The Russellville Democrat., 1880-12-23
Walk When You Begin.
Rounds Printers cabint.

1 It is said that when Chief Justice Olli- yer Ellsworth commenced the practice l of his profession he was accustomed to walk to and from his office, while mer- chant of the same city rode much less l distance in grand style Once pausing and pronering ride, he questioned, 1 Ellsworth as to why he did not also sport carriage, and received for answer, Be cause I have found that persons must
 walk at some period of their lives, and choose to walk when l begin" The sequel proved the truth of the assertion, | for later in life, when the dashing mer chant had failed and was forced to go afoot, the Chief Justice rode in his car riage and bore the honors of Minister Plenipotentiary to France.
 The wisdom of the answer is apparent | to all who have watched the fluctuations of business life and reflected upon the causes of disaster. Walking when they began would have saved many man | from wreck; many home from the iron grasp of the law; many family from the poor-house It is the launching out into extravaganza that cuts to the core. Car l riages and fast horses are the premoni- l tory symptoms of failure in the great
 majority of cases. Money taken from | business for such purposes is like drain | ing the life-blood from the veins, as cup ping the heart, upon the healthy move | ments of which all the functions depend. There is a sturdy manhood shown in the young by walking that commands re | spect and iustifies confidence, while fool l ish and luxuriant outlay creates suspicion | as to stamina and distrust as to credit. Walking at the beginning shows strength of will, independence of charac- l ter. and that the foundation is laid upon something less shifting than sand. It gives practical assurance that there is | nerve and muscle behind, capable of en- | during the strain and meeting the troubles of life without flinching. The sturdy pedestrian commands respect even from | the snob who rolls by in carriage, and | his bread tastes ten times more sweet, | his digestion remains unimpaired, and his -slumber is indeed rest. Putting all
 other phases of the question aside for | the moment, waking pays very large | interest upon the investment Tn health. There is no exercise that can compare l with it. when iudiciously employed. To one confined in an office, to one whose
 hours are mostly passed at desk, to one 1 whose labor is especially that of the head, | it stands before all others, and is the best | possible training for the mental prize ring.
 But we attempt not to discuss it from
 amedical standpoint. Itis with the effect
 upon business relations that we would enforce the lession taught by the little
 story heading this article; and that is, if we correctly understand it, that man | must not scorn little beginnings if he would triumph in the end; and the word "walking," in this connection, is fraught with A far wider and deeper meaning than the simple stretching of the muscles
 of the limbs; it embraces thousand | littles that go to make up the sum total of property. Granting that the smile of going on foot and in carriage | is a forcible one on the whole, yet the 1 idea must be carried out through all the
 various shades of bushes life if the
 "true inwardness" of the matter IS under stood.
 You must walk before you can safely | indulge in any other means of gettlng
 over space. You must be content to ac- complish Titles, to be saving of the littles,
 to accumulate by the penny before you can expect the pounds. Expenditure for style, for show, for luxury, to save | inc use of your legs, is dangerous eX-
 pertinent for the beginners in business. | The cost must be closely estimated, and | ii must be demonstrated with mathemat- | ical precision that it will pay before the | risk taken. Pleasure is rarely, If ever, an institution that returns golden shekels | It may be gratifying to pride, may be con l yenjent. agreeable, lessen labor, and help to avoid dust and mud, to keep carriage | itis "nicen to see our wives and daughters
 "keep up with the neighbors;" may be in
 some cases beneficial to their health; but
 upon the opposite side of the ledger the paramount consideration of the drain upon the cash account, and the inability | to sustain it without If not worse) such sacrifices as will leave the arm of busl- ness paralyzed, and the chanceof riding and lolling upon velvet cushions very slim when age has come, the steps feeble and the power to accomplish greatly weakened, if not entirely gone.
 Better walk when you are young and viporous than to be forced to creep on with staff in old age. Better begin at, than come out of, the little end of the horn; better be guided by you "can" than
 be driven by the tyrant must" better wear out sole-leafher than credit and in- dependence and manhood; better be your own master while yonng than the slave of another when your halr IS thin
 and white with the frost of many win terS.
 Of the truth and wisdom of this the world is so full of striking examples that you cannot shut your eyes to them if you
 would. The ranks of aged and depend
 ent poverty is so thronged with those
 who rode when they should have walked, that the lesson should need no further inn
 pressing. Ii stands full-faced before us
 in every class and condition of life; Is as
 the Lighthouses flaming through the
 stormy darkness upon rocky coast and
 bidding all beware of approach. The re-
 cords of bankruptcy, the Imprisonment
 of the debtor, the law to collect, the books filled with mortgages, the closed
 doors of many once fair mart of trade, the sacrifice of property under the ham, mer of the auctioneer, all point to the same eause--to the rolling in carriages when one should have walked, to the squandering of means for luxury when it was uniustified by the resources.
 Waiisau Central Wisconsin.