The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1883-01-12
Prsflting By Mistakes.

The most successful lecturer the world
has ever known was himself once q
drunkard and out of his own bitter ex-
perience drew material for the CONVEX
sion OF thousands. BENJAMIN Franklin.
who could write so bravely upon the
ethics of economy and bequeathed to
posterity so many frugal maxims. was
soundly berated BY bis mother-in-law
for his prodigal habits, and men who
lived convivially and had no respect for
any one, have written the most sanity
hymns ever voiced in public worship.
These men all profted by their mis-
takes. They gave to that work which
survived them their ideals and not them
selves. and the very fact that they
preached one thing and practiced an
other shows that they were anxious to
do good by precept even If they made
lamentable failure in example. Who
could give the best description of the
Christmas tree. with its glowing lights
and glittering toys. the warm. happy
child within. receiving of its opulence,
or the shivering ragged one without.
watching it through the darkness Of
night and poverty, who sees it through
the window as we look at some beanti-
full object through q magnifying glass?
To such an one it Is veritable fairy
land-a glowing picture thrown on the
walls of memory with q calcium light
that fastens it there forever. 1t is the
good thing we have missed which we
remember with the most ardent long
ing, and the virtues that have escaped
US are the highest to our moral vision.
The people who embody in literature
the beautiful lives they have never
lived. are worthy of emulation, since
they have created q standard for others
to look up to. Our best cook books are
written By women who never cooked q
meal in their lives, but they are gifted
with mathematical precision and know
that certain proportions and ingredients
will produce certain results. A good
cook would be incapable of compiling .
recipe book that would be satisfactory
to the public. The man who macada-
mics a road could not write para
graph describing the process, but the
man who hardly knows the difference
between brick-bat and a paving stone
will give a scholarly description of the
work, every word of which will be cor
rect. Children learn through their
mistakes, and we are only children
'.grown tall" Give your twelve-year-
old girl sewing machine and bolt of
cotton cloth; she will get the one out of
gear. and sacrifice good share of the
other before she learns to make gar
ment. but she will acquire one impor-
tant branch of woman's education.
And your boy will use up kit of tools
and spoil the wood-shed floor and the
kitchen chairs before he demonstrates
to his and your satisfaction whether he
has mechanical genius or not. Don't
chide him, unless you are certain that
you never in your whole life made q
mistake yourself.
1t is a common thing to hear one
who is done with the world say: "If
could only live my life over again, L
should never do thus and So" That
is, he would avoid certain mistakes he
knows of, but how many new ones
would he accomplish? When we have
tumbled into a pit and crawled out
again it is very easy to say that we will
go around it the next time. Mistakes
are almost as necessary to the full COM
pletion of our lives here as successes.
They are like the crosses which mark
the fall of soldiers. Paul had made
some serious mistakes before he wrote
to the Corinthians: Wherefore let
him that thinketh he standeth, take
heed lest he fall. Detroit Post and
Tribune