St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1889-08-03
SMALL BEGINNINGS.
4 Discourse on the Greatness Of
Little Things.

oak began with the acorn. The ocean
began with the ''little drop of water
and the continent with the little grain
Of sand" =
The American Republic was only Q
few prosecuted. poor and forlorn men
and women landing on Plymouth
rock. In l6sO. for freedom to worship
God"
The Sunday-school enterprise. with
which from twenty to thirty millions
OF people. OF all ages, are connected in
the United States and Great Britain.
began with Robert Raikes teaching q
few ragged street urchins on Sabbath
morning. And the Christian church
itself, having a fOOthold in almost
every country. its membership number
ing hundreds Of millions. and its
mighty influence dominating thrones
and empires began with mere hand
full Of believers in Palestine. despised.
poor and oppressed.
The first sixpence that Samuel Ap-
plet0n. the Boston millionaire OF forty
years ago. possessed, was earned by
assisting o cattle-trader to drive his
herd few miles. The first cent which
Samuel Budget, the wealthy English
merchant of q former generation,
ever had. was paid him by black
smith for An old horseshoe picked up on
his way to school. The "village
smithy" promised to add another PEN
ny to it at the end of two weeks IL the
boy would keep it SO long. The prom
Use and pledge we're both kept and two
cents became the first capital of the
future millionaire
Sir Walter Raleigh introduced sim |
gle petato into Great Britain In tho |
sixteenth century. and it has sustained
the life Of millions Of people BY its in |
crease. conquered famine again and
again. and contributed largely to tho |
wealth. prosperity and glory OF En-
gland and America
And SO on. through the whole range |
of race and lands. the actual of the |
young man and woman is inexperience.
obscurity. ignorance. penury. hard
ship and whatever else belongs 70
carly struggles, while the possible Is
learning. renown. wealth, usefulness
and true greatness.
Young people should learn wisdom
from this lesson OF history. They
should be content to begin life work in
Q small way. They must not despise
the lowest round of the ladder, nor
jump it if they can. 1t is on the way
to the top round. The youth who
aspires to begin where his father
left of is at war with history. He
wants to break up the estab-
lished order of things He would
begin great and not small He does
not want to pay the price OF success.
He expects TO secure it cheaper. As
If Providence would make him an cx-
ception to the rule! Nothing would be
more unwise and perilous. The sure
experience of such . youth is to end
smaller than he began.
Mr. Parton says: MEN destined to
, great career / have observed gener-
ally serve a long and vigorous ap-
to it of some kind. They
Try their forming powers in little
things. before graphing with the
great. l can not os!. 20 mind single
instance of man who achieved sue
cess OF the first magnitude, who did ,
not at first toll long in obscurity."
Peter Coopcr's attention was called, ,
ID his early manhood. to the manu-
Facture of glue. He began in a very ,
small way. With horse and cart he /,
the country round about, for
he hoofs of slaughtered cattle, con- ,
reying them to a small factory which
be had extemporized. where he con-
verted them into glue. He was quite
successful from the beginning, work. I
ing early and late, keeping his own
books. selling his own roods.
md practicing the most rigid econ Z
,my. As his business increased. he en-. I
arged his mandatory. Having no {
m extensive market for
lis wares was opened and his profits I
rev to large proportions. But it re- ]
,uired time in which to reach these ,
'esults; and it was forty-five years b.
ore he reached the highest success ,
He had commenced. and launched out ,
N fine stylee at first, he would have ,
made failure Of it in five years. I
Amos Lawrence said, near the close ,
Il his life: '.The first year did busi-
,ess in Boston. In q small way. made F,
fifteen hundred dollars The second 1
rear Imade four thousand dollarA II +,