St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1883-12-08

college, the professional school each de-
mand their weary years.
'If 1 engage in mercantile business,
| must commence at the bottom round.
[ must sweep the store and run erEands
and do up bundles. must slowly rise
if at all. How do know shall rise, /
have no capital and my business
capacity is not wonderful.
elf engage in manufacturing, there,
too, must begin low if l would rise
high. | must 60 into the lowest room
of the mill. must learn all of the
disagreeable details of the business. 1t
will take me years to learn, and after
all | may fail.
eff I am to be farmer must have
long years of disagreeable plodding. l
must pick up stones and drive cows and
water horses, and do thousand un-
heard-of chores, before am prepared
to even run in debt for farm and 90
into business for myself. 1t is a hard
row to hoe. The field of life is rocky
one. I believe I'll settle down in my
little corner, do as well as | can the
humble work that comes to me, take
the bitter with the sweet, be content
with lowly lot, and fling ambition to
the winds. [ am a common BOY
might as well recognize the fact now
as ten years hence
Let me speak, as friend, who has
Travelled this rocky road many years be-
fore you Let me tell my little story
Let me give you a big dose of that med
icine SO often prescribed, so seldom
given-adyice.
And first, I would say, the way is
rough. There is no fowery path to
success. The road to honor and use-
fulness is not paved one. Whatever
vocation you choose, be it law or medi-
cine, or the ministry, or agriculture, or
merchandise, it is work, work, hard
work and uphill work at that.
II don't know a0hat to do" you say.
1t may not be time for final decis-
ion. There are many lessons you ought
to learn, no matter what pursuit in life
you follow. Have you learned thoseP
But if you feel that the time has really
come, that you must decide and yet you
can not, then ask advice, ask some one
in whose Judgment you have conf
dence. Think over it. Pray over it.
Take it. Once taken, don't stop to
look back. Go to work with a will.
Don't say: s'Oh, dear, / wish I had
done something else;'' or, II am not suit
ed to this business or, II don't believe
shall succeed Unless health fails, or
facts show Enthusiastically that you are
on the wrong track, push on.
.'How do / know / shall rise?" you
say.
Resolve that you aoiU. Where there
is will there is way.
Those who have made their mark in
almost every calling are not those who
have the quickest apprehension, nor the
most retentive memory, nor the most
nimble fingers, nor the most unerring
Judgment. They are those who have
persevered. They did not fail, because
they would not fail.
The boy who can work steadily, with
one purpose in view, who can do little
by little his work, and can keep on try
ing till he does it well, that boy has no
right to say: have no ability. He has
ability, the highest kind of ability, and
it is his duty to make the most of it,
He owes it to himself. He owes it to
the world. He owes it to his God, and
to those he loves next to God.
Make, then, the most of yourself,
my young friend. There is more. good
material than you think. The steel
needs tempering, the iron needs work
ing. and it will take time, but it is good
solid ore. Work it well.
The strongest, the bravest, the best
men have been those who had hard
Aw to hoe, and who hoed it. Hoe
way, my boys. Pull out the weeds.
Work hard. Don't be discouraged.
There is sunshine on the hilltops.
There are flowers by the roadside
You shall not want a loving word, and, if
need be, a helping hand. Golden Rule.