The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1875-01-07
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/ sTo, the young men annually maxi
ing their entrapcei upon, active lie,
with great iambitionss conscious; ea-
pacities and high hopes the aprospeet,
is. in ninety-nine, ,casea in, 2, hundred,
most perplexing. They see, ~ everyj
avenue ye' to prosperity; tthropgedt With
their suPeriors in experiences, jim social
advantages, and in the possession Of
all the elements and conditions of
success. Every post is occupied, every
Office filled, every path q crowded.
Where shall they, find room? II is
related Of MI. Webster that when i, !
young lawyer suggested to him that
the profession to which he had dey,;otr<| d,;oai,|
ed himself was over;crowded, the great
man replied: "Young man, there is
always room enough It. the top
Never was 4 wiser or more suggestive
word said. There undoubtedly il al
ways room enough where excellence
lives. Mr.. Webster was not troubled
for lack Of room. Nh. Clay and Mr:;
Calhoun were never crowded: Mr..
Evarts, Mr.. Gushing, and Mr. Con:
or have plenty ofspace around them:
Mr.. 'Beecher; Dr. storrs, DR.; Is Hail.:
Mr.. Phillips Brooks would never
know, in their personal experiences
that it was hard to obtain q desirable
ministerial charge. The profession is
not crowded where they are, ~ DR..
Brown-Sequard, DR.. Willard Parker:
DR.. Hammond, are not troubled for
space for their elbows: When Nela-
ton died in Paris, he died like Moses ),
on a mountain. When Won Graefe;
died in Berlin, he had no neighbor at
his altitude.
1t is we'll, first, that all young men:
remember that nothing. will do them
SO much injury as quick and easy
success, and that nothing will do them
SO much good as a struggle which
teaches them exactly what there is in
them, educates them gradually to its
use, instructs them IN personal ecopo-
my, drills. them into patient and:
PERSISTENT habit of work, and keeps
them at the foot of the ladder until:
they become strong enough to hold;
every step they are enabled to gain,
The first years of every mans business
or professional life are years of educa-
ton. They are intended to- be-. in
the order of nature and ;Providence..
Doors do not open to a man until he
is prepared to enter them. The man
without wedding garment may get
in surreptitionsly, but he immediately
goes out with a flea in his ear. We
think it is the experience Of most sue
cessful men who have watched the
course Of their lives in retrospect:
that whenever they; have arrived at a:
point where they were thoroughly
prepared to 60 up higher, the door to
higher place has swung back Of it.
self, and they have heard the call to:
enter. The old die, or voluntarily re-
tire for rest. The best men who stand.
ready to take their places will sue.
ceed to their position and its honors
and emolumeuts.
The young men will say that only
a few can reach the top. That is
true, but it is also true that the fur.
ther from the bottom one goes, lr:the.
more scattering the neighborhoodd,
One can fancy for illustration, that
every profession and every CALI
ing is pyramidal in its living coustits1
uency, and that while only one man:
is at the top: there are several tiers of5
men below himewhozhave~p plenty Of
elbow:room; and sthat it is only 1t the
base that men are so thick that they
pick the meat out of one another's
teeth to to Keep M them from If
a man has no power to get o9l] ont Of the
rabble at the bottom; then. .shesisI sells
convicted Of having: sehof.H= =a.. 9 .'1 calling
or profession to whose duties; he has
no adaptation: -'->, '.- .$s .Ss::3
The grand mistake that youngsmend
make, during the fist ten T., !, s4r ,}'5 4of5 IS
their. business and. professional life H..
ii IDLY waiting !t1 g for + their chance, Thsyd
seem to forget; or they do ~nots=knov,
that at during those ten years they Cd: q:
joy the only leisure they will ever:
have. After ten years, in the natural
course Of things, they will. be absorb
ingly busy. There will then: be no
time for reading, culture, and study
If they do not become thoroughly
grounded in the principles and prac::
tical details of their profession during
those, years; if they do mot store their;
minds with useful knowledg ;rif they
do not pursue habits Of reading and
observation, and social intercourse,
which result in culture, the: question
whether; they will ever rise, TO- occupy
place where there is room enough
for them will be decided in ths:1I jlsa nega.I 1
tive. 97 The young physicians and.
young lawyers ,Ys y vhop st Idly ia th their heal
Offices, and smoke. and ~ lounge. away:
the time waiting for some thing to:
turn up n'are: by that course fasten-:
ing themselves for life TO- the lower;
stratum, where their ostrugeles,1ors 4
bare livelihood is To- bes perpetual usai;'
The first ten yeara are golden years: