annoys it, into
pearl.
Washington lost more battles than he
won, but he organized victory out of de-
feat, and triumphed in the end. 1t WAS
because they appreciated this quality OF
MUCK. that, when the battle of Gamma