Ways of Living.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 348, 8 January 1903, Page 7

Ways of Living.

B iteTM PERSEyEBiNCE. • ■ ?%! .' ■ • r '■ . " ■' .•• ?£WWR> when Mr Barnuin was §ljkt int *rrupt»:td in ilis l«^tu re hy the ■• aKafc- students, he quietly said, to .them, \I see symptoms of a pretty jolly ftiine here Ihislveningj and paid |me liberally for the single hour of my time which is at your service. Tam an old Bhowman, and I like to please my patrons. Now, it is quite immaterial to me; you may furi»ioli the ..entertainment for the hour, or I will endeavour.to dq so, or we will take portions of the time by. turne—you supplying apart of the amusement, and I a part. As wa say in America, 'You pays your money and takes your choice.'' ' Good for you, old Barnum,' cried a voioa, and the showman went on? bit uninterruptedly. To take up the lecture where we left off in No. 9, Mr Barnutn next spoke on the heading ' Persevere,' aad said When a man is in the right",path, he must persevere. I speak of this because there are some persons who are ' born tired,' naturally lazy, and possessing no self-reliance and no perseverance. But they can cultivate these qualities, as Davy Crocket said : This thing remember, when I am dpad, Be sure you are right, then go ahead. It is this go-aheadifciveness, this determination not to let the 'horrors' or the ' blues ' take possession of you, so as to make you relax your .energies in the struggle for independence, which you must cultivate.' How many have almost reached the goal of their ambition, but, losing faith in themselves, have relaxed their energies, and the golden prize has been lost for ever. It is, no doubt, often true, as Shakespeare says : Thero is a tide in the affairs of men Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortuEe. '

If you hesitate, some: bolder hand will stretch out bafore you and get the prize. Remember the proverb of Solomon, ' He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand; but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.' Perseverance is sometimes but another word for self-reliance. ' Many persons naturally look on the dark side of life, and borrow trouble. They are born so. Then they ask for advice, and they will bo Governed- by One Wind and Blown by Another and cannot rely upon themselves. Until y|>U get so that you can rely upon your s|l|i' you need not expect to succeeds I haye known men, personally, who have met .with pecuniary reverses, and absolutely committed suicide, because they thought they would never overcome their misfortune. But I have known others who have met mora serious financial difficulties, and have bridged them over by simple perseverance, aided by a firm belief that they were doing justly, end that Providence would * overcome evii with good.' You will see this illustrated ia any sphere cf life. , .■ : \ '.. Take two generals; both understand military tactics, both educated at West Point, if you please, both equally gifted; yet one having the gift of perseverance, and the other lacking it, the former will succeed in his profession, while the latter will fail. One may hear the cry,' The enemy are coming, and they have got cannon.' .? -• ' Got cannon ?' says the /hesitating general. <*>'■: ■•■•-■..! 'Yes.* • Then halt every man.' He wants time to reflect; his hesitation' is his ruin ; the enemy passes unmolested, or overwhelms him; while on thg Qther hand, the general of pluck, perseverance as d s<*lf- reliance jv Goes Into Battle With a Will, ?and, amid the clashing of arms, the booming of cauni , the shrieks of the wounded, and thf moane of the dying, you wiil see this man persevering, going on, cutting and slashing his way _ through -with, unwavering determination, in spiring his soldiers to d; eds of fortitude, vat'nur, and triumph. Whatever you do, do it with all your might. Work at it, if necessary, early and late, in season and out of season, not leaving a stone unturned, and never deferring for a single.hour that which can be done just as well now. The old pnverb is full of truth and meaning: 'Whatever is worth'doing at all, is worth doing well.' Many a man acquires a frirtune.by doing his business thoroughly, while his neighbour remains poor for lifo, because he only half does it. Ambition, energy, industry, perseverance, are indisperiable requisites in business. Fortune always favours the brave, and never helps a man who does not help himself. It will not do to spend your fcimelike Mr Micawber, in waiting for something to ' turn up.' To such men one of two things usually ' turns up':. the poorhouse or the gaol; for idleness breeds bad ...habits, and elothes a man in rags. The poor spendthrift vagabond slid to a rich man : ' I have discovered there is enough ' mb'afy in the world for all of us, if it was divided; this must be done, and wo'shall all be happy together.' H Sjßut,' w»s the response, 'if everybody was like you, it would be spent in two months, and'what would you do then ?' . 'OhI divide again; keep dividing, (f course.' f was recently reading in a London paper an account of a like philosophic pauper who-was kicked out of a cheap boa-dinor-house because he could not pay hia bill, but he had a roll of papers sticking ..out of his i coat pocket, which, upon examination, proved to bethis plan for Paying Off the National Debt of England without the aid oC a penny. People have got to do as Cromwell said: ' not only trust in Providence, but keep the powder dry.' Do your part of the work, or you cannot succsed. Mahomet, one night, while encamping in the desert, overheard one of his fatigued followers remark: ' I will loose my camel and trust it to God.' 'No, no, not so,' said the prophet; 'tie thy camel, and trnsC it to God!' Do a!i you can for yourselves, and then trust in Providence, or luck, or whatever you please to call it,.for the rest. Depend upon your own personal txertions? The eye of the employer is ofteu worth more than the hands of a dozen employees. In the nature of things, an agent cannot be so faithful to his employer as to himself. Many who aro employers will call to mind instances where*the best employees have overlooked important points which could not. have escaped their own observation aT a proprietor. No man has a right to expect to succeed in life unless he understands his business, and nobody can understand his business thoroughly unless he learns it by personal application and experience. A man may,J)jft..a. - r^ajftufac^urejri - ,...hte bajL got to learn the many detailß of his business personally;, he will learn something, every day, and he will find he will make; mistakes'nearly 5 every day. And these' very mistakerare helps to him ia the way of experiences if he but needs,them. .He will be like the Yankee tin-peddler, who, having been cheated as to quality in the purchase of his merchandise, said: 'Ail ; right, there's a little information to be j gained every; I will never be cheated in that way again,'