Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1875-01-29
RoOna ~ the Top.
nR HOLLANDS NEw-YEAR's SERMON TO
YOUNG MEN.

nR HOLLANDS NEW-HEARH sEHhON IO
YOUNG MEN.
To the Young men annually making
their entrance upon active life, with great
ambitions, conscious capacities and high
hopen, the prospect ~, IN ninety-nine cases
in a hundred, most perpleAing. They see
every avenue IN prosperity thronsed with
their superiors In experience, In social ad-
vantages, aud in tile possessiou fall the
elements and conditions OF success. EVERY
post is occupied, every otfice hlled, every
paJh crowded. Where shall they hnd
roomH II is related Of Mr.. Webster that
when = Young lawyer suggested TO him
that the profession 10 which he had devot-
cd himself was overcrowded, the great
man replied: "Young man, there Is al
ways room enough at the top" Never
was wiser or more suggestive word said.
There undoubtedly is always room enough
where excellence lives. Mr.. Webster was
not troubled for lack Of room. Mr.. Clay
and Mr.. Calhoun were never crowded.
Mr.. Evarts, Mr.. Cushing, and Mr.. OCon-
or have plenty Of space around them. Mr..
Beecher, DR.. storrs, DIR. Hall, Mr.. Phil
llpps Brooks, would never know In their
personal experience, that II was hard to OBJ
tain a desirable ministerial charge. The
profession Is not crow ded where they are.
DR.. Brown Sequard, DR.. Willard Parker,
DIR. Hammond, are not troubled for space
for their elbows. When Nelaton 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 well, first, that all young men re-
member 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 ex-
actly what there is in them. educates them
gradually to Its use, instructs them to per-
sonal economy, drills them into patient
and persistent habit OF work, and keeps
them at the foot Of the ladder untlithey be-
come strong enough 10 hold every step
they are enabled TO gain. The first years
OF every mans business or professional
life are years Of education. They are in
tended 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 surreLtitiously, but he Immediately
goes out with hea in his ear. We think
1t is the experience Of most successful men
who have watched the course OF their lives
in retrospect, that, whenever they have
arrived at point where they were thorough
| ~ prepared to go up higher, The door TO
the higher place has swung back OF itself,
and they have heard the call 10 enter. The
old die, or voluntarily retire for rest. The
best men who stand ready 10 take their
places will succeed to their position and its
| honors and emoluments.
The young men will say that only few
can reach the top. That is true, but 1t is
also true that the further from the bottom
one goes, the more scattering the neighbor-
hood. One can fancy for illustration, that
every profession and every calling is pyra-
midal in its living, constituency, and that,
while only one man was at the top, there
are several tiers Of men below him who
have plenty Of elbow room, and that 1t is
ouly at the base that men are 30 thick that
they pick the meat out Of one another's
teeth TO keep from starving. Ifa man has
no power to &c: out OF the rabble at the
bottom, then he is self-convicted OF having
chosen calling or profession to whose du-
ties he has no adaptation.
The grand mistake that young men
make' curing tue mrs. zen year. oi 'neii
business anu Pr0iess'o"Si I,e' "iu 'uiS
wa'ips 'oi 'neir cnAnee' Aney see"' ''
forget OF 'ney oo not kho"' 'ua' curing
.noSe Ten years lney ENJOY tue only ie'sur'
they VIII over nave. h"er 'eh years, IL
Inc natural course Oh tnings, tney VIII O'
aDsorofngiy ousy' Inere VIII lnen DC n(
t u"s ior reau'ng' cuiture anu S'uuJ'
, tney 10 NOT Oeeo"e 'norousu'y srounue'
In Inc princ'ples ana practical delaiis o
'neI Pro'ess'on ouring tnose y"ArSi
' tney 10 NOT STORE 'ne,r minus win useiu
b, Nno"'eugei lucy uo no' pursue nao''s