ment. Whether to use check or spur, and when or where, is indispensable knowledge. When Hugh Miller was seventeen years of age, his two uncles, who had been his guardians since his father died, suggested to him that he was old enough to choose a life pursuit. They wanted him to be educated for one of the learned professions; they were not particular which. But he protested against their plan, claiming that he had no fitness for any of them; that he would make a failure as physician, lawyer, or clergyman. His views on the subject were so emphatic that his uncles acquiesced in his choosing an occupation, but they were somewhat confounded when he consented to become the apprentice of a stone mason. But the boy knew himself better than his uncles knew him. They had regarded his fondness of nature, and his frequent excursions over the country in search of minerals, rather as boyish freaks instead of indications of a "natural bent." They had, indeed, thought that he possessed more than ordinary talents; and, for this reason, no doubt, desired that he might choose one of the learned professions. Young Miller knew that he loved nature with a passionate love; that he enjoyed himself more when traversing the hills and valleys to increase his knowledge of her treasures than he did anywhere else. He delighted in caves and quarries. With hammer in hand, he found more real enjoyment among crags and rocks than the average bright boy finds in astronomy or Latin grammar. He knew that a quarry would be more than a college to him, and that he could sit at the feet of nature to learn with more faith than he could sit at the feet of a professor, so that it was not blind reasoning that made him a stone mason; it was the call of a soul for knowledge in that line. He might never have been known beyond his own immediate circle had he become a lawyer, doctor, or rector. He certainly would not have been favorably situated to develop into a great geologist. He devoted himself to that pursuit which appealed to the strongest and best elements of his being. He was fitted for it. He could make the most of it possible, and it could make the most of him possible. He became the world-renowned geologist because he selected a pursuit for which nature had fitted him. One of the best artists of New England was educated for the medical profession against his own taste and judgment. From a child he manifested a strong love for art, and was drawing and painting every chance he could get. His father witnessed his precocity in this direction, and was annoyed rather than pleased by it. He was determined to make a doctor of him, so that tact and talent in another line was not acceptable. "Artists can hardly keep soul and body together," he said; "and my son must pursue a more lucrative and substantial business." So he was educated for a physician. "I have no taste for the profession, and no talent for it," said the son; "but I yield to my father's strong desire. I know that I possess both taste and talent for art, and could distinguish myself therein, but my father orders otherwise." He entered the medical profession; but his heart was not in it. He felt continually that he was out of his place, that he was engaged in a pursuit for which nature did not intend him. He was dissatisfied and unhappy, of course. His profession was a burden to carry; and the time came when he resolved to lay it down and take up art, which was so congenial to his nature. He knew himself better than his father did, as the sequel proved. He was not a born physician, but he was a born artist; and, knowing that fact, he knew how to use himself to the best advantage. John Bright was a remarkable illustration of our theme. He was a good scholar, fond of books, and yet he had an eye to business. Having completed his education, he entered upon a business career with his father. At the same time, he gratified his love of learning by improving leisure time in reading. He was passionately fond of poetry, and it commanded a good share of his spare moments. In school, he belonged to a debating society, in which he developed finely as a speaker. He did not undervalue these sources of intellectual and popular strength after he became a business man. He became an expert in the study of poetry and English literature; he spoke in public, also, and became a famous orator. In this way he advanced constantly, and became a leader in the British Parliament. A correct knowledge of himself led him to self-improvement on lines that assured his renown as a statesman. The builder of the great auditorium in Chicago that will hold twelve thousand people, received the contract when he was only twenty-six years of age. With a fractional part of the experience of many architects who applied for the contract, he became the successful applicant. He must have known just how to use himself, or he could not have been the fortunate one. Such a young man must possess an amount of self-reliance and self-knowledge as well as tact and push, that is seldom found in one soul. The Eiffel tower was a leading object of interest during the World's Exposition in Paris, in 1889. It is more than a thousand feet high,- a gem of art that could not have been created in a former age. The knowledge, faith, tact, and indomitable perseverance necessary to produce it was not found in any one or two men, until Eiffel, the builder, and Lanvestre, the architect, came upon the stage. The latter was but forty-two years of age when he designed the tower, but his signal application, push, and ability had placed him among the first architects of France, at that early age. Eiffel, the builder, possesses similar qualities, though having enjoyed higher culture. The two men were fitted to accomplish such a work together. Indeed, two such men anywhere are bound to succeed with any enterprise. CHAPTER XVII. RUSSELL HERMAN CONWELL. HOW ΤΟ SUCCEED HIS BOYHOOD EARLY ORATORICAL EFFORTS STRUGGLES FOR AN EDUCATION -THE CALL TO ARMS-YALE COLLEGE JOURNALISTIC EXPERIENCES ADMITTED TO THE BAR- ENTERS THE MINISTRY HIS FIRST CHURCHWORK IN PHILADELPHIA THE TEMPLE COLLEGE CHARACTERISTICS. MINDING LITTLE THINGS. Wise men have told us that the way for men to prosper, in all that is worthy of human effort, is in the full exercise of their own talents to the best advantage. Underlying this is indeed a large truth. Unless a man avails himself of the opportunities which come to him in life, he may expect no success. With the vigor of a personal will a man may make the walls of adamant to fall down before him, and accomplish what seems to us, as we look at it from a distance, to be an actual miracle. Every man is largely the architect of his own fortune- not the creature of circumstances for he may make the circumstances if he devote himself to the ways that all prosperous business men understand, which are the methods that usually succeed. But the methods that succeed are always those that work in accordance with the great plan of God in the universe. He who wishes to be a successful man must use not only his own will, not only his own perseverance, not only strict economy, but he must avail himself of God's wisdom; he must work in line with God's laws. - Study the open doors, and your personal fitness for entering them your education, your aptness, your opportunities. Don't forget that much of success depends upon doing well the little things of life. Russell MConwell |