Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1898-04-01
y. %. o. Q. Column.
|. o. CT. DIRECTORY OF ADD
SON COUNTY
EARNESTNESS AS AN ELEMENT
OF SUCCESS,

This is grand subject. Let us look at
1t. At the FIRST glance, it would seem as
though Webster might have left 1t out of
his dictionary Just as well, and no one
would have known the difference, and the
English vocabulary would have been
complete without it. But 1t has deep,
significant meaning, quite comprehensive
in extent, when followed out. SO we
will separate the words of which it is
composed, and look at each separately.
The first is Earn, the literal meaning be-
ing, "to acquire by labor or service.
/ You may think that that is easy and say,
! "Wen, | can do that. | can acquire
lredltb by labor" There are two ways by
which we can accumulate wealth. One
is by our mental faculties; the other by
manual labor. Now permit me to change
the meaning of the first element of Ear
nestness: TO acquire success by labor or
service.
In order to have successful life here
one will need to have an earnest deter
mination in anything that he may at
tempt Second; Earnest, Ardent in the
pursuit of an object"
Not satisfied with merely being success
full in any attempt. but striving with
greater determination to accomplish any
purpose in life. This second component
part may be taken as a pledge. "Giving
assurance that more is coming of the
same kind" "Washington gave earnest
of his talents as a commander by saving
his troops after Braddock's defeat; this
fortitudt, and that of his soldiers during
the winter at Valley Forge, were pled9e
of their ultimate success, or triumph.
The third, "Earnestness." Here We
have the word with which we began, as
an element of success. Estate of being
eqrbest That endorses the principles of
the other two elements.
If one first secures a propitious deter.
mination of an object In life, then will he
have an ardent zeal in that effort, and the
principles set forth in the other elements
will prove true. In order that one may
be successful, whatever the occupation or
profession may be, he will need earnest
ness as an element of success.
Amid all the comforts, pleasures. priv
ileges that life now affords in this en-.
lightened land, what an advantage the
young man of to-day has over the little
pilgrim band who rirst crossed TO the
bending shores of the Atlantic ocean, as
he starts out in life with a determination
to succeed. And should we not pay a
tribute of thanksgiving to our fore
fathers for the institutions of learning
that America can now offer to young men
and women who choose to accept; for the
idea of finished education was brought
to the new world by them. Even in the
wilderness, as the wolf prowled about the
log house, and the wild cats cry was still
heard, the school and even the colleges
were being established. Here Is a grand
the rising generation, for earnestness was
to them an element of success.
In the darkest days of the American
Revolution. when our arms on land were
covered by disaster, and on water by
defeat; when Winchester had been de-
feated; when the army of the north
west had surrendered; and the gloom OF
dependency hung like cloud over the
land, what was it that lighted the fires of
national glory and placed Patrick Henry
at the head of American oratory Was
|
been upholding as one OF the chief prin-
ciples of success? He was not willing to
submit to England, because she claimed
the right to tax the colonies without
their being represented in parliament; so
he rose In rebellion and fought as much
for liberty with his trenchant pen as did
Washington with his colonial sword.
" Give me liberty or give me death are
words Just as familiar to the school-bOy
of to-day as they were when they first
fell from the lips of the patriotic orator.
This was not only earnestness but cour-
age, and c0urageOUSneSS might be noted
here as an element of success. With
your permission would like to change
those eloquent words of Patrick Henry,
in behalf of temperance. Give me pro-
hlbition or give me death, and invite the
Y. p. Il. S. and the |. o. G.. II. to indorse
1t as their motto. Let the w. c. Il. L.
make it their motto. Let every temper
ance reform have it for their motto
throughout the world. Let it be the
universal motto for every man, woman,
and child living And when this shall be
then you may stand on the craggy
ptdhS VI llc lAOChlcss VI vi the Illlud-
ayas, with their SUBMITS covered
with the hOary meator of heaven,
or on the Andes, where the condor
proclaims liberty as an ensign to the
principles of temperance for the inhab-
tants of his native land, and behold the
intoxicating drinks flowing out from the
dark places all over the EARTH just as
freely as the water flows through the
calm, gliding Delaware, or the majestic
Mississippi.
Earnestness, as an element of success,
is needed just as much by the inebriate,
in order to further on the cause of tenn
peranee, as by the one who is financially
successful. To be prosperous in business
one must put his whole life into that
one desire to accumulate fortune. Such
are never satisfied with wealth hut are