Virginia gazette. [volume] (Williamsburg, Va.) 1893-192?, 1902-01-17

tne same roac we are travelling. but it
is our first trip. New appearance. new
tcmpta tiOus. new SORROWS. new iDvs.
That is the reason 80 MANY .oss their
way. They meet some one on the road
OF Ife and ask fo- direction. and wrong
direction Is given. We have AZ been
perpieNed 10y misdirection after a ,king
the way To some pace we wished TO
visit. Some one said go AS: Take the
first road to the right and. having gone
a mile ON that road. take the first road
TO the left, and YOU will soon reach
your destination" We took the advice.
but our informer forgot a turn In the
road OF forgot one of the roads leading
10 the left. and We took the wrong road
and were lost iu the woods. and night
came on, and we were put 20 great
Irritation and trouble.
The fact Is blame no one FOR making
lifetime mistakes. pity hem Instead
% banning them. There are $50 many
wrong roads. but only one right one
Nou cannor I'm midlife draw upon your
youthful experiences for wisdom. for
midlife is SO entirely different from
youth. You cannot in Old age draw
upon miulife experiences for the two
stages OF existence are SO diverse.
What is wisdom for one man 10 do
would be folly for another 90 under
take. A man Of nerve and pluck is not
qualified TO advise man limid and
shrinking. An achievement that would
be easy for YOU might be impossible
for me. Human advice is ordinarily OF
little value. People review their own
successes or failures and then tell Us
what is best for Us 20 do, not realizing
that our circumstances are different.
our temperament is different. our
physical and mental and moral capac-
titles different. Most OF the great mis-
takes that have been made have been
made under human advisement.
So, also. il may be said 10 every na-
tion: "Ye have not passed this way be-
fore" Our own republic is going
through move! experiences. Gould wis
est statesmen 20 years ago have
prophesied present conditions2 Every
president, every congress, has new
crises 10 meet and new questions TO
settle. SO prophecies made about con-
ditions in this country 50 years from
now may turn our as far untrue as the
prophecies made so years ago by the
greatest of American statesmen when
he declared on yOnder Capitol hil.
/ that il was uuwise to think Of civiliza-
tion or prosperity the other side of III,
Roeky mountains. and according o hi
belief the Pacific coast would be yhs
mountain lions. and We must not .hink
of annsXing those rorbidGing regions.
Many prophecies in regard TO our
nation failed and many prophecies
1 concer ming it's future viii fail be-
cause il is travelling a new road
/ Every step il takes on that road is
a novelty. The opinion of a Mon
roe or Jefferson in the far past Is
not of as much value as the opinion
| of our wisest men now. How could
men know in 1923 what it would oe
/ best for this nation 10 do in 1901
1t is belittling as well as unwise for
our statesmen, who are quite equal
l to the statesmen of the past and
who have. in addition 70 the natural
talents of their predecessors, attain
ments in knowledge that were inn
possible in any decade but our own.
l to depend on advice of men who
have been dead three-quarters of a
century. IN all other things the
world has advanced. Can il be that
In statesmanship il has gone back
and that this opening OF the TWEEN
tieth century must consult the open
ing OF the nineteenth century? "Ye
have not passed this way before"
= Yes. our entire rorld 10 On . new