The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1888-04-12
FAILURE IN LIFE,
1t Is Due In Most Instances to the Absence
of Application.

1t Is Due In Most Instances to the Absence
OF Application.
Well now. the failure of many yonng
men in life is distinctly due to the abb
sence of application. / could easily
give you not few instances that have
come under my notice here; lads, not
deficient in ability. not addicted to vice,
but so destitute of the power OF appli-
cation, that, no matter, what line OF
business they enter on. they could not
stick to it. A young fellow enters
merchants office; good opening; excel
lent prospects; but before a twelve
month is out, he finds he has made
mistake. He now determines to be
doctor; starts a course of medical
study; but in few months gets heartily
wearied of that, and is persuaded that
he is cut out for the law. So he sets
forth on fresh line of rails, only to
discover that a professional life will not
suit him at all: his ambition now is to
be on the Stock Exchange. But the
work there soon proves equally dis
tasteful. and he throws it up in disgust;
and unless he marries rich wife
(Which such a man often contrives to
do), he hangs about pennies good
for-nothing to the end of his days. 1t
is an excellent thing for youth.
almost as soon as school-days are over,
to have to depend to great extent
upon his own exertions. If he is saved
from the efforts of making his own way
in the world, and the necessity OF
establishing position for himself, he
is denied powerful stimulus to toll
and perseverance. The late President
Garfield. who rose by his own exertions
from the humblest to the highest
station in his own country, once OBJ
served: 'In nine times out of ten, the
best thing that can happen to young
man is to be tossed overheard, and
compelled to sink or swim for himself.
In all my acquaintance. l never knew
man to drown who was worth saving"
There is now an honored and re-
spected member of the House of Com
mons who was once working stone
mason, and he says: In my opinion,
truthfulness, sobrietv, absolute punctu-
atty and self-reliance are Indispensable
factors to success. Ayoung maa should
never be afraid of work, however hard
or common it may seem to be-" The
men who in my trade or occupation
have risen to the top of the tree, have
generally been men who, to use Presi-
dent Lincoln's favorite expression,
kept pegging away" and were never
in the habit of shelving their own work
upon other persons. There is proverb
l used to meet with in Turkey. which
advises you never to do to-day what can
be left off till tomorrow, and never to
do yourself what you can get another
to do for YOU. hope you will 60 rs
much a possible in the teeth of such
degrading counsel. The advice Genel al
Gordon gave is incomparably more
worthy your acceptance. The occasion
l allude to was the first day on which
fire was opened a. Sebastopol from the
twenty-one gun battery, and when the
sand-bags forming one of the embra-
sures caught fire. A corporal and a
sapper of the Engineers were told off to
repair the damage. The corporal
ordered his companion to mount the
embrasure, undertaking himself to
hand up the fresh bags to him. The
firing was heavy at the time, and the
demurred to this arrangement,
suggesting that the corporal should get
up, and that he would do the handing
up business. There was a bit of wrang-
ling over it. General Gordon. hearing
the dispute, came to the spot. mounted
the pile of bags himself, and whilst a
storm of bullets swept around him cOolly
performed the task. Thereupon he
quietly descended, and looking sternly
a the corporal. said: Never order
man to do a thing you are afraid to do
yourself VI. THAN DGridSoa.