Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1906-10-06

v.
swers the sea captain; I'VE are merely
testing our compasses" But why did
YOU not do this in the harborT "On,
answers the sea captain, I'VE cannot 90
that near the shore. The rocks and the
land may exercise magnetic influence.
When we test our compasses we must
be far out at sea, away from their IN
fuence. The propinquity OF a single
nail may make the compass needle
point in q false direction. If our COM
mass Is unreliable it may send us upon
the rocks or lead us away from our
true destination" What the sea cap
tain says about faulty compass the
great navigators Of life teach about our
weaknesses or failings. If man does
not recognize his weaknesses and guard
against his weaknesses, in the end these
weaknesses will surely destroy him.
Marie Antoinette wins our admiration
nv the herolsm with which she went TO
Imprisonment and death, but that does
not require us to admire the frivoiity
and selfshness which led to her ruin.
George B. Mcclellan may have been
the greatest organizer the American
army ever had. but that does not prove
that he was fit to command at Shlloh
or in the Wilderness. Cicero had the
most eloquent Of tongues, but that did
not proye he could do the work OF a
Caesar or Cromwell. Every man has
his limitations, and the sooner we rec
opnize our limitations the sooner we
shall arrive at a just estimate or our
powers.
Rut there is another fatal error TO
which I want to call your attention.
Blind egotism may become insanely
conservative. It is ruinous when 1t re-
fuses to mark the progress OF new
methods and discoveries. 1t Is often
found that an egotist who has made a
success in his younger days Is apt to
mark time and to think that the world
like an army, has also been marking
time instead Of going ahead. Egotlsm
seems to be incapable of readJustine
itself TO new conditions Of life. BE
cause the world once Travelled In canal
boats or in stagecoaches therefore some
ecotlsts pretend that 1t Is never dlgnl
| fed TO travel faster than a snair'
mace. Because our fathers and fore
fathers once read by candlelight there
fore these modern egotsts seem t
think that there is no house properly
lighted without candles and that TN
chandelier. with its wires and globes
is a detestable abomlnation.
| Behind the Times.
One of the most famous physician
of his day became shelved because n
would not accept the new investiga
lions which had been made in tn
medical world. He not only positivel.
refused to accept the theory OF Dac
terra. but he refused to go into con
sultation with any practitioner who &C
cepted that theory. His practice lei
him almost as quickly as the waves Q
the sea leave the shores on the eo
tide. Being called as an expert mec
ical authority In a murder trial OF Ne'
York. the district attorney placed hiI
on the stand and so twisted him up
his answers that he nearly broke dow
and cried like little child. The ma
in the business world today must NEE
other conditions and plan his mercal
tile campaigns upon different line
from those adopted by the merchant
of fifty years ago. And yet some PEE
ple after they have made a little SUI
cess seem to stand still. In their egg
tism they seem to be unwilling TO re-
ognize the advance OF the human rae
and before they know it younger me
come up to them and then pass thel
and leave them behind.
Our lives must be a continual pro-
! ress or else they will be a contlnu'
retrocession. l once read OF a woma
who had a strange dream. In h'
. dream she seemed to be at the Dotto
r of a well. All was complete darKne'
r about her. But suddenly she looke
up. There. through the mouth OF u
we'll overhead, she saw bright St'
5 glowing. 1t see to say to he
). "Come, let me la. you. Rise, ris
i rIsew And, strange to say, as 81
q looked at the overhanging star she D
gan TO rise. She felt herself going
a ond ND. But az she was rising s.
q looked down, and Immediately she Il
n to the bottom of the well. bruis'
. and sore she was. Then she look
9 I'M again. Again that star began
o lIft her up. Higher and higher 8
went. but again she looked down al
.s aoo,n she fell to the bottom OF I
. we'll "Ah." she cried, IL know nc
q what I must do must never 10
y down. but always look up. Then as
=. keep my eyes upon that star It "
u uft me up and up until | stand up
the firm ground overhead" mus
= did. thus she rose. Beautiful allego
that II Is the allegory Of life. l.
g. should have its stars which llft q
= NOT its introspections and backva
10 looks which drag us down. = J"
"A should not be like a gopher, WIN
- little hole, now and then rushing
I'd to take a peek at the world and ID
le rushing back into his little black OIL
e, geon. He should not sit upon sm
Of mound Of dirt and look out over
ly broad pralries and chatter, See b
ke big am" But he should be like
If traveller, always with his vision roc
IL ed upon the distant hills. He sho
ts be continually striving to reach {
at which he has not attained. Egotl
a for the most part is nothing Du'
an bubble of self complacency filled W
all air. One puneture and it VIII Du
and be gone forever.
Oh But the saddest fact to me ab
Is bankrupting egotism is that 1t dri
from our sides the very best frle
that we have. 1t drives away 10
all true men and women who want to