Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1897-08-26
THE REAL PREPARATION.
There Are No Accidents I'm the High.
er Fields of Success

| AACAuo VI SucccbSs
When Wellington said that the battle
of Waterloo was won on the cricket-field
at Elton, he was putting in picturesque
way truth which many men learn too
late; the truth that the victories of life
are won, not on the fields where the de-
cisive struggle takes place, but in the
obscure and forgotten hours of prepara-
ton. Success or failure lies in the hands
of the boy long before the hour of final
test comes. Wars are won in times of
peace in armories, foundries, training
schools, and at staff headquarters.
France was conquered, quarter of q
century ago, before a single German
soldier set foot on her soil; conquered
by the marvellous preparation which
had been going on for years under the
thorough German military and educa-
tional system. The student thinks he
can waste his opportunities and still fit
himself for the critical moments in his
mature life by hard work when the
hour strikes, by energetic special
preparation when the time for action
comes; but specific preparation is i'm
possible to the man who has neglected
general preparation. knowledge can,
not he picked up on short notice except
by the man whose mind is already well
stocked; particular skill can be-
rapidly acquired only by the man who
has thoroughly trained all his faculties.
The thoroughly educated lawyer, with
the power of attention and concentra-
ton which are among the best results
of genuine education, can readily ia
miliarize himself with new field of
knowledge for special use; but the
half-educated man would be unable to
grasp, arrange, or command the facts.
1t is often said of speakers that they are
unusually eloquent when called upon so
suddenly as to be shut off from all posi-
bility of preparation; and such speeches
are called eXtempore, as if the word in
volved entire lack of preparation. 1t is
safe to say that no man ever yet made 4
really good speech who had not made
long, thorough and painstaking prep
aration; not specific preparation for the
particular occasion, but general prepar-
alton for all occasions. 1t is the
thoroughly trained man who shines
when he is suddenly called upon; under
the pressure of the moment all his
faculties come to his assistance, land into
Is minutes of talk he condenses the
thinking of months or years. Tap an
empty man and you will get nothing;
tap a full man and you will get the best
there is in him.
In the highest fields of success there
are no accidents; men reap precisely
what they have sown, and nothing else;
they do well precisely what they have
prepared to do, and they do nothing
else well. This preparation is often
unconscious, but it is not the less
thorough for that reason. In fact, the
larger and deeper part of preparation
for the greater experiences and works.
of life is always unconscious. The
cricketers in the field at the English
public school did not know that they
were fighting and winning one of the
decisive battles of history; we do not
know when we are making ourselves
strong, rich, and great in resource and
character. The world pours its force
into us when we put ourselves in right
iCluIlou " II, lIdhSS US Col-
stantly wiser if we know how to ration
alize it; time deposits all manner OF
treasure in our memory and imagin-
alton if we hold the doors open. Moth
ing is lost on a man who is bent upon
growth; nothing wasted on one who is
always preparing for his work and his
life by keeping eyes, mind and heart
open to nature, men, books, experience.
Such a man finds ministers to his
education on all sides; everythingc
operates with his passion for growth.
And what he gathers serves him at I'M
expected moments, in unforeseen ways.
All things that he has seen, heard,
known, and felt come to his aid in the
critical moment to make his thought
clear and deep, his illustration lumin-
Gus, his speech eloquent and inspiring.
''The poet, the orator." says Emerson,
who was man of this order, "bred in
the woods, whose senses have been nour-
ished by their fair and appeasing
changes, year after year, without de-
sign or heed, shall not lose their lessons
in the roar of cities and the broil of poll
tics. Long hereafter, amid agitation
and terror in national councils, these
solemn images shall reappear in their
morning luster, as fit symbols for the
language of the hour. At the call of a
noble sentiment, again the woods wave,
the pines murmur, the river rolls and
shines, and the cattle low upon the
mountains, putting the spells of per-
suasion, the keys of power, in his
hands."-N. Y. Outlook.
The Cost of ScIfishncss.
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