Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-01-12
PrOfiting by Mistakes.

The most successful lecturer the world
has ever known was himself once o
drunkard and out of his own bitter ey-
perience drew material for the CONVEX
sion of thousands. Ben amin Franklin,
who could write SO bra, ely upon the
ethics of economy and bequeat6ed to
posterity so many frugal maxims, was
soundly berated by his mother-ir-law
for his prodigal habits, and men who
lived conviv. ally and had no respect for
any one, have written the most sanity
hymns ever voiced in public w0rsh ..
These men all pro ted by their mis-
takes. They gave to hat 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 In
do good by precept even ii they made
iamentable failure in example. Who
could give the best descr pit on of the
Christmas tree, with its glow nc lights
and glittering toys. the warm, happy
child with n, receiving Of its opulerce,
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 Leauti-
To such an one it is veritable larry
land-a glowing picture thrown on tn.
! walls of memory with calcium lgh.
that fastens it there forever. 1t is the
good thing we haze 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 standard for O hers
| to look up to. Our best cook books are
written By women who never coo ed
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 q
recipe book that would be salts acl ory
to the public. The man who macada-
mics road could not write a para
graph describing the process. but the
man who hardly knows the difference
between a bric'l-bat and paving stone
W II give a scholarly description of the
work, every word of which will he cor
rect. Children learn through Their
mistakes, and we are only children
''grown tall" Give yo-r twelve wear.
old girl sewing machine and a bolt OF
cotton cloth: she will get the one out of
! gear. and sacrifice a g Dod share of the
other before she learns to make gar
ment, but she will acquire one impor-
tant branch of a woman 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 gent us or not. ont
chide him. unless you are certain that
you never in your whole lie made a
mistake yourself.
1t is "a common thing to hear one
whois done with the world say: "If |
cou d only live my life over aga'n, l
should never do thus and So" That
is, he would avoid certa n. m stakes he
knows of, but how manv new ones
would he accomplishP When we have
tumb!ed INTO a pit an / crawled out
aga 1T is very easy to saw that we will
60 around it the next time. Mistakes
are Almost as necessary TO the full CON-
pletion O. our lives here as successes
They are like the crosses which m.rk
the fall of soldiers Paul had male
some serious mista les before he wrote
to the Corinthians: Wherefore let
him that thin eth he standeth, take
heed lest he fall. "-Detr0h Post and
I Tribune