The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1894-06-13
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The Value OF an Incentive.

OF course, we hedu COuIueuQdple
incentive. IF he hasn't an incentive
he II never amount to much. He will be
mere chip caught in the BUSY eddy Of
life.
Mr.. George ". Childs, when boy,
said to himself, I'm going to be the
owner of the Philadelphia Ledger some
day." 1t was a grand incentive, and
the "some day" came around to him
at last, and the newspaper plant has
grown into a valuable property in his
hands. Years ago young playmate
Of niue, who had taste for botany
said to me, ''I'll some day ill the chair
of professor of botany in the ----
university" He trained himself for
the position, and filled it twenty-five
years later.
Persistent application must be uni
ted with the incentive. Mere ambi-
ton will not be enough, It will soon
spend itself. Rufus Choate once
taught O boy the force of this remark.
He entered the Office and said, in a
self-consequential way:
''Mr. Choate, I want to become a
great lawyer, like yourself
"Ah, indeedl" replied Mr.. Choate.
'That is commendable. You can be.
gin now.
He motioned the boy to a chair,
gave him a copy of Blackstone, and
said: "Read this until I come back,
and I will see how you get on" The
boy had not trained his mind to
study. He could not fix his atten.
tion. His back and head began to
ache. Every moment increased his
torture. He wanted fresh air he
felt like running away; his ambition
wilted. In two hours Mr.. Choate re.
turned.
Chow did you get along p he ask.
ed.
'sGet along p groaned the boy,
"Did you have to read such stuff as
this p
eyes, and great deal more. All
the books you see here," replied Mr.
Choate, glancing at the well filled Ii
brary shelves.
How long did ittake you p
"About twenty-five years" replied
Mr.. Choate.
"Oh r. gasped the boy, in supreme
disgust. "Well, I'll never be great
lawyer. I don't want to be.
Another boy, who afterwards became
one of the millionaire merchants OF
Philadelphia, was made of better ma.
terial. He walked into an Office and
asked for work.
"You are starting out young in
life," the busy man said. "Have you
motto 2"
NO, sir, !" replied the boy, a little
"Well, every boy ought to have a
motto" suggested the gentleman. He
meant an incentive. The boy stared di-
rectly in front of him, and saw the
word "push" on the door.
ssThere is my MOTTO" he quickly
said, as he pointed to the door.
"Good r. laughed the gentleman.
."This is a hustling world. The fellow
who doesn't push is left out on the
edges. I want boy with push, and
SO I'll try you
David Livingstone was a boy Of
push. When but ten years of age he
gave proof of his wonderful powers Of
observation by the flowers and shells
he had collected. At sixteen he had
mastered Horace and Virgil, working
from six in the morning to eight in
the evening, in a factory, and study.
ing after night. He tells us himself
how he read while in the factory: II
placed the book on a portion Of the
spinning-jenny so that I could catch
sentence after sentence as l passed at
my work" A boy with so much lau-
dible persistency could not help be-
coming great man. Linnmus, Her
sohel, Cuvier and Agassiz were boys
blessed with similar persistency, but
were not so shut up by circumstances
as Livingstone was.
Daniel Webster once used very
startling and appropriate illustration
in one Of his speeches.
'sWhere did you get that 2" asked a
friend.
~ stored it away in my head when ]
was boy" replied Webster. l never
had chance to use it until to-day. "
He had recalling memory as well as
retentive memory. He labeled the
story, put it into a pigeon hole in his
brain, and found It there when he
reached for it.
Hard work in boyhood antedates the
brilliant success of manhood. When
Peel entered the House of Commons,
at the age of twenty-one, he startled
the public with the ease, brilliancy
and impressiveness of his speeches.
But before he was eight years old he
had exhibited his aptitude in that di-
rection, and his father was sensible
enough to foster it. he trained him
to address visitors in the parlor with
self-possession and eloquence thatwas
quite effective. He would make him
repeat, Sabbath afternoon, all he
could recall of the sermon Of the fore
noon. By cultivating the habit
of attention and retention he was en-
abled to repeat the sermon almost word
for word.
An uncle of the late Justice Lamar
aroused a fortunate incentive in his
nephew. The latter admitted that he
was making little progress in Latin,
Greek and mathematics.
"Lucius, what do you do in your de-
batting society ?" asked Mirabeau b.
Lamar.
"Oh, I talk to the MEMBERS" was
the boys reply. IT do not find that
very hard"
siThen, SIR" said Mirabeau, Ego
back TO school and learn how to talk
and how to talk well. f"
A great deal of information can be
obtained by observation. tits won
derful incentive to the naturalist. He
is ever discovering something new:
There are boys who are observing and
there are boys who are not. On
one occasion class of boys stood up
to read. The word eclat'was in the
lesson.
"How is that word pronounced p
asked the teacher, before they began
to read. None of them knew I; yes,
the boy at the foot of the class knew.
"It is pronounced e-claw, sir" he