,increasing ,personal ,efficiency       
,women                                  
,musical ,culture                       
,oratory                                
,self ,help                             
,some ,advice to ,young ,men            
,by ,,russell ,h4 ,,conwell             
,,volume #e       ,,national            
,,extension ,,university     #eig ,fifth
 ,avenue1 ,new ,york                    
,,observation--,,every ,,man ,,his ,,own
 ,,university      ,copyright1 #aiag1 by
 ,harper  ,brothers     ,printed in the 
,united ,states of ,america             
,increasing ,personal ,efficiency     ,i
  ,,women   ,some women may be          
superficial in education and            
accomplishments1 extravagant in tastes1 
conspicuous in apparel1 something more  
than self-assured in bearing1 devoted to
 trivialities1 inclined to frequent     
public places4 ,it is1 nevertheless1 not
 without cause that art has always shown
 the virtues in woman's dress1 and that 
true literature teems with eloquent     

tributes and ideal pictures of true     
womanhood--from ,homer's ,andromache to 
,scott's ,ellen ,douglas1 and farther4  
,while ,shakespeare had no heroes1 all  
his women except ,ophelia are heroines1 
even if ,lady ,macbeth1 ,regan1 and     
,goneril are hideously wicked4 ,in the  
moral world1 women are what flowers and 
fruit are in the physical4 ,the soul's  
armor is never well set to the heart    
until woman's hand has braced it2 and it
 is only when she braces it loosely that
 the honor of manhood fails4  ,men will 
mainly be what women make them1 and     
there can never be entirely free men    
until there are entirely free women with
 no special privileges1 but with all her
 rights4 ,the wife makes the home1 the  
mother makes the man1 and she is the    
creator of joyous boyhood and heroic    
manhood2 when women fulfil their divine 
mission1 all reform societies will die1 
brutes will become men1 and men shall be
 divine4 ,there are unkind things said  
of her in the cheaper writings of       

to-day--perhaps because their authors   
have seen her only in boarding-houses1  
restaurants1 theaters1 dance-halls1 and 
at card-parties2 and the poor1 degraded 
stage with its warped mirror shows her  
up to the ridicule of the cheaper brood4
 ,the greatest writings and the greatest
 dramas of all time have more than      
compensated for all this indignity1 and 
we have only to read deep into the great
 literature to be disillusioned of any  
vulgar estimations of womanhood1 and to 
understand the beauty and power of soul 
of every woman who is true to the       
royalty of womanhood4  ,there are few   
surer tests of a manly character than   
the estimation he has of women1 and it  
is noteworthy that the men who stand    
highest in the esteem of both men and   
women are always men with worthy ideas  
of womanhood1 and with praiseworthy     
ideals for their mothers1 sisters1      
wives1 and daughters4 ,as men sink in   
self-respect and moral worth1 their     
esteem of womanhood lowers4 ,the women  

who become the theme for poets and      
philosophers and high-class playwrights 
are the women who have been bred mainly 
in the home4 ,they seem without         
exception to abhor throngs1 and only    
stern necessity can induce them to      
appear in them2 the motherly1 matronly1 
and filial graces appeal strongly to    
them--such as are portrayed in          
,cornelia1 ,portia1 and ,cordelia4 ,they
 may yearn for society1 but it is the   
best society--for the women whose beauty
 and sweetness and dignity and high     
accomplishments and grace make us       
understand the ,greek mythology1 and for
 the men who mold the time1 who refresh 
our faith in heroism and virtue1 who    
make ,plato and ,zeno and ,shakespeare  
and all ,shakespeare's gentlemen        
possible again4  ,if there is any       
inferiority in women1 it is the result  
of environment and of lack of           
opportunity--never from lack of         
intelligence and other soul-powers4     
,there is no sex in spiritual           

endowments1 and woman seems entitled to 
all the rights of man--plus the right of
 protection4 ,ruskin says1 ,we are      
foolish without excuse in talking of the
 superiority of one sex over the other2 
each has attributes the other has not1  
each is completed by the other1 and the 
happiness of both depends upon each     
seeking and receiving from the other    
what the other can alone give4  ,in     
speaking of the time when perfect       
manhood and perfect womanhood has come1 
,tennyson says in ,the ,princess3       
,yet in the long years liker must they  
grow3     ,the man be more of woman1 she
 of man2     ,he gain in sweetness and  
in moral height1     ,nor lose the      
wrestling thews that throw the world2   
,she mental breadth1 nor fail in        
childward care1     ,nor lose the       
childlike in the larger mind4  ,home is 
the true sphere for woman2 her best work
 for humanity has always been done      
there1 or has had its first impulse from
 within those four walls4 ,it was home  

with all its duties that made the ,roman
 matron ,cornelia the type of the lofty 
woman of the world and the worthy       
mother4 ,while it endowed her with the  
power to raise two sons as worthy as any
 known to history1 who sacrificed their 
lives in defense of the ,roman poor1 it 
also endowed her with courage to say to 
the second of her sons when he was      
leaving her for the battle which brought
 his death1 ,my son1 see that thou      
returnest with thy shield or on it4     
,napoleon claimed that it was the women 
of ,france who caused the loss at       
,waterloo1 not its men4  ,man's         
intellect is for speculation and        
invention1 and his energy is for just   
war and just conquest2 woman's intellect
 is for sweet ordering1 arrangement1 and
 decision2 her energy is not for battle1
 but for rule4 ,apparently relying upon 
man's magnanimity not to resent her     
abdicating her home1 woman's            
exigencies--and perhaps her             
ambitions--have forced her more and more

 during the past fifty years into man's 
domains of speculation and              
energy--perhaps into some war and some  
conquest4 ,the ever-increasing demand   
for her in these man-realms which she   
has invaded or into which she has       
intruded herself is abundant evidence   
that she has creditably acquitted       
herself in the betterment of business1  
education1 and literature1 as well as in
 the numberless things which she has    
invented to add beauty and comfort to   
the home1 and to remove much of the     
bitter drudgery from house and office1  
and to promote the health and happiness 
of millions4 ,all these helps she has   
given1 even if she has undoubtedly lost 
some of the graces which have always    
made so lovable the woman of whom       
,andromache1 ,portia1 and ,cordelia are 
but types4  ,although matrimony and     
motherhood were the first conditions of 
women and only conditions that poets    
sing about and philosophers write about1
 and although these are still the       

conditions where she is doing her       
largest and noblest work in humanizing1 
yet her proper sphere is as man's1      
wherever she can live nobly and work    
nobly4 ,how many myriads in this country
 alone are drudging or almost drudging  
in shops and offices to relieve the too 
stern pressure of pain or poverty from  
some one who is dear to them1 yet are   
doing it unselfishly and                
uncomplainingly6 ,a young woman lately  
told me that she had for several years  
been employed to interview women        
applicants for positions2 that during   
these years she had interviewed scores  
of women daily1 and had learned much of 
their private lives2 that although the  
majority were working partly or entirely
 to maintain others1 yet had she never  
heard one complaint of the sacrifices   
this service involved4 ,hundreds of     
other women1 like ,george ,eliot1       
,charlotte ,bronte and ,helen ,hunt will
 long continue to bring pleasure and    
profit to millions through their        

writings4  ,it is women1 too1 whose     
inventions have not only lightened      
domestic work and brightened the home1  
but also have so far removed the modern 
schoolroom from the little red          
schoolhouse of long ago2 and it is women
 who have improved the books and the    
studies for children4 ,they seem to have
 entered almost every activity outside  
of the home1 and their finer powers of  
observation1 aided by their innate love 
of the beautiful and the practicality   
they have learned while in service1 seem
 mainly to have bettered conditions for 
wage-earners as well as for home and    
childhood4 ,think of the thousands upon 
thousands in this land whose work with  
the smaller children of the school could
 never be so well done by men6 ,think of
 the service daily rendered by women    
outside the home1 and picture the       
confusion that would now arise if all   
these remained at home1 even for one    
week6  ,as a class1 women do not speak  
so well as men1 but they excel him as a 

talker4 ,in truth it is less difficult  
for them to talk little1 than to talk   
well4 ,somebody has said that there is  
nothing a woman cannot endure if she can
 only talk4 ,it is the woman who is     
ordained to teach talking to infancy4   
,those who see short distances see      
clearly1 which probably accounts for    
woman's being able to see into and      
through character so much better than   
men4 ,a man admires a woman who is      
worthy of admiration4 ,as dignity is a  
man's quality1 loveliness is a woman's2 
her heart is love's favorite seat2 women
 who are loyal to their womanhood can   
ever influence the gnarliest hearts4    
,they go farther in love than men1 but  
men go farther in friendship than women4
 ,women mourn for the lost love1 says   
,dr4 ,brinton1 men mourn for the lost   
loved-one4 ,a woman's love consoles2 a  
man's friendship supports4 ,what a real 
man most desires in a woman is          
womanhood4 ,as every woman despises a   
womanish man1 so every man despises a   

mannish woman4  ,men are more sincere   
with the women of most culture1 although
 mere brain-women never please them so  
much as heart-women4 ,men feel that it  
is the exceptional woman who should have
 exceptional rights2 but they scorn     
women whose soul has shrunk into mere   
intellect1 and a godless woman is a     
supreme horror to them4 ,when to her    
womanly attributes she adds the lady's  
attributes of veracity1 delicate honor1 
deference1 and refinement1 she becomes a
 high school of politeness for all who  
know her4 ,true women1 says ,charles    
,reade1 are not too high to use their   
arms1 nor too low to cultivate their    
minds1 but ,hamerton believes that her  
greatest negative quality is1 that she  
does not of her own force push forward  
intellectually2 that she needs watchful 
masculine influence for this4 ,it is    
claimed that single women are mainly    
best comforters1 best sympathizers1 best
 nurses1 best companions4  ,dean ,swift 
says3 ,so many marriages prove unhappy  

because so many young women spend their 
time in making nets1 not in making      
cages4 ,perhaps this is why they say    
that1 in choosing a wife1 the ear is a  
safer guide than the eye4 ,the gifts a  
gentlewoman seeks are packed and locked 
up in a manly heart4 ,without a woman's 
love1 a man's soul is without its       
garden4 ,he is happiest in marriage who 
selects as his wife the woman he would  
have chosen as his bosom-companion1 a   
happy marriage demands a soul-mate as   
for as a house-mate or a yoke-mate4     
,spalding says that it is doubtful      
whether a woman should ever marry who   
cannot sing and does not love poetry4   
,the conceptions of a wife differ4 ,when
 the ,celt married1 he put necklace and 
bracelets upon his wife2 when the       
,teuton married1 he gave his wife a     
horse1 an ox1 a spear1 and a shield4 ,a 
true wife delights both sense and soul2 
with her1 a man unfolds a mine of gold4 
,like a good wine1 the happiest         
marriages take years to attain          

perfection1 and ,hamerton says that     
marriage is a long1 slow intergrowth1   
like that of two trees closely planted  
in a forest4 ,the marriage of a deaf man
 and a blind woman is always happy2 but 
this does not imply that conjugal       
happiness is attained only under these  
conditions4 ,the greatest merit of many 
a man is his wife1 but no real woman    
ever wears her husband as her appendage4
  ,maternity is the loveliest word in   
the language1 and every worthy mother is
 an aristocrat4 ,mothers are the chief  
requisites of all educational systems1  
and the hand that rocks the cradle rules
 the world4 ,the home has always been   
the best school in the world1 and       
nothing else that is known to education 
can ever supersede it4 ,the cradle is   
the first room in the school of life1   
and what is learned there lasts to the  
grave4 ,dearth of real mothers is       
responsible for dearth of real          
education4 ,each boy and each man is    
what his mother has made him1 and every 

worthy mother rears her children to     
stand upon their own two feet1 and to do
 without her4  ,while a thoughtful wife 
and mother is busied with the affairs of
 home1 she is never done with her       
intellectual education1 for she realizes
 early in her career that a mother loses
 half her influence with her children   
when she ceases to be their intellectual
 superior4  ,women are far more         
observant of little things than men1 and
 the greatest among them have marvelous 
powers of observation4 ,it is this power
 that made ,mrs4 ,gladstone and ,mrs4   
,disraeli the sturdy helpmates they were
 to their husbands in all their trying  
cares of government4 ,it is said of     
,gladstone that it was not unusual for  
him to adjourn a ,cabinet meeting       
through a desire to consult with        
,catherine4 ,had there not been large   
power of observation1 we should never   
have had the works of ,george ,eliot1   
,charlotte ,bronte1 ,jane ,austin1      
,helen ,hunt1 and all the other notable 

women creators of fiction4 ,charlotte   
,cushman was the greatest actress       
,america has ever produced because her  
observation was so close that not the   
smallest detail of the character she    
played escaped her or was neglected4    
,the beautifying of ,athens owes its    
inception to ,aspasia rather than to    
,pericles4     ,,ii  ,,musical ,,culture
   ,of all the arts1 none is more       
difficult to define than music4 ,no two 
persons seem to agree as to what it is1 
and a harsh sound to one is often sweet 
music to another4 ,when music is        
controlled by those who use carefully   
their powers of observation1 it will be 
vastly more useful to mankind4 ,the need
 of music in the advancement of humanity
 it too apparent to admit of discussion4
 ,from the ,greek instrument with one   
string down to the wonderful pipe-organ1
 music has been intensely attractive and
 marvelously helpful1 and for the good  
of the human family4  ,no art or science
 needs more to be developed to-day than 

that of music4 ,its influence on soul   
and body has been noticed and advanced  
by some of the greatest thinkers of     
ancient and modern times1 therefore it  
is not necessary to discuss the supreme 
need for real music to bring into       
harmony motives and movements for good4 
,when we duly consider the subject of   
music1 and ask where we shall find the  
great musicians who are to-day so much  
in demand1 we feel that many so-called  
schools of music are often more         
misleading than instructive1 and that   
they follow fashions that are far more  
unreasonable than the fashions of dress4
  ,the art of music needs philosophic   
study1 and it should be begun with a far
 better understanding of the many causes
 which contribute to its composition4   
,the singing of birds is literally one  
of the most discordant expressions of   
sound4 ,indeed1 the tones of the        
nightingale and the meadow-lark are only
 shrill whistles when they are          
considered with reference only to the   

tones of their voice1 yet they furnish  
the ideal of some of the richest music  
to which the ear has ever listened1     
being one part of the delicate orchestra
 of nature4 ,the lowing of the cow1 the 
bellow of the bull1 the bark of an angry
 dog echoing among the hills at         
eventide1 combined with so many other   
different sounds and impressions1 has   
become enticingly sweet to the pensive  
listener4 ,the insect-choir of night has
 as much of the calming and refining    
influences as the bird-choir of the     
morning4  ,real music requires not only 
that the tones should be clear and      
resonant1 but that they should be       
uttered amid harmonious surroundings4   
,dixie and ,yankee ,doodle1 sung with a 
banjo accompaniment on a lawn in the    
evening1 surrounded by gay companions1  
may be the most delightful music1 which 
will start the blood coursing or rest   
the disturbed mind1 but it would not be 
called music if sung at a funeral4 ,i   
,know ,that ,my ,redeemer ,liveth is    

glorious music when it is sung in a     
great cathedral1 with echoes from its   
shadowy arches and the dim light of its 
stained-glass windows4 ,but the same    
solo would be in awful discord with a   
ballroom jig4  ,harmonious circumstances
 and appropriate environment are as     
essential for perfect effects in music  
as is the concord of sweet sounds4 ,the 
foolish idea that music consists in     
screaming up to the highest ,c and      
growling down to the lowest ,b has      
misled many an amateur1 and destroyed   
her helpfulness to a world that has far 
too much misery and far too little of   
the joy that comes from a sweet-voiced  
songster4 ,the beginner in voice culture
 who attempts to wiggle her voice like a
 hired mourner1 and with her tremulous  
effects sets the teeth of her audience  
on edge1 has surely been misled into    
darkest delusion as to music1 and will  
soon be lost amid the throng of vocal   
failures4 ,extremists are out of place  
anywhere1 but the myriads of them in the

 musical world make humanity shudder4   
,what is needed in music to-day more    
than anything else is a standard of     
musical culture which shall demand      
careful discipline in all the influences
 that contribute to good music4 ,true   
music is the music that always produces 
benign effects1 the music that holds the
 attention of the auditor and           
permanently influences him to nobler    
thought1 feeling1 and action4 ,those    
large-hearted1 artistic-souled men and  
women who are capable of interpreting   
into feeling what they have heard from  
voice or instrument must be the final   
court of appeal4 ,a trapeze performance 
in acoustics is not music4  ,it has been
 frequently shown that music is potent  
in its effects upon the body as well as 
upon the soul4 ,in #aija1 a notable     
illustration of the power of music over 
disease was given at the ,samaritan     
,hospital1 connected with ,temple       
,university in ,philadelphia1 although  
the experiments were made under         

disadvantageous circumstances and       
environment4 ,the patients were informed
 what the physicians were endeavoring to
 do1 and the efforts of the first few   
months were wasted for the most part4   
,many of the patients who were placed   
under the influence of the music grew   
confident that they were going to be    
cured4 ,while the recovery of some      
seemed miraculous1 those who conducted  
the experiments felt that the healing   
might be largely due to the influence of
 the mind and not directly to the music4
 ,the matter was dropped for several    
months1 until the patients were nearly  
all new cases4 ,the doctors charged the 
nurses not to let the patients know for 
what cause the music was placed in the  
hospital4 ,they eliminated also the     
personal influence of the nurses as well
 as the use of drugs at the time the    
music was produced4 ,the experiment     
convinced those who conducted it that   
music has a powerful restorative effect 
even upon a person who is suffering from

 a combination of diseases4 ,so many of 
the patients who recovered at that time 
from the influence of the music are     
alive and in good health to-day that    
common honesty disposes us to conclude  
that there is some undiscovered benefit 
in music which should be immediately    
investigated4 ,this will never be       
attained by musical faddists or by      
selfish musicians who sing or perform   
for applause or money4 ,some plain1     
every day-man or woman will ultimately  
be the apostle of music for the people1 
and the experiments at ,samaritan       
,hospital furnish only a suggestion of  
the resources of music which must soon  
be known to the world4  ,there was one  
patient in the hospital who had lost his
 memory through softening of the brain4 
,he lay most of the time unconscious1   
but occasionally talked irrationally    
upon all sorts of subjects4 ,a quartet  
sang several pieces in his ward1 but the
 nurses who sat upon each side of him   
noticed no effect whatever upon him     

until the quartet sang ,my ,old         
,kentucky ,home4 ,then his eyes         
brightened and he began to hum the tune4
 ,before they had finished the third    
verse1 he asked the nurse about the     
singing1 and requested the quartet to   
repeat the song4 ,his intelligence      
seemed completely normal for a little   
while after the music ceased4 ,he asked 
and answered questions clearly1 but soon
 relapsed into his incoherent talk and  
listlessness4  ,when the man's lawyer   
heard of the effects upon the patient1  
he asked that the song might be sung    
while he was present1 that he might then
 ask the patient about some very        
important papers of great value to the  
patient's family4 ,as soon as the song  
was again sung by the quartet his       
intelligence returned4 ,he informed the 
lawyer accurately as to the bank vault  
in which his box was locked1 and told   
where he had left the keys in a private 
drawer of his desk4  ,although the      
effect of the music was not permanent as

 to his case1 many persons who know of  
it feel that some time music may be so  
applied as permanently to cure even such
 cases1 if kept up for a sufficient     
length of time4 ,accidents to the skull1
 heart diseases1 nervous exhaustion1 and
 spinal ailments seem especially        
amenable to music4 ,two of the hospital 
cases of paralysis were permanently     
relieved by music4 ,in one of these     
cases instrumental music seemed to      
produce a strong electric effect4 ,while
 four violins were accompanied by an    
organ1 the patient could use his feet   
and hands1 but it was several weeks     
before he could walk without music4 ,in 
the other case1 vocal music put an      
insomnia patient to sleep1 but after    
sleeping through the program1 the       
patient was better2 after a few trials  
he returned home4  ,some of the hundred 
cases experimented upon were complete   
failures4 ,but those conducting the     
experiments were convinced that the     
failure was attributable to the fact    

that they were unable to find the right 
kind of music4 ,in the use of religious 
selections1 ,pleyel's ,hymn made the    
patients of every ward worse2 but ,the  
,dead ,march from ,saul was soothing to 
typhoid patients4 ,when this march was  
rendered softly1 the nurses discovered  
that two cases had been so susceptible  
to the influences of the music that the 
physicians omitted the usual treatment  
and the patients recovered sooner than  
some other patients who had the disease 
in a less dangerous form4  ,children    
were helped by a different class of     
music from that used with adults1 and   
difference in sex also was noted4       
,mothers who sing to their children may 
become the best investigators as to the 
power of vocal music on the healthy     
development of childhood4  ,in the      
,baptist ,temple1 ,philadelphia1 several
 hymns were once forcefully rendered by 
the great chorus of the church to a     
congregation of three thousand people4  
,at the close1 slips of paper were      

passed to the worshipers1 and they were 
asked to write upon the paper what      
thoughts the music had suggested to     
them4 ,while there was nothing in the   
anthems suggestive of youth1 and the    
burden of the stanzas seemed to divert  
from childhood1 yet more than half of   
the two thousand slips returned attested
 that the hearer had been reminded of   
his schooldays and of the games of      
childhood2 these slips were collected   
before the congregation had time to     
confer4 ,it shows that the music was not
 in accord with the words1 and that it  
had greater power upon the mind than the
 words had4 ,it proves that1 to produce 
its highest effects1 sacred music must  
harmonize with the meaning of the words 
and with the environment4 ,it also shows
 that the purpose for which one sings is
 an important factor--random            
vociferations or a display of vocal     
gymnastics even of the most cultured    
kind is both inartistic and unmusical4  
,these pages have been written to       

suggest that music is still with the    
common people2 that the future blessings
 which mankind shall derive from musical
 art and science are probably dependent 
upon some observant person who is free  
from the trammels of misguided and      
misdirected culture1 and who may come to
 it with an independent genius1 and     
handle the subject in the light of      
every-day common-sense4     ,,iii       
,,oratory   ,oratory has always been a  
potent influence for good4 ,the         
printing-press with its newspapers and  
magazines and tens of thousands of books
 has done much during the past fifty    
years to draw attention away from       
oratory4 ,the printing-press is a huge  
blessing1 and has greatly advanced      
during these years that oratory has     
declined in public esteem or public     
attention4 ,but we are learning that    
there is yet something in the living    
man1 in his voice and his manner and his
 mesmeric force1 which cannot be        
expressed through the cold lead of type4

 ,hence the need for orators1 both men  
and women1 has been steadily increasing 
during the past few years1 until there  
seems to be a pressing demand for the   
restoration of the science and the art  
of oratory4  ,the country lad or the    
hard-working laborer or mechanic who    
thinks that public speaking is beyond   
his reach has done himself a wrong4 ,it 
was such as they who oftener than can be
 told have become some of the greatest  
orators of history4 ,men who afterward  
became great as effective debaters made 
their first addresses to the cows in the
 pasture1 to the pigs in pens1 to the   
birds in trees1 and to the dog and the  
cat upon the hearth4 ,they often drew   
lessons concerning the effects of their 
addresses from the actions of the animal
 auditors which heard their talk1 and   
were attracted or repulsed by what they 
heard and saw4  ,there is a mystery     
about public speaking4 ,after years of  
study and application1 some men cannot  
accomplish as much by their addresses as

 some uncultured laborer can do with his
 very first attempt4 ,some have         
imperfectly called this power personal  
magnetism4 ,while this is mainly born   
with men and women--as the power of the 
true poet and the true teacher--yet it  
can be cultivated to a surprising       
degree4 ,the schools of elocution so    
often seem to fail to recognize the wide
 gulf that exists between elocution and 
oratory4 ,the former is an art which    
deals primarily with enunciation1       
pronunciation1 and gesture2 the work of 
the later science is persuasive--it has 
to do mainly with influencing the head  
and the heart4  ,there is a law of      
oratory which does not seem to be       
understood or recognized by elocution   
teachers4 ,the plow-boy in a debating   
society of the country school may feel  
that natural law1 like ,daniel ,webster1
 without being conscious that he is     
following it4 ,but there is a danger of 
losing this great natural power through 
injurious cultivation4 ,the powerful    

speaker is consciously or unconsciously 
observant at all times of his audience1 
and he naturally adopts the tones1 the  
gesture1 and the language which attract 
the most attention and leave the most   
potent influence upon the audience4     
,that is the law of all oratory1 whether
 it applies to the domestic animals1 to 
conversation with our fellows1 to       
debates or addresses1 lectures1         
speeches1 sermons1 or arguments4 ,where 
the orator has not been misdirected or  
misled by some superficial teacher of   
elocution1 his aim will be first to win 
the favorable attention of his audience 
and then to strongly impress them with  
his opening sentence1 his appearance1   
his manners1 and his subject4 ,his      
reputation will have also very much to  
do with winning this favorable          
impression at first4 ,the words of the  
speaker either drive away or attract1   
and the speaker endeavors at the outset 
to command the attention of the hearers1
 whether they be dogs or congregation4  

,the beginner in oratory who is true to 
his instincts strives to adopt the      
methods which he feels will favorably   
impress those for whom he has a message4
 ,in his oration at the funeral of      
,julius ,caesar1 ,mark ,anthony disarmed
 the enemies of ,caesar and of himself  
by opening his oration with1 ,friends1  
,romans1 countrymen1 lend me your ears4 
,i come to bury ,caesar1 not to praise  
him4 ,almost any man or woman can become
 an orator of power by keeping himself  
or herself natural while talking4  ,the 
second condition of a successful oration
 is the statements of the important     
facts or truths4 ,cicero1 the elder     
,pitt1 and ,edward ,everett held        
strictly to the statement of all the    
facts at the outset of their speech4    
,facts and truths are the most important
 things in all kinds of oratory2 as they
 are the most difficult to handle1 the  
audience is more likely to listen to    
them at the opening of the talk1 and    
they must be placed before the hearers  

clearly and emphatically1 before the    
speaker enters upon the next division of
 his address4  ,the third condition of a
 successful address is the argument1 or 
reasoning which is used to prove the    
conclusion he wishes his hearers to     
reach4 ,it is here that logic has its   
special place2 it is at this vital point
 that many political speakers fail to   
convince the men they address4 ,after he
 has thus reasoned1 the natural orator  
makes his appeal1 which is the chief    
purpose of all true oratory4 ,it is here
 where the orator becomes vehement1 here
 where he shows all the ornament of his 
talk in appropriate figures of speech4  
,the most effective orators are always  
those whose hearts are in strong        
sympathy with humanity1 and whose       
sympathies are always aroused to plead  
for men4 ,this is the condition that    
accounts for the eloquence--the power to
 arouse hearers--which characterizes men
 like ,logan1 the ,american ,indian1 and
 which characterizes many of the        

religious enthusiasts like ,peter the   
,hermit1 who have surprised the world   
and often moved them to mighty deeds4   
,so long as our government depends upon 
the votes of the people1 just so long   
must there be a stirring need of men and
 women orators to teach the principles  
of government and to keep open to the   
light of truth the consciences of the   
thousands and millions whose votes will 
decide the welfare or the misfortune of 
our nation4 ,as the speaker must adapt  
himself and his message to all kinds of 
people1 it is difficult to advise any   
one in certain terms how to accomplish  
this4 ,it is another instance of the    
necessity of cultivating the daily habit
 of observation1 and of being always    
loyal to our instincts4  ,while schools 
and colleges have their uses1 they are  
by no means a necessity for those who   
will accomplish great things through    
their oratory4 ,many a man laden with a 
wealth of college accomplishment has    
been an utter failure on the platform4  

,where reading-matter is as abundant and
 as cheap as it is in ,america1 the poor
 boy at work upon the farm or in the    
factory1 with no time but his evenings  
for study1 may get the essentials of    
education1 and by observing those who   
speak may give himself forms of         
oratorical expression that will enable  
him to outshine those with scholarship  
who have been led into fads4  ,we must  
be impressed with a high sense of duty  
in becoming an orator of any class2 we  
must feel that it is our calling to     
adhere to the truth always and in all   
things1 to warn our hearers of dangers1 
and to encourage the good and help those
 who are struggling to be so4 ,we must  
have a passion for oratory which shall  
impel us to vigorous thought and        
eloquent expression4 ,the greatest      
oratory is that which is most           
persuasive4 ,it is not so fully in what 
an orator says or the vehemence with    
which he says it that counts1 but the   
practical good that results from it4    

,many an oration has been elegant enough
 from its choice diction and labored    
phraseology1 yet it has fallen flat upon
 the audience4  ,when a man has been    
worked into natural passion over his    
theme1 his words will strike root and   
inspire his hearers into similar        
passion4 ,it is wonderful how true are  
our instincts in detecting what comes   
from the heart and that which is mere   
words4 ,the greatest orators have been  
those who have not learned by rote what 
they have spoken4 ,when ,lincoln broke  
away in his celebrated ,cooper          
,institute address1 and pictured the    
word freedom written by the ,lord across
 the skies in rainbow hues1 the hearts  
of his audience stopped beating for the 
instant4 ,it is foolhardy for any one to
 presume to speak with no preparation1  
for those who wish to give themselves to
 oratory should carefully study the     
great debaters1 learn how they expressed
 themselves1 and then accumulate        
important truths and facts concerning   

their subject4 ,but we must not forget  
that too much study as to nicety of     
expression may lose something of the    
mountainous effects of what we wish to  
state4  ,when an orator feels his       
subject1 his soul overflows with a      
thrill indescribable1 which is known    
only to those who have felt it4 ,genius 
is lifted free for the moment to fly at 
will to the mountain heights1 and finds 
supreme delight therein4 ,everything    
that is food for the mind is helpful to 
the orator1 whether it come from school 
or work4 ,but it is an attainment which 
can be reached by the every-day plain   
man employed in any every-day           
occupation4 ,demosthenes1 the greatest  
orator the world has yet known1 found   
his ,school of ,oratory along the shore 
talking to the waves4 ,john ,b4 ,gough  
and ,henry ,clay and both the elder and 
the younger ,pitt gained all their      
powers by means as humble4 ,the mere    
study of grammar has never yet made a   
correct speaker2 the mere study of      

rhetoric has never yet made a correct   
and powerful writer2 and the study of   
elocution cannot make an orator4        
,grammar1 rhetoric1 and elocution may   
teach him only the laws which govern    
speech1 writing1 oratory1 and leave him 
ignorant of the best methods of         
execution4  ,during the last hundred    
years the leading orators of ,congress  
have mainly come from among the humble  
and the poor1 and all the learning they 
had of their art was got in the         
schoolhouse1 the shop1 the fields1 and  
the ,university of ,hard ,knocks4 ,it is
 a calling that seems to be open to     
every man and woman of fair talent4 ,if 
you desire to become a platform orator1 
read the lives of successful orators1   
and apply to yourself the means which   
helped them to distinction4 ,but be     
vigilant not to lose your own           
individuality1 and never strive to be   
any one but yourself4 ,in no place more 
than upon the platform does sham mean   
shame2 nothing is more transparent4     

,,iv  ,,self-,,help   ,although ,samuel 
,smiles's ,self-,help is the first and  
perhaps the best of the many            
inspirational books that have been      
written of late years1 it is by far the 
most serviceable of all to any one who  
wishes and intends to stand squarely on 
his own feet and to fight his own battle
 of life from start to finish4 ,that    
book is attractive because it is        
anecdotal of life and character1 and    
because of the interest that all men    
feel in those who have achieved great   
things through their own labors1 their  
trials1 and their struggles4 ,it abounds
 with references to men who were forced 
to be self-helpful1 who were born lowly 
enough1 but died among ,god's gentlemen1
 and often among the aristocracy of the 
land1 through sheer force of character1 
labor1 and determination4 ,they have    
left their footprints on the sands of   
time mainly because they were           
self-reliant and self-helpful4  ,the    
aids to the royal life are all within1  

and no life is worthless unless its     
owner wills it2 the fountain of all good
 is within1 and it will bubble up1 if we
 dig4  ,doctor ,holland used to say that
 there is a super-abundance of          
inspiration in ,america1 but a          
lamentable dearth of perspiration4      
,aspiration plus perspiration carries   
men to dizzy heights of success2        
aspiration minus perspiration often     
lands them in the gutter4  ,self-help is
 not selfishness4 ,the duty of helping  
oneself in the highest sense always     
involves the duty of helping others4    
,the self-helpful are not always the men
 who have achieved greatest success in  
what vulgarians call success4 ,that     
man's life is a success which has       
attained the end for which he started   
out--the greatest failure may sometimes 
be the hugest success through the       
discipline it has afforded4 ,they tell  
us that men never fail who die in a     
worthy cause2 that it is nobler to have 
failed in a noble cause than to have won

 in a low one2 that it is not failure1  
but low aim1 that is wicked4 ,god sows  
the seed and starts us all out with     
about the same quantity and the same    
quality2 whether the crop shall be      
abundant depends upon the environment in
 which we grow and the way we take care 
of the field4  ,the supreme end of each 
man's life is to take individual care of
 his own garden4 ,when this is neglected
 his life is wasted1 and there is no    
immorality that is comparable to the    
immorality of a wasted life--and every  
life is wasted unless its owner has made
 it yield its full capacity4 ,if it is  
only a ten-bushel-an-acre field1 he has 
done worthy work who has reaped ten     
bushels from an acre2 if it is a        
seventy-bushel-an-acre field it is      
dishonorable to have reaped sixty-nine  
bushels from an acre4 ,god gives us the 
chance2 the improvement of it we give   
ourselves4  ,the spirit of self-help is 
the root of all genuine growth4 ,help   
from the outside may be convenient1 but 

it enfeebles2 all self-help invigorates4
 ,the self-helper must be self-reliant2 
the measure of his self-help is always  
proportioned to the measure of his      
self-reliance4 ,the self-reliant does   
not consider himself as the creature of 
circumstances1 but the architect of     
them4 ,all that ,adam had1 all that     
,caesar could1 we have had and can4 ,the
 self-reliant and the self-helpful are  
the minority2 the majority are forever  
looking toward and relying upon some    
government or some institution to do for
 them what they should only do for      
themselves4 ,a real man wants no        
protection2 so long as his human powers 
are left to him1 he asks nothing more   
than the freedom to win his own battles4
 ,the best any government or any        
institution can do for men is to leave  
them as free as possible from either    
guidance or help1 so that they may best 
develop and improve themselves4 ,as it  
has been during the centuries1 we put   
too much faith in government and other  

institutions1 and too little in         
ourselves4  ,men who count for something
 do not wait for opportunities from any 
source--they help themselves to their   
opportunities4 ,they can win who believe
 they can1 and the strong-hearted always
 ultimately achieve success4 ,a nation  
is worth just what the individuals of   
that nation are worth1 and the highest  
philanthropy and patriotism does not    
wholly consist in aiding institutions   
and enacting laws--especially the laws  
which teach men to lean--but they rather
 consist in helping men to improve      
themselves through their own self-help4 
,there is no aid comparable to the aid  
that is given a man to help himself--we 
may stand him upon his feet1 but        
remaining upon them should be his own   
task4 ,he is a magnificent somebody who 
steadfastly refuses to hang upon others2
 and nothing brings the blush sooner to 
the true-hearted man1 than to feel that 
he has been unnecessarily helped to     
anything by men or by governments4      

,there is no man who rides through life 
so well as the man who has learned to   
ride by being set upon the bare-backed  
horse called self-dependence4  ,paradise
 was not meant for cowards2             
self-reliance and self-help is the      
manliness of the soul4  ,the solid      
foundations of all liberty rest upon    
individual character1 and individual    
character is the only sure guaranty for 
social security and national progress4  
,whatever crushes individuality is      
despotism1 no matter by what other name 
you call it4 ,the gods are always on the
 side of the man who relies on himself  
and helps himself2 men's arms are long  
enough to reach stars1 if they will only
 stretch them4 ,it is so contrary to the
 spirit of our nation to be anything but
 self-helpful4 ,the flag of freedom     
cannot long float over a nation of      
deadheads2 only those who determine to  
pay their way from cradle to grave have 
a right to make the journey4 ,schiller  
says that the kind of education that    

perfects the human race is action1      
conduct1 self-culture1 self-control4 ,it
 has been said that the individual is   
perfected far more by work than by      
reading1 by action more than by study1  
by character more than by biography2    
these are courses that are given by the 
,university of ,life more completely    
than in all other institutions known to 
men4  ,the great men of science1        
literature1 art1 action--those apostles 
of great thoughts and lords of the great
 heart--belong to no special rank4 ,they
 come from colleges1 workshops1 farms1  
from poor men's huts and rich men's     
mansions2 but they all began with       
reliance upon themselves1 and with an   
instinctive feeling that they must help 
themselves solely in climbing to the    
work or the station which they had      
assigned to themselves4 ,many of ,god's 
greatest apostles of thought and feeling
 and action have come from the humblest 
stations1 but the most insuperable      
difficulties have not long been         

obstacles to them4 ,these greatest of   
difficulties are true men's greatest    
helpers--they stimulate powers that     
might have lain dormant all through     
life1 but often have readily yielded to 
the stout and reliant heart4 ,there is  
no greater blessing in the world than   
poverty which is allied to self-reliance
 and the spirit of self-help4 ,poverty  
is the northwind which lashes men into  
vikings4 ,lord ,bacon says that men     
believe too great things of riches1 and 
too little of indomitable perseverance4 
,every nation that has a history has a  
long list of men who began life in the  
humblest stations1 yet rose to high     
station in honor and service4 ,no       
inheritance and environments can do for 
a man what he can do for himself4 ,cook1
 the navigator1 ,brindley1 the engineer1
 and ,burns1 the poet1 are three men who
 began life as day laborers2 the most   
poetic of clergymen1 ,jeremy ,taylor2   
the inventor of the spinning-jenny and  
founder of cotton manufacture1 ,sir     

,richard ,arkwright2 the greatest of    
landscape painters1 ,turner1 and that   
most distinguished ,chief-justice       
,tenterden were barbers4 ,ben ,jonson1  
the poet2 ,telford1 the engineer2 ,hugh 
,miller1 the geologist2 ,cunningham1 the
 sculptor1 were ,english stone-masons4  
,inigo ,jones1 the architect2 ,hunter1  
the physiologist2 ,romney and ,poie1 the
 painters2 ,gibson1 the sculptor2 ,fox1 
the statesman2 ,wilson1 the             
ornithologist2 ,livingstone1 the        
missionary--started life as weavers4    
,admiral ,sir ,cloudesly ,shovel2       
,bloomfield1 the poet2 ,carey1 the      
missionary--were shoemakers4 ,bunyan1   
was a tinker2 ,herschel1 a musician2    
,lincoln1 a rail-splitter2 ,faraday1 a  
book-binder2 ,stephenson1 the inventor  
of the locomotive1 a stoker2 ,watt1 the 
discoverer of steam-power1 a watchmaker2
 ,franklin1 a printer2 ,president       
,johnson1 a tailor2 ,president          
,garfield1 an employee on a canal-boat2 
,louisa ,alcott1 both housemaid and     

laundress2 ,james ,whitcomb ,riley1 an  
itinerant sign-painter2 ,thoreau1 a     
man-of-all-work for ,emerson2 the poets1
 ,keats and ,drake1 as well as ,sir     
,humphry ,davy1 were druggists4         
,benjamin ,thompson was a humble ,new   
,hampshire schoolmaster whose industry1 
perseverance1 and integrity1 coupled to 
his genius and a truly benevolent       
spirit1 ultimately made him the         
companion of kings and philosophers1    
,count ,rumford of the ,holy ,roman     
,empire4 ,he declined to participate in 
the ,revolution1 and was compelled to   
flee from his home in ,rumford1 now     
,concord 7,new ,hampshire71 leaving     
behind his mother1 wife1 and friends2   
but this persecution by his countrymen  
led to his greatness4 ,in the spring of 
#aggf ,general ,howe sent him to        
,england with important despatches for  
the ,ministry4 ,at once the ,english    
government appreciated his worth and    
scientific men sought his acquaintance4 
,in less than four years after he landed

 in ,england he became ,under-,secretary
 of ,state4 ,in #aghh1 he left ,england 
with letters to the ,elector of         
,bavaria1 who immediately offered him   
honorable employment which the ,english 
government permitted him to accept after
 he had been knighted by the king4  ,in 
,bavaria he became lieutenant-general1  
commander-in-chief of staff1 minister of
 war1 member of the council of state1   
knight of ,poland1 member of the academy
 of science in three cities1            
commander-in-chief of the general staff1
 superintendent of police of ,bavaria1  
and chief of the regency during the     
sovereign's compulsory absence in #agih4
 ,during his ten years' service he made 
great civil and military reforms and    
produced such salutary changes in the   
condition of the people that they       
erected a monument in his honor in the  
pleasure-grounds of ,munich1 which he   
had made for them4 ,when ,munich was    
attacked by an ,austrian army in #agif1 
he conducted the defense so successfully

 that he was accorded the highest praise
 throughout ,europe4 ,the ,bavarian     
monarch showed his appreciation by      
making him a count2 he chose the title  
of ,count ,rumford as an honor to the   
birthplace of his wife and child4 ,he   
ended his days at ,paris in literary and
 scientific studies and in the society  
of the most learned men of ,europe4     
,the ,rumford professorship at ,harvard 
was very liberally endowed by him1 and  
he gave five thousand dollars to the    
,american ,academy of ,arts and         
,sciences in #agif4     ,v  ,,some      
,,advice ,,to ,,young ,,men   ,a life is
 divine when duty is a joy4 ,the best   
work we ever do is the work we get      
pleasure from doing1 and the work we are
 likeliest to enjoy most is the work we 
are best fitted to do with our talent4  
,there is nothing in the world except   
marriage that we should be slower in    
taking upon ourselves than our          
life-work2 therefore1 think much1 read  
much1 inquire much before you assume any

 life career4  ,when you have once      
decided what is best fitted for you1    
pursue it ceaselessly and courageously1 
no matter how far distant it may be1 how
 arduous the labor attending it1 or how 
difficult the ascent4 ,the greater the  
difficulty surmounted1 the more you will
 value your achievement and the greater 
power you will have for keeping on with 
your work after you have reached your   
goal4 ,do your utmost to find a friend  
who is older than you1 and consult him  
freely1 and give every man your ear1 for
 the humblest in station and those with 
the most meager acquirements in other   
matters may see some few things more    
clearly than other men1 and may be well 
stored with what you most require4 ,take
 each man's advice1 but act according to
 your own judgment4 ,teachers should be 
the best advisers of those about to     
enter upon their life-work1 and no      
service of the schoolmaster or professor
 can ever be more helpful to the young  
intrusted to him than that of helping   

them to choose a career4  ,the best work
 real teachers do for their pupils is by
 no means the teaching of a few minor   
branches--it is almost always the work  
he is not paid for1 and which nobody    
outside of those who realize what real  
education is1 seems ever to consider4   
,it is sympathy for their students1     
getting them to understand the great    
things that are involved in the process 
of getting an education1 making them    
realize that true education means growth
 of all our spiritual faculties--head   
and heart and will1 and that what we get
 from textbooks is the very least part  
of an education4 ,it is helping them to 
understand that knowledge got from books
 and from schoolmasters is always a     
menace to a man whose spiritual         
faculties of head1 heart1 and will have 
not been thoroughly disciplined4 ,it is 
wise counsel in choosing a life career4 
,instead of looking upon this side of   
the work as divine1 instead of being    
wise counselors and friendly guides     

during this great transitional stage    
from youth to manhood1 teachers can be  
far more interested in their individual 
concerns or in what they call           
research-work--the research-work may    
give some temporary glory to themselves1
 and give some little advertisement to  
the institutions that employ them2 but  
the supreme duty they owe to their      
students1 to ,god1 and to humanity is to
 do their utmost to make full men1 and  
worthy and successful men1 out of the   
youths whose education they have taken  
upon themselves4 ,no traitor is such a  
traitor to his country and to the whole 
world as the man who is unfaithful to   
this sacred trust4 ,once again1 find    
some sincere and prudent elder          
counselor1 and turn to him in all your  
difficulties4  ,get advice as to the    
best books to read--a good book is the  
best of counselors1 for it is the best  
of some good man2 and it is a patient   
counselor whom we may continually       
consult upon the same subject as often  

as we wish4 ,but waste no time1         
especially at the opening of your       
career1 upon books which have no message
 for your manhood and no helpfulness in 
the work you shall assume for life4     
,when you have once taken up a book as  
your counselor1 don't put it aside until
 it has been thoroughly digested and    
assimilated4 ,one book read is worth a  
hundred books peeped through2 and of all
 the dilettantes1 a literary dilettante 
is the most contemptible4 ,bacon says1  
,some books are to be tasted1 others to 
be swallowed1 some few to be chewed and 
digested4 ,but it is only the books that
 are to be chewed and digested that we  
can afford to peruse at the outset in   
our career2 the literary                
pleasure--gardens--may come later in    
life4  ,do your utmost to understand    
poetic expression1 for the poets are the
 greatest teachers in the world as well 
as the greatest of all legislators4 ,it 
is they who teach the great in conduct  
and the pure in thought4 ,without       

education that shall enable us to take  
them as our friends1 life bears upon it 
the stamp of death4 ,the great poets are
 now the only truth-tellers left to     
,god4 ,they are free1 and they make     
their lovers free2 the great poet is    
nature's masterpiece4 ,at the touch of  
his imagination words blossom into      
beauty4 ,a true poet is the most        
precious gift to a nation1 for he feels 
keenest the glorious duty of serving    
truth2 he cannot strive for despotism of
 any kind1 for it is still the instinct 
of all great spirits to be free4 ,more  
than other authors1 the poets make us   
self-forgetful1 make life and the whole 
human race nobler in our eyes2 all      
things are friendly and sacred to them1 
all days holy1 all good men divine4     
,there is very little worthy work       
nowadays that does not need some        
schooling that it may be well done4 ,if 
you have an opportunity to give yourself
 this help1 don't neglect it4 ,carefully
 select the courses that will be most   

helpful to you in your career1 and don't
 be side-tracked by any of what we      
sentimentalists term culture studies4   
,there's nothing better in the world    
than culture study1 if we can afford it 
and have time for it4 ,but there is not 
a greater or more wicked waste of       
valuable time than the time spent upon  
what some sentimentalists term culture  
study4  ,when you have once taken up the
 studies you have decided upon1 keep    
steadily to your course and shun        
diversions4 ,recreations are as         
essential to the student who intends to 
do high-class work as food is to the    
body2 but diversions disqualify him for 
earnest work1 and may breed a habit of  
halfness that shall bring his failure4  
,don't be foolish and hope to be great  
in many lines4 ,who sips of many arts   
drinks none4 ,in every vocation to-day  
competition is so keen that the man who 
will succeed must be content to be      
supreme in one thing alone4  ,halfness  
weakens all our spiritual powers1 and   

thoroughness is the central passion of  
all worthy characters4  ,it is nobler to
 be confined to one calling1 and to     
excel in that1 than to dabble in forty4 
,there is some odor about a dabbler that
 makes him especially offensive to all  
clean high-class men and women4 ,but    
when we have formed the habit of doing  
carelessly other tasks than our         
life-work1 we shall soon get into the   
way of doing carelessly the work of our 
chosen calling4 ,there is nothing that  
gives us greater assurance that our     
life-work will be thoroughly done than  
to habituate ourselves to do the        
slightest task completely4 ,sing the    
last note fully1 make the last letter of
 your name complete4 ,eat the last      
morsel deliberately4 ,in a real man's   
life there are no trifles4 ,whatever is 
worth doing by him is worth doing well4 
,the many-sided ,edward ,everett        
attributed his being able to do so many 
things well to his early habit of doing 
even the least thing thoroughly4 ,he    

used to say that he prided himself upon 
the way he tied up the smallest paper   
parcel4  ,although schools may be very  
helpful1 don't forget to emphasize again
 that they are merely helpers4 ,the man 
is somebody only when the fight is won  
within himself4 ,without the schools men
 have often reached the pinnacles of    
success1 through their own individual   
earnestness and energy4 ,schools make   
wise men wiser1 but they may make fools 
greater fools than ever4 ,if colleges   
have fallen somewhat into disrepute1 it 
is largely due to the fact that we may  
have sent more fools than wise men to   
college4 ,many a man has been the better
 for being too poor to attend school1   
like ,franklin1 ,lincoln1 ,peter        
,cooper1 and ten thousand other         
,americans4 ,their thirst for what books
 had to give them forced them to work   
harder and to deny themselves all the   
enjoyments that so vulgarize yet so     
charm the cheaper brood4  ,all that is  
won by sacrifice and downright hard work

 is priceless1 and many noble men and   
women who have risen to high honor and  
station owe their place and power solely
 to this4 ,be always mindful that power 
is the only safe foundation for         
reputation4 ,thoughtful ,americans are  
not concerning themselves about who your
 ancestors were1 and whether or not they
 were graduated from some college4 ,like
 ,doctor ,holmes1 they feel that old    
families and old trees generally have   
their best parts underground1 and that  
the only progressive is the man who is  
bigger in thought and feeling and       
accomplishment than his father was4     
,they believe that it is unimportant    
where you buy your educational tools1 if
 you are only doing good work with them4
  ,there is only one true aristocracy in
 ,america--those with more spiritual    
power and individual accomplishment than
 the rest of men4  ,emerson says that   
all the winds that move the vanes of    
universities blow from antiquity1 and   
this is responsible for many foolish    

words and many fool acts of schoolmen   
which are so often misleading the       
unsuspecting public4  ,nothing is more  
foolish than the idea that any schooling
 is worthless which is obtained in      
schools after the regular school hours2 
and more than one attempt has been made 
to enact laws which shall hinder from   
practice physicians and lawyers who have
 been obliged to get their knowledge    
through channels other than the         
conventional4 ,the victory of the       
general does not depend upon the place  
where he got his military training or   
the time of the day when he studied4    
,oliver ,cromwell1 the greatest general 
of his day1 was a farmer until his      
fortieth year1 when he entered the army 
of the ,parliament against ,charles ,i4 
,the only question that concerns the    
nation that puts a general at the head  
of its forces is1 has he the powers that
 shall make us victorious8  ,men in     
distress don't ask for the pedigree of  
the life-saver1 nor do they stop to     

inquire when he graduated4 ,don't be    
frightened off by sticklers for what is 
customary4 ,knowledge is the right of   
the poorest boy and girl in ,america1   
and it can be had by the humblest in the
 land4 ,be convinced of this and enter  
the race4 ,the world steps aside and    
lets the man pass who knows where he is 
going2 all the world will shout to clear
 the track when they see a determined   
giant is coming4 ,in choosing your      
career1 don't be limited to the old     
professions4 ,there are to-day many more
 occupations calling for the highest    
skill and offering the highest          
inducements than there were twenty years
 ago1 and these positions are steadily  
increasing4 ,many occupations which were
 recently regarded almost as menial have
 risen almost to professions--cooking1  
agriculture1 decorative art1 forestry1  
nursing1 sanitation1 designing apparel1 
and countless others2 and the men and   
women qualified for these are surer of  
better positions than formerly1 and far 

better rewards4  ,but the youth who is  
imbued with the determination to be     
right and to do right must never lose   
sight of this truth--that life is vastly
 more than place and meat and raiment4  
,living for self is suicide2 men that   
are men get far greater enjoyment and   
far greater reward from making life a   
blessing for those who come their way   
than they get from all other things     
combined4 ,no man lives so truly for    
himself as he who lives for other       
people1 and one of the chiefest purposes
 of education is that it gives larger   
views of life and adds greater power to 
serve humanity4 ,the man who is really  
in earnest to make his life count is    
studiously observant4 ,each day and each
 place multiplies his means of happiness
 for himself and others4   ,,the ,,end