The Canton advocate. [volume] (Canton, D.T. [S.D.]) 1877-1897, 1879-05-22
A PurDOse in Life.

A story rs told Of a a5Connecticut Van
| kee who, when a young man, came to him
to make application for his daughters
nand in marriage, engaged and held hin
in conversation about his personal mat
ters, his prospects, hopes and fears unit
| the hit of pine stick upon which the salt
or had been employing his knife, mad
dropped in shavings to the ground. He
then replied: "young man, have kno WI
your family for many years, and have al,
ways thought we'll Of you, and had yeu
made anything of that stick you have
been whiting, even if it had been nc
more. than,a toothpick, you should have
|'had my girl; but l don't want for a son-
in-law one whose tendencyis to go through
life whiting to no purpose
How many do We see every day who
are wasting their time, spending days,
weeks, months and years without profitable
result; and often, perhaps we may say
nearly always, because they have no fixed
purpose in lite,-n object at which tEev
aim, no goal to he attained. A few,
fortunately, in their younger days have a
controlling desire to fill certain positions,
or accomplish certain ends. Such are al
most sure to succeed, no matter what OBJ
stacles may be in the way. 4 patient
and steady struggle with adverse circuIn-
stances may be necessary, but an advance
step by step, upward and onward, slowly
if it must be, will finally bring one to the
desired position and insure. success. 'Gi I.
There are few, however, who at the
time they should be directing their at
tention to their life's work, have any de-
cided preference as to what that work
shall be, and therefore most people are
the more likely to float down the stream
of life without rudder. ares -.s NJ ~
II the choice of pursuit is made by pa
rent or friend, it is more likely to be in
accordance with the hopes or desires Of
the director, than with the adaptation Or
fitness of the subject, and the result is
the latter goes through life vainly striving
to fit IA square bolt to Il round hole. In
such case, there is no purpose in the mat
ter. Thc,subject is set to work Aout the
plans of Others, witt, no purpose Of his
tWn.
Every young man is better fitted l'y
nature to engage in one class of business
than in another that requires ability of a
different kind. Such natural tendencies
should he sought for, carefully watched
and cultivated. To thwart them is Ger
tain failure. Said DR.. Chaplin: MANY
IA man whom God has fitted to occupy AN
honest and honorable position as ia good
shoemaker, has cndeavored to override
Gods DEGREES and turned out poor cler-
gyman of no use to himself or to any
about him." The services of a competent
phrenologist can in, many cases be, em-
ployed to advantage, for Willie such men
may not be possessed of the definite ability
they sometimes claim, they would not
send one with constructiveness, small, to
a machine shop, or one in whom mathc-
matical talent is obvious, to an engravcr' s
room. And sin "a great majority Of cases,
they would point out the calling or pur-
suit i'll which the person under examina-
would be most likely to work with will
and a purpose, and that purpose would
insure success,
Perhaps it. is true that there are, scom-
paratively more inefficient men ~eng,,gc,l
in agriculture than in any other pursuit
They take to the farm either from force of
circumstances or want of enterprise to do
anything else. They are human ma
chimes, and work with little thought
But Mother Earth is kindly, and as hu-
man mothers sometimes do, gives her
children from her bounty for the mere
asking. But such men are never success
full. They live to. be sure, and SO
do the beasts Of the field. The true farm
Ell is he who starts out with an object in
view, and gives the labor of both brain and
muscle to achieve it-he who is not CON
tent to gather the natural product of noun
tain Or valley, but, by care and culture,
improves in quality and increases in guam
tity every crop that he supervises. 9 With
a purpose steadily pursued, such one
can attain almost any desirable result,
even though it be apparently as difficult
as to gather grapes from thorns or figs
from thistles. 30, r,E-7