The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1909-07-24


point where they were thoroughly
prepared to go UP higher, the door
! to higher place was swung back Of
itself, and they have heard the call
to enter. The old die, or voluntarily
| retire for rest. The best men who
stand ready to take their place will
succeed to their position and it's
honors and emoluments.
The young man will say that only a
few can reach the top. That is true,
but it is also true that the further
from the bottom one goes, the more
scattering the neighborhood. One
can fancy, for Illustration, that every
profession and every calling is pyra-
midal in its living constituency, and
that while one man is at the top,
there are several tiers Of men below,
who have plenty of elbow room, and
that it is only at the base that men
are so thick that they snatch the meat
out of another's teeth to keep them
from starving. If a man has no
power to get out of the rabble at the
bottom, then he is self-convicted of
having chosen a calling or profession
to whose duties he has no adoption.
The grand mistake that young men
make, during the first ten years of
their business or professional life, is
in idly waiting for their chance. They
seem to forget, or they do not know,
that during those ten years they en-
joy the only leisure they will ever
have. After ten years, in the natural
course of things, they will be alb
sorbingly busy. There will then be
no time for reading, culture and
study. If they do not become thor
oughly grounded in the principles
and practical detail of their profess
sion during those years; if they do
not store their minds with useful
knowledge; if they do mot pursue
habits Of reading and observation,
and social Intercourse, which result
in culture, the question whether they
Will ever rise to occupy a place where
there is room for them will be decid-
ed in the negative. The young ply
sicians and young lawyers who sit
idly in their Offices, and smoke and
lounge away the time, waiting for
something to turn up" are by that
course fastening themselves for life
to the lower stratum, where their
struggle for a bare livelihood is to
be perpetual. The first ten years are
golden years, that should be filled
with systematic reading and observa-
tion. Everything that tends to pro-
fessional and personal excellence
should be an object of daily pursuit.
To such men the doors Of success
open of themselves at last. Work
seeks the best hands, as naturally as
wter runs down hill; and it never
seeks the hands of trifer, or Of one
whose only recommendation for work
is that he needs it. Young men do
not know very much any way; most
of them know mighty little; and the
time always comes to those who be-
come worthy, when they look back
with wonder upon their early opinion
of their requirements and themselves.
There is another point that ought
not to be overlooked in the treatment
of this subject. Young men look
about them and see great measure
of worldly success awarded to men
without principle. They see the
trickster crowned with public honors
| they see the swindler rolling in
wealth, they see the sharp man, the
over-reaching man, the unprincip!ed
man, the liar, the demagogue. the
time-server, the trimmer, the scnun-
drel who cunningly manages, though
constantly disobeying moral law and
trampling upon social courtesy. to
keep himself out of the clu.:l Of the
legal police, carrying eff The prize Of
wealth and place. All this is a de-
moralizing puzzle and fearful temp
tation; and multitudes of young men
are not strong enough to stand before
it, They ought 70 understand that
in this wicked world there is a great
deal of room where there is integrity.
Great trusts may be sought by scoun-
drels but great trusts never seek
them; and perfect integrity is at a
rremimur even amoung scoundrels.
There are some trusts that they will
never confer on each other. There
are occasions when they need the SER
vice of true men, and they do not find
them in shoals and in the mud, but
alone and in pure water.
In the realm of eminent acquire
ments and eminent integrity, there
is always room enough. Let no
young man of industry and perfectly
honest despair because his profession
or calling is crowded Let him al
ways remember that there is room
enough at the top, an dthat the ques-
tion whether he is ever to reach the
top, or rise above the crowd at the
base of the pyramid, will be decided
by the way in which he improves the
first ten years of his active life in
securing to himself thorough know
ledge of his profession. and sound
moral and intellectual culture.
Go now, good children, and re-
member your Creator in the days
Of your youth. Go, now and