Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1905-05-19

TO become a translator or are you a
proofreader. a master hand as a mu-
sician or a capable artist? The ques-
lions which face you, % woman. are
these: "Whal can you do thoroughly and
well? On what Srbject can you speak
as an Al authorityT' Half built towers
are uninhabitable houses. Half luilt
ships are absolutely useless to brave
the tornadoes OF the Atlantic ocean.
What can you do? What can you do?
What one thing can you do as well as
IL not better than any one else2
But the half built educational tow
ers are not TO be condemned nearly as
much as the deserted, half built enter
prises OF life which we see everywhere
around us. 1t was only here and there
that 4 man or woman in the past had
an opportunity TO get complete edu-
cation. The higher schools OF our IA
Tiers and mothers were few and far
between. Besides that, even IL there
We're fine schools in the past all chill
dren were not able to go to them. Per
haps you were like my grandfather.
He was the oldest OF a large family of
children. He had to stay at home and
help work the farm that the younger
members of the family might have
enough bread to eat and enough cloth
ing to wear. Thus the only education
you received outside OF the three IRIS"
was out of the University of Hard
Knocks" But in spite of this handicap,
my friend, you have n good mind. a
good body and you have had a good
many OF the essential capabilities OF
success. Now, why have you been
such failure? Why is your life In its
uselessness to be llkened unto that half
built tower which PLATE, the governor.
erected and toward which Christ point
ed when he spoke the words OF my
text? I will tell the reason. You went
to work and worked hard. You Ge-i
veloped yourself along one line. You
laid your foundations; you partly COM
pleted your walls, but just when you
were about to complete your work and
win success you deserted the Ane OF
work you were following and went to
dig in some other field to build another
kind OF tower.
Did Not stick TO Il.
Is not this emphatically true with
you in business? What are you doing
today? "Oh." you answer. 81 am In the
mining business. Some OF my friends
and myself have a dozen claims up In
the new gold fields. am bound soon to
be rich. There Is no doubt about Il.
We are within quarter OF a mile OF
one mine where they have taken out
100000 In one year. We are on the
same vein or line of ore. We are bound
to get rich. Will you take some stock
In our mine? You can get rich too"
No, thank you. In the first place, I
have no money TO invest; In the Sec
ond, IL ] had would not invest IL
in your mine. You are almost certain
to make failure out OF IL. IL there ls
no gold there, then. OF course. you can
not get "blood out OF n turnip." II
there Is any gold there you will let go
OF It before you develop that mine
properly. Some one else will get the
profits. How do know? Why. that
has been your record for twenty-five
years. In the last quarter OF century
you have dabbled in at least ten differ
ent businesses, at any one OF which you
could have made n success if you had
only stuck to it. For five years you
five years you said: There is no need
Of me burying my talents here. must
get out into some other business where
1 can make some money" You got out
How is il with the man who bought
your place? lie has made n success on
your farm because he put his brains
into it and developed II and ran IL
along the lines II could pay. After you
left the farm you went into the real
estate business. Then what was the
matter? "Oh," you say. there was no
money In the real estate business. i
get out OF that very soon.'
Yes, you speak the truth. There was
no money In the real estate business
for you. You are sure OF making a
failure at everything. But there wns
money and there is money in the real
estate business for the man who took
your offices. lie had no more capital
to start with than you had, but he
hung on until ut last the financial tide
turned his way. Today he is one of the
wealthy men OF this city. Then you
failed rs life Insurance agent. Next
you failed as a book publisher. Then
you failed as n commercial Traveller.
You have failed ut everything you
touched. Yet men no brainier than
you who followed you have made sue
cesses in every one OF these lines. You
dug your foundations; you erected one
fourth, one-half, two-thirds, three
fourths OF your walls. Then you said:
Let the unfinished towers stand. I
am too discouraged to climb any high
er. will go and dig elsewhere"
But 1 would not halt here. The COM
pleted towers OF life are due to grip
and grit. They are due TO more than
that. Their foundation stones. their ex-
cavations. their walls. are builded by
character as well. Many man has
had all the proper mental preparation
for life and perseverance enough In his
makeup TO tear down a stone wafiswlth
his bare fingers IL 1t were possible for
him so to do. But, on the other hand,
many a man has lost all simply be-
cause his character could not stand the
test OF truth and Justice. No matter
how strong and stanch a ship may be,
IL 1t has no rudder that ship becomes
a plaything OF every current and q
AhchuSc " ah Shilts saElluS tue seas.
No matter how swift locomotive, II
it has no indicator TO its boiler that
engine is momentarlly In danger of
| blowing up. No matter how high the
walls OF a tower lift themselves. II
those walls are not erected on a solid
base and In n straight line they are In
danger OF topping over. What the rud-
der is to the ship. the indicator to the
engine, the plumb line to the mason
building the wall, character is to man.
It is his ballast. his sheet anchor, his
safety valve, his protector. his all.
a Sad Example.
Let me illustrate my thought by the
sad and yet brilliant life Of one OF the
greatest statesmen England ever pro-
duced. Charles James Fox was one OF
the greatest geniuses who ever stood In
the British house OF commons. AT
twenty ne years of age he was ranked
among the ablest debaters and at thir-
| Nv had not superior or eoual In all Eu-